I scored on the World's Longest Yard Sale today! I got this gem for only $30. The veneer is in excellent shape, the only thing I did was polish it with GOJO. It plays and sounds quite good considering I just got it home. I still have to fix the dial string, though.
I was filled with elation when I found out that this radio does not contain the dreaded 6X5 rectifier, but rather the 84/6Z4. I thought that this radio had the 8 tube chassis of the 41-280 and 42-380.
Don't think Philco used any 6X5's, may have post war but pre war nah. I mostly find them in 6v car radios and Z brand sets. The 80, 5Y3, 5V4 are much heartier tubes but require a 5v filament winding on the power transformer. The 84 is an early version of the 6X5. Fortunitly it doesn't suffer from the same fail rate.
From my work bench I see those Philcos with the push/pull 41's and the 84 rectifier as a cost cutting set. From a design standpoint if Philco had used a more robust power transformer, a 5v rectifier, and a separate phase inverter they could have almost doubled the audio output and lower the distortion. Oh pardon me they did it's called a 41-300. As always everything come at a price.