Best Vintage German Tube Radio?

[Nolan Woodbury]

I've been a fan of German audio for a long time, and can understand the attraction.

Most any of the big, multi-speaker, high tube-count table sets from Grundig, Saba, Telefunken, -even Blaupunkt- should return a nice tone if properly serviced. Aim for the US import models, designed to run on 115v. Some have output transformer switches for US and Euro use. I found my EMUD in Germany and it was a US import! Someday, I'll see what it's all about but life is the stuff that happens when you're making other plans...

For me, the main attraction has always been those glossy, hardwood cabinets. Probably even more than the audio fidelity, and while I'm admitting, those push-button switches the Germans were so fond of can be a real PITA. That said, I haven't seen any of them that sounded better than say, a Kloss Model Two or a proper 8-tube Zenith. I like 'em and want more, and that includes some of the very fine solid state stereos that came out of Europe in the 1970s. Still, for pure listening enjoyment, its hard to beat the tubies that came from the good old USA-