Sangean Radio Portátil Sr-36

In the description of this AM/FM radio, it says: "The SR-35 is a small PLL-synthesized AM/FM stereo radio" "it offers a combination of features for enjoyable AM/AM/Stereo listening" "True stereo headphone output" The description is wrong or misleading. I thought I was buying a FM stereo radio when using headphones because the description indicates it is. So you're looking for FM stereo (as Americans understand stereo as separation of sound), this isn't the radio you're looking for. Except for the popping sound moving from station to station on AM, and the lack of advertised FM stereo output, the speaker sounds good, and it does catch a lot of stations. I knocked off 3 stars because of either the deception in the description, or else my radio is defective, along with the AM popping sound.

It just feels solid. Considerably so, compared to its competitors (the radios from Sony and Panasonic, not even mentioning the Chinese clones). It sounds nicer/fuller/warmer too. Also, sound comes through both earpieces of stereo headphones (mono nonetheless), without any hissing at low/zero volume. Great reception on both AM and FM. I did notice one quirk - a very weak station gets picked up but when it gets even weaker it gets lost and not auto-picked-up anymore, until re-tuning or switching off/on. No biggie, as that station was quite unintelligible to listen to anyway. The item I received came with a proper US warranty certificate (90 days)- not a gray market import. (Sold by Amazon.com, not a third-party seller.)

I figured an AM/FM pocket radio with the name Sangean would be better. The scroll wheel for selecting stations is gross, not fine. Gets good reception except for a much bigger issue... Bigger problem? The scroll wheel acts as if on a rubber band, stretching and holding to a station, then snapping back to just outside the reception frequency. And, does it all the time! It's a real problem holding a station as if the radio just has a mind of its own. I figured it'd loosen up, and the frequency would hold ,but after several weeks of continous use, not is such the case. Spend your money on something else. Perhaps this is just a fluke, but...seems integral to the build of the unit.

When connecting a headphone, I got no sound. Found that the jack had an internal alignment issue. I was able to make it work by adding a thin washer to the headphone plug to cause it not go into the jack quite as deep. Probably should have sent it back as the plug would sometimes pop out because of my "fix". Instead I put it in my roadside emergency kit where I would not be using headphones and got a different Sangean radio (HDR-14) which worked perfectly.

Observation after my first use: 1.) Station reception and clarity are excellent. I leave in an area where we have difficulty receiving some popular stations like CBS FM both in the car and at home. Not only does this radio receive these stations with ease, the stations are also very clear. 2.) Sound quality is amazing. I don't know how they managed to generate that kind of sound out of this little thing but for $19, it's worth it.