Review on FM-02 Amplified Omni-Directional AM/FM Stereo Antenna by Phil Casey

I live in the country, far from FM stations. I have some simple cables running along the wall behind my desk and this setup allows me to get some moderate quality channels. So I bought this fancy booster antenna with high hopes. Sigh. Out of curiosity, I tried it first without an amplifier, simply plugged it directly into my receiver. Nothing. I couldn't find a station! Then I connected the amplifier. Then I could get the same stations as with my wire, but with a noticeably weaker, noisier sound than with regular wire. I played with the controller a lot. I tried rotating the antenna and even laying it horizontally. Whatever I did, I couldn't match the modest quality I got with regular wire. Crazy.