[Michael Dennis]

I just accquired a W. German Telefunken Opus 7 in a blond cabinet at an estate sale for a pretty good price. It's in very nice shape except for a small chip in the top. Also missing one of the thumbwheel knobs, on the right side. Just wondered if anyone has had experience with these sets and opinions regarding.

Mike

[Glenn Roberts]

Hi Mike,
I haven't had that particular set, however, I have a Blaupunkt Florenz 20353 which is my daily player and I recently sent my son a Grundig 2066PX. The BP has 5 speakers not the 7 like the Telefunken. I like the performance of the German units, but am not too crazy about the piano finish which is always cracked somewhere. Have you tried bringing it up at all?? I changed the Selenium rectifiers to bridge rectifiers in both and found practically all the caps to be leaky/bad so they had to go.

Glenn

[Michael Dennis]

Hi Glenn,

I haven't done anything with the radio yet except to remove the back. The dial cord is still strung but must be binding on something. Yes, the top has some crazing on the finish and is missing one thumbwheel knob on the right. I'll probably bring it up on the variac some time tomorrow. I had heard that some of these West German raduos from that era have great sound. For $35 I couldn't pass it up. Looks like all tubes are present.

Mike

[Glenn Roberts]

Hi Glenn,

I haven't done anything with the radio yet except to remove the back. The dial cord is still strung but must be binding on something. Yes, the top has some crazing on the finish and is missing one thumbwheel knob on the right. I'll probably bring it up on the variac some time tomorrow. I had heard that some of these West German raduos from that era have great sound. For $35 I couldn't pass it up. Looks like all tubes are present.

Mike

WOW ! you got a great deal, They go for big $$ on E-pay. My BP, which was very reasonable too, will pickup FM stations over 100 miles away with a strong, clear signal. I modified one of tape input on the back to accept a 3.5mm jack for a computer/cell phone/Ipod hookup. it was a simple addition and the correct size hole was already in the chassis too . For some reason too the volume/tuning mechanisms do bind. Both of mine were gummy. A little Deoxit, some electronic lube and they were good to go. I was a little hesitant about a German set, some say they are over-complicated, maybe so but I found them to be fairly straight forward. I think I was lucky too, neither were molested, so a little alignment to the AM and the FM was good, tubes were all good too. I have a Grundig 3095 and a Blaupunkt Sultan console with turntable I got at an estate sale for $20 total. The Grundig is my shop radio, it has some issues but it works.. . The Sultan is dead and it's going to stay that way for awhile, The Philco 14LZ is next on the bench.
Mike, Good luck with it, the electrostatic speakers sometimes have foam problems, there is a good site on how to rebuild them. I can't locate it now, but if you google it I know it will come up (that's how I found it). Gotta love the internet.

Glenn

[Michael Dennis]

Hi Glenn,

Sure want to thank you for your responses, they've been very helpful. This is my first German set. I'm going to another sale Thursday and an online picture of the sale items includes what looks to be a Telefunken Allegro. A smaller table top but it looks to be in good condition from what I can tell from the relatively small image in the picture. Any idea what a good price for one in such condition might be?

Mike

[Glenn Roberts]

Mike,
Depending on condition of course, I've seen them go for $100-$150 and up for a good looking unit on E-Pay. Would be nice to get one for $35-$50.
I'm not sure if this is an allegro but it one of the smaller TF's,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...500wt_1287

Mike, here is a link to one of the last good looking TF 7's.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...500wt_1287

I've been watching them as they come up, I'd like to add a TF to my collection of German sets, Just don't want to pay the E-pay prices for one.
Here is a link to a picture of the BP

http://s1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee487/glennpr/

Glenn

[Michael Dennis]

Wow, great looking sets in the links, thanks. I think these German radios are beginning to grow on me. I don't blame you for not wanting to fork out e-pay prices. Of course, it's not bad if you're on the selling end.

Mike

[codefox1]

The later models are just superb even by today's standards.

[Michael Dennis]

Thanks, Codefox, that's encouraging. Sounds like this was a wise purchase. There was a woman at the sale who got an Allegro and maybe would've grabbed this Opus as well. She had that kilocycle gleam in her eye and stardust in her hair...........

