----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Biel" <[log in to unmask]>
> In case the lengthy URL I gave in a prior post causes trouble, here is a
> shorter one that gets directly to the ad that shows the series of GE
> radios made by RCA in 1931.
> http://www.myvintageads.com/ads/177/13538.jpg
> As I had said even yesterday, this would be their version of the Radiola
> 86, and it is a single-arm machine. I have a Radiola 80 like is pictured
> in the lower right of this ad. It is funny that GE advertises this series
> as being Full Range in tone, sensitivity, and selectivity. Assuming that
> there is no modification from the RCA, I've never liked the tone quality
> of this era of RCA. I also have a Radiola 60 and both sound the same --
> thin and reedy. No bass or highs. BUT, the 80 is GREAT on sensitivity
> and selectivity. When I demonstrated it back in the 70s in the Chicago
> area where I got it, and later in Missouri and New Jersey, it could get a
> station on every frequency at night with no overlapping. Of course that
> shows a limited bandwidth, so therefore no highs. My personal favorite of
> radios of the early 30s in this price range is Atwater Kent. The Atwater
> Kent 95 can sound almost FM in quality in the daytime near a quality
> station -- at least before the limitation of AM frequency response to 10K
> in the mid-1990s. AM stations could go out to above 13 KHz in response
> before then. Scott radios could handle that by the late 30s.
>
Glad you mentioned Scott! I own (or hope I still do) an E. H. Scott 800-B;
this was the last Scott set which E. H. had anything to do with. It is AM-FM
with the 88-108 MHz FM band...it puts out 25 watts (paired p-p 6L6's!)
and has a coaxial speaker: 15" bass driver & HF tweeter. After I moved to
Toronto, I was able to receive WGN (Chicago) in mid-day; I never used it
for MW AM "dx-ing" (I had a Philco 37-9 for that while I was still living in
central Illinois...and I think I had heard 40 states!).

Steven C. Barr