10-09-2022, 08:09 AM
@ Morzh, Funny that you should mention gutting a vintage radio, restoring the cabinet and replacing the chassis with a Bluetooth speaker. There is someone routinely advertising on "The Bay" who does just that and sells them (successfully?) for a king's ransom!
Funny, most audio stages of AM radios are rather decent, and since many already have a "phono" or "TV" Input (or can be discretely added with little or no damage), adding an aux or Bluetooth input would be more acceptable. These mods were sometimes actually done by Radio shops in the 30s and 40s, and sometimes with kits made available by manufacturers like RCA. I think this seller probably received a lot of "feedback" ("blow-back?"), as he now offers to ship the unrestored chassis for extra shipping charges.
Agreed, that trying to add a PC Board to a 1930's radio would degrade the value. Think of all of the work that Purists go through to stuff caps, sometimes even hiding the splices in the wax resealing. In addition, adding a PC Board for most antique radios would likely either not improve or possibly degrade performance unless signal isolation was considered. Considering that we are usually talking about a 5 or 6 tube AM or AM Shortwave (less than VHF frequencies), I would not think that any gain would be realized. The average reason for use of a PCB in manufacture was to automate the manufacturing process.
Funny, most audio stages of AM radios are rather decent, and since many already have a "phono" or "TV" Input (or can be discretely added with little or no damage), adding an aux or Bluetooth input would be more acceptable. These mods were sometimes actually done by Radio shops in the 30s and 40s, and sometimes with kits made available by manufacturers like RCA. I think this seller probably received a lot of "feedback" ("blow-back?"), as he now offers to ship the unrestored chassis for extra shipping charges.
Agreed, that trying to add a PC Board to a 1930's radio would degrade the value. Think of all of the work that Purists go through to stuff caps, sometimes even hiding the splices in the wax resealing. In addition, adding a PC Board for most antique radios would likely either not improve or possibly degrade performance unless signal isolation was considered. Considering that we are usually talking about a 5 or 6 tube AM or AM Shortwave (less than VHF frequencies), I would not think that any gain would be realized. The average reason for use of a PCB in manufacture was to automate the manufacturing process.
"Do Justly, love Mercy and walk humbly with your God"- Micah 6:8
Best Regards,
MrFixr55