Mike

[thirtiesradio]

I have 2 Opus 7's, one of each cabinet style. They are incredible sounding radios and I recapped both. The light knobs are difficult to find. The plastic on the white knobs crack where the set screws are located, so many knobs have been replaced or are missing.
Make sure the pushbutton section is well cleaned or you will get pops or intermitent contacts. They are very different to recap then US radios and the wiring seems to go everywhere. Great sets when restored!

[Michael Dennis]

Hi thirtiesradio, thanks for the reply. Later today I'll bring this Opus 7 here up on the variac. All I've done so far is to remove the back. Say, is it characteristic for the vertical pieces on the speaker grille to warp slightly? I see a picture of another Opus 7 has the same two vertical bars slightly warped. I guess I'll put up a WTB ad for one of those thumbwheel knobs. Funny, an Allegro at another sale has the same two thumbwheel knobs, I suppose they're generic to those two sets. Anyway, we'll hoist her up the flagpole and see who salutes!

Mike

[Glenn Roberts]

Good Luck!!

[Michael Dennis]

Thanks Glenn. I'm waiting for my brother, I'd like him to see what we have when I bring it up. Supposedly, according to the seller, it was working fine at a cottage two years ago.

Update: I brought the radio up on the variac and it works. Some pushbutton switches are noisy, need a darn good cleaning, and the tuning eye tube is very faint, but otherwise it gave a good account of itself. Sounds wonderful! I need to free up the dial string because it will only turn in one direction with the tuning knob.

I also brought up the recently-accquired 1936 model Zenith 5S29 on the variac. This radio is working too. For a 5-tuber it's amazingly sensitive and it can get very loud.

Mike

[thirtiesradio]

Update: I brought the radio up on the variac and it works. Some pushbutton switches are noisy, need a darn good cleaning, and the tuning eye tube is very faint, but otherwise it gave a good account of itself. Sounds wonderful! I need to free up the dial string because it will only turn in one direction with the tuning knob.

I also brought up the recently-accquired 1936 model Zenith 5S29 on the variac. This radio is working too. For a 5-tuber it's amazingly sensitive and it can get very loud.

Mike

Glad you had luck with your Opus. They really are great looking radios and very good performers. I'd at least replace the power supply filter caps and the coupling caps to the EL84's before using it. If doing the full recap there is also a bipolar cap on the top trans that needs to stay bipolar.
I have quite a few Zeniths, as that is all I collected until recently. The 5-S-29 is a great sounding set. It can really fill the room with sound for having such a small speaker and has very nice styling for a small tombstone as well.
When you recap the Zenith don't forget about the candohm that is in Zenith sets. It is easy to overlook an open section. Also don't attach resistors to the candohm, but use a separate terminal strip, as original sections sometimes short to ground. The 5-S-29 is the first Zenith I bought and I still enjoy it!
Best of luck with your 2 fine radios!

[Michael Dennis]

Update: I brought the radio up on the variac and it works. Some pushbutton switches are noisy, need a darn good cleaning, and the tuning eye tube is very faint, but otherwise it gave a good account of itself. Sounds wonderful! I need to free up the dial string because it will only turn in one direction with the tuning knob.

I also brought up the recently-accquired 1936 model Zenith 5S29 on the variac. This radio is working too. For a 5-tuber it's amazingly sensitive and it can get very loud.

Mike

Glad you had luck with your Opus. They really are great looking radios and very good performers. I'd at least replace the power supply filter caps and the coupling caps to the EL84's before using it. If doing the full recap there is also a bipolar cap on the top trans that needs to stay bipolar.
I have quite a few Zeniths, as that is all I collected until recently. The 5-S-29 is a great sounding set. It can really fill the room with sound for having such a small speaker and has very nice styling for a small tombstone as well.
When you recap the Zenith don't forget about the candohm that is in Zenith sets. It is easy to overlook an open section. Also don't attach resistors to the candohm, but use a separate terminal strip, as original sections sometimes short to ground. The 5-S-29 is the first Zenith I bought and I still enjoy it!
Best of luck with your 2 fine radios!

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, I'll follow up on it. And thanks for pointing out the bipolar cap and its location.

Ah yes, the candohm, I probably would have over looked that. And thanks for the advice re: the resistors and terminal strip. I believe I have some of those salvaged from other sets in the past. Yes, I really liked the looks of the 5S29 and I thought while I have the wherewithall I might as well not delay picking that one up. Sure is one of Zenith's prettiest little tadios, a lot of bang fot the buck ya might say, and does this set get loud for a single ended 6F6G!

Mike