SangeanATS-909X2, Ultimate FM/SW/MW/LW/Air Multi-Band Radio

This is a superb radio. I'm a ham radio operator and have used a lot of radios, including the predecessor of this one. The original Sangean 909 has always been a pleasant radio to use with a lot of nice features, but had been lacking in a few key areas, including sensitivity. This is all fixed with the version 2, and now this radio is the complete package of nice operation and great performance. On my first night, I already spent a few hours listening in on 80m in SSB, all with the built-in whip. AM and FM are also great and the sound quality is very good.Update: After a few days and nights with the radio, I like it even more. Originally I was a bit disappointed that they did not add a synch detector. But it turns out that ECSS works impressively well on this radio. (ECSS is a fancy term for listening to AM broadcast stations in single side band mode, to remove audio distortions caused by signal fading). In fact it works better than synch detectors on many other radios, as there is no need for a synch detector to "lock on". Just switch to SSB if you have a weak or fading station, and it becomes very stable, and audio quality is good.Update 2:I had the chance now to directly compare this radio with the latest Tecsun PL-990. Here are my observations. All based on using the built-in whip antenna.- On 49m in AM mode, in the evening: Signals are weak here on the west coast in general, but both radios make the best of it. There was no station that one radio received that I could not also hear on the other. The sound quality is quite similar. The noise floor on the Tecsun is perhaps a bit better, and weak signals very slightly more understandable. While the Sangean subjectively sounds better, especially when the signals are a bit stronger. Overall I would say it is a tie. I'd be happy with either one of them.- Still on 49m, listening to AM broadcast stations, but now switching to single side band mode. The Tecsun has a Synch detector mode for this. Turning it on first results in several seconds of silence (audio muted), while the display shows some kind of "busy" icon. This is annoying, and it soon gets old when switching forth and back often. Once the Synch detector is finally on, the sound becomes muffled, and slightly distorted. The Sangean does not have a Synch mode, so I use LSB directly (kind of a manual ECSS, as described above). In this mode, the sound is great, and clearly beats the Tecsun here. The Tecsun allows to switch bandwidths in SSB and Synch modes. Even with the widest bandwidth of 4kHz, the sound is still muffled. The Sangean only provides a single bandwidth in SSB mode, a fact that originally irked me. But whatever bandwidth Sangean implemented here, it sounds very good!- Next up, let's listen to ham radio stations on 80m in SSB. Here, the Tecsun shows the same muffled sound I observed above. In addition, there is more distortion now. It appears to me that the beginning of each transmission (the first syllable spoken by the ham) is being clipped in the RF amp by the Tecsun. This would mean that they have AGC turned on in SSB mode, and with a pretty short time constant at that. Not good! The Sangean sounds cleaner and smoother here. It has manual gain control via a small wheel on the left side, as it should be. In addition, I noticed that the Sangean appears to be very slightly more sensitive. When listening in on a ham radio "ragchew" with stations across America, I could follow all of them on the Sangean (albeit with some difficulty for the weakest ones), while weak stations on the Tecsun occasionally dropped out. Mind you, this difference was very slight. In most cases, both radios performed the same. Overall though, just based on sound and distortion, this point goes to Sangean.- I also tried the 20m ham radio band during the day. Findings were very similar to what I described above on 80m, except both radios were really equally sensitive now.- Some remarks on the physical aspects and operation of these radios: The Tecsun is noticeably more compact, which is really nice! I also preferred the tuning and volume wheels on the right, over the Sangean. These controls on the Tecsun are pleasant to operate, with one thumb if needed. The volume control on the Sangean needs to be gripped with thumb and index finger to operate, and the tuning dial on the front is workable, but not my cup of tea. I also liked that the Tecsun allows to turn on the display backlight permanently when desired. On the other hand, the buttons on the Sangean are bigger and more pleasant to operate, and it has the large display. The whip antenna is larger and a lot more sturdy! The last element on the whip antenna of the Tecsun is very flimsy indeed and I almost bent it already after just one hour of operation. You need to be very gentle with it.- As for features: The Sangean has RDS and the air band, while the Tecsun has an MP3 player and bluetooth. It depends here what your preference is. The sound quality of both radios on FM is very good. I did not compare them on the AM broadcast band yet, maybe in another update.Overall, both radios are very good and I'd be happy with either one, but I'd give the edge to the Sangean.

