What is it about old radios?

[Telecolor 3007]

Originally Posted by steerpike2

You also have to remember what those wooden table radios cost, in terms of how many months typical wages. Modern radios are cheap, and the quality reflects the price.

That's true. In the past you payed a lot for an good radio, but you use it for a lot of time! No you pay less, but if it'll last for 10 yrs is good

gadget73: you took the words out my mouth. You can feel an tube apparatus coming alive. A semiconductor stuff... you just simpley turn on. One of the reasons for which I sitll like vinil, reel to reel and audio cassettes is that I can see them moving - so I can feel them; I can't see the m.p. 3 moving

[Sandy G]

You boys are all FULL OF IT. I dunno why anyone in their RIGHT MIND would want one of those old crocks...Dam tubes burn out, ain't reliable, they drift, motorboat, & get entirely too hot, use entirely too much juice. Prolly oughta be outlawed, 'cos they have DEADLY voltages in 'em, too. So there. N'yah....(grin)

[toxcrusadr]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

You boys are all FULL OF IT. I dunno why anyone in their RIGHT MIND would want one of those old crocks...

For a second there I thought you were talking about you Sandy...

I see you're back to your old self.

[Marantz7t15]

Originally Posted by gadget73

Tube equipment is more "alive" than solid state. It has to warm up, it drifts and floats a little bit, and occasionally requires a little work under the hood to keep it going. They tend to not be dead on precise like a digital display, so there is a bit of user interaction required to get the intended results. I think thats part of the allure, the need to actually operate the radio. I get some of that out of analog tuned solid state units, but a tube set just has a certain something to it.

I think You hit it! It's as they say about steam locomotives verses modern diesel engines where the say the steam locomotives are breathing machines that have personality. These old radios, at least mine, seems to impart a sort of personality characteristic that is attributable to generations of operating. You sort of have to coax them into their groove.

[Telecolor 3007]

This comparation is not quyete good.
In the case of an tube radio, you don't feel only the apparatus, you feel also the clear and worm sound provided by the tubes.
P.S. I'm not an old man... I'm only 26.
P.S. 2 I'm curios, will any digital stuff ever match this: http://www.50er-radios.de/satu-563.html (see the image above).

[newhallone]

never

[radix39]

From what i've read online, my Telefunken Opus 7 cost $299 back in 1956/7 when it was released. Using an inflation calculator, that would come out to about $2400 in today's rates, without tax. And i'm sure that there were far more expensive sets out there than this too. I can't imagine any consumer radio coming anywhere close to that today. It just goes to show just how much people were willing to pay for good build quality back then, something that they would be proud to own.

[Saratoga48]

This one was in our house as long as I can remember. It is the one that got me hooked on this damn hobby. As a kid in the mid 50s, I was totally blown away by the fact I could actually listen to Radio Moscow, The BBC, AM radio from all over the country. I have since added many of its older and younger cousins from other manufacturers but this RCA 128 (1934) is the one that got me started.

[2DualsNotEnough]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I will say that for AM use, most any '60's 5 tube radio will blow the doors off of the average consumer radio made today.

I have 3 tube radios in my house that are the only things I listen to AM on.I get much better reception on them than any of my newer solid state radios or receivers.
Jimmy

[Marantz7t15]

Originally Posted by Saratoga48

This one was in our house as long as I can remember. It is the one that got me hooked on this damn hobby. As a kid in the mid 50s, I was totally blown away by the fact I could actually listen to Radio Moscow, The BBC, AM radio from all over the country. I have since added many of its older and younger cousins from other manufacturers but this RCA 128 (1934) is the one that got me started.

That's a super neat radio! How many tubes?

[Jeffhs]

Any of the Zenith radios from about the '40s to the '60s would be excellent sets for AM DXing and even just plain listening to local stations. I have a C845 (circa 1960), which has a 6BJ6 RF stage (works on AM as well as FM) and two IF stages plus a limiter stage. This radio pulls in stations like a magnet on AM after sundown (with its built-in Wavemagnet antenna), and will receive FM stations from 80-100 miles away under favorable conditions, again simply using the built-in antenna. The sound is fabulous as well with an 8" main driver and a 5" HF driver. When Zenith quit making the 800 series (C/H/Z-845, Y832, et al.) they broke the mold, which is too bad as these sets represented some of the best table radios Zenith ever made. The 1963 K-731 is also a great-sounding and performing radio, even though it does not have an AM RF stage. It has been said by another AK member that, with the introduction of the K731 in the early 1960s, Zenith had reached its....well, zenith as far as quality in small radios was concerned. I have one of these sets (in the Early American cabinet) and am very favorably impressed by the sound quality (the bass response is excellent), not to mention RF sensitivity, even without an AM RF stage. This radio has two IF stages for both bands and a limiter stage on FM.

The only places to find these great old sets today are on eBay, Craigslist and at garage, yard and estate sales; once in a while one of these may show up (gasp!) in someone's trash as well. If you find one, grab it! As I have said many times regarding vintage and antique Zenith radios, they don't make them like that anymore.

[Saratoga48]

Originally Posted by Marantz7t15

That's a super neat radio! How many tubes?

six tubes in this one, here is a nice write up on the RCA

http://www.tuberadioland.com/rca-128_main.html

[BostonDave]

These radios back in the 20's and 30's (before television) would have been the most sophisticated and advanced piece of electronic gear in the household - hence their 'hey-day'. They were expensive and valued then and were thus built with quality and attention to style. They really bring one back to another era and their physical presence of wood, metal, and glass and the glow of the tubes and the dial lamp in the dark certainly can transport you back into a different time for an evening.

I was born in the 60's, so never experienced the family huddled around a big console radio (or ever even had one in the house growing up) but I've got enough of an imagination to appreciate what that must have been like.

[toxcrusadr]

I have a 1948 Philco mono console, TOTL with 13 tubes, that's chalked on the back with a 1948 date and "$399". Serious money back then. There were pre-1930 deluxe sets with elaborate cabinets that were $500+. A L-O-T of money.

Saratoga: Very nice RCA 128.

JeffHS: I have a C845 that I've never been able to fix. FM is dead. Sitting in pieces. Nice radio though.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by 2DualsNotEnough

AM on.I get much better reception on them than any of my newer solid state radios or receivers.
Jimmy

It's possible to improve the sound of AM on modern SS receivers, by changing the IF filters in the Am section. A filter wide enough to pass the 10KHz audio an AM station broadcastrs, instead of just 5KHz most of those ceramic filters pass. See
http://pw2.netcom.com/%7Ewa2ise/radi...tml#solidstate