05-19-2013, 04:32 PM
Besides being the leader of the vast right-wing conspiracy, I also multi-task as spokesman for the Z! anti-anti-defamation league.
And now that I have let that cat out of the bag, since I also serve as chief enforcer of unreasonable behaviour I must now apprehend and prosecute myself whilst simultaneously avoid allowing myself to do so.
BUT.... Zenith made some nice sounding sets, but you have to know what you are looking at. Even some of their smaller sets, like the 8S154, have nice sound for what they are. But part of the reason for this is the adjustable acoustic device affixed to the rear of the speaker.
Conversely, some of their higher tube count sets like the 10S464 and 11S474 have decent sound, but not as good as many other comparable sets from other makes.
Definitely agree that as Z approached 1940 the quality went down. This was especially evident in the selection of a small power transformer and 6X5G combo. You also saw additional tubes needlessly added to a model to increase tube count. This is especially true in the sets that featured dual 6X5 rectifiers, separate oscillator and 1st detector tubes, and/or separate 2d detector/AVC/1stAF tubes, but had only one IF amplification stage.
And now that I have let that cat out of the bag, since I also serve as chief enforcer of unreasonable behaviour I must now apprehend and prosecute myself whilst simultaneously avoid allowing myself to do so.
BUT.... Zenith made some nice sounding sets, but you have to know what you are looking at. Even some of their smaller sets, like the 8S154, have nice sound for what they are. But part of the reason for this is the adjustable acoustic device affixed to the rear of the speaker.
Conversely, some of their higher tube count sets like the 10S464 and 11S474 have decent sound, but not as good as many other comparable sets from other makes.
Definitely agree that as Z approached 1940 the quality went down. This was especially evident in the selection of a small power transformer and 6X5G combo. You also saw additional tubes needlessly added to a model to increase tube count. This is especially true in the sets that featured dual 6X5 rectifiers, separate oscillator and 1st detector tubes, and/or separate 2d detector/AVC/1stAF tubes, but had only one IF amplification stage.