Herculodge

One of My Top Three Vintage Radios Cost Me $40 Plus $20 Shipping

Telefunken Partner 700 

I like three types of radios: military, giant, heavy, brief case types, and the other worldly. This Telefunken Partner 700 is the latter type. I paid $40 plus $20 shipping. 

It's heavy and solidly built. The speaker is LOUD. The FM tuner is sensitive, but what really shines is AM, which sounds like FM stereo with no background noise. 

The FM antenna swivels 360 degrees, which I find essential for pinpointing hard-to-get stations. The radio flips in the upright and prone position. The on-off and band buttons depress like tape recorder buttons. I wish this feature were used more commonly. It has an upscale feel. 

I got some hum on FM after adjusting the volume, but the hum went away. I get no hum on AM. This is an old radio, about 30 years old. I'll keep an eye on the hum and see if it's progressive or something that goes away once the volume settles. All in all, this was well worth $60. 

Update: The speaker sound and tuner performance impress me more and more as I continue to use the 700 in the workout room. This has to have the warmest fidelity of any of my vintage radios. 

I like three types of radios: military, giant, heavy, brief case types, and the other worldly. This Telefunken Partner 700 is the latter type. I paid $40 plus $20 shipping. 

It's heavy and solidly built. The speaker is LOUD. The FM tuner is sensitive, but what really shines is AM, which sounds like FM stereo with no background noise. 

The FM antenna swivels 360 degrees, which I find essential for pinpointing hard-to-get stations. The radio flips in the upright and prone position. The on-off and band buttons depress like tape recorder buttons. I wish this feature were used more commonly. It has an upscale feel. 

I got some hum on FM after adjusting the volume, but the hum went away. I get no hum on AM. This is an old radio, about 30 years old. I'll keep an eye on the hum and see if it's progressive or something that goes away once the volume settles. All in all, this was well worth $60. 

Update: The speaker sound and tuner performance impress me more and more as I continue to use the 700 in the workout room. This has to have the warmest fidelity of any of my vintage radios. 

I like three types of radios: military, giant, heavy, brief case types, and the other worldly. This Telefunken Partner 700 is the latter type. I paid $40 plus $20 shipping. 

It's heavy and solidly built. The speaker is LOUD. The FM tuner is sensitive, but what really shines is AM, which sounds like FM stereo with no background noise. 

The FM antenna swivels 360 degrees, which I find essential for pinpointing hard-to-get stations. The radio flips in the upright and prone position. The on-off and band buttons depress like tape recorder buttons. I wish this feature were used more commonly. It has an upscale feel. 

I got some hum on FM after adjusting the volume, but the hum went away. I get no hum on AM. This is an old radio, about 30 years old. I'll keep an eye on the hum and see if it's progressive or something that goes away once the volume settles. All in all, this was well worth $60. 

Update: The speaker sound and tuner performance impress me more and more as I continue to use the 700 in the workout room. This has to have the warmest fidelity of any of my vintage radios. 

The Food Crusader Speaks, Part #1: Let Us Celebrate Beans

 

People in the United States don’t eat enough beans, which, rich in nutrients and fiber resulting in the lowering of your bad cholesterol and the rising of your good cholesterol,  are an official super food. But there’s a stigma in this country that says, “Beans aren’t sexy. Beans are synonymous with rot gut. Beans are slop.” This egregious misconception has no doubt disseminated throughout the clogged arteries of our bloated country from the notorious “bean scene” in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles. Relying on a hackneyed scatological gimmick for cheap laughs, Mel Brooks has, by demonizing beans, done more to harm the health of Americans than anyone on this planet. He should be ashamed of himself. 

Now get Blazing Saddles out of your mind, acclimate your stomach to beans by eating them every day, a few tablespoons at first, gradually building up to two cups a day for the rest of your life. And vary your beans. Don’t stick to just limas and kidneys, as good as they are, but foray into the heirloom varieties like Cellini, Mayacoba, Rio Zape, and Appaloosa beans. Beans are buttery, meaty, savory, full and satisfying. Eating beans will make you naturally shun the eating of slaughtered animals. Once you discover the toothsome delights of beans, you will no longer desire gnashing your teeth into a bloody carcass. You will once again be a true friend to the animals. You will find your spiritual center. You will free yourself from the Evil Industrial Food Machine. 

Eating beans will change your life. You owe it to yourself, your family, your children, and your country to get on the Bean-Eating Train. You owe it to the bean itself, which has been slandered for too long. Take the bean back from the clutches of misguided propaganda. Welcome the bean back into your home. Embrace it. Cherish it. Savor it. Your life depends on it. 

