Old electronics
 

I found my 1958 Zenith transoceanic Royal 1000 SW radio in the back of the closet the other day. This was the first transistorized portable SW radio, (the transistors plug into sockets and are removable because, well, thats the way they did it with vacuum tubes, so ...) It was the first portable to use 'D' cell batteries rather than the odd high voltage short lived 'brick' batteries previous portables needed. I stuck in 9 (!) D cells, and despite having been on the shelf for at least 15 years, it fired right up and tuned in stations in Germany, Kuwait, and Russia.

Intrigued, I did a search on the web and found comparison tests between these old units and new, $250 solid state digital tuner SW portable radios. The tests say the 1958 Zenith matched or exceeded everything the new radios accomplished, with the exception that the digital tuner was easier to use, and the newer ones had better between station noise filtering. On the other hand, all the Zenith compnents are 45+ years old - wonder what the results would be with fresh components! The Zenith also had better tone quality in the tests.

How many of you have older electronics that have held up well (in contrast to modern telephones, computers, etc.)?

I have the same radio, I love the RDF feature for navigation.

The same applies to professional music recording equipment as well.

Even with all of the amazing modern computer technology available for recording music, many people (myself included) prefer the "warm" sound of vintage, analog recording equipment.

You wouldn't believe some of the INSANE prices that are commonly paid for certain pieces of very desirable vintage recording gear (such as certain brands of analog recording/mixing consoles, pre-amps, compressors, equalizers, tube microphones, tube-powered guitar and/or bass amps, etc.).

I have a wish-list of certain pieces of recording gear that I'd like to acquire, and the going-rates for all of it reaches into the tens of thousands of dollars range! :eek:

Mike

I have an old Packard Bell console stereo from the late 50s or early 60s that works great. It has one of the old record dropping turntables and a tuner. It has awesome reception. I am in southeast Wisconsin and get clear reception of Chicago, Michigan and all over Wisconsin stations, with no visible antenna. You dial in the station and when you get a weak signal on what you want to hear you push the automatic fine tuning button and it locks right in. The sound can't be beat either.

I don't usually buy really old stuff but there are brands from the 80s and 90s that kick ass. Often you can often get it for the price of normal new stuff. So you pay a normal price and get something that would cost 2-4 times what you would have to pay new for the same quality. Most of the time it is just amps because speakers have improved quite a bit over time IMO.

My favorites:
NAD amps sound great and are incredibly powerful compared to the ratings
ADS car amps and some speakers. Just a different world.
Klipsch speakers

I think some of the newer A/D/S stuff is all right. I am hoping to use an old A/D/S power plate amp with ~1000W (I have seen an 800W one) if I can find one cheap enough with a Resonant Engineering XXX 12" or 15" sub.

Yephttp://www.managemoney.org/Dynchassis.jpg

Yours?....

I'm VERY envious. :(

Mike

I have contacted the Department of Homeland security they are on their way ... :D

My grandpa left me this, it still works.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ndradio005.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks - it's a Dynakit70 redo that the guys from BAT did along time ago as a project. I'm Linn/NAIM nuts, but had to find out about tube sound. Great for the stage for sure, but I'm up in the air for home audio - thinks it's all in the preamp and source.http://www.managemoney.org/Dyninside.jpg

Drop me a line if you're gonna' sell it!.....

Mike

t.o.
 

yup, those tranoceanics are not bad. I have the L400? Tube radio and Grundigs tr6001,5000, Transoceanic 3000-1 and tube stereo stuff as well as transistor stuff.

Truth is that many transisitor audio gig made in 75-80's(?) transistor golden era that are way good.

Transistor phono stage seems to satisfy true vinyl-audiophiles more than tube .that is subjective.

"Thanks - it's a Dynakit70 redo that the guys from BAT did along time ago as a project. "

I THOUGHT that looked like the old Dyna stereo 70 my roomate had back in college, but the components looked too new to be vintage, so I checked the van Alstine site to see if they looked the same. I don't have a Dyna chassis for them to rebuild, so maybe I will have to save for one of their pre amps and hybrid amps, unless someone knows something better out there without going with a new MacIntosh Labs.

My wife's girl friend in college had a Fisher tube pre-amp and Mac amp - she was going to pitch the Mac because it stopped working! I took it to one of their roving clinics that Mac used to do, and they swapped tubes and a transformer, plus a couple other bits. brought it up to spec at no charge - don't find many deals like that any more.

I think you'll find Van Alstine is some of the best, most honest stuff for the money, anywhere. They're just not a part of the retail hype world. They often have used equipment that they refurbish and guarantee as new. Better hurry though - Frank is getting pretty old and when he goes they won't be the same.

Even Mac doesn't do that anymore..