Do you still use tube radios in (almost) everyday use?
 

Do you still use tube (valve) radios in (almost) everyday use?

I use a tube radio and a tube stereo amplifier pretty much every day.

Greg B

:D How bout one that's in ALL day use, 24 hours a day, every day of the week, for a whole bunch of years now ......

This Hallicrafters S-38D has been running in my workshop literally for years nonstop. I keep it always on because the constantly changing sounds of the AM news station I have it tuned to keeps the mice out. It even runs during power outages because my backup generator runs the workshop as well as my house.

This radio has survived the 20 or so year run just fine, with no mice to be seen :thmbsp:

I don't listen to the radio that regularly (except when I had a job the first 8 months of the pandemic). During the thick of the pandemic I used the AM radio portion of an RCA 8TR29 a lot since it isn't plagued by AM band noise the way my AIWA solid state bench stereo is.

I've got a green 40s silvertone that was my first recap and a tube Zenith AM/FM stereo table radio that are probably among my more often used tube radios.

The tube device that probably gets the most hours is my homemade output-transformer-less surround sound amplifier. I built that in 2013 and it has been used usually more than an hour a day every day I'm home, often more than 4 hours a day, and a few times has been accidentally left on roughly for 36 hours straight.

Some of my tube TVs used to get comparable run time to the amp but the air-conditioning vent to my room is lousy and I use my HD CRT set more than my all tube sets these days.

You bet your bippy! Philco 1936 Model 116-122 in a tombstone cabinet. It whips the llama's ass! 11 glowing tubes with 6A3 output valves.

Yeppers. I have two Telefunkens, one at least is used pretty much every day. And a Collins KWM-2 for ham stuff, use that at least once a week. And two HF amplifiers, both with tube finals.

:worthless

I start from one end of my collection and work though to the other end almost every day. I play each one about an hour. I make a cup of green tea after dinner, kick back, and listen to a period show through my transmitter, a classic TV show/movie DVD on my TV's, or some great old records on my phono's. It's the same visual and aural thrill as it was for me back when I was a teen. The highlight of my day.

:music: Daily, and when I fix stuff for people its usually a tube set so I need to run them to make sure they're good to go.

Even now, I am listening to an AM station playing Glen Campbell on a 23-tube 1963 Motorola console, one of my AM sets seemingly immune to interference.
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I had a Dynaco FM-3 tuner for my stereo that got replaced with a Dynaco A/F-6 in 1978. Had the guts of a Westinghouse console from 1948 for shortwave and the guts of an early 60's Stromberg Carlson console for AM dxing. the last two got tossed in 1980 and the FM-3 sold it around 2004...

Other than in my vehicles they are all I listen too and almost daily. I rotate them a little.

Models? :)

I use a 1937 Vintage Coronado Model 650A Battery Powered Farm Radio that I listen to off and on over about 6 hours throughout any given day, to listen to oldies stations and conservative talk radio.

It actually does great with DX'ing at night, I was able to pick up an oldies station coming in out of Ontario, Canada with it.

Did you picked up Canada stations on M.W. (B.C.)?

My radio at work is a 1934 Philco 60 small cathedral fully restored about 5 years ago. It runs several days a week all day long. I've forgotten to turn it off many a weekend and long holiday weekend. Just plugs along.

My stereo system in my family room includes a 1962 Fisher X-1000 integrated amp driving a pair of huge Legacy Classics. I use it several times a month.

My formal living room has a 1928 RCA Radiola 62 highboy AM radio that I used to use to listen to baseball games before I gave up the sport two years ago. The Radiola is 100% original other than 4 of the 8 tubes (no recap). Not getting much use anymore. Since the FLR is off the dining room through French doors, it softly plays Christmas music on Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners through an AM broadcaster, but it's semi-retired now.

John