Doug writes:
After ordering a Sangean WR-2 yesterday (being benignly coerced into it by your strong nomination and Ed's second), I did some thinking about my favorite table radios, of which I have probably a dozen. Number 1, of course, is my Proton 300 whose rich, burnished, expansive concert hall audio is all but matchless. But a close second, and one I would strongly recommend to 'Lodger regulars, is the Grundig RF 121U. Built in 1968, it was among the first (maybe THE first? I don't know) of the company's solid state radios. Aesthetically, it's the best-looking radio I own with its high-gloss plastic case in polished teak and faux wood grille, divided into separate sections for each of its two full-range speakers——kind of a simultaneously vintage and contemporary appearance that would fit in nearly anywhere. Good sized unit, too, at 18"L x 9"H x 6"D, so a real presence in the room. There is a single Tone control but it allows for an impressive degree of sound customizing, and the unit's audio is clean, robust, and room-filling, second only to my Proton (and really not by all that much). Selectivity and sensitivity are uniformly excellent on FM, even with the little built-in antenna. AM seems fine, too, but I hardly ever listen to AM so I haven't really done much of a test drive there.
You see this radio from time to time on Ebay, often for under $100. I paid something like $75 for mine and it is in pristine, near-mint condition.
You should get one for yourself.
I couldn't wait for the Sears catalog to arrive during the '60s and look at these magnificent hunks of polished warm plastic and wood. Exotic city names and meter band numbers softly backlit.... And pushbuttons!
What did Grundig mean in German? Who cared. Say Blaupunkt. BLAUPUNKT!
You never saw *these* in Radio Shack catalogs!
Posted by: Stu Morrison | December 26, 2012 at 02:53 PM
Doug - Now that looks like a "real" radio, with a nice wood case. As Angelo mentioned, you can't get new radios with this material and construction quality today, which is a real shame.
Posted by: Gary | December 26, 2012 at 04:34 PM