[Jeffhs]

I wouldn't be surprised if Zenith got the idea for its C845 and its other high-fidelity table radios of the 1950s from the design of the Matsushita Panorama 640. These radios seem to be similar in design (except for the tuning eye, which the C845 doesn't have--although I once saw a C845 with an added-on external eye tube), with two speakers, great RF sensitivity and selectivity, and high-performance audio. The C845 doesn't have a three-position equalizer, but it does have a continuously variable tone control that varies the entire response curve of the audio stages; I find that my own C845 sounds best with the control at midrange.

Both the Panorama 640 and the C845 are eight-tube receivers, which means there is an RF stage ahead of the antenna; this makes for a very sensitive radio, usable in just about any signal area, and great for DX. I live in an area of northeastern Ohio that gets AM and FM reception from several different cities, so I can often hear stations from these areas (in fact, my FM dial is often packed with signals from one end to the other in the summer, when the FM band opens up) on my C845 as well as if they were local -- and just using the built-in antennas. Hook up a Panorama 640 or a Zenith C845 to an external antenna, however, and you may hear stations you never knew existed. I can only speak for my C845, but since the Panorama 640 is an eight-tube set it is probably every bit as much a DX machine as are any of the late-'50s-very early '60s Zeniths.

I'd hang on to that Panorama 640 set because, as I always say about Zenith radios, they unfortunately don't make them like that anymore.

The Panorama 640 is also the first Matsushita radio I have ever seen with a power transformer and a 6X4 rectifier tube. I don't know if the primary of the transformer is fused, but if not, I'd put a fuse in to protect the transformer in case the tube (or the main 3-section power supply filter capacitor) shorts.