Saturday, July 22, 2006

Beautiful Old Radios

A few years back, I decided to restore my late great grandmother's antique Truetone floor radio that had been sitting in my parents' garage for well over a decade. Now I'm working on my wife's great grandmother's Emerson table radio. I don't know that two projects makes a hobby, but I'm definitely heading that direction.

The radio to the top right is not one of my projects. That's expert work, and I'm a novice at best. But I thought I'd link to
RadioAge.com, where radios like the above can be viewed and purchased. I haven't come across an online vendor with a more beautiful selection of old wooden, plastic, and bakelite radios.

You'll find a lot of radio fans who love the sound of an old tube radio tuned to an AM music station (Big Band or Jazz, for instance). Many old radios offer a warm and bassy sound. Unfortunately, the new HD Radio technology for the AM dial causes
a good bit of interference on old radios. So some owners and collectors of antique radios choose to buy low power AM transmitters to send music from their iPods, stereos, or computers to their old radios. I haven't yet done this with an AM transmitter, but I understand the sound is terrific!

Maybe the best little transmitter for this purpose is the "
Alfredo Lite" made by Chris Cuff. It's roughly the size of a Walkman and costs around $125. The "Alfredo Lite" is specifically made to broadcast in C-Quam AM Stereo; however, it's also ideal for sending an extremely hi-fi AM signal to your antique radio.

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