[Brett Buck]

     I currently have two of those radios. Just as a safety issue, I would strongly suggest that you replace the wax/paper capacitor that goes to the phono input with a brand new one, or better yet, disconnect the entire jack. The capacitor is the only thing keeping the ground/shield from being at line voltage. If it fails short, there's a 50/50 chance of the ground being "hot" (depending on how you insert the plug into the socket).

      I would also caution that these radios use a selenium rectifier which is an accident waiting to happen. It's also under power all the time the radio is plugged in, and there's no fuse. At the very least, if it fails, it will stink your house up with a very hard-to-forget and hard-to-get-rid-of smell, or at the worst start a fire. There are also a bunch of wax/paper caps in the power supply that are like as not to fail at any moment, which will initiate a rectifier failure. Replacing the rectifier with a 1n4007 diode and replacing all the power supply capacitors with new parts is highly recommended, adding a fuse is highly recommended, and until then, don't leave it plugged in. Ideally you would also need to add some S-I-T series resistance when replacing the diode (to make up the voltage difference) but that's more of a reliability issue with the tubes, and they are all pretty darn cheap.

    The sound quality of a perfectly-working unit is decent. Not high-fidelity by 60's or later standards, but decent. It's probably worth the effort to go through it and fix the safety and performance issues because it's easy and cheap to do, but don't expect miracles. My perfect unit is kind of boomy, and while I am pretty sure it's working, the tweeter can be disconnected with little change in the ultimate sound quality. It has fantastic sensitivity and since it's mono, the S/N ratio and multipath rejection is excellent.

     Brett

   
   

[Levi]

Thanks Brett for the warning as I don't know much about the radio. It has so many tiny tubes I am not familiar with.

[JWJ356]

Nice!  Very nice.

But, hey, it's got to be High Fidelity because it says so!

[satfrat]

   Hi ole buddy. I hope the return to schoolin' is doing a good job in your own personal restoration efforts. You are missed! 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[Levi]

Thanks guys.  I figured that "High Fidelity" was the selling point rather than watts! 

Robin:  I have some extra time today. 

[yeldarb]

When I was a kid, our elderly neighbor kept one of those Zeniths on a small table by the side of her chair.  One afternoon it caught fire.  Her husband was quick enough to throw it outside, before the fire spread.  I do remember the odor.

[carusoracer]

My Sansui TU 717 Tuner. I'm not sure of the age though
But it is a nice unit.

[Brett Buck]

When I was a kid, our elderly neighbor kept one of those Zeniths on a small table by the side of her chair.  One afternoon it caught fire.  Her husband was quick enough to throw it outside, before the fire spread.  I do remember the odor.

  Hard to forget, huh?

    I don't want to overstate the issue, because this one is no more failure prone than any other of the same era. But some of the components, while good at the time, are not up to current standards and were certainly not intended to still be working 50 years later. And the design would not pass current safety standards.

   But there were millions and millions of radios of similar designs made and they didn't all burst into flames.

      Brett


p.s. as an aside, the most difficult thing to get right on these particular radios is not the electronics, it's the mechanical aspects, specifically, keeping out rattles/buzzes/twanging of the various parts. The trim ring, for instance tends to rattle on the face when it's turned up, and the bottom of the chassis is thin sheet metal and tends to rattle. They benefit greatly from either self-adhesive lead foil or Frank Van Alstine's favorite plasti-clay on the speaker baskets. I think the lead foil is a much better choice in this case because it gets a little warm inside and the clay tends to get soft and fall off. As previously mentioned, working perfectly, these radios do sound pretty nice, probably as good as any current table radio aside from maybe the Tivoli Model one and two.

[SteveFord]

A "new" acquisition, a Sherwood S3000-IV. 
A bit bass-shy but it sure sounds nice otherwise and has surprisingly good reception even without an antenna hooked up!

[bunky]

I have a really minty looking Sansui TU-717 Tuna that was made in 1979 that i just put into my 2ch Rig a few months ago 

[soundbitten1]

The oldest piece of gear in my main rig are 2 (they're mono) AudioArts 4100s. They are fantastic sounding and completely transparent. I wish I had gotten them years ago.

[bside123]

1956 Grundig Majestic 3095 German Tube Radio

I use this regularly. Great sound. Warm and nostalgic.

[Mike Nomad]

~

[Brett Buck]

1956 Grundig Majestic 3095 German Tube Radio

I use this regularly. Great sound. Warm and nostalgic.

  Your previous post on this topic inspired me to start collecting/repairing radios - like this one



    FM reception on this beauty *is far better* than any dedicated tuner I have, not even close. I have a lot older radios than this but this is the king of the hill as far as quality goes.

    Brett

[bside123]

  Your previous post on this topic inspired me to start collecting/repairing radios - like this one



    FM reception on this beauty *is far better* than any dedicated tuner I have, not even close. I have a lot older radios than this but this is the king of the hill as far as quality goes.

    Brett

Brett: That's a beauty. Since I've taken those photos that I posted, I've thoroughly cleaned up the old Grundig... inside and out. I also cleaned all of the switches, relays, wire connections, sockets and tube pins. I tested the tubes, and they are all still in great condition. I had an immediate JUMP in sound quality and reception. I still haven't hooked up an external antennae. Stations come in LOUD and clear... but tend to drift at times (kinda of like in waves). I live in the country. I haven't figured out exactly why or what is the pattern. I'm sure that an antennae would help tremendously.

Otherwise, the sound quality of FM broadcast sounds so much more pleasing to my ears than most modern, dedicated tuners. This radio truly sounds musical and super analog. I don't play it through my hi-fi, so my expectations of it sounded just like what it's "supposed" to sound like are still in order. If I want to listen to the radio, I use the Grundig. If I want to listen to hi-fi... I listen to my system. Enjoy.

Din

[Brett Buck]

I still haven't hooked up an external antennae. Stations come in LOUD and clear... but tend to drift at times (kinda of like in waves).

     The Telefunken doesn't drift at allon FM, and that's with no AFC. My Emud Jr. , on the other hand,  drifts *a lot*. I haven't had much luck with Shortwave yet.

   The sound on the Telefunken is very pleasant but rather "heavy" by hi-fi standards. but pretty much the same thing - if I want to listen to radio, I listen to the radio, not the hi-fi with a tuner.

    Brett

[doug s.]

A "new" acquisition, a Sherwood S3000-IV. 
A bit bass-shy but it sure sounds nice otherwise and has surprisingly good reception even without an antenna hooked up!

a properly functioning sherwood tubed tuna will not be at all bass-shy - amhik.     though it might cost more to refurb one of these sherwood tunas than the cost of the tuna itself, it's worth it, cuz it's not that the refurb cost is so much, it's that the sherwood tunas are so relatively inexpensive.   

doug s.

[pheesama]

mine was omni directional tweeters from fukuin pioneer back in 1956.

[orthobiz]

My Dahlquist DQ-10's I bought new in 1977 and my Linn Sondek from 1979 (I am second owner of a 1977 machine).

Just won't be able to part with them ever (at this rate, anyway!).

Paul

[SteveFord]

I'm going even further backwards with a Sherwood S3000-III tuner replacing a Carver TX-11a.
The Sherwood is fresh from a check up at the shop and it sounds really nice and has surprising reception, too.  I'm picking up a jazz station, which is coming in crystal clear, from Washington, DC which is a good 125 miles from me.