so ive had my ts-590sg for going on 6 years now and honestly its been rock solid, no complaints really. but ive been eyeing the ic-7300 for a while and just wondering if anyone has actually made that switch and whether it felt like a meaningful upgrade or just kind of lateral. i mostly do ssb on 40 and 20, some occasional 10m when the band cooperates, and i dabble in ft8 but im not super serious about digital modes.

the main thing pulling me toward the icom is the built-in waterfall display because right now im running an sdr dongle on the side just to get that visual which feels kind of janky. but i dunno, the kenwood receiver always felt really clean to me and im not sure id want to give that up. anyone run both at some point? or even just have opinions on whether the 7300s rx holds up compared to the 590.

not in a huge rush to do anything, just kind of turning it over in my head. shack is pretty simple, just the radio into an ldk autotuner and out to a g5rv up about 30 feet.

made almost exactly that swap about two years ago, went from a 590 to the 7300 and honestly it took me a few weeks to stop second-guessing myself. the waterfall alone is worth it for how i operate — i do a lot of casual band scanning and being able to see whats happening without a separate sdr is just way more convenient. the integration is tight, it doesnt feel like an afterthought the way a dongle setup can.

rx wise i think theyre pretty comparable in real world use. on paper the kenwood has some advantages in certain blocking situations but sitting in my shack working the pile-ups on 40 i cant say i noticed a meaningful difference. where the icom wins for me is just the overall feel of the thing, the interface is intuitive once you get used to it and the touchscreen actually works well unlike some radios that have screens that feel like they were bolted on as an afterthought. if your g5rv is only at 30 feet the antenna is probably limiting you more than either radio anyway, just saying.

i cant speak to the 590 specifically but i went from an older icom to the 7300 last year and the waterfall really does change how you use the radio day to day. only thing id mention is the 7300 has been out a while now and theres rumors floating around about what icoms gonna do next in that price range, might be worth keeping an eye on that before pulling the trigger if youre not in a hurry anyway.