Over 100 pieces of Grundig - Auction Ottawa, IL 4/16

[macgolf]

If my count is correct 24 consoles and over 100 radios. Some really cool speakers too. Starts with lot 733. I'm cheap, but this collection I have to see in person.

https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-cata ... pageNum=14

Mark

[William]

So, Mark, are you going? Or, is this not that type of auction? That is some collection with what looks like every model Grundig made. I have a Grundig console radio that looks like the 758B. It was given too me and it is sitting in the barn waiting for that someday when I get around to it. One thing that I can tell you about Grundig is that there cabinets are junk. Or, at least the style cabinet of the 758B. When I went to get mine, we picked it up and both sides of it came off in our hands. To look at it one would never have thought that would happen as the cabinet was actually in good shape. Poorly glued and little tiny finishing nails, the kind you use in a nail gun, were all that held the sides on.

Question for anyone here on the forum in the know. I am not familiar with the German radios, what's the pecking order in the German companies of Good, Better, Best, Excellent? And, in the Grundig table radios why so many that look alike?

Thanks for sharing Mark,

Bill

[walyfd]

I've been told the German sets are bears to work on. I like the look of some Blaupunkt stuff but was told STAY AWAY!

[macgolf]

So, Mark, are you going? Or, is this not that type of auction? That is some collection with what looks like every model Grundig made. I have a Grundig console radio that looks like the 758B. It was given too me and it is sitting in the barn waiting for that someday when I get around to it. One thing that I can tell you about Grundig is that there cabinets are junk. Or, at least the style cabinet of the 758B. When I went to get mine, we picked it up and both sides of it came off in our hands. To look at it one would never have thought that would happen as the cabinet was actually in good shape. Poorly glued and little tiny finishing nails, the kind you use in a nail gun, were all that held the sides on.

Question for anyone here on the forum in the know. I am not familiar with the German radios, what's the pecking order in the German companies of Good, Better, Best, Excellent? And, in the Grundig table radios why so many that look alike?

Thanks for sharing Mark,

Bill

Bill,

It's a little over 1 hour trip up I-39/I-80 for me. I plan to be there for at least the preview day on that Friday. Probably won't find a substantial collection of German audio in one place again. Prices probably won't be cheap enough for me, especially when the 27% buyers premium is added. Maybe the 8-track player won't get a bid. I don't see a Grundig console in my future but some of the styling on their radios is eye candy.

The description says in person bidding on 4/16, but it looks like pre-bids are accepted. Maybe they start the live bidding at the pre-bid price? They are not releasing product for pick-up until the following Tuesday, which will mean a return trip for the winning bidders. Chicago is close enough that there will probably be interest from there. Haven't been to live auction for a few years and not sure when buyers premiums became a thing. Did they start taking clues from the classic car auctions?

A local pawn(bought my E-V Aristocrats there 5 years ago) had a Grundig console recently. Knowing a little about the engineering quirks of these I didn't check it out. Haven't come across a radio in the wild so not sure about their cab construction or where Grundig falls in the pecking order.

It does appear someone was a huge fan!

Mark

[Firedome]

Never been a fan of German radio/audio (except for their excellent tubes, particularly RFTs as well as the usual suspects, and Dual turntables): of their glossy cabinet look, the crammed in hard-to-work-on chassis, weird tubes they sometimes used, oval speakers, yada yada. Due to my less than wonderful experience with them, just no interest with messing with them anymore, but YMMV!

[electra225]

My experiemce is much like Roger's. I tossed a Phillips due to its crappy particleboard cabinet. More trouble than ot was worth.

[hermitcrab]

I repaired one years ago...the circuit boards are packed like solid state units... the capacitors have weird ratings and some are oil filled...the bias voltage was regulated by a super cap ... and they are usually dead ... but when they work they sound good ...

[William]

My Aunt and Uncle had a Telefunken table radio. It was on of those larger stereo ones. As a kid I was impressed with it's looks. All those buttons and knobs. The other thing that impressed my was the huge sound it produced. Like I said previously in this thread, I'm not impressed with their cabinets and the chassis looks weird. The one I have is dead and I have no plans in the immediate future to overhaul it.

Bill

[Motorola minion]

Those German sets are not all the same. Grundig is the GE of Germany, Telefunken the RCA, SABA the Zenith, Blaupunkt, Loewe, Korting, EMUD and others. Construction and designs are similar but variable build and component quality. Tubes are all similar, rarely are bad and only a few are spendy, like a ECL86/6GW8

Starting with Grundig, I have found very few instances where they did not work as found. Tone is always pretty warm and clear but not for real long before some issue pops up. Nearly always paper caps of varying types, one feeding the audio output grid is especially critical it does not leak. The paper caps used as bypass, will short and pull a G2 voltage down in IF-RF stages. Oddly, most electrolytics reform, especially those made by Siemens.
Shang066 explores a typical spectrum of issues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmHhltF7YO4

In my experience, cabinets are patched scraps of plywood with a piano finish, so if they EVER get wet, time to scrap them. Rodents are also death, using pushbutton terminal boards as a toilet after a diet of speaker cones and grill cloth. Those electrostatic tweeters and oval speakers are always interesting, matched well to the output stages, but replacements are hit or miss. Preamps have elaborate tone controls which do little more than a typical pair of tone controls on any USA set. the record players are not bad if a popular (Philips, Dual, Telefunken or Grundig) one is used. Some have been a problem based on other posts I see regarding German sets.

I wouldn't paint all European electronics with the same brush, but unless its in great shape initially, your time is better spent restoring an RCA Victor or Magnavox.

[William]

Thanks, Dave. I have always wondered the pecking order of German electronics and now I know. Someday, when I have nothing else to do, I will tackle the Grundig floor radio I have. With all the other stuff sitting around that needs my attention, RCA, Magnavox, Motorola, etc., it will be a long time before I get to it.

Bill