Honestly, get yourself a sangean sr-35. It trounces the p27 in every way in my experience. Its less touchy to tune, much better speaker, much better headphone performance too. All in all, I would return the p27 if im given the option from sony when i contact them tomorrow. The headphones only get to music listening level to me at max volume and it distorts at that level. And there is certain tones that are BLOWN out bad. Making it way better for talk radio. I would say its good for talk radio as a stand alone speaker. And practically nothing else. As any other radio I own beats it in performance. Reception? Im not a big reception guy but. My other radios seem to pull in all the same stations. There is other companies doing better at a lower price point than sony.
Great review Andy. After a few years, I had the same problem with the P26 as you did. I heard a crackling sound while changing the volume. It's a shame because it was such a good radio, but I no longer have it. I don't know if I would get a P27 after what happened with P26.
