I have always wanted one. I'd like to now get a nice wooden tabletop vintage tube radio (woking of course) but don't know where to start. I've started to browse through eBay and found out a lot of options. Can someone help me:
1. what brands and models do I look for?
2. do you know of good dealers (in US) who can sell nice restored units?

I can only pay up to $100.

Thanks,

Francis

Hi,
If you are on a budget, perhaps Ebay is not the best option. This is not to say that it never can be a good option, because in truth there are times when it can be. They are not all that often however.

www.antiqueradio.org (Phil's), has a good list with reasonable activity and pricing. www.olrt.com/ (Online Radio Trader) has many listings, and a lot of activity. www.qth.org has a varied listing with some good prices, mostly geared for Ham radio, there are some vintage radios too- But be aware that some of the vintage communications gear uses a seperate power supply.

If you are near antique stores, you can sometimes find decent radios there if one of the proprieters, or one of the leasees repairs radios for sale.

I do reccommend searching the web, bookstores, and libraries for a "feel" of the varieties that are out there. Depending on the style you like, the manufacturer may be irrellevent. Some brand names that are easily recognized will fetch a higher price than a lesser known name. (Crosley is a bit of an exception- depends on when you were born as to whether it was common at the time)

What era are you looking? If you are looking at "pre-war" (WWII), then avoid anything with FM- those are almost exclusively post-war.

Look to see if it is a battery type- these will often fetch a lower price, but you will need to power it in some manner if you want to have it as a working radio. If you do not want to build a powersupply kit(s), or work from a schematic on-line, then these are a type to take a pass on. Yet, if you do not mind building power supplies, then you can get some decent deals as most of the line powered radios had battery powered versions too.

There are some radios that require an external speaker matched for impedance- most of those are prior to 1930, or communications type radios.

Depending on where you live in the US, or Canada, some brands are more regional than others. Some were a bit more common on the farms than others. What I see where I am, is often Coronado (Gamble's), Airline (Montgomery Wards), Philco, Zenith, and Silvertone (Sears). Coronado, Air Master, Truetone, Airline, and Silvertone, are likely to be found at lower prices than similar Zenith, Philco, RCA, Atwater Kent and Crosley radios.

Some may take offense, but in the price level of 100 dollars, most of the raios are going to be approximately the same level of performance. Some will call that sacrilege, but in the present day, when you can litterally go anywhere in the continental US, there will be at least 4 radio stations that you can tune in when under the most adverse atmospheric conditions. And sometimes too many stations when conditions are very favorable.

The best approach is to buy what you really like. But beware if you are buying a radio that is simply "shiny". Most old radios have a lower sheen finish than the poly-Eurethanes that some people use today. If the radio looks like a very shiny plastic, it is likely a eurethane finish.

A radio that has been re-finished with eurethane has less value to a collector as an investment than an original finish that has flaws, or a re-finished radio that uses the correct finish for when it was produced, and was immacculately done. Too often, collectible radios are refinished without much attention paid to what the original finish looked like. If the finish reveals the porosity of the grain when held to a low angle of light, rather than showing a smooth glow- the finish is not original. Failure to fill the wood pores takes time, and is often neglected when a radio has been re-finished. A perfect illustration is much of the modern oak furniture produced these days, 40 years or more ago- the porous areas would have been filled, and the whole surface smooth as glass. Also look for "brush marks".

If you find a radio that you really like, but it has been refinished, Buy it if you want it- but be aware of the fact that is re-finished, but if you are buying for investment purposes, wait- there are more to come along.

: I have always wanted one. I'd like to now get a nice wooden tabletop vintage tube radio (woking of course) but don't know where to start. I've started to browse through eBay and found out a lot of options. Can someone help me:
: 1. what brands and models do I look for?
: 2. do you know of good dealers (in US) who can sell nice restored units?

: I can only pay up to $100.

: Thanks,

: Francis
:

I WONDER IF YOU CAN HELP ME.
I HAVE MY GRANDFATHER'S RADIO THAT SOMEONE IS INTERRESTED IN BUY AND I DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH THIS
RADIO WOULD BE.
IT IS A PHILCO RADIO , IT IS FREE STANDING ABOUT 5 FEET TALL. THE RADIO IS ABOUT 65 TO 70 YEARS OLD AND IT HAS NEVER BEEN PAINTED. IT IS IN ITS ORGINAL STATE.
COULD YOU GIVE ME THE APPROXIMATE VALUE OF THIS HIERLOOM.
REGARDS JANICE