Final verdict
The set looks stunning and the pictures don't do it justice
From an electrical and technical perspective I own another pre war set, a pilot u650, and there is simply no comparison. The components in the defiant don't seem to age well. I suppose you get what you pay for.
In its defence, despite being a TRF set it performs reasonably well. BBC radio 4 on LW came in loud and clear and mw reception was acceptable. The sound through the pickup is a bit "muffled" compared to a radio station, I'm not sure why, but playing the same tunes with a pantry transmitter makes them sound much better compared to playing them directly.
Video below of the defiant playing some 50s tunes using my cheap chinese pantry transmitter (the minimod is in the post).
https://youtu.be/Nkiz7jMl9sc
Hope you enjoyed the write-up
Gabriel
Ps: I typed all this on a mobile phone and noticed some predictive text errors which I apologise for