[morzh]

AK hated unions.
AK also did not want to go down in quality even if for a while it had to, eventually he chose to put a stop to that.
AK also built TRF sets and had lots of heavy equipment to deal with to make parts whereas the AA5 manufacturers did not have to do any of that.

They did not go bankrupt, they closed. I respect that. At least, even if for awhile they build cheaper sets (do not see them much around, probably did not build many) he chose not to continue and so at least in my book AK remains a quality radio.

yes I hate dealing with rubber wire, but! - do not forget, the properties of rubber were not fully known, it was to their and then knowledge considered good quality insulation and everyone went to use it, one cannot blame them. People use all kinds of materials that we do not use today for one or other reason, like asbestos, lead, even cocaine (was considered good at some point). But while I hate replacing the rubber wire I see this radio was a quality built thing. The chassis is vastly superior to that of comparable Philcos or Zeniths, it is thick shiny metal that has not to the date developed any rust or has tarnished. Their tube shields are still gold-plated (or whatever it was, yellow metal) and have not oxidized or tarnished.
Their tube panels.....Philco's wafer ones pale in comparison, these ones are like they came from some military device, thick, sturdy, nice clean thick contacts, very convenient soldering.
If it weren't for rubber wiring (which, again, is not THEN quality issue) I'd love working on this one.