1923 "Bijou" British crystal reciever
 

I recently made a trade for this great little crystal set made in Rugby, England by The British Thomson-Houston Co., LTD. With my AM transmitter I can get a low, but perfectly clear sound from it out of my 1922 Brown mini goose-neck horn speaker which is also British, made by S.G. Brown LTD, London. The solid cabinet, brown bakelite panel and knobs, and nickel-plate hardware give it a sense of good quality. It even has a two-position antenna tap switch.
http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...ps63dxfs28.jpg

WOW!!! I'm jealous! You actually got sound with it out of a horn with no amplifier??

Yes, but be aware I have a very strong signal coming from my AM transmitter and the sound level is still quite low. Under lesser condition I believe I best use headphones!

Elegant. Very nice.

That right there is exactly what I'm looking for. I'd love an early crystal set, but most you see were obviously built to the lower end of a price point (like the Philmore sets). Yours is a real gem! Ideally, I'd probably end up looking for a small tube amp of the era to power a horn like that.

Right now I'm puzzling out how something like this works in order to make my Radiola III somewhat portable....but to no avail.

Very nice! :yes:

Thanks guys for all you comments. I must say that this is one of the nicest little early crystal sets I've seen.
I would recommend to anyone interested in crystal sets to stick with the '22-'24 era models. This was era when people were still using these as their primary receiver and they often had a look of quality about them. Later on, when radio prices went down, they were basically regulated to nothing more than a kids toy and they looked it.
I've seen the Radiola III made portable by creating a lidded box designed to snuggly fit the receiver, batteries, and headphones. That would be a nice project.
By the way, I believe these early mini Brown horn speakers were actually designed to work with crystal receivers. Using a small modern amp would greatly help, but I actually like the primitive low sound it has as-is! Joe

Have any good recommendations as to models? I admit that I know very little about crystal sets of the era, but I'm trying to gather as much info as I can.

Yes I do. The Federal Jr. from 1922 is a must have with it's black painted brass cabinet and large side dials. Very unique looking set (it was actually a phone base used by Federal!) that has a feel of quality about it. It's also fun to see it used in "The Roaring Twenties" movie with Cagney. These do come-up for sale from time to time. Again, you want the models from the '22-'24 period.
The Federal Jr. -
https://www.radiolaguy.com/images/cr...deral-Jr-b.jpg

Does it take much futzing with the cats whisker to get it goin'?

Using an AM transmitter, no. With the strong signal you quickly hear the station after a few touches on the crystal. Then you can gently tweak it for the loudest sound. Many collectors find much more enjoyment setting up a antenna system and searching for a station. I just don't have the time! The great thing with these is nothing gets warm or worn-out. You can just leave the set playing indefinitely! As a strict art-deco AC radio collector for many years, I must say that these early sets are a lot of fun to collect and use.