- A high performance SUPER RADIO III AM/FM radio is still our best long-range performance and selectivity radio 2-Way Speaker System
- The built-in 2-Way speaker system is driven by a 6.5" high sensitivity woofer and 2" cone tweeters 2-Way Power with Automatic (AC/DC) Switching
- Automatically switches from DC to AC when the unit is plugged in to avoid using battery power
- Separate Bass and Treble Controls Leaves the control to you by providing separate bass and treble controls
- High performance Super Radio III - still the best in terms of long-range performance and sensitivity
- 2-way speaker system - the built-in 2-Way speaker system is driven by a 6.5" high sensitivity woofer and 2" cone tweeters
- External AM/FM antenna terminals - easily connect your own antenna
- Separate bass and treble controls - leaves the control to you by providing separate bass and treble controls
- Thumbwheel tuning controls - provides convenient and accurate tuning control
Apparently they are sending a totally different version of this radio now compared to what was available when many of these reviews were written.
The radio they are sending now (8-2009) is a heavy but cheap plastic radio with low end components. The sound is fairly harsh in the midrange and treble due to surprising amounts of high frequency distortion at all volumes. The sound breaks up completely into noise and distortion with the volume set past 3-4 on FM. It's not the speaker distorting, the problem is the tiny amp rated at 1/4 to 1/3 watt and low voltage power supplies. The 1/3 watt power readings are fairly accurate as they are based on actual electronic measurements with a quality true RMS Volt and watt meter. While being physically large, this radio has 1/10th the output power of a decent, 4 watt mp3/clock radio setup. Due to it's size it gets loud enough to use in a typical kitchen or living room setting but it's easily surpassed in reception, sound quality and volume by pretty much any decent quality boombox and most amplified mp3 or computer speakers.
The original GE SuperRadio woofer has been replaced with a lighter speaker with a smaller magnet and a thin lightweight cone.
There is a separate tweeter for clarity but that's not helping in this case with the small amp that distorts the treble response easily. On the plus side the batteries will last a long time because the small amp doesn't take much power.
They should replace the amp with a better one and consider changing the design over to AA batteries instead of D cells since it would still run a long time even on AA's and the radio could be built at half the size and weight while sounding better.
The AFC button (auto frequency control) has a design flaw in the circuitry that reduces the bass response by 3-4dB when enabled.
The rotary knobs have a large amount of slop in the mechanism even when new.
Good tuner designs (even very sensitive ones) can be quiet between stations but they didn't try much on this one. It has loud noise and distortion between FM stations and the noise is actually louder than the stations themselves.
Even a tiny Sandisk $29 Sansa mp3 player that I compared to gets more stations and sounds clearer.
I own the original GE SuperRadio and have realistic expectations so I felt inclined to let people know that this is not the same product. After reading some reviews talking about the wonderful sound quality I felt obligated to provide more technical information of the current product.
Buy RCA RP7887 Super Radio 3 Now
If you're looking for a 45-dollar radio with no frills, the best AM available, very strong FM, big sound and you don't care about looks or big size, accurate tuning dial, no clock or MP3 output, you've found your radio in the RCA High-Performance Super Radio. I keep mine in the garage and it booms big enough to hear when I'm washing the car. The AM is great. About the biggest headache is getting used to the tuning dial, which is less accurate than any radio I've owned. But it's still easy to use. To get a high-performance radio with digital tuning, presets, similar big sound, and accurate read-out, you'd have to dish out 125 dollars or so for the Kaito 2100. So depending on your budget and needs, the RCA may be the best radio available.
If you're looking for a replacement for the now discontinued Super Radio, you might want to check out the even better Sangean PR-D5, featuring a 200mm internal ferrite antenna, the biggest one available.
Read Best Reviews of RCA RP7887 Super Radio 3 Here
As a professional broadcaster for many years, I LIKE radios a lot. I've lived with my Superadio for about 10 years.
THE BAD: the ergonomics of the unit, the "human engineering", is pretty awful. The rotating pots for volume and tone are often sticky and gritty right out of the box. The plastic toggles for band, AFC, narrow/wide AM, are as cheap and cheesy as can be made and still function most of the time. The big tuner knob is pretty good, though. I don't get much drift once I set a station. The calibration of the dial is comically inaccurate, however, so the frequency markings are pretty much just a rough guide.
