I was wondering where my reply went. Haha. I see it got split.
I actually like many OEM car radios. The NRSC test actually shows that among a plethora of receivers they tested, the OEM car radios often outperform aftermarket car radios.
http://www.nrscstandards.org/SG/NRSC-G100-A.pdfOf course what I don't like about that document is that it's recommending that broadcasters narrow down to 5kHz or 7kHz audio instead of NRSC standard 10kHz. It does, however, highlight my regular struggle of trying to listen to 910 CKDQ anywhere close to the greater Edmonton area with 930 being quite strong.
The Visteon OEM radio in my 2011 F-350 has a reasonably wide IF, while the Continental OEM radio in my 2015 Ram 3500 has an automatically switching IF bandwidth which actually drives me nuts. The narrow IF is basically un-listenable, while the wide IF is usable. I get that it may be a listener comfort thing to basically muffle undesirable noise such as when driving under transmission power lines, but in fringe areas where it switches constantly between modes I do find that annoying. I have not had a chance to try out the higher end infotainment systems as I typically buy base model vehicles. On that note, however, many of those higher end systems have built in IBOC HD Radio support which many owners do not yet know about, since Canadian market vehicles are often of similar specification to the American counterparts. It's unlikely that a station today would spend the effort and expense as well as the additional point of maintenance and failure to implement C-QUAM to appease a select few listeners (mostly us here talking about it) who would also go the extra mile to source and use AM-Stereo capable equipment.
The wideband tuner that I use to record audio off-air is the Sony STR-AV790 which I've posted
elsewhere on these forums.
For most DXing, I run a CCRadio 2E which I love for the auto-switching loop antenna - it will automatically switch coils depending on signal strength to prevent receiver overload. However it does not bring through wideband audio or have any controls to switch filter modes. It also has a fixed line output in addition to the variable earphone jack output so you can record and monitor simultaneously. Apart from that, I like the integrated power supply which is of decent quality and doesn't wipe out AM when you use it, the fact that it switches power sources based on actual AC power supply and not merely physical cord insertion presence (like oh so many portable radios out there).
The clock also seems accurate, which is more than I can say for any of the Tecsun/Eton/Grundig ones I have which all drift over a few minutes a month. I also have a few Eton G5, S350DL, and S450DL scattered around - mostly impulse buys when they go on clearance at The Source electronic stores. I was going to purchase a S550 "Field" however the reviews on line including the tear-down show that not much has changed apart from adding RDS and a nicer display. Of course, as many noted I did also experience the drift on the S350/DL model which is characteristic of a mechanically tuned radio with digital counter. I then got the S450 which was a true PLL design, however the audio response was very muddy. There are documented modifications out there online from guys who change out the reactive components to open up the bandwidth on those radios.
I loved the audio on 1440 CKJR. I listened to CKJR all the time back during the Cat Country days, but since 2007 less so after the format switch. Back when all the Cat Country stations were perfectly synchronized, you could definitely tell the difference listening to the same audio via their various outlets - Could compare with 1370 CFOK, 850 CKBA, 830 CKKY, 1400 CKSQ, 910 CKDQ, 1310 CHLW easy enough. CKKY was always plagued with having to switch power levels 4 times a day often in the middle of newscasts, and CFOK always had on and off pattern switching trouble all the way up to the day they flipped to FM.