AM radio sound clarity on car radios

[Riff Raff]

Recently, I upgraded a Vehicle of mine. Sold my 2008 Honda Civic and purchased a 2015 VW Passat.

My Civic had the upgraded sound system as it was an EXL model. FM sounded fine as well as CD and AUX modes. However, The AM side wasn't that great, sounded like a drive thru speaking comparted to The AM side of the radio in my Passat, which sounds fantastic. I still like Honda's just not The AM radio so much

The worst one though was on my 1996 GMC Sonoma, it was totally unusable, When the truck was off it was ok, but when it was on nothing but static and when you would go to accelerate, say merging into traffic all you would get was static that sounded like someone just ate taco bell.

However, the one on my 1994 Buick sounded great and even picked up AM stereo. Although, the power antenna option always got stuck when it got super cold.

I realize AM radio is slowly becoming a thing of the past but was wondering what others experiences were with car radios and The AM side of the dial.

[bmw]

The best sounding radios I've ever heard on AM were made by Delco in the late 1980s. Specifically - the ones with a 5-band EQ and an AM Stereo button. The stereo button also acts as a wide/narrow RF filter and effectively opens up the audio to a full 10khz when set to stereo mode.

[Riff Raff]

The best sounding radios I've ever heard on AM were made by Delco in the late 1980s. Specifically - the ones with a 5-band EQ and an AM Stereo button. The stereo button also acts as a wide/narrow RF filter and effectively opens up the audio to a full 10khz when set to stereo mode.

Oh yeah! they put those in Cadillac's and some higher end Buicks/Oldsmobile's. Which if you had one equipped with a 3.8 V6 you had it made in the shade.

[audiophile]

Recently, I upgraded a Vehicle of mine. Sold my 2008 Honda Civic and purchased a 2015 VW Passat.

My Civic had the upgraded sound system as it was an EXL model. FM sounded fine as well as CD and AUX modes. However, The AM side wasn't that great, sounded like a drive thru speaking comparted to The AM side of the radio in my Passat, which sounds fantastic. I still like Honda's just not The AM radio so much

The worst one though was on my 1996 GMC Sonoma, it was totally unusable, When the truck was off it was ok, but when it was on nothing but static and when you would go to accelerate, say merging into traffic all you would get was static that sounded like someone just ate taco bell.

However, the one on my 1994 Buick sounded great and even picked up AM stereo. Although, the power antenna option always got stuck when it got super cold.

I realize AM radio is slowly becoming a thing of the past but was wondering what others experiences were with car radios and The AM side of the dial.

My 2015 VW also sounds good on AM. TDI so no ignition noise either!

[ZenithCKLW]

This hits a sore spot. My 2017 VW Jetta TSI sounds HORRIBLE on AM. Unless it's super-strong WWJ or WJR, everything below 1000 kHz whines and whistles. It's so freakin frustrating. It almost sounds like it's either poorly heterodyning or it's tuned slightly off while playing in a wind tunnel. When I turn the engine off, it's fine.

I've taken this to two dealerships and asked my brother who works at VW in technology, and after inspection, they all wrote me off by saying "it's just how the radio is designed" or "AM isn't popular anymore, just stream on your phone instead" as if I'd prefer to fiddle with apps and media searches and buffering and bluetooth connections while driving, instead of pressing a button. Ugh.

In the family, we also have a 1975 Ford, obviously AM sounds great, a 2004 Ford Ranger for which AM sounds great, and a 2022 Ford Maverick where AM sounds great. VW's response to me just pisses me off.

[Riff Raff]

Recently, I upgraded a Vehicle of mine. Sold my 2008 Honda Civic and purchased a 2015 VW Passat.

My Civic had the upgraded sound system as it was an EXL model. FM sounded fine as well as CD and AUX modes. However, The AM side wasn't that great, sounded like a drive thru speaking comparted to The AM side of the radio in my Passat, which sounds fantastic. I still like Honda's just not The AM radio so much

The worst one though was on my 1996 GMC Sonoma, it was totally unusable, When the truck was off it was ok, but when it was on nothing but static and when you would go to accelerate, say merging into traffic all you would get was static that sounded like someone just ate taco bell.

