[Half a Mullard]

Hi and welcome

Yes you are right, the Forum is mainly aimed at restoring radios (and many other vintage items) in their original form. However with a DAC90A there might be a solution which could be reversed if you or anyone else wanted to put it back in original state. The main workings of the radio (the chassis) can be easily removed on these sets. Keep it safe. This would just leave the speaker in place and the dial glass (tuning scale) with the stations marked on it. If you wanted to do this we can advise on how to remove the chassis.

The speaker on these sets is low powered and fragile by modern standards and I would suggest removing it but storing it safely. Use a modern speaker – as mentioned a 4 inch or 5 inch should do. I’m not sure how it would sound in the empty Bakelite case, don’t expect hi fi. The original speaker is screwed into the case with small self tapping screws. It might be better to make up some kind of wooden baffle as has been suggested. There are holes where the existing knobs are, again if you can avoid drilling the case it could at least be restored to original later.

Finally as you probably know these radios are connected directly to the mains and high voltages are involved. It would be best to avoid the temptation to plug it in!