Who made the best radiograms?

[indigo.girl]

There seems to have been quite a large range of radiograms on sale over the years and lots of companies producing them (HMV, Grundig, Philips, Bush, Hacker etc). Which company do you think made the best ones and what is the best ever model?

[paulsherwin]

It depends on the era. In the 50s and 60s the best ones were German. The American makers also made some impressive ones at that time (called 'consoles' there) but they are pretty much unknown in Europe.

The vast majority of postwar British radiograms consisted of a basic 4 valve radio chassis, a record deck and a big wooden cabinet that looks like a sideboard.

[RojDW48]

Decca. Best ever - Decca Stereo Decola. I don't suppose everyone will agree - but that's the point of a forum.

[dseymo1]

The Americans certainly made some good stuff.
I used to have a late 1960s Admiral radiogram - a very heavy cabinet, largely of solid oak, housing a pair of three-way speakers (12", 5" and HF horns, properly housed in damped and ported enclosures), a multi-band tuner / pre-amp and seperate power amp. The original deck had been replaced, but would no doubt have been equally impressive.
The whole thing put a lot of lower-end hi-fi to shame!

[Radio Wrangler]

Once you approach a reasonable quality level in a radiogram, you run into the problem that you don't really want a turntable located in the same box as the loudspeakers, so the top end of the market switched to sideboard-like cabinets made to hold Leak or Quad amplifiers and tuners along with Garrard Synchrolabs or Connoisseur turntables, along with separate speakers.

These sorts of changes can't really be considered in isolation from the social changes of the time. People were generally becoming better off as WWII receded, and the music business was growing.

The big Decca etc radiograms of the pre-war era that had been the preserve of the wealthy weren't that common due to their cost, and as more people started to spend more money on listening to music, they were left behind. Whichever one you look at, there was always something better coming along a bit later. I suppose you have to decide at what point they stop being radiograms?

David

[Aub]

The Rigonda Symphony was a good one ( Russian ), let down by the turntable rumble though.

Aub

[stevehertz]

In the thirties it was RGD. Untouchable.

[MurphyNut]

Not heard a RGD but my Murphy A28 RG from the mid thirties is very impressive in sound quality and construction.

[sp10mk11]

My Parents had a stereo Lowe Opta in the late 1960s (my dad had been stationed in Germany) this had a Dual auto-changer 4 speed turntable in it, a tilt out control panel, and 3 speakers per-channel in a lower sealed part of the cabinet, it had compartment for a reel to reel with connection sockets, It also had two draws it was in natural and white teak finish, as a child I was fascinated by it, both compartments for the turntable and tape decks lit up when you opened the lids and there was a tiny green light at the very bottom to show I presume power was on, I doubt it was the best but it certainly was a well built and sounding system.
Gary

[Michael Maurice]

In the 1960's, B&O RG900 beautiful cabinet, great turntable (beogram 1000) and a magnet cartridge unheard of in a radiogram.

[Peter.N.]

The best one I ever heard belonged to the parents of a friend of mine in the mid '50s, this was still in the 78 rpm era but the quality was superb. It was a Ferguson I can't recall the model I only remember that the underside of the lid was either white or a very light coloured wood, if you slightly detuned the radio AM stations had the sort of top response that we later expected from FM. Records such as 'Rock around the clock' and the 'Cuckoo Waltz' sounded brilliant.

Peter

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by MurphyNut

Not heard a RGD but my Murphy A28 RG from the mid thirties is very impressive in sound quality and construction.

Taken from the RGD museum website:

"Radio Gramophone Development, often shortened to R.G.D, was one of just a couple of British manufacturers specialising in building radio, gramophone and television equipment of the very highest quality. Makers of the 1046 radiogram pictured right (below) with its renowned (PX4) amplifier, and some of the most advanced high fidelity reproducers from the heyday of radio, this illustrious manufacturer started production in 1929, and was finally taken over in 1952."

See: http://www.rgd.org.uk/index.html

[Nuvistor]

My boss in the 1960's always reckoned that those RGD grams were the best. Never got to hear one myself but very happy to take his judgment about it.
Frank

[Hartley118]

An illustration of RGD's attention to detail is that the Garrard RC60 autochanger in that 1046 radiogram was fitted with the very latest Garrard lightweight 'high fidelity' pickup head, one of the first to employ a sapphire stylus. The head is actually branded RGD, but I believe it to be made by Garrard.

Some years ago I managed to buy one such ex-RGD RC60 for my collection and I attach some pictures of the pickup head, including the sapphire. You'll notice that there's no clamp screw for a steel needle. Incidentally, I've not yet worked out how to replace the stylus, let alone find a replacement!

The pictures include the equalisation network which RGD took trouble to include on the pickup output, clustered on the tagstrip. It was all pretty advanced for 1946 and, along with Decca FFRR discs, marked the dawn of hi-fi in those post-war years.

Martin

[Edward Huggins]

Indy, it's a bit like asking what's the best car! There can be no right answer. Many will say the HMV 800 from 1937, a Decca Decola from 1947 or an early Dynatron. But we can certainly advise some of the ones to avoid! Edward

[Oldelectronics]

This was produced by Whiteley Electrical and Radio (sorry if a bit blurred due to the glass) with bought in turntable etc at the time I should imagine very expensive and a bit big for the average home! But would have been 1st class.Within the last week or two I have seen an empty cabinet same as one of the decks for sale.

[Radio Wrangler]

Michael's already mentioned B&O. Did Tandberg do any radiograms or was it just the Huldra tuner amp with the turntable on top?

David

[Michael Maurice]

Originally Posted by Oldelectronics

This was produced by Whiteley Electrical and Radio (sorry if a bit blurred due to the glass) with bought in turntable etc at the time I should imagine very expensive and a bit big for the average home! But would have been 1st class.Within the last week or two I have seen an empty cabinet same as one of the decks for sale on a well known auction site.

That turntable cant be original! It looks like a DUAL CS 505 made in the 80's where as the rest dates from the late 50's early 60's!

[Oldelectronics]

Hi Micheal I am not sure what is original I saw this in Mansfield Museum some time ago and as an ex employee could resist taking a photo I suppose strictly speaking its not a Radiogram more a Hi Fi set up but can you imagine it all in one cabinet you would need a crane to shift it! I do like the quality though despite being unable to find space even if I had one!

[dseymo1]

Agreed on both counts - the Dual is undoubtedly a later substitution, and the whole setup, albeit rather nice, can't really count as a radiogram. There were quite a few similar setups using Leak, Quad, Tannoy etc gear built into furniture-style cabinets, which were also available individually.