One of my present radios is a ca 1975 crystal set, and folks often comment on how good it sounds. My suspicion is that the audio quality is currently being degraded on the sending end rather than the receiving end. Of course, the 'micro-speakers' that are being used don't help matters, being favorable to the higher octaves. I suspect that an auxiliary larger speaker might be a good addition if you have high frequency hearing loss - as I do (too much time with steam turbines ?).