The Wonderful Zenith K731

[Paula]

Hi Jeff,

Actually, I live in southeastern Indiana, roughly midway between Indianapolis and Cincinnati (OH). Yes, I have picked up Channel 6 on various FM radios before. It kind of shocked me the first time I heard it!

I'm in the process of restoring a Zenith 7H820 AM/FM receiver from around 1949. This radio has the "famous" Dialspeaker (patent No. 2272660) -- a combination tuning dial and speaker in a single unit -- that Zenith incorporated into many of their radios of the era. More notable is the fact that a few of the early versions of this particular radio were equipped with a second FM setting that covered the 42-50 mHz frequency band that was originally allocated to FM, but subsequently reallocated to to TV. Presumably, one could pick up numerous TV audio signals with this radio. One of these came up on eBay not long ago (unrestored), but when the bidding topped $85, I said "No thanks."

In my previous post, I didn't mean to imply that I owned the Early American style K731 -- that picture is from an ad on eBay. It was an exceptionally nice radio, but with an opening bid of $50, I think that buyers got scared away. I believe it went unsold, tho' I now kind of wish I'd grabbed it.

Below is a picture of the inside of that radio, showing the impressive speaker "array". I think it compares favorably with the Grundig 3068 pictured below it. The Grundig goes the Zenith one better by flanking the front speakers with side drivers, for improved dispersion.

Paula