Sangean PT-633 - Nice AM/FM/Shortwave Radio for Travel or Home
Written: Oct 19 '09 (Updated Oct 19 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: High quality feel, excellent controls, good reception, convenient and easy to use, world clock
Cons: Slightly less sensitive/selective than costlier radios
The Bottom Line: Convenient, easy-to-use, and quality-built, the Sangean PT-633 offers an alarm, world clock and other features that make it an excellent traveling companion or multi-purpose portable radio.
cowboyind's Full Review: Sangean PT-633 AM/FM/SW Radio
Well-known American brands like RCA and Zenith, and, later, such Japanese electronics giants as Sony and Panasonic, used to dominate the radio business. As radios have gradually become less expensive, almost incidental, purchases in many cases, the major companies have moved on to more lucrative pastures, such as big-screen TVs. But there are a few excellent companies that still focus on radios, and one of the very best is Sangean.
While not a household word like some of the other electronics companies, Sangean has, since the 1970s, been responsible for making some of the best radios on the market, such as the well-respected ATS-909 shortwave set, and, more recently, superb-sounding table radios and HD radios.
In the spectrum of Sangean's products, the PT-633 for a long time escaped my notice. I own other Sangean radios, but had not seen this one widely available for sale, so had not considered buying it. When I spotted the PT-633 recently at a regional electronics chain for $50 and took a look at the features it offered for this price, I bought it for its own qualities as well as the strength of the Sangean name.
Features
The PT-633 is a small- to moderate-sized travel multi-band radio that receives the most commonly-listened to shortwave "meter bands," as well as the AM and FM broadcast bands. The radio measures about six inches wide, three-and-a-half inches tall, and an inch thick. It also has a clock and alarm, plus a "world clock" feature that includes a flip-down map built into the front of the radio. The user can see the time in any part of the world by simply pressing "up" or "down" buttons next to the clock. As the radio always displays two time zones on its display, most users will use the larger numerals for their local time and the small numerals for "GMT" (Greenwich Mean Time, also known as Coordinated Universal Time). However, the radio could display any two time zones of the user's choice, so if a person were to travel frequently between two particular places, the radio could be used for those two zones rather than local and GMT.
Tuning adjustment is with a familiar manual tuning knob on the right side of the radio, with the frequency indicated on a "slide-rule" style scale by a frequency pointer. As the shortwave coverage is limited to the "meter bands" most commonly used by large international broadcasters such as BBC and Radio Australia, this radio does not have continuous shortwave coverage as do many of the digitally-tuned receivers. It also does not have a provision to receive single-sideband transmissions, which would be unnecessary in a radio of this type, since most transmissions on the covered frequencies will be in standard AM mode, not single-sideband.
The PT-633 has only one speaker, so plays in "mono" mode only, but it does receive FM signals in stereo, and stereo audio is available through the 1/8" mini-headphone jack (the standard size jack found on such items as Walkmans and iPods). A set of nice-sounding earbuds are supplied with the radio, so the user can take advantage of the FM stereo feature, as well as use the earbuds for private listening on any band the radio receives.
Reception
I compared this radio to others I own, such as a Grundig G5 -- a digital radio that gets truly excellent reception, and a Tecsun RL-9700DX, which is a manually-tuned radio similar in some ways to the Sangean PT-633, except the Tecsun does not have the clock, world time or alarm features.
On all bands and frequencies I tested, the Sangean received signals credibly well. All-out sensitivity on the AM broadcast band was not quite as good as the Tecsun or Grundig, probably because those are slightly larger radios that have a longer internal ferrite AM antennas. On FM, the Sangean does quite well in sensitivity -- on a par with the Tecsun and close to the G5, but the G5 gets the nod for being a little more selective (able to separate two stations that are very close on the dial). There were a few weak, distant stations that were receivable and listenable on the Grundig that the other two radios did not get at all.
On shortwave, the Grundig G5 was, again, the clear champ, with the Tecsun second and the Sangean a close third. But, the important thing to keep in mind is that the Sangean has a shorter antenna than the other two radios. I did not test it with a longer antenna because I do not believe most listeners who purchase this radio will be attaching external antennas to it, as it's a travel radio that will be purchased for it convenience and portability.
Also, these are all very good radios. If you compared the Sangean to the standard AM/FM radio most people use for general listening, the Sangean offers far better reception.
Controls
Here is the area in which the Sangean really stands out. It's hard to describe the feel of controls, but everything about this radio has a quality, well-engineered feel. Rather than the typical buttons on a radio, which have no range of movement, and simply click abruptly when you push them, the Sangean's buttons have a nice range of movement. Someone put some thought into making this radio feel good to use, which is not something you always see.
In addition, the analog tuning dial is accurate, the dial moves smoothly and cleanly across its range, and the numbers on the bands are large and clear enough to be easy to read. The clock and alarm are easy to set and adjust, which is a big plus. On some radios of this type, you have to break out the instruction manual to do these things, but not on the Sangean, which is intuitive to use. A dial light illuminates the clock for dark-room viewing with the push of a button. A flip-out stand on the back of the radio allows the user to set it on a table tilted back at an angle, so it is not necessary to stand it on end, which could cause it to fall over, to see the controls from a nearby chair or bed.
The world clock chart flips downward to reveal lesser-used controls, such as those to set the clock or alarm. Again, the design here is excellent, with a convenient notch in the radio's case to make it easy to open this compartment.
Sound Quality
The sound quality from the earbuds is excellent, and it's good from the built in speaker. Obviously it's necessary to be mindful of the size of this radio when judging its sound quality, but it gets loud enough to be used in a garage or outdoors, and music sounds pleasant as long as you're relatively close to the radio, which is how it's intended to be used.
Alarm
The alarm can wake the user either to the radio or a beeper alarm, and there's a snooze feature. An indicator in the display lets the user verify at a glance whether or not the alarm is set.
Sleep Function
The Sangean has an easy-to-use sleep timer that lets the listener set the radio to shut off automatically after after playing for 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes. This feature is a convenient battery saver that's absent on many radios of this type and price range.
Power
The radio is powered by three "AA" batteries, and battery life appears to be excellent. I am still on my original set of alkalines after several hours of listening. Rechargeables could be used, but on a clock-radio such as this, I prefer the alkalines so the clock and other settings are not repeatedly lost when the rechargeables run down. One convenient feature is that, when you replace the batteries, the radio will retain its time, time zone and alarm settings during the battery replacement as long as you complete the process within about 30 seconds. A 4.5-volt AC adapter can be used, but is not provided with the radio.
Accessories
As mentioned above, a set of earbuds is provided, as is a soft vinyl carrying case with a "velcro" closure. The case is a great way to protect the radio during travel, and the empty case also makes a nice "pad" to set the radio on when you're listening to it, as it keeps the radio from sliding around when you use the controls.
The Sangean PT-633 makes an ideal traveling companion, as well as a very convenient radio to have around the house. Its overall quality, especially the excellent feel of its controls and its overall ease of use, do credit to the company that made it.
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