Rare Sony Vintage: 7F-74 DL Bidding for One Dollar

I love the basic look of this Sony 7F-74 DL and its appeal reminds me of why I'm a radio nut. Just when I think I'm burned out on vintage radios, I see this Sony and I get the same way I was as a kid looking at an MGB convertible. This radio could sell on the cheap.

Sony Orbiter Bidding for $25

I'm on a vintage radio hiatus as my office is out of room. But over the next few years if I had to buy only two they'd be a mint GE SRII and a Sony Orbiter. 

Sony CRF-320 Buy Now for $1,000

This Sony CRF-320 appears to have a lot of cachet. One recently bid for close to this. 

Appealing Sony Table Radio for $10

This vintage Sony table radio seems to be on the cheap. I'd ask the seller if you can attach an external FM antenna as it appears to rely on a wire. 

Sony TFM-1000 Is Actively Bidding, Currently for $64

With a minor crack, this "good working condition" Sony TFM-1000 should bid for close to $100. 

Herculodge First Look with an Update: The Grundig Satellit 750

Greg, a reader from Ann Arbor, Michigan, was kind enough to Fed Ex me his Grundig Satellit 750, which has a Kiwa speaker upgrade. Therefore, I have to assume the stock 750 speaker sound has less fidelity than the one I'll be using by my bedside for the next two weeks. 

As I will be using the 750 as a bedside radio, I'm not too worried about fidelity since I'm not cranking the thing up by any means. All that I ask is that its AM sound not be as harsh and punishing as my C.Crane CSW. Thankfully, the 750 is easier on the ears. 

When I took out the 750, I was amazed like other Tecsun radios at how light the radio is (Tecsun makes many Grundig and Eton radios, including the GS750). I prefer my radios to be heavy like tanks, which is why several months ago I went on a vintage radio spree, getting my grubby hands on some classics so that I could use them as a point of comparison for some of today's radios. 

Here's the bright side of the GS750's light weight: It makes a very good portable radio, much better than I initially thought. It's easy to handle and not as big in person as you might think. If you're a camper or do a lot of outdoor radio listening, I can recommend the GS750. 

One thing I like about the 750 is the way it looks on my bedside table. Its cockpit control styling makes me feel like a little kid on a toy airplane or flying in a pretend rocket to Mars. 

The 750 by your bed says boldly, "You have arrived at the Mothership." Before I geek-out too much, let me transition to function and performance.

The learning curve for time controls, direct key entry, and presets is fairly easy. It took me about five minutes to comprehend the manual; however, I have toyed around with Tecsun radios before, so I am fairly familiar with their functions.

As a bedside radio, it's nice that you can toggle through your stations with the up and down arrow buttons. 

I haven't used this radio at night yet and doubt it is illuminated sufficiently without my needing a pen flashlight. Clearly, the 750 is more of a general table radio than a clock radio, but I'm using it by my bedside because that is where I listen to radio most often and I want to get as many hours in as possible during my two-week loan.

What about performance? Excellent on FM and AM. I was able to eliminate birdy on weak AM stations by rotating the rotational antenna, called a Gyro on vintage Panasonics. 

The FM antenna is huge and can be rotated 360 degrees. There is also an FM antenna button that gives you varying degrees of attenuation to maximize reception. 

I'd say FM was as strong as my current FM champion, my C.Crane CSW. Better yet, the GS 750's AM sounds much better. 

Truth be told, I am more impressed with the GS750 than I thought I'd be. I love its look, its performance is excellent, its functions and options are plentiful without being too busy. 

I think if I were to buy one on Amazon for their sale price of $220 and free shipping, I'd have to put it in the workout room and move the Boston Acoustics Horizon Duo, a completely different kind of radio, in my bedroom. The question is will I buy a GS750? Hard to say. For about $150, I should be able to get a C.Crane CCRadio 2, which may be a better fit in my bedroom. While I am confident the CCRadio 2, made by Sangean, will match the GS750's AM performance and have richer speaker sound, I am not convinced that its FM will be able to compete with the GS750's.

 

In any event, I don't have to make a decision now. I have another two weeks with the GS750 to think it over.  

Update:

The longer I used the GS750, it seems I found myself more and more frustrated. All those knobs and all that effort to fine-tune everything and for what? Not significant performance over other cheaper radios like the Grundig S350DL or my C.Crane CSW. Worse, the GS750 did not get as good AM as my Sangean PR-D5.

If you like adjusting all the knobs, this radio is for you. But for me this radio lacks the wow factor, especially on AM reception and speaker sound, to justify its full retail price.

