We're talking Holy Grail here...
 

Put your bib on & get ready to drool: http://cgi.ebay.com/HALLICRAFTERS-SX...item19b7579099

According to a ham forum I'm on, the owner has the reserve set at 10 grand. One sold not long ago for over 8...and this baby's as close to brand new as you'll find.

I hope to find one at a garage sale some day for $10.

That shore is purty ... but $10k? I'll have to stick with my $5 S-38

But all kidding aside. It is a very nice restoration.

Those are nice, but I think I'll keep my $400 SX-73, & my $375 SX-62A...

http://antiqueradio.org/dumpster.htm

I got mine over a dozen years ago. Fine receiver, but honestly not the mystical, magical treasure that some folks make out. I can't imagine paying today's cult prices for one.

I also have an SX-28 and SX-42, which cost almost nothing compared to this guy's reserve. If you blindfolded these bidders and sat them down in front of all three radios for a Pepsi Challenge, I wonder what the results would be.

I have mixed feelings about this dude's scorched-earth re-manufacturing style of restoration, but perhaps that's another topic.

Phil Nelson

Exactly, Phil. I REALLY, REALLY doubt its any better than either one of my R-390As, the EK-07, the SX-73, or my "new" iron, a JRC NRD-545. My SX-73 is almost as rare as that set is, too. It was even more expensive than an SX-88 when they were new, $975 vs $595, & they were contemporaries. The SX-73 is, however, just about the UGLIEST "Uber-receiver" I've ever seen...It looks rather like the north end of a southbound jackass. That's alrite, tho. It ain't goin' anywhere...(grin)

I'll stick with my $10 S-38, my $20 Zenith TO A-600, and my $40 DX-160.

You know I like these old things to show some age. Not beat all to hell and back but well used.

i did an old wooden Airline table radio last year. I left the cabinet as is. Was still solid, just old and character. It was for my better half's son-in-law and I believe he felt the same way.

To each their own though...

i own an 88 that i have preserved for the last 30 years.
its on the deaf side and has a bit of hum.
several times i have been tempted to restore it.but then its not original any more!
i knew it was a rare bird when i got it and it has been well preserved.
this is the one rig i would take the time to restuff caps on.
i am sure opinions are all over the place as to what to do with it but as it sits it will not deteriorate any further.

I think the appeal lies in the rarity rather than the performance...kinda like a CT-100. (Although I'll bet a well-setup CT-100 will beat the picture quality of a lot of modern sets) Even with about a tenth of the total production of a CT-100, a larger percentage of SX-88s have survived in one form or another...still not many around, though.

That being said...if I were a collector of mid-20th century industrial design rather than radios I think I'd want one in my hands. It is the essence of purposeful US industrial design. As an art object it may well be worth that kind of loot.

(And I love my $25 RME-45!!)

I honestly think I had an identical set back in about 1995. I bought it at garage sale for 3.00 It didn't work, it was missing some tubes.

I was young and dug around and found some tubes that fit. It came to life, but I didn't know anything about the set.

I'm pretty sure that set, along with about 30-40 other various radios got taken to the dump when I moved away to college.

I just looked at the picture again. I am about 99% sure that is the same set. I was about 15 and thought it looked like the cockpit gauges in an old airplane... I also remember the h logo in the middle.

Weird...that was your 88th post, too!

Speaking of Holy Grails, drooling, etc...this is the one I craved as a kid: http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-NATIONAL-NC...item35a46b640b

I didn't know an SX-88 existed back then...all I had was the National catalog and dreams of an NC-400 on my desk.

Yeah, if you restore it too much it looks more like a reproduction than a restoration and where's the fun in that ?

There are some other Hallicrafters sets that look very similar and are more common -- SX-99, etc. A Google search will turn up photos.

Phil

One of my first auction wins (personally attended, not online) was an SX-99 that I got for $17.50. For the kind of money he is asking, I could get a Greenlee chassis punch and add a few tube sockets and come up with the SX-99 for a fraction of what he is asking. (I have already made some modifications and more wouldn't hurt.)

But, he has his bidders and this market is pretty knowledgeable, so good luck to him.

$6.6K and didn't make the reserve. Sounds like your 10G info was right. Wonder if he'll repost.

John