Big Buddy and Little Buddy

 

On the left:  The familiar and some say legendary General Electric P-780 AM radio.  If you are into vintage classics and you don't have one, look for one.  It's an early solid state powerhouse that is engineered to replicate the sound of a warm tube radio.

On the right?  To me, it looks like a little sister to the P-780.  It's the "AIMOR" J-87-17373-A.

From what I can tell, it was sold by the Spiegel Catalog, Chicago.  I'm not sure when it was made/sold, but I would guess early 1960s.  The resemblence to the big GE is unmistakable, right down to the caramel color, chrome grille and carry handle.  One difference is that the GE is a plastic cabinet, while the AIMOR is genuine cowhide (and it's not a leather case----it's actually an integrated leather cabinet).  The little instruction booklet that was still with the radio when I scored it on E-Bay states that this AIMOR radio is "Extra high sensitive, luggage type with leather carrying handle, built in cow-hide cabinet, 10-transistors and 1 diode and de-luxe front panel made of die-cast."  Also, "Special ferrite core antenna, specially designed high sensitive ferrite core antenna self-contained, considerably improves sesnitivity of receiver."  It goes on:  "High efficiency A class push-pull amplification system.  Use of a pair of transistors for A class push-pull output circuit offers powerful output and rich tone."  And there's more: "Perfect printed-circuit board, modern perfect print-circuit system assures freedom from damages and also ensures unifrom quality and performance of receiver."  There's more, but you get the idea.  They were proud of this little radio. 

It takes six "C" batteries and really does put out powerful sound.  In fact, one issue I have with the radio is that when I turn it on, at minimum volume, it's a little too loud.  It's clear----not distorted----and it's fine to listen to from a distance, but if it's right next to me, it's not low enough.  I don't want to bother trying to fix it---I do use it, placed about 10 feet away and it's just fine.  Really, only one local station is super loud like that.  When I do a little DXing, it's not a problem.  It's not the best AM radio I have, but it's well made and very interesting---and it does work well.  I like the fact that the little users manual was still with it----and I got it for a song, along with a Lloyd's shortwave portable that I will review soon----once I have a chance to give it a few days use.  For now, I've been playing the AIMOR more often.  I buy and sell----and haven't decided if I'll let this one go or not.  It's a blast from the past, especially with the connection to the Spiegel Catalog.  Maybe some 1960's game show featured it when they announced Spiegel as a sponsor at the end of the show (I seem to recall "Truth or Consequences," "To Tell the Truth," "The Dating Game," "The Newlywed Game" and other shows like "What's My Line" listing their sponsors at the end and sometimes showing samples of what the sponsor sold.  Spiegel might have featured watches, luggage, radios and such---maybe someday I'll see my little AIMOR on a re-run!   

Angelo    

Comments

[Keith Rennie]

Nice find Angelo!
Thanks again for sharing your collection.
I'm lucky to have a 780 as well, but I think a cap or too needs replacing and I haven't built up the courage to do it yet. Good thing is there is lots of space to work in.
Cheers,
Keith

[moogbass]

I have three(!) Aimor boomboxes model number ST-804. How I came to have three is a long story, but they are built like tanks and have very good FM tuners. I don't remember testing the AM on them, so I can't comment.

[Angelo]

Moogbass: I would love to see a photo of one of those. When do you think they were made?

[moogbass]

Angelo: I think 1979 or 1980... I'll try to take a few pics tonight. The boombox(es) may be a little dusty, I haven't used them in some time. When cleaned up, at least one of them is minty (eBay term). The appearance of the Aimor is more "military" and less "street smart" like the JVCs. They have dual 6.5" Foster woofers, dual cone tweeters, and one Hitachi amp chip per channel, so the sound is quite good (and loud). The power transformer is huge for a boombox (it barely gets warm after extended high volumes), and the cassette flywheel looks like a small bagel. The Aimor ST-804 has surprising build quality for a brand that wasn't very common...

[moogbass]

Angelo: As promised...

Aimor ST-804 Face:

[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/2h8bhac.jpg[/IMG]

Aimor ST-804 Top:

[IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/148ogpf.jpg[/IMG]

You can see with a soda (pop) can for reference, it's not small!

The controls are from left to right: 1) Stereo Wide, Stereo, Mono 2) Metal, Chrome, Normal Tape 3) Radio/Phono, Tape 4) Volume knob 5) Tone control 6) Balance knob 7) and the slider to the far right is the radio band switch. (All these are from memory, so I might have Tone and Balance interchanged.)

I should review this for Jeff too, but I have to finish the JVC RC-345 first.

[Grant]

For sale on ebay: SONY ICF-S5W SSP Best Portable AM MW Radio Ever Made!!! Better the GE SUPER RADIO, C CRANE ETC

cgi.ebay.com/SONY-ICF-S5W-SSP-­­Best-Portable-AM-MW-Radio-Eve­r­-Made-/150615177055?pt=Vinta­ge­_Electronics_R2&hash=item23­115­d375f

Auction ends Jun 12, 201114:40:01 PDT