The other American made radio that does a respectable job on AM is the Elecraft K3.
Woa... the K3 is up there with the worst of them. Sounds like complete garbage. the K3 is a CW radio, that happens to do SSB. Nice radio, But I cant imagine anyone buying one and using it on AM.
I have heard several K3s on AM and I thought they sounded just fine
I get great reports on my K3 on AM. Even with no external "processing", using some "gentle" tweaking of the transmit EQ, and a Shure SM58 microphone, I have had several reports that the K3 "sounds like a plate modulated rig". I usually set the K3 to about 12 watts carrier output, and run it into an AL811h running about 150 watts carrier. Great reports and it looks good on the monitor scope.
I have been wondering, and it sounds like some people have experience with it, how is the Elecraft K3 at receiving AM. I have heard a lot about people's opinions on its ability to transmit AM, but I rarely hear about their opinion of it for receiving AM. As far as modern equipment goes, I'd be comparing it to my Drake R-8B, which seems hard to beat in the opinion of many who do not mind something more modern.