I have the 660 and got the 680 today, it's a great radio. The 680 Sync detector isn't as good as the 660 but switching them to USB/LSB works much better especially against fading on both radios and you can't do that on the PL-880 or S-8800 because of the bad AGC and distorted sound, switching to SSB on these radios also badly effects audio fidelity. The one area that greatly surprised me was MW/LW performance is much better than the 660, 880 and s-8800. The S-8800 external antenna BNC provides much improved MW reception which surprised me and maybe not a lot of People know about it and perhaps it doesn't work on all 8800s because there seems to be some variations in radios from Tecsun. But with just the internal antennas the 680 is the best for LW/MW and perhaps my version is an improved model I don't know. I've had the S-2000, and that was ok on LW and MW. Using SSB on the 660 and 680 is great to reduce or eliminate interference from close stations that might be stronger than the station you want to listen to, switching to USB/LSB can in most cases eliminate it altogether or reduce it a lot. The speaker on the 680 is tuned more for the lower frequencies which is not ideal for AM or SW in general even SSB but it's good on FM and strong MW/LW stations. The intelligibility of audio in general on the 660 is better to my ears, because of the emphasis on higher frequencies but with headphones the audio quality of the audio is good, it's got good fidelity compared to the S-8800 and PL-880 especially on SSB which is distorted and audio quality if poor in general meaning Dx'ing on SW in SSB practically impossible and certainly an unpleasant experience. The 680 exceeded my expectations to be honest. I use an external antenna mostly, a EFHW that I use as a 2nd antenna for transmitting on the Ham bands in the sitting room when I don't want to go up to the shack in the attic room when it's cold. Another antenna I use is the magnificent Bonito MA305, it's a tiny whip antenna that blows me away each time I use it, the performance is incredible. I do find that on some of the Amateur radio bands that the EFHW provides better signal probably because it's resonant for those bands and it's 20 meters long but for SWL and MW/LW the Bonito MA305 is a fantastic antenna, I have mine mounted about 30 feet up in a tree and the coax is grounded, which is essential. Other fantastic antennas are the Bonito Megaloop FX and the Bonito Megadipol which is better again for DX signals, it has to be mounted vertically not horizontal like a normal dipole antenna.
Hello my friend good afternoon, tell me which one is more sensitive more better in short waves? Is there any difference? A hug from Minas Gerais Brazil 🇧🇷 73!! Uender.
