For either AM or FM or any combo what was the best radio you ever had. Was it a tube type for AM or FM, both or a portable transistor that you use to carry around. Maybe the wooden cabinet HiFi or stereo that many of us had in our homes years ago. No matter what kind it was I would like to know what was special to you and why. Be it a car radio that worked better than anything else or a home stereo, one of the first tube receivers or a small transistor portables what was special to you.
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What was the best radio you ever had
- Thread starter Gatekeeper007
- Start date
L
leecasey
Guest
I had a mitsubishi am/fm cassette back in 1982 in my camaro.... I still view this unit as the best I ever had next to a kenwood in my 1986 vw scirroco...back in the day....
Wow..that is a tough one. Best am 1975 Mustang great for picking up CKLW, WLS, WCFL, WOWO, WSM, WAPE and WLW back in the 70's from sundown to sunup. Lots of clarity. Best Mobile FM 2006 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab...lots of "umph". Favorite combo...2200 series Marantz from the 70's. Lots of memories through these systems....
For AM I had a Zenith TransOceanic in the mid 70's boy I wish I still had that radio. I still have a sanyo biamp eight track car radio that still has great sound and good seperation between stations. I also had a little 6 transistor Zenith portable AM only that I took with me most places when I was little, it was plam size and used a 9 volt battery. Those were my three favorite radio's.
Ed The Byrdman said:Favorite combo...2200 series Marantz from the 70's.
Agreed! My only wish is that I had had access to a pair of floor model Klipsch speakers to combine with my Marantz component system back then...but then, again, I would've either been kicked out of the house by my parents or not graduated from high school...or both.
As someone who ran a 700 watt FM station, I have to say you can't beat the GM/Delco radios for reception - even am. I remember being able to get my station in stereo where someone next to me coudn't even tell it was there. Painful moment of realization, probably similar to folks at AM stations. I currently have an aftermarket stereo in my vehicle that has schloads of bells and whistles but is complete crap for picking up anything on AM. And, not near as good for distant or weak FM's. But, it LOOKS great!
Yeah, GM's radios are the best. I have one in a Pontiac Vibe which is amazing for AM. It can pick up 1450 AM (848 watts from Charleston) in Kingstree, along with WQSC and others. FM is very good too, well above average, but not as good as AM.
N
nocomradio
Guest
The circa 1971 Magnavox console stereo/LP player that resided in the living room where I grew up.
That thing would pick up pretty much any signal without an external antenna, and the sound was so crystal clear. It had a really nice turntable in it too,and of course a storage compartment for all the LP's..........plus it was a decent looking piece of furniture next to the Admiral COLOR TV. ;D
That thing would pick up pretty much any signal without an external antenna, and the sound was so crystal clear. It had a really nice turntable in it too,and of course a storage compartment for all the LP's..........plus it was a decent looking piece of furniture next to the Admiral COLOR TV. ;D
R
Radio-X
Guest
Best car radio, hands down: the AM/FM Delco radio in my old S-10. Ford's radios from the 90's come in a very close second.
Best component radio: Sony XDR-F1HD. It is the only radio I've owned that seems immune to local adjacent channel bleeding.
Best portable radio: A Panasonic CD/AM/FM radio "walkman" I used long after the CD player stopped working. It was better than many car radios in the reception department. I think other radio nerds understand this too...since the last time I tried to buy one on eBay last year it fetched almost $50 used.
Radio-X
Best component radio: Sony XDR-F1HD. It is the only radio I've owned that seems immune to local adjacent channel bleeding.
Best portable radio: A Panasonic CD/AM/FM radio "walkman" I used long after the CD player stopped working. It was better than many car radios in the reception department. I think other radio nerds understand this too...since the last time I tried to buy one on eBay last year it fetched almost $50 used.
Radio-X
When I was a teen growing up in Richmond VA in the 60s, I bought a JC Penny "transistor" radio that I remember fondly. It had a leather case with snaps on the back to change the 4 C batteries, which had to be changed frequently--there was no AC adapter. There was a large tuning dial which was tuned indirectly and a tone control-very special on a portable radio in those days. The four inch speaker, sounded wonderful to me, even if the radio was AM only (who cared about FM in those days?). I spent many hours listening to WABC and WKBW at night and learned the pleasures of R&B listening to local WANT/990 in the daytime. Each summer, it was a must on several trips to Emerale Isle NC where it was always tuned to WAPE. Damn, I wish I still had that radio!
As another relic who grew up in the 60's, my favorite radio was a Sony Handy Personal AM table radio, circa 1961. It ran remarkably long on three "D" batteries. It had a 4 inch speaker and sounded great. Living in the Greenville area, my folks kept it tuned to the legendary "660 in Dixie" while I was at school. Of course, as soon as I got home, I would grab it up and tune it to another legendary Greenville station, WQOK 1440. After sundown I would sit for hours and listen to stations from all over the US. By the way, I still have this radio and it still plays just as good as it ever did!
Where do I start. As for me I always though the Delco radios were Dullcos. The AM may be sensitive but dull. The radio in the Vibe by the way is not a Delco as the Vibe is a rebadged Toyota Matrix.
The AM is good in my 2009 F150 and the FM is superb. I have so many radios..... ah one of THE best sounding AM FM radios is the Zenith High Fidelity line. The AM sounds just about as good as FM, and the FM is quite sensitive and fairly selective for the era. The later X-337 model is better than the C and H 845 ones, as more modern capacitors and a diode instead of a selenium rectifier. I have a couple of tube type Zenith Transoceanic and a solid state 1000 model. The AM on the solid state one is OK, but not stellar. The Royal 2000, equally as large as the TO, maybe larger is superb if you get a restored one. For a small but super sensitive old one the Zenith Royal 66 or 705 (same radio different model numbers) will shame a GE SuperRadio II. The GE P780 has almost cult status. It puts the SuperRadio series to shame in audio and is as sensitive. It runs forever on 6 D cells. I collect radios and to list them all would be as if I were writing a "War and Peace".
The most sensitive AM car radio was in my grandmother's 1947 Studebaker Commander. 14 tubes and it took 20 amps. Running it very long without the car running made a dead battery for you.
The Zenith Royal 880 was a very early AM FM radio with excellent AM and decent FM.
Powell
The AM is good in my 2009 F150 and the FM is superb. I have so many radios..... ah one of THE best sounding AM FM radios is the Zenith High Fidelity line. The AM sounds just about as good as FM, and the FM is quite sensitive and fairly selective for the era. The later X-337 model is better than the C and H 845 ones, as more modern capacitors and a diode instead of a selenium rectifier. I have a couple of tube type Zenith Transoceanic and a solid state 1000 model. The AM on the solid state one is OK, but not stellar. The Royal 2000, equally as large as the TO, maybe larger is superb if you get a restored one. For a small but super sensitive old one the Zenith Royal 66 or 705 (same radio different model numbers) will shame a GE SuperRadio II. The GE P780 has almost cult status. It puts the SuperRadio series to shame in audio and is as sensitive. It runs forever on 6 D cells. I collect radios and to list them all would be as if I were writing a "War and Peace".
The most sensitive AM car radio was in my grandmother's 1947 Studebaker Commander. 14 tubes and it took 20 amps. Running it very long without the car running made a dead battery for you.
The Zenith Royal 880 was a very early AM FM radio with excellent AM and decent FM.
Powell
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