I can't remember if I did a plot with the tone control in the out position - if I didn't, I'll do one to compare that mode with the modified version...
As I've said before, I'm sure it was absolutely fine when designed, but that was before Optimod! My tests a few weeks ago reinforced that; playing CDs straight into the FM modulator with the peaks just reaching 75kHz was actually quite effective - you could advance the volume control past the first loudness tapping and the bass boost from that progressively fell away as intended before anything overloaded. But tuning to a real radio station resulted in a much louder output, with rattles from the cabinet and distortion from the amplifier.
Essentially, Grundig - who clearly intended the larger sets like these to have a "larger" sound than the smaller models - did a really good job of extracting every ounce of performance from that amplifier/loudspeaker combination. But unfortunately they left themselves with no headroom. In fairness, who could have predicted just how much things would change in the future?
Nigel, many thanks for the feedback