The form factor is another annoyance. Center of gravity is high so the unit tips over easily, and sometimes even adjusting the volume is a two-handed operation -one to hold the unit and the other to twist the gritty little knob.
Overall build quality is not very high, and many purchased units are defective. Anyone who complains that they can't get decent reception or the sound is bad on their Superadios have defective units. That's the only possible explanation.
THE GOOD: The sound is absolutely glorious. Nothing can touch it in its class, and for twice the money. In addition to the large speaker the unit boasts a small tweeter. Voice or music, it offers the best sound you can get in a portable radio.
Reception is likewise incredibly impressive. Listening to AM at night is a real trip, literally. This is one of the reasons that there is no digital tuning on this model. A dial setup will pull in stations much better than a typical digital tuner will. "Digital" is not always best.
Battery life seems infinite.
BOTTOM LINE: This is the radio for people, and only for those people, who want the best available sound from a table/portable radio. Dontcha all be lookin' for clocks and alarms and doodads on this sweet thing, now. It's ugly, downright fugly, with iffy build and questionable design. But once tuned in, the glory of the sonics will be a reminder of a little money very well spent indeed.
Want RCA RP7887 Super Radio 3 Discount?
This is a copy of a review that I posted on another listing on this site... Check around, prices vary over time between different vendors on Amazon.
How is it super? Let me count the ways:
Super Big...About 13x9x4 inches this is a large radio that has room for a large speaker for decent bass, and also a small "tweeter " for enhanced treble.
Super Heavy...Nearly 7 pounds with batteries, and installing batteries does seem to improve the sound quality.
Super Sensitive AM reception...At night, it is sometimes difficult to tell if a station is 1000 miles away or only 10!
Super Easy to Operate... No complicated digital stuff, just basic tuning, volume, tone controls, and a few switches.
Super Sound...Has separate Bass and Treble tone controls, to contour the sound to your taste.
Super Plain Looking...Very basic and functional design, not an eye-catcher. For "fancy" see my review of the Sangean PR D2V or Q radio.
Super Economical Operation...This radio will run *almost forever* on 6 D cells, and has a built-in power cord for AC operation, (you don't have to buy an extra wall wart supply).
Super Good Deal... I know of no AM/FM portable radio that offers this kind of performance at such low cost!
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This is more of a Super-Radio 4 with the cosmetics of a Superadio III. This is the third version of the RCA-branded "Superadio". It's not made by Thomson Consumer Electronics as the original Superadio III was made but by a Canadian outfit called AVC Electronics. The target market no longer seems to be the USA but Canada (nothing wrong with that).
I bought one of these just to see what changes were made I'm a radio engineer by trade and hobby.
It took me three samples before I found one radio that worked sort of properly. The first one was extremely mis-calibrated. The second one had floppy controls (the audio pots would turn 360 degrees as if their detents were broken) and dead spots across the dial. The third unit is calibrated properly on AM but slightly off on FM, particularly noticeable on the high end of the dial. A station on 106 FM appears halfway between 106 and 108.
Sound quality is not as good as the original IIIs. Audio is tinnier. The woofer in the current model doesn't have as much bass response as earlier units, even with the bass dial turned to maximum.
When turned on, it takes a while for voltages to ramp up and let the varactor tuning diodes return to the previous station that was listened to. Older IIIs would do this much more quickly. I haven't yet opened the radio to look at the circuit board, but the difference in performance suggests the electronics have been redesigned.
The most insignificant part is the slight but noticeable cosmetic changes: Printing on the top part of the cabinet is now gone. Also gone is the chrome finish on the knobs and switches replaced by a dull-grey matte finish.
In short, I think it's seriously time to consider retiring this model line.
It's been a good 30 years (I, II and III under GE and the second version of RCA-branded III; the first version being plagued by defective tuning potentiometers) but better-quality contemporary analog-tuned and digitally-tuned radios (by companies like C-Crane and Sangean) have superseded it.
Clearly the current manufacturer (AVC Electronics) is just cruising on name recognition and not quality.
This docking station makes it easy to charge up my Motorola Cliq 2 (MB611) phone. Instead of fumbling with a cable and then plugging it in, I simply drop it into the docking station, and it charges.
