It turned out that it was my cat! He seems to like anything electronic and while looking for a toy he spied a CRT brightener sitting on a cabinet. It's heavy for it's size because of the transformer.
When he pulled it down it fell right into the track of his plastic turbo scratcher and got stuck. It only made one very loud pop because it didn't bounce around and the center piece acted like a loudspeaker diaphragm.
Reece: Yes, I probably shouldn't but I grew up with daily shocks from the Arvin my dad kept in his garage. It just wouldn't seem like home without the smell of burning flesh!
Actually with the safety caps I've never gotten a poke from the radio. I wonder if the paper caps had anything to do with how the name "Noblitt-Sparks" was chosen?
John