so ive had my IC-756 Pro III sitting on the desk for probably 12 years now and honestly it still works fine but im starting to wonder if im missing out on anything with the newer stuff. the DSP on it has always been a little meh compared to what people talk about with the newer icom and yaesu flagships. i was looking at the 7300 just because everyone seems to love it but then part of me thinks if im gonna spend money i should just jump to the 7610 or even look at the 7700 used market.

the thing is i mostly do SSB on 40 and 20, some 17m, not really a contester just casual rag chewing and the occasional DX pile when something interesting pops up on the cluster. not sure i need panadapter capability badly enough to justify the price jump but once you see it its hard to go back or so they say. does anyone actually use the dual watch on the 7610 regularly or is it mostly a nice to have that sounds good on paper

also my shack is pretty basic, just the radio, an LDG tuner, and a dipole in the attic so its not like im running a competitive station or anything. just want something that sounds good on rx and doesnt make me fight it every time i sit down

honest opinion? the 7300 would be a big step up from the 756P3 in terms of the SDR-based receiver and the waterfall is genuinely useful even for casual operating, you start to see propagation in a way you just cant with a traditional rig. i made the jump from an older Icom myself a few years back and i was surprised how much i used the spectrum scope just for casual operating, not contesting or anything serious.

that said if you can stretch to the 7610 i think its worth it used. the dual watch thing i honestly use more than i thought i would, mostly just keeping an eye on two bands at once when im waiting for a specific station to clear up. its not a must have but its nice. i wouldnt buy new at 7610 prices but used market has been pretty reasonable lately. the 7700 is great but that feels like overkill for what you described and the older architecture means you're not getting the same SDR front end anyway

i went from a ts-590 to the 7300 last year and yeah the waterfall changes how you operate whether you want it to or not. only thing i'd say is if your attic dipole has any issues the 7300's ATU is pretty limited so you might still be leaning on that LDG anyway. not a dealbreaker just something to keep in mind