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Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Printable Version

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Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Jayce - 10-11-2020

We all know of the famous Philco 16 line of cathedral and tombstone radios, but I wonder who else made high tube count table radios before the war? I have seen a big RCA or two and I think even Zenith did it for a short bit. My GE FE-112 is the first over 8 tube table radio I have seen of its style as most I see are usually tombstone style at least. So, what others have you all seen? Must be before the war and at least 10 tubes, perhaps 9 as I have seen mostly eight tubes as the cut-off for most table radios.

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Paul Philco322 - 10-11-2020

http://www.jitterbuzz.com/indrad.html#m4688

Silvertone had some very fancy stuff, look at the 4688.....

Paul

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Jayce - 10-11-2020

Wow, nice, big table radio from Silvertone on that page! I have one of those high ended, 14 tube Silvertones that I ran into a roadblock on and should get back to before I run out of local help on the thing. Oh, I also noticed that the writer of that page seems a little sarcastic.

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Paul Philco322 - 10-11-2020

I have an 8 tube Silvertone table set. Weighs about 30 lbs......

http://tubetalkclassicradioshow.org/images/100_2036%20-2.jpg

For scale I am 6.3 and come in at about 265 lbs.

Paul

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - tbone - 10-12-2020

I have a GE E-101 Colorama set. This one should qualify with 10 tubes. It’s the heaviest table tombstone I have.

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - NostalgiaRadioTime - 10-12-2020

+1 on the E-101.

I have a Zenith 12S232 Walton set that would qualify with 12 tubes

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Paul Philco322 - 10-12-2020

http://www.midwestradiomuseum.com/1239L.jpg

Here is a nice Midwest, 1939, 12 tube.

Paul

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Eliot Ness - 10-12-2020

I've got an 11 tube Pilot Super Wasp from around 1931 with two chassis (one for SW) that is a beast at over 33" wide.  Shown below with my collecting buddy Terry Layman when we were bringing it home from New Jersey:

   
   

I have a large 10 tube GE cathedral J100:

   

I think all my other radios over 9 tubes are consoles.

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Jayce - 10-12-2020

I am seeing some neat radios and learning a bit as well! Oh, I wish my late friend was still around as that Pilot Super Wasp might have very well solved a mystery from his late childhood. He recalled going to a flea market with his dad and seeing a huge table radio that looked like it was from the early 30's with two chassis, but didn't remember the name. As far as the GE Colorama, I almost bought one a few years ago.

Might as well post my GE here as getting that radio started all this in my mind. About 23.25 inches wide by 11.25 inches deep. Looks roughly the same for height, not sure about weight. 1938 General Electric FE-112

   

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Paul Philco322 - 10-12-2020

While not high tube count I do have some very large table models, a Stewart Warner 1946 and a RCA from 1938, easily about 24 inches across.

The larger sets do seem to play well, maybe a bit more engineering and component quality in them.


Here is a RCA 28X5 just before they stopped production for the war..............8 tubes, 9 inch speaker.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/92577012@N02/25769129962/in/dateposted-public/

Paul

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - morzh - 10-12-2020

If one thinks about it, Philco 90 is a 9-tuber.

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - Jayce - 10-14-2020

Paul, after looking up the specs on the RCA 28X5, I definitely would not turn down a nice example if I found it for a fair price!
I never really thought about the Philco 90B as my mind was thinking slightly later, more advanced radios, but it is a 9 tube radio indeed and a fairly large table radio at that!

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - palegreenthumb - 10-16-2020

I have a 10-tube Crosley 1055-EK in my collection.  Photos of mine here:
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/crosley_clipper_10551055_e.html

I also have a 10-tube Zenith 10-S-130, but no photo handy.

I used to have a 10-tube RCA T10-1, but I traded it away to get a Philco 630CSX.  Good trade!

I've been keeping my eyes open for a GE FE-112 almost since I started the hobby, but none has ever come my way.

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - RodB - 10-16-2020

Tube count isn't always an indication of performance. I have two radios that have tubes that do nothing; triodes that have cathode and plate wired to ground.

RE: Pre-war, High Tube Count Table Radios - NostalgiaRadioTime - 10-16-2020

With regard to tube count alone, as these are consoles, I have my 13 tube 1937 Silvertone model 4488A sitting next to my 6 tube 1936 Zenith 6S52. Whenever I have someone visit me and ask about what the number of tubes has to do with how a radio sounds, I demonstrate these two. The Zenith has a 10 inch speaker, and the Silvertone a 12 inch. Both sound good, but for sound quality and sheer power, it's day and night. Likewise for table models, I have my 1935 Philco model 16 with 11 tubes sitting next to a 5 tube 1935 Westinghouse model WR-22 small tombstone and demonstrating those two one after another really illustrates the difference tube count (and of course speaker size) makes for performance.