Classic Hifi Care

A friend gave me a radio today. He was cleaning out stuff and said if I wanted it, take it or it was going to the dumpster. Guess what, it followed me home. I have not brought it into the house, it's still in the back of the truck and will go to the pole barn until I'm ready to do something with it. I Googled the model number just to see what I got and found this exact radio so I thought I would share.

https://radioattic.com/item.htm?radio=1090250

Bill

That is a nice radio! You were fortunate to be acting like the temporary trash hauler today! It amazes me the things people put to the curb.

Nice find !

First of all, imagine tossing such an interesting device into the trash. My theory is that it takes little effort to find somebody who wants something, and as age or complexity or attractiveness suggests the device has some value, it's worth making the effort to do so. This could be the subject of a ten-paragraph rant. I just shipped a 1960-ish portable TV to FL, a freebie except for the recipient's shipping costs (box to me, TV in box back again) and some effort to pack it up and cart to the FedEx shop. The donee was tickled and said it was working (!!) when it arrived!

Second, nice device! Tuned RF, and pushbuttons. It has a classic look. Have fun!

Chris Campbell

Thanks, guys. It is a cool looking radio, and tossing it was not an option. He has more stuff to put by the curb or toss. I may shop there again.

Bill

Nice cabinet work, nice radio! You northerners do get a lot of good stuff... I reckon the carpetbaggers scarfed up all the good stuff down here.

Thanks, Rex. I'm not sure about the southern carpet baggers and your lack of stuff to pick, but there really is slim pickings around my next of the woods. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time for this one.

Bill

That is a console chassis in a table radio, with a built-in loop. There were so many cheap GE models that unless there was a "Musaphonic" table model, this was the top of the line.

Kind of like the Zenith on the Waltons may have been a table model, but it sure was Zenith's best 12-tube model.

Thanks, Dave, it does have a typical type of AM antenna built in but also has a wire loop in the top. It kinda looks like a coat hanger that is shaped to fit in the top and hooks directly to something in the chassis. I have not pulled the chassis yet to see just where it goes.

Bill

So just exactly what is a General Electric "Musaphonic" radio?

Bill

Musaphonic was GE's model name for various devices that emphasized audio quality. They put it on everything from big '40s consoles to AA6 radios. I have two visually identical 50s plastic-cased radios, one labeled "Long Distance" and one "Musaphonic." They are both AA6 with tuned RF and I'm not sure exactly how they differ (if they do, it could have been an advertising dept. ploy). Or maybe the audio amp on the Musaphonic aimed at wider freq.response and the Long Distance a more constrained response to make DX reception more audible over the noise.

Chris Campbell

The radio I got does not say Musaphonic on it, but the back has a sticker that says "Golden" something. I need to look again to see what the second word is. RCA used "Golden Throat", so I guess GE did something similar.

Bill

My childhood one-tube steel-cased portable RCA phono with a 4" speaker claims "Golden Throat." Gimme a break....

Chris Campbell

I took a look at the back of the GE and the sticker reads "Golden Tone". Motorola used the term "Golden" on their units as well.

Bill

I restored one of these Musaphonic chassis but not the player, it was 78 only. It was their post-war TOTL, due to its quad PP 6V6, was competing with Magnavox, mostly. Its a great amp with a very bizarrely constructed AM/2FM/3SW tuner with a ton of wax caps, definitely not a Zenith in the receiver category. https://radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=2913

I have one of these, at the other end of the name, 1960 and a pretty tame AA6. https://radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=879

I also have a "Musaphonic" T155 with a 6" round speaker, that is a great DX and good sounding set. On my bench to confirm reception of anything else Im working on. Working on all original parts as found in a dump in 1977 and it always played in our garage when I turned it on, so I made a new walnut case for it original fire cracker electrolytic cap that looks like a cardboard tube with peanut butter in each end!.

Dave, the link you provided (GE model 44) is similar to the model 41 that I found in Radiomuseum when I was researching Musaphonic. Here is the link to the model 41:

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/general_el_41.html

Bill

William wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:28 pm Dave, the link you provided (GE model 44) is similar to the model 41 that I found in Radiomuseum when I was researching Musaphonic. Here is the link to the model 41:

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/general_el_41.html

Bill

That's it!
A schematic from Riders shows all 5 cabinet models. (via NostalgiaAir) http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByMode ... 007663.pdf