so ive been running an old FT-450D for about 4 years now and honestly its served me fine but the waterfall on it is pretty rough and i keep hearing everyone rave about the 7300. was basically set on buying one this weekend but then my buddy at the club meeting last night goes 'well have you looked at the 7610' and now my brain is spinning again.

my actual use case is mostly casual HF, some 40m and 20m ragchewing, occasional contests when i feel like it, nothing serious. i dont do any serious DX chasing or anything. the 7610 feels like overkill for what i do but i dunno maybe future proofing is worth the extra $700 or whatever the difference is right now. also my shack is just a corner of the spare bedroom so its not like im running some serious station here.

anyone gone from a 450D to the 7300 and felt like it was actually worth it? or am i just chasing waterfall porn at this point

went through almost the exact same thing two years ago, came from an older Kenwood and kept going back and forth on the 7300 vs waiting for something better. ended up just getting the 7300 and honestly for casual operating it is absolutely the right radio. the waterfall alone changes how you operate, you start actually seeing band conditions instead of just spinning the dial hoping something is there.

the 7610 dual receiver thing is great but unless you're seriously doing SO2R or heavy contest work you're not gonna use it. and for a corner of a spare bedroom doing 40m ragchews... yeah the 7300 is plenty. the DSP and noise reduction on it is genuinely good, way ahead of where the 450D was when that came out. just buy it, you'll be happy.

idk man i'd look at what the 7300 goes for used before buying new, seen em on qrz classifieds lately for like 850-900 in good shape. that's a decent chunk saved and the radio is built solid enough that buying used isnt really a risk. just my two cents