I know that AM reception (with maybe FM) is at the top of your want list, but for the amount of money, I'd also consider adding shortwave to the mix. SSB adds a lot to the cost, but AM shortwave reception seems to almost be a throw-in on a lot of radios.
Also consider that you might eventually get your ISM shortwave station on the air, and then you'd have something to listen to it while outside.
Hello Artisan. Your suggestion of using shortwave for the yard radio is spectacular! Which leads to the inevitable 'but'... But none of the radios so far listed in this thread support shortwave.
Here's what I would do.
I'm not sure I trust either the specs or the claims (particularly of waterproofing) of those cheap(er) radios on Amazon.
I'd go to a thrift store and get an inexpensive, name brand, what used to be called 'ghetto blaster' (tested out there, of course). There would be no problems with sound output, and many have great receiver sections, with AM/FM and even shortwave coverage. I remember my daughter had one, a Sony, and it could receive my AM station about a mile away. Added bonuses would be either CD or cassette playing.
They would likely have no weatherproofing, but you could buy 5 to 10 radios for the price of a new, decent one on Amazon that probably would have lesser specs. And you'd be helping the planet by reusing and recycling.
Virtually my entire studio, as well as amateur radio shack, is comprised of reused equipment. Looking at everything right now, the only new pieces are a bluetooth mouse, a bluetooth speaker, and a Behringer microphone. Computers (laptops, desktops and server), monitors, networking stuff, Part 15 transmitters, cables, shortwave radios, transceivers, even a telescope were all purchased used and refurbished/repaired as necessary.
Addendum: I forgot about my stereo equipment. Everything was purchased at a thrift store - a Sony A/V receiver/amplifier, decent speakers, a vintage Sony analog tuner, a direct drive Sony turntable with brand new cartridge that I found separately (in the same store), a Yamaha high end cassette player, multiple CD, DVD & Blu Ray players & recorders, etc. I didn't pay more than $20 for anything (that's Canadian), and most were $10 and under. That's not to mention my collection of LP's, 45s and cassettes (I have to admit that some of my CDs & DVDs were purchased new).
Artisan's suggestions about looking for hidden gem radios at a thrift shop is very much worth doing. I have never known any local thrift shops and it's about time I checked around and found them. The very first FM radio I ever owned was a Zenith table model in like-new condition from a Goodwill store for only $25.00.
I would not recommend a boom-box no matter the condition for speech reproduction. The human voice is a monaural instrument and has the best coherence when reproduced on a good mono speaker. Boom boxes are inherently stereophonic and best suited for giving music something of a spacial quality. Even a cross-over network used to increase the frequency range of a mono system can have phase distortion, warping speech quality.
I'm also fussy regarding the average table-top radio because the back waves of the speaker are usually allowed to escape through perforations in the cabinet creating an out-of-phase zone between frontal and rear excursions of the speaker cone, reducing the projection of the sound into the forward plane.
The Sangean U1, despite it's overly-emphasized bass, has otherwise decent projection due to the sealed enclosure of back-waves.
Perhaps all self-contained radios sound best at fairly close range. Even public-address speakers are typically very hollow sounding and do not reproduce a true facsimile of the original sound they attempt to resemble.
The art of speakers and enclosures is more about minimizing defects than it is about tweaking strong-points.
Please don't kick me off the forum for being prissy about audio!
The July 5th issue of Radio World contains a glowing review of the Sangean MMR-99.
Special Request for Mark.
If you have the time can you please run a particular performance test with your Sangean MMR-99?
Test for only AM audio.
Set Loudness OFF.
Set Bandwith to WIDE.
Tune to talk station to hear voice only.
Set volume level high but not distorted.
Take radio outdoors and set on ground.
Walk about 15 to 20 feet away from radio and listen.
Can the voice on the radio be heard clearly?
How would you describe the audio quality of voice reception?
Thank you very much!
@carl-blare Had it outside so did this already.
AM had 3 bandwidth choices..narrow normal and wide.
On wide it sounds similar to FM but with slightly more midrange "punch" to it.
Yes speech is very understandable as I listen to local talk sometimes also...but...even with loudness off as you turn up the volume more bottom is heard and still gets a little bass heavy but you can cover the back with some tape over the passive radiator that will solve this. Like covering up the port on a hi fi speaker.
It gets quite loud about 3/4 or more to full without distortion(goes from 0-20) and more than enough to hear loud and clear 20 ft away and more. But of course if the next door neighbour runs a gas lawnmower or a big truck goes by it will drown it out at that distance. It won't be as good as the Sangean jobsite ones...the newer versions of the one you have.
Setting it down on grass will absorb the sound and having it on a wooden or concrete surface will sound louder.
If you get on Amazon you know you can just return it shipping paid if you don't like it.
The draw back with this is the internal battery 18650 isn't externally accessible to swap out and charge in a charger so you can have a few and no down time. If this battery needs recharging it needs to have downtime for a few hours to charge internally. If you want no down time you need two of these radios to use one while one is charging. I actually use the H 205 most of the time as completely weatherproof and battery compartment is waterproof and uses 2800mAh NiMH in a D adaptor and have lots of batteries and a smart charger with adjustable charge current. But this may not have the volume you need.
Totally excellent! Your report convinces me the MMR-99 will do the job! I've been out there trying to listen on a TECSUN PL-310, and I can only move about 6-feet before being out of range.
Your suggestion of lifting the radio above the ground for better projection is something I hadn't considered. A re-purposed camera tripod would do well.
@carl-blare If you get it it comes with default settings and one of the default settings is loudness on. So you will have to go to the instructions to see how to work the menu. It can be on the ground, just that grass will absorb sound not reflect it like a hard surface.