Greg, a reader from Ann Arbor, Michigan, was kind enough to Fed Ex me his Grundig Satellit 750, which has a Kiwa speaker upgrade. Therefore, I have to assume the stock 750 speaker sound has less fidelity than the one I'll be using by my bedside for the next two weeks. 

As I will be using the 750 as a bedside radio, I'm not too worried about fidelity since I'm not cranking the thing up by any means. All that I ask is that its AM sound not be as harsh and punishing as my C.Crane CSW. Thankfully, the 750 is easier on the ears. 

When I took out the 750, I was amazed like other Tecsun radios at how light the radio is (Tecsun makes many Grundig and Eton radios, including the GS750). I prefer my radios to be heavy like tanks, which is why several months ago I went on a vintage radio spree, getting my grubby hands on some classics so that I could use them as a point of comparison for some of today's radios. 

Here's the bright side of the GS750's light weight: It makes a very good portable radio, much better than I initially thought. It's easy to handle and not as big in person as you might think. If you're a camper or do a lot of outdoor radio listening, I can recommend the GS750. 

One thing I like about the 750 is the way it looks on my bedside table. Its cockpit control styling makes me feel like a little kid on a toy airplane or flying in a pretend rocket to Mars. 

The 750 by your bed says boldly, "You have arrived at the Mothership." Before I geek-out too much, let me transition to function and performance.

The learning curve for time controls, direct key entry, and presets is fairly easy. It took me about five minutes to comprehend the manual; however, I have toyed around with Tecsun radios before, so I am fairly familiar with their functions.

As a bedside radio, it's nice that you can toggle through your stations with the up and down arrow buttons. 

I haven't used this radio at night yet and doubt it is illuminated sufficiently without my needing a pen flashlight. Clearly, the 750 is more of a general table radio than a clock radio, but I'm using it by my bedside because that is where I listen to radio most often and I want to get as many hours in as possible during my two-week loan.

What about performance? Excellent on FM and AM. I was able to eliminate birdy on weak AM stations by rotating the rotational antenna, called a Gyro on vintage Panasonics. 

The FM antenna is huge and can be rotated 360 degrees. There is also an FM antenna button that gives you varying degrees of attenuation to maximize reception. 

I'd say FM was as strong as my current FM champion, my C.Crane CSW. Better yet, the GS 750's AM sounds much better. 

Truth be told, I am more impressed with the GS750 than I thought I'd be. I love its look, its performance is excellent, its functions and options are plentiful without being too busy. 

I think if I were to buy one on Amazon for their sale price of $220 and free shipping, I'd have to put it in the workout room and move the Boston Acoustics Horizon Duo, a completely different kind of radio, in my bedroom. The question is will I buy a GS750? Hard to say. For about $150, I should be able to get a C.Crane CCRadio 2, which may be a better fit in my bedroom. While I am confident the CCRadio 2, made by Sangean, will match the GS750's AM performance and have richer speaker sound, I am not convinced that its FM will be able to compete with the GS750's.

 

In any event, I don't have to make a decision now. I have another two weeks with the GS750 to think it over.  

Update:

The longer I used the GS750, it seems I found myself more and more frustrated. All those knobs and all that effort to fine-tune everything and for what? Not significant performance over other cheaper radios like the Grundig S350DL or my C.Crane CSW. Worse, the GS750 did not get as good AM as my Sangean PR-D5.

If you like adjusting all the knobs, this radio is for you. But for me this radio lacks the wow factor, especially on AM reception and speaker sound, to justify its full retail price.

Mike's First Look at the Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo

I just brought home a new Horizon Solo and hear it playing a little Roy Orbison right now.

It's way too soon to judge, but my initial impression is favorable.

I didn't bother with the pigtail for FM. I ran a mini-coax up to the attic space to some old TV rabbit ears I had and seem (at first look, anyway) to be getting basically the same stations my Satellit 800 gets with that antenna. Very good FM tuner for the price.

The AM tuner is OK, and AM sound is very good, clear and strong when the signal allows.

I had the more telegenic Recepter for a while, so the controls don't surprise me - I know that I already like the Solo's preset knob before I've even tried it.

Of course, I'll soon wish I had gotten the Duo, but if I had, I'd be thinking I should have gotten the Solo, so no harm done there.

A little funny-looking but I suppose it could grow on me. Good value for the price.

From the Netherlands: Philips 990 Portable Radio Bidding on eBay

What a marvel to look at. This Philips 990 is bidding for $396 plus $75 shipping with 2 hours of bidding to go.