Mint In Box GE Super Radio II

If you're willing to spend more than $400, treat yourself to the delights of fine radio listening in the apex performing, mint in box GE SRII. I should have bought one for $60 when they sold in the 1980s.

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Comments

[Dave P]

One of these went up for sale last week, just like this one. New in box, and the Buy It Now was $400. I thought the seller was dreaming, but the radio sold within a few hours. I wonder if this one makes it through the night?? Boy, would I love to have a pristine SR, but the budget just can't handle a hit like that.

[Keith Beesley]

Aah, why would anybody need a brand-new-in-box one, unless they were buying it just to display on a shelf? If I needed one, I'd rather get a crappy, beat-up looking one that still works great for less than $100., and have $300. left over.

[Vimal Oberoi]

Meloson M7 Rechargeable AM/FM DSP Radio, MP3 Player with Built-in Micro SD/TF Card Reader for $30.00 & FREE Shipping 0n Amazon

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[owl]

There are so many cheap and expensive headphones. This one is quite different - it is a unique wood headphone for crystal radio.

A Chinese radio hobbist (user ID: dreamer) just posted his latest DIY in Tecsun's customer forum:

http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/0002.asp?open=540023

The first set of photos presents a headphone made from wood and a pair of armature speakers. The second set is a coil winding machine and the third a regenerative crystal radio.

[Dave P]

Keith, I agree that nobody actually 'needs' a NIB radio for $400+..........but damn I sure would 'like' one. I have 2 Superadio I units, both in better than average condition, and both are apex performers. So, I guess I'll just muddle along with those for now ;-)

[Ed S]

I would want to know if it is an "F" revision model, the highest revision.
Also, be aware some electronics are still "new in box" because they failed very early or had some early defect that caused the buyer to put it back in the box.

[dorpmuller]

Wish I knew in God's name where sellers find this stuff.

[Ed S]

I've found them in thrift shops, yard sales, flea markets and estate sales.

[Dave P]

All I will say is that if you own one, you know how great these radios are. There's a reason they are so coveted, and it's not just nostalgia. By the same token, let's see how many CC-SW's are still in daily service 20, 30, or 40 years down the road. I sincerely hope they are, but seriously doubt that they will be. Sure, I have other radios that pull AM signals very well, but it's funny how every time I grab a radio for a night of DXing, I find myself reaching for one of my Superadios. That's all the evidence I need.

[Angelo]

Dave: I agree with you, but I also agree with Keith. I'd rather a good used Superadio that I could continue to play with often. If you buy a pristine one----it's like a classic car that is towed on trailers and never driven----a shame.

[Dave P]

Angelo, oh, there's no way I could ever pull the trigger on a $400 radio, no matter what it is. All the same, sure would be nice ;-) Funny, my comment above was in response to another comment condemning the Superadios. The comment seems to have been removed....????? Oh well. You know the old saying about opinions.......

[Angelo]

I didn't see the comment that was pulled----but I have a Superadio I and I love it. I found it on E-bay----if memory serves me, for under forty bucks. Nice radio----excellent reception and great sound.

[Bill]

OK, proof. I had a SR 1, it worked fine, it was an apex performer, I sold it when I had to move. Later I got an SRII. Didn't like it so much because I thought the tweeter was just a gimmick, but the proof is in the pudding; it worked fine. I still have it, after I don't know how many years. It still works perfectly, and it is still unsurpassed for performance.

Because I wanted something that would tune the extended AM band, I bought one of the early SR III. Was OK but it had a bad habit of- I kid you not- tuning AM stations with a strong signal both above and below the center frequency, but a weaker signal with the needle centered on the station's frequency. I didn't know that was even possible. Also it was buzzy with distortion, almost unusable, until it had run for ten or fifteen minutes. After that it was OK. But it didn't work correctly, obviously. I gave it to a friend to use in their deer camp, where a radio that takes a few minutes to warm up just adds to the "roughing it" allure of the place.

Got another one to use at home. It was OK, but harder to tune than the SR2. I thought the SR2 felt more solid, and liked the sound better, so I ended up selling the SR3. Still have the SR2.

As to which was better at pulling in weak stations, I can't remember. I thought the SR2 was as good, or I would have kept the SR3, but I never conducted any detailed tests.

Any of 'em would pull in more MW stations than any midsize to small multiband radio I've ever had, though.

[StarHalo]

I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone m make the claim that the SRIII is better than the II; but even then you'd have to specify which III, since it was produced under two different brands, and then a number of variations with each label. The II is a tried and true classic, the III is always "compare several and try to get a good one."

[Bill]

Of course individual quality control is a bugbear for Chinese portable radios. My experience with the SR3s I bought is one example of that.

Another is the Grundig G3. A few weeks back when they were on sale from Amazon at such low prices, I got one. I ended up sending it back for its faults. However, there were so many good reviews of this radio out there I decided to give it another try.

I ordered my second G3 from Universal Radio, whose sales tech told me they check all theirs when they get them, to make sure they work. I'm very happy with it; it works just fine.

How do the two compare?

First G3 had whistles from internally generated signals up and down the dial. They were so bad that they blanked out most of the signals I wanted to hear. Even if they didn't, turning on the dial light would create a new whistle that would ruin everything.

Second G3 has whistles too, but they are fewer and so faint that they won't blot out a listenable signal, even a weak one.

First G3 had a sync detector that didn't work unless you tuned the dial to read low. Even then it would only work on strong signals. Second G3 seems a bit off frequency in some situations, but hardly enough to notice. It still loses sync lock, but the signal has to fade away to almost nothing before that happens.

First G3 had decent sound quality for a portable, when the whistles on the MW band didn't ruin it. Second G3 also has decent sound quality for a portable.

If I were two different radio users, Second G3 Me would read the review First G3 Me wrote and think he was a whining jerk and idiot. The second G3 experiences the flaws the first one did, yes, but they are so reduced in intensity that they have no serious effect at all. Second G3 Me would think First G3 Me was making a big stink about nothing, when the truth is the quality and performance of the two G3 examples really does differ that much.