Yes, plastic front panels do wear out from normal daily use. Even
metal front panels show "high mileage " similarly- practically all
unrestored R-390 and R-390As have big circles around MHz and KHz
knobs... BTW, NRD-505 is a
solid state replica ( same topology ) of R-390 ! The VFO is copied
quite well - same orange color sticker is present .
On the subject of good audio, recently I discovered that Sony 7600 has
incredible sound when fed through a good stereo (plus its synchronous
detection makes it even better). Each radio
has its own unique charismatic appeal.