so ive had my TS-590SG for about 4 years now and honestly its been a great radio, no real complaints, but ive been looking at the IC-7300 and the 7610 and now i cant stop reading reviews at 2am like an idiot. the 590 does everything i need it to do for HF, i work mostly 40 and 20m, some 10m when the band opens up, mostly SSB with a little digital on the side using WSJT-X.

the thing is i keep reading about the 7300's waterfall and how much easier it makes finding activity and honestly that sounds kind of nice. but is that actually worth like $800-900 more than what i could sell the 590 for? or am i just bored and this is classic gear acquisition syndrome talking. my antenna situation is a 40m inverted V at about 35 feet which is fine, not going to win any pile-ups with it but it works.

anyone made a similar swap? did you actually notice a real difference day to day or did the excitement wear off after a week

i went from a 590 to a 7300 about two years ago and honestly... its mostly GAS but not entirely. the waterfall really does change how you operate a little, especially on 10m when you're hunting for openings, you can just see activity pop up without constantly spinning the dial. but the receiver in the 590 is genuinely competitive, icom didnt blow it out of the water there or anything.

what actually got me was the built in ATU is slightly more capable on the 7300 in my experience, and the USB audio interface being dead simple for digital modes was nice. but if youre already set up with WSJT-X on the 590 and it works, thats kind of a wash. i dont regret it but i also wouldnt tell someone they need to do it.

the 7610 is a completely diffrent conversation from the 7300 imo, dual watch alone makes it worth it if you do any serious contesting or DXing. but if your antenna is an inverted V at 35 feet the bottleneck isnt your radio lol. not saying that to be mean just... thats where id put the money first if i were you