C. Crane CCRadio-2E Enhanced Portable AM FM Weather and 2-Meter Ham Band (Black) CC2BE

This portable radio is a good possession for FM and AM DXers. Impressive in pulling distant FM stations and is very excellent on AM DXing. The sound quality of this radio is great! I also bought the SE3 version of this.

I bought this radio for AM and FM DXing after reading a review on it at "www.radiojayallen.com". I absolutely love it. To me. this is the new Superadio! The audio is excellent with plenty of bass and treble on tap so you don't always have to have the bass and treble controls maxed out. This is one of the few radios I own that picks up all my local FM stations with zero static, despite (or maybe because of) the shorty whip. The MW DX is superb as well, and I have had some astonishing daytime DX receptions.What is not mentioned in the reviews, or shown clearly in the photos, is the way the radio flares out at the base. The 2 rows of D cell batteries, instead of being placed one row on top of the other up/down, has the batteries instead side by side at the bottom of the radio. This results in the base being extended out the width of a D cell from the top and middle of the radio. I really like the looks of the radio this way. Also, it provides a considerable amount of stability to the radio such that it is almost impossible to accidentally tip it over. The overall construction is very solid and high quality; there is nothing that feels cheap, or screams "crap" at you when you hold the radio.Another feature not advertised is that this radio is capable of self-alignment. It is shown in the manual under the trouble shooting section for the question as to what to do if there is a drop in volume when tuning in a station. To realign the radio, when tuned to any AM station, press and hold the "Display Clock and Frequency" button until the weather alert LED starts flashing (top left on front of radio). At this point, release the "Display Clock and Frequency" button, then give it a short press. Leave the radio alone while it auto aligns. mine takes about 5 minutes to do. You are always assured of razor sharp alignment with this feature, no matter how old the radio.While I do not listen to the 2 meter ham band, the weather channels are a welcome addition.This has turned out to be my favorite radio in a very short time. It is well worth the price.

Update from 1st review: Overall an excellent radio for the price and features. that said, it could benefit greatly from some minor improvements... As this company touts it's radio line to have best in class AM reception, it has overlooked the FM reception ability a little. To capture the longest FM wavelength in the 108 and above range a 31 inch antenna will do the best as, this is the range of the longest FM sine wave. This falls short of that. When I ran signal tests the best reception I could receive averaged 10 DBF. Good FM receivers should have a signal sensitivity of 11 DBF or better.Although the speaker does deliver very nice near HD quality sound it falls way short in the bass response the product description says it can produce. At minimal cost to production a few minor things to enhance the speaker could be done. Higher quality voice coil ( better quality copper windings) and a stronger magnet to re-center the cone faster. Best bet is to consider a better grade of speaker altogether.These are picky observations, I realize this. I personally get really picky about sound quality having worked the field for so long. As far as the sometimes poor FM reception, maybe a longer antenna and better shielding around the signal modulating circuit board.Those picky things said, I really like this radio a lot. It lasts forever during power outages. It has great stereo sound when using head phones. It is simple to set up and operate. And looks really nice with any décor.

I've had my CCRadio2E for 2 1/2 years. Reception and audio quality are excellent, but the build quality ismediocre for the money. When it was new, it was good, but has developed these problems since then.I always plug the power cord into it before I change batteries, otherwise it often loses its station and clock memories.The power switch is acting up. Often it will turn on the backlight instead of powering up the radio, so I have to push the power button several times to turn the radio on, then cycle the backlight off. I won't send it in for repair as long as I can get it to operate, since that would cost at least $70 plus shipping.I'm not the only one having weird problems like this, and the company has had more than enough time to address them. I'd rather pay extra in exchange for better build quality. I have a Realistic Pro 2006 scanner which is 25 years old, made in Japan and still going strong, never been repaired. That's how they used to build electronics, built to last.UPDATE 6/9/20. I had no idea that C. Crane had responded to my review until last week, 8 months after the fact. I happened to be reviewing my old reviews, which I rarely do.So I contacted Mr. Moore, not expecting much, and he responded the next day. Now I'm impressed. He sent me a new 2E radio. It was in my hands in less than a week, and so far, it works perfectly. We'll see how it holds up, but this is customer satisfaction above and beyond, a lot more than I expected, since the radio was well beyond its warranty. At the price, you should expect it to last for many trouble-free years, and they have backed up their product in this case.Some of the AM radio stations I listen to are very fringe, and this radio receives them better than any other radio I have. The Tecsun PL-880 comes close, but it doesn't have the audio quality my old ears crave, because it doesn't have enough treble. It has a music/talk tone switch that helps, but the 2E's separate bass and treble controls make the difference. I don't listen to FM radio as often, but the 2E has well-above-average FM reception too.My orignal 2E is in good shape physically. It still works sorta-kinda, although I have to push the power switch somewhere between 1 and 22 times (yes, I've counted) to get it to come on, while it cyles through backlight modes instead of coming on. So I offered to send it back, since they refurb and resell radios, but Mr. Moore said don't worry about it.I see they have come out with the 3 model, so I hope they have solved the durability problems. If they have, it's an excellent buy. DX reception quality and among the best in audio quality for the price, when it works the way it should.C. Crane, I will keep you in mind next time I need a radio. Thank you Mr. Moore.6/9/2020 Another update. I should have added, my original review was 2 stars. I've updated to 4 stars, because at this time, durability is an unknown. Performance at this time is 5 star.