This radio had mixed reviews when it came out so I intentionally bought this from Amazon in case there were issues. Turns out to be a great radio and it’s a keeper as far as I am concerned. I purchased this right before Christmas and have the latest firmware (73) so that might explain while mine works well compared to earlier reviews.. Not sure though.One of the main complaints on this radio is that it has low audio on SSB. First thing I did when I got the unit was to test for this issue and here is what I have found: Yes with a weak signal, you may notice this. But with a normal or strong signal this does not happen. The bathroom off of my hallway is the most central room in my house and is a dead zone and great room for testing. In my bathroom on the whip antenna, I could notice the audio go noticeably lower when switching to SSB. I then walked in my backyard and still on the whip/same station and it did not do this because I had a stronger signal outside. I then made a longwire antenna that runs along the eve of my house into my bedroom . On this antenna I have never experienced this SSB audio issue.The other common complaint that I do agree with and consider it a big oops is the lack of filter selection on SSB. On AM, it has 5 different filters to choose from but only 1 on SSB. Not sure why but for the price, it should have more. That said, the one it has works well for SSB - not too wide, not too narrow.Last oops: Sangean was an early adopter of RDS and had it years before just about anyone else. I know they had it by the mid 90’s so why in the heck does this thing not show RDS time/date data? The ⅓ the price XHDATA 808 has this feature so this is another oversight.Despite what I have said about SSB, I will say this radio has some of the best SSB audio I have heard. Yes that is very subjective so let me say it is very clear and the kind you can listen to for hours without getting “tired”. The Tecsun 880 also has excellent audio but it gets distorted on strong signals and the 909x2 does not do that. The 909x2 also appears to be more sensitive (on SWL) over the 880 in my bathroom tests and seems to tie the XHDATA D808. Again, my tests are very subjective but at least I know this radio is not deaf by any means.Features: basically functionality is pretty intuitive. You can change frequencies by using buttons, the dial or the keypad. Storing a frequency in memory is easy as well once you play with it a bit and learn their system. But some of the more advanced features require reading the manual but it is NOT HARD once you read the manual. Now they do gloss over some details like the fact the radio has 3 memory banks. If I had not read the Amazon ad, I would have never known this because it’s only briefly mentioned in the manual and you have to enter a sub menu to access it.Not hard, just got to read the manual to enjoy the radio to the fullest.Looks-Feel-QualityI am more of a function over form person but I will say this is a very attractive radio. It at least appears to be of higher quality than any of my other radios (Tecsuns and XHDATA). It is not cheap plastic like the Chinese brands and the Antenna is much better quality than what the Chinese provide. The buttons look and feel better and the radio is much heavier .The LCD is very large and easy to read, by far the best display I have.The front of the radio reminds me of some high end Sony from their heyday and the top reminds me of my grandfather's Trans-Oceanic from the late 60’-early 70’s .The bad side of this is the radio is too nice to be a constant travel companion- vacations are fine just not all the time. . If I was someone who travels a lot , I would bring a smaller Tecsun or Xhdata in case it was lost/stolen or damaged . They are much smaller in both price and size and I would not feel as bad if something happened. This radio is at home in your shack or by your bedside on your night stand and that is exactly how I use it.Button line: The only reason I would think of returning this radio is the fact that Amazon has dropped the price $30 since Christmas and I am still within the return period . But I know I have a good one and I am happy with it., If you have any reservations about the radio, just buy it from Amazon so there is no risk if you have any issues.

I have been a Sangean fan for years thanks to the superior sensitivity of their radios and this one does well also. I bought this unit to have access to shortwave radio. Shortwave reception is pretty good when paired with a 40' sloper I ran down from the old ham radio tower in the backyard. AM with the same sloper is excellent. I can get AM stations over 100 miles away in the middle of the day. FM is also very good although I don't get why they didn't set up the unit to use an external antenna. Sound quality is decent from the speaker and good with headphones although bass and treble adjustments would've been nice, the 3 sound selection switch on the side does help. Having the ability to put in AA rechargable batteries and have the unit charge them is also a nice thing to have and I probably get 20 hours of use out of a charge. Direct tuning is also quite nice. Simply hit the freq button and any frequency in it's tuning range, press enter and you are there. No need to change bands. While this is a little pricey I'd say it's worth the money.