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What is BEST all-tube, general coverage receiver under $1000? Under $2000?
Boy, this is a question that could require a lot of beers among friends to
fully explore. Fred Osterman's Third Edition "Receivers Past and Present" (now out of print), is a good source of information to curl up in front of the warm winter fire and memorize. The fact is that modern high end solid state receivers are better than the older tube models. They have product detectors, 1 Hz stability and readout and some even have dsp. However, you want a tube model. There is an implication that you want the tube model based upon nostalgia and/or aesthetics. Those values are subjective, so you will need to see how the radio makes you feel and what features bring joy to you. I have some radios that use multi-position switches to tune in a station. They are excellent for tuning in stations at a known frequency, but terrible for "tuning around". Some look great in a rack, while others look great in their original cabinet. Tuning in sideband or cw is great with a product detector. I like to use full avc on cw, but others like the manual gain control. In short, it is all subjective. I recently purchased an old Lafayette KT-200 radio for $25 (that is the S-38 wanna-be with s-meter). Got it working and was shocked that, with the rf amplifier working full strength on the broadcast band, it is probably the best broadcast band receiver I have with a short antenna. For short wave listening, I like the radios with push-pull audio, so if that is a big interest, look for radios with push-pull audio. The old SX-62 was not bad for audio, but not a good all around communications receiver. The RA-17 is unique because it uses a Barlow-Wadley loop for stability. The 390A has a number of wonderful features and a lot of die hard supporters. In the end, many collectors find that no radio is perfect. So, they collect as many as they can. Collectively, they have all the features they want. This requires a large room - preferably a heated museum. Better to be able to turn them all on at once, with a multi-antenna switch. Now, where is the beer. Colin K7FM |
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