However, the one on my 1994 Buick sounded great and even picked up AM stereo. Although, the power antenna option always got stuck when it got super cold.

I realize AM radio is slowly becoming a thing of the past but was wondering what others experiences were with car radios and The AM side of the dial.

My 2015 VW also sounds good on AM. TDI so no ignition noise either!

My Passat is a gasoline engine. VW's quality control has vastly improved in recent years; it seems in the late 90s/early 2000s it had dipped. My Dad bought the car new in 2015 and I bought it last fall, when my parents sold their home in southern Monroe County and moved to South Carolina permanently. They had 3 cars and decided to slim down to 2. My car was starting to act up as it was 14 years old and was starting to nickel and dime me. So made sense.

[MWmetalhead]

GM produced some cars with excellent AM fidelity on the 2000s.

I had a Saturn - which really was a rebadged Opel but assembled domestically - with outstanding AM reception ability and wideband audio. No, it didn't have AM stereo, but voice on AM sounded almost as good as FM.

My 2006 GMC Envoy also had a very good AM section. Although the audio quality wasn't quite as good as the Saturn, reception was every bit as good, maybe even a touch better. I could listen to 670 from Chicago with ease all the way to Grand Ledge and 950 (daytime) with ease all the way to western Ionia County.

Both of my Ford Edges are susceptible to a lot of microprocessor noise, especially on 620 but I also hear some on 670. There is also a spot on the higher end of the band (somewhere in the 1200s or 1300s, I want to say) where it is noticeable. Audio quality is acceptable but narrowband. I suspect a 4 kHz or 5 kHz filter is used. These radios also do not seem to do as good of job controlling unwanted noise.

[TC Talks]

My Tacoma was pretty decent, the Ridgeline is horrible. The best reception of all my vehicles is the 1964 Saphire II radio in my microbus. Of course it has a 59 year old single speaker...

[Turkeytop]

just stream on your phone instead" as if I'd prefer to fiddle with apps and media searches and buffering and bluetooth connections while driving, instead of pressing a button. Ugh.

YES! Finally someone who sees it my way. Online streaming is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining.

[CurlyHoward]

GM produced some cars with excellent AM fidelity on the 2000s.

I had a Saturn - which really was a rebadged Opel but assembled domestically - with outstanding AM reception ability and wideband audio. No, it didn't have AM stereo, but voice on AM sounded almost as good as FM.

My 2006 GMC Envoy also had a very good AM section. Although the audio quality wasn't quite as good as the Saturn, reception was every bit as good, maybe even a touch better. I could listen to 670 from Chicago with ease all the way to Grand Ledge and 950 (daytime) with ease all the way to western Ionia County.

About the only thing I miss about my 2004 Cavalier is the good AM radio compared to the other cars I've owned since then. Could likewise hear Chicago AM stations during the day in Toledo.

[syntheticexctasy]

If I were serious about listening to AM, I'd have a good ol' GM Delco radio wired up right here on my desk. Probably the best sounding AM receivers i've come across.

(don't put it past me - I've often had an assortment of mobile radios in use indoors and in the garage over the years - they have incredible tuners compared to most home stereo receivers, especially anything with an HD chip in it)

[bmw]

If I were serious about listening to AM, I'd have a good ol' GM Delco radio wired up right here on my desk. Probably the best sounding AM receivers i've come across.

(don't put it past me - I've often had an assortment of mobile radios in use indoors and in the garage over the years - they have incredible tuners compared to most home stereo receivers, especially anything with an HD chip in it)

Something like this? I put this together about 10 years ago. It is even modded for an aux. input.

[Ben Zonia]

I think the later vacuum tube Delco car radiios had the best sensitivity on AM, and had a fully extendable telescoping antenna. The 1961 Oldsmobile we had was the last tube model we had. The 1965 Chevrolet Bel Air had our first solid state radio. The 1970 Impala was the first with DeLorean's windshield antenna. It was not very good, the antenna wasn't optimized. The 1972 Chevelle was a lot better. I think it had a telescoping antenna. The 1977 Monte Carlo was the first AM FM Delco, and they had improved the windshield antenna. It was excellent on both AM and FM. It was monaural FM, but the sensitivity and selectivity were great.