An interesting radiogram, coming onto the market during 1947. I acquired this from a junk shop in South London for the huge sum of 30 quid. With the valve line up this set has, I would have paid 10 times that. These radiograms were very well made, having separate amplifier / PSU and radio sections. For those that could not afford the radio section (some 35 guineas was a probably 10 or more weeks wages) the set could be sold with this section removed, leaving just the deck and amplifier. The gram boasts a powerful 5 watts via two PX4 triode valves, driving three 8″ speakers mounted on a curved baffle with specially shapes wooden louvers deflecting the sound evenly around the room. Decca came up with a wide range pickup which, with a good stylus, is capable of excellent results. This coupled with a very good radio section design and the unusual speaker system, the sound quality produced can better most sets that were produced well into the ’60s.
Didn’t even power this up when I first got it, not wanting to risk damage to the output valves. AVO tester said they were all okay, in good order. All the capdensors replaced in the power supply – amp chassis and on power up, the amp worked well. Very little came out of the radio section, so a bundle of 0.1uF coupling and decoupling caps sorted that out. All wavebands worked well and very sensitive. The design of the radio is good and no expense was spared here during manufacture. Hardly any alignment was needed. The only thing was, as usual, the EM34 magic eye was zero display. I now have a limited stock of NOS, but this set had to have a nice bright new one.
The Garrard deck was totally jammed. A strip down and oil got it going after a struggle. 2 pickup heads were supplied with the machine, one for 78 RPM and the other for Microgrove. 2 new styluses were fitted, obtained from Musonic. I had to recreate the rubber suspensions within the pickups and remagnetise the little magnets to get a good output. The 78RPM and 33-45RPM heads are wired differently, so the input characteristics are catered for when changing the heads.
The sound quality is quite amazing. Playing a decent LP produces a lovely warm bass with plenty of high definition. Probably the best gram in the collection.
Would love one of theses and you did the right thing bringing it back into life, far to many people are breaking these and selling the parts and PX4s then trying to cash in on the empty canibate later, so sad
Hi John.
Thanks for your kind comments and taking the time to post.
Well, of course I agree with you 100%. It really pisses me off when I see equipment on fleabay saying without valves. The idea is to keep the equipment running in good order for the next generations. I wont be able to take it with me. Luckily, I am not hard up enough to sell off a couple of PX4s to stay alive! This gram outplays most of the sets from this period. It sounds very HiFi. Playing LPs that were recorded in the early 50s, Dance bands etc the sound is first class. Plus a new magic eye tuning indicator. What more could you want?
Nice to have your post on my site.
Take care. Seth
Hi Seth, I found one of these in my cousin’s shed. Needles to say it is not in mint condition. Can you tell me roughly what would be a market value for it ? Better yet, is there a website with some of these displayed including the price. Also, is there a web site that would do the evaluation ? Thank you