A few finds over the weekend.

[BostonDave]

I had to take a trip to a town about 100 miles away on Saturday so I checked the local ads before going and ended up picking up the Stromberg-Carlson and the Grudig Majestic for $20 CDN each.

Picked up the Telefunken Opus on Sunday from another ad back home for $40 CDN.

None of them are going to be worked on for a while (maybe in the fall) as there are a couple of others ahead of them.

The Stromberg-Carlson 761 is, I believe, from 1947. The brown bakelite was painted white with a brush at some point so it will have to be stripped.

The Grudig Majestic 4090, circa 1956-57, is a nine tube, 4 speaker monster (28 inches long). It's got a magic eye tube, am, 2 short wave, and FM bands as well as mechanical equalization controls. The missing knob in the photo actually fell off in the seller's driveway and he's kindly agreed to mail it to me.

The seller said it was his grandfather's and it worked when he brought it home but said he was playing it outside in the snow??? and one of the caps blew. He said he took the bad cap out and discarded it so I'll need the schematic for sure on this one. He did say that the tubes all glow and that the dial lights up.

The Telefunken Opus 2114 I believe has 12 tubes, four speakers, and is stereo. It's not as heavy as the Grundig but pretty close to the same size. It is from 1960 or 1961.

[MavC]

$20 bucks... thats a jackpot

[Sandy G]

Damn, feller, leave a few for the rest of us, OK ? (grin) Nice scores- Those German sets just have a certain "thing" about them, don't they ?

[BostonDave]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Those German sets just have a certain "thing" about them, don't they ?

Yeah. They certainly had some interesting features built into them. I've heard they sound great too, but don't really have any first hand knowledge in that regard... not yet anyway.

I'm thinking the Opus was the probably best deal of the three. The high end of a high end company for the time and relfective of tube audio hi-fi near full maturity. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like.

[Tom Bavis]

I have the 761 on my page, even though it wasn't made in Rochester: http://www.audiophool.cjb.net/MadeInRoch.html

Nordmende is in Sams 618-Servicer. Might have to go to radiomuseum.org for the Telefunken.

[Sandy G]

Oh, once you "go thru" them & re-cap & maybe put a new tube or 2 into them, they'll REALLY sound/perform GREAT...I have 4 or 5 of 'em, & am VERY pleased w/each one...The only thing you gotta watch is that sometimes the FM stops at 100 or 104 MhZ...Other than that, invariably, they're GREAT sets !

[BostonDave]

Thanks for the link Tom. Great page. I had definitely discovered it already and I believe I even downloaded the schematic for the 761 from there last week.

I've been searching for the others for about as long, but they are proving a little more elusive. I'm thinking I'll have to secure a membership on radiomuseum and ask around on there a bit.

I came across a this very detailed site last week in Italian which covers one gentleman's restoration of a Grundig 4090:

http://www.casaparadiso.it/radio/Grundig_4090.htm

I may tackle the 761 first just because I believe it will be the easiest and I have the schemitic already.

[Fisherdude]

Originally Posted by BostonDave

...I'm thinking the Opus was the probably best deal of the three. The high end of a high end company for the time and relfective of tube audio hi-fi near full maturity. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like.

[zenithfan1]

Great finds! German radios are a helluva fun time. You will be very happy with them after they're all checked out. I love my Grundig 3028 and would never let it go!

[BostonDave]

I emailed the gentlemen from the link with the Grundig 4090 restoration and he graciously sent me the service manual along with some useful tips. Aside from the schematic, the procedure to rethread the dial cord will be helpful as the cord is currently off its wheels.