1937 ultimate hifi posted I at audio khama earlier
 

The ultimate hifi sold for $1,500.00 in 1937 had the same buying power as $23,483.46 in 2011! article from radio mag online reads as follows
" The WLW Model Super-Power Radio Receiver was announced on Nov. 25, 1936. The press release for the set was headlined “Here is the Colossus of Radio,” and offered a breathless listing of the components and capabilities of this new wonder of the radio world. The receiver was presented as powerful and practical. “In spite of the fact that it has tremendous volume range with a maximum output of 75W,” the release explained, “this gigantic receiver can be toned down to arm-chair or living-room levels and still retain all the original expression of the music as rendered in the studios . It had 37 tubes, six speakers and 75W of power. The cabinet stood 58" tall, 42" wide and 22"deep
Speaker bank consisted of three high-range tweeters and two 12" mezzo or mid-range speakers, plus an 18" auditorium speaker for the low range"
link to article http://radiomagonline.com/features/r...olossus_radio/
"The receiver could reproduce the entire range of audible sound, from 20 to
20,000 cycles per second ! One sold recently 55k .
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pictures ultimate radios
 

pictures of some high end antique consumer radios for well heeled consumers of that era. Pictures of Crosley and others 1 Crosley , Zenith strat, Crosley, Mcmurdo silver Masterpiece vii , Back of Crosley Picture 1,and 4 are from Radio On Line article others from on line Images .

You don't hear too much about those WLW models. I guess between being so rare, and not having the allure of the Zenith strat, they sort of get set along the wayside.

I do have a short story a fellow told me a few years back about the WLW console radio: He had a buddy who was an old time repairman in Cincinnati (home of Crosley) who wound up having 3 or 4 of these things in his garage. It seems they were such a bear to maintain that his customers wound up trading them in after a few years for a model that wouldn't blow up constantly. He just didn't have the heart to throw out such high-end gear, so there they sat in his garage.

BTW, on the subject of high tube-count models, you forgot the Scott Quaranta-a 40 tube monster that needed three cabinets to hold it all.

Any links on those radio's? sure like to have a close higher detail pictures of the inerds?

http://radiomagonline.com/features/r...olossus_radio/
http://www.radiostratosphere.com/zsi...o-gallery.html
http://hhscott.com/e_h_scott_2.htm
http://www.radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=2812
seach google for eh scott,zenith stratosphere,mcmurdo silver, Scott Quaranta
etc radio daze,radioattic antique radio,
http://radioattic.com/links.htm lots of stuff on google best regards