so ive been licensed for about 3 years now mostly just did VHF/UHF stuff with a couple handhelds and a cheap chinese dual band mobile but i finally want to get into HF properly. been saving up and im basically down to either the IC-7300 or the FT-991A and i cannot make up my mind.

the 991A is appealing because it does VHF and UHF too so theoretically i could use it for everything in one box, but i keep reading that the HF performance on the 7300 is just better overall especially the waterfall which everyone seems to love. my shack is basically just a desk in the corner of my bedroom so space isnt a huge issue but id rather not have five radios eventually either.

i dont really care about contesting or anything like that, mostly interested in just making contacts, maybe some digital modes down the road like FT8. has anyone actually run both of these side by side or switched from one to the other? genuinely curious if the 991A HF receive is as good as the 7300 or if thats just a meme at this point

had the 991A for almost two years before i moved to the 7300 and honestly the difference in the receiver is real, not a meme. on a busy 40m evening the 7300 just handles adjacent signals better, the roofing filter situation on the 991A always bugged me a little especially on SSB. that said the 991A is not a bad radio at all and if the VHF/UHF integration matters to you it's actually pretty convenient for things like APRS or linked repeater stuff.

for FT8 specifically either will work fine, the 7300 USB audio interface is stupid easy to set up which is nice for digital. but really if HF is your main thing just get the 7300 and grab a separate cheap dual bander if you still want VHF coverage, you'll probably end up happier long term

i mean i only have the 7300 so cant really compare directly but the waterfall alone is worth it imo, i use it constantly just to see whats happening on a band before i even tune anywhere. setup for wsjt-x took me like 20 minutes the first time which was pretty painless. only thing i'd say is the stock mic is kinda meh but thats pretty common