It was a great little receiver, the simple classic five tube AC/DC design. The biggest drawback to it was it was AM only, and by the late '60s nearly all Hams and some broadcasters were using SSB. So a family friend took an old pocket size transistor radio and made it into a beat frequency oscillator and I could then receive CW and SSB.
Today when I SWL (which probably isn't nearly enough) I use a Yaeusu FT747GX transceiver with the FM kit and also modified for GEN. There are a lot more full featured receivers and transceivers available than this but I like it's size and simplicity. I keep a box of accessories (cables, antenna wires, etc) handy and it's all an easy grab for a bugout.