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Grundig G3 – First Look
I bought a new G3 from the first production run. I had hopes that, since it looks just like the G5/E5 radios that it would match that level of performance and add synchronous detection. However I was sorely disappointed. The radio has been totally re-designed internally and is based on a high tech chip, which although it might be able to perform well, does not in this implementation. I side-by-sided the G3 with my E5 and found performance on the new G3 was fairly miserable by comparison.
One big issue is the synchronous detection, which requires a whoppingly strong signal to lock at all, and when it did lock there was a big change in audio level. It kept slipping in and out of lock accompanied by odd noises and volume changes which rendered the sync useless. Recent reports suggest the sync detection level has been reset in a firmware revision to a more suitable level…whether this actually allows the sync to be useful on this radio however remains to be seen.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, reception on the AM band was poor compared with my trusty E5. In my suburban location 10 miles outside of Hartford, CT the G3’s AM dial was filled with spurious birdies and hets, and frequencies which were free of those noises were hissy compared with the E5…in fact there were few AM signals I would judge listenable on the G3….the E5 brought in many stations clearly which were poor on the G3. SW reception was closer to what it should be…I noted just slightly less apparent SW sensitivity on the G3 than on the E5. But still…the E5 was better.
So I do hope Eton/Degen can remedy these issues…the E5/G5 (and the Degen DE-1103 upon which they are based) has been my favorite radio in this size group and still it. As long as the G3 doesn’t live up to that level of performance, no number of bells and whistles will make up for that. ..basic performance has to come first.
But I do live in hope and I plan to try another sample from later production once it can be determined that the improved units are actually available…so far no serial number info has been made available. I’ll keep you posted.
