[Arran]

Actually I think that someone may have refinished that cabinet, as far as I know Philco didn't produce any cabinets with a blond finish prior to the war. Even though the cabinet was made out of maple they very likely finished it with a medium walnut laquer. There is an example of one in the gallery but it looks like the front panel may be walnut instead of maple, though a tinted lacquer can fool the eyes, oddly enough it seems to have the same grille cloth as yours so that part may be original:

http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1932c.htm#j

I don't know how well these sets were supposed to work, the story I heard is that Philco may have marketed these, the 81, and the model 84 as somewhat of a loss leader. They were cheap sets to start with so I don't think you can expect too much from them, kind of like an early 30s version of a tin box Arvin.
Regards
Arran