RAV,

Well tonight I made the drive from OK-Land, CA up to Twain Harte, CA.
After i got the Jeep un-packed and the items put away and stored. One
of the things that I did was replace a Sangean WR-1 "Wood Radio One"
with an Old Zenith Table Top Transistor Radio.

The location of the Cabin in Twain Harte is over the hill and down in
the valley; where AM/MW Signals just don't seem to get. The Sangean
WR-1 "Wood Radio One" was only a so-so performer in this location even
with the help of two separate External Antennas : a RadioShack AM/MW
Loop Antenna (inductively coupled; and a Godar FM Antenna directly
wired to the Radio's FM "F" Connector Jack.

So I un-plugged and disconnect the Sangean WR-1 "Wood Radio One" and
connect up the Zenith Hi Performance Tuned RF AM/FM Radio Model # E430W
with S-Meter; Tone, Loudness, FM-AFC-AM and Off-On Controls. Built-in
AM/MW Ferrite Rod Antenna about 5" Long and External FM Antenna Input
Terminals (300 Ohms). The inside of the Radio has many parts labeled
as "Hitachi" and the Back of the Radio is marked "Zenith Japan" so this
is either a Zenith 'designed' Radio Manufactured by Zenith in Japan
-or- a Hitachi Designed and Manufactured Radio that was Re-Badged and
Sold under the "Zenith" Brand Name. What makes it some what unique is
the AM/FM Band Scales : The Needle/Bar is Stationary and a Numbered
Belt Scrolls behind it. On the inside is the Key Component that makes
this Old Radio Special : A Three Section Air Variable Tuning Capacitor
with Six Gangs. Another good point was the 5"x3" Oval Speaker.

I did not do a Side-by-Side of the two Radios. But the reason for bring
the Zenith up here was the fact that the Sangean WR-1 "Wood Radio One"
was not getting the job done; in this very poor AM/MW Signal Area.
But it did not take long for me to be pleasantly surprised with the
Performance of the Zenith E430W Radio on AM/MW just using the built-in
5" AM/MW Ferrite Rod Antenna. While the Sangean WR-1 "Wood Radio One"
Pick-up some AM/FM Radio Stations; the Zenith E430W was picking up an
AM/MW Radio Station on just about every 10 kHz. Plus the FM Radio
reception was much better with Zenith E430W using the Godar FM Antenna
than I could recall it had been with the Sangean WR-1 "Wood Radio One".


NOTE - While this is a Transistor Radio it has a 5"x3" Oval Speaker and
a Big Box (13"W x 9"H x 6"D) for that Old Tube Radio Room Filling Warm
Sound.

FWIW - One of the 'secrets' of the Old Tube Radios was the fact that
they had to be Vented in the back to release the Heat from the Tubes.
As a Result the Front Facing Speaker also used the Entire Radio Box as
a Reflective Speaker Enclosure to Fill the Room with Sound using just
one average size Speaker. Today's Single Speaker Radios usually are
heard as a Point-of-Sound form a location within the Room because they
have small speakers and small boxes that are NOT Acoustically Designed
to produce that Big Box Sound. There are some High Prices exceptions
like the Bose Wave Radio ETC.

TBL - So I guess what I am Saying is that that YES the Old Zenith Tube
Radios are Great for both their Performance and Sound. And in those
Good-Old-Days YES they were "Made in America". But the Zenith E430W
Transistor Radio is a Radio that also has that Big Box Sound of the Old
Tube Radios; because it is designed as a Big Box Sounding Radio. Plus
here is one of the early examples of an Out-Sourced American Brand Name
Product being Made-in-Japan by "Zenith Japan".

IMHO - For its time of manufacture; the Zenith E430W AM/FM Radio
represented the Best of Both Worlds and is Truly a Great Radio !


yes as always - more than you wanted to know ~ RHF