|
Vintage Radio (domestic) Domestic vintage radio (wireless) receivers only. |
|
Thread Tools |
30th Apr 2016, 7:59 pm | #1 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Southwold, Suffolk, UK.
Posts: 8,327
|
Grundig "Yacht Boy"
My wife bought me this as a Birthday present in March 1973. Wot a trouper! It still works perfectly and sounds superb. The pull-out bass cut feature is really neccessary on speech based progammes and even on certain kinds of music. With it in, the bass is just sensational. Just what was it that made these sound so good, was it the double-wound IFTs, the high RF gain or the soft suspension 7" x 5" speaker - or what? Certainly as good, or better, as any Hacker or Roberts of that period and maybe any current Roberts model.....That pedigree still continues in the name of ETON today. Edward
|
30th Apr 2016, 8:09 pm | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,830
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Grundigs are great. My favourite.
__________________
A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever.. |
30th Apr 2016, 9:14 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Evesham, Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 4,244
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Short answer: a wildly excessive amount of bass boost caused by the dual loudness taps.
Longer answer can be found here: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...4&postcount=10 My N210 is in this room, next to a Hacker Hunter. I agree that the Grundig has excellent sensitivity, especially on FM. But it's the Hunter that gets used daily. |
30th Apr 2016, 9:15 pm | #4 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,866
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
The speaker and generous microfarads in the audio stages plus slow agc give the bass.
Double-tuned IFTs give a wider, M-shaped passband without worsening adjacent-channel rejection and keep the audio flatter out into the treble region. There was an old joke which said Grundig designed a really good set, then saw how many parts could be removed before it stopped working David
__________________
Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
30th Apr 2016, 9:16 pm | #5 |
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,936
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Presumably this is a 209 or 210. These are great radios in all respects. The tone control gives a bass boost if you push it in, not a cut if you pull it out.
|
30th Apr 2016, 9:24 pm | #6 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Evesham, Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 4,244
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
See the schematics in the link I posted previously. Pulling out the bass control puts a 10n cap (C612) in series with the audio path, so it effects a bass cut. The bass boost (approx 25db of it!) is provided by C616 and C617 around the volume control.
|
1st May 2016, 12:40 am | #7 |
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,936
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Yes, I know this is literally true, but the tone control 'out' position gives a subjectively neutral frequency response. This is almost certainly how Grundig intended the radio to be used. I am well aware of the frequency shaping around the volume control - this radio doesn't have pretensions to offer high fidelity reproduction, rather it has the classic 50s/60s 'nice tone'.
|
1st May 2016, 10:29 am | #8 |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Essex, UK.
Posts: 602
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
The bass cut switch also places R611 across the tone control and virtually in parallel with the volume control. Grundig should have given the option of switching out the loudness components, which are nothing to do with the tone control circuit.
|
1st May 2016, 10:50 am | #9 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,866
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
The Yacht Boy was the European answer to the Zenith Trans-Oceanic that I drooled over on the back covers of Grandad's National Geographics.
David
__________________
Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
1st May 2016, 11:00 am | #10 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 13,454
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Ah....The Trans Oceanic, an evocative name, which captures one's imagination.
Lawrence. |
1st May 2016, 11:21 am | #11 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,830
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Quote:
Yacht boy: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/grundigradioboy/yb210.htm Satellits: http://www.classic-worldband.com/
__________________
A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever.. |
|
1st May 2016, 12:36 pm | #12 | ||
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Evesham, Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 4,244
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Quote:
1. Why didn't they simply reverse the connections to the SPDT switch, so the tone knob isn't sticking out by 1/4 inch by default? 2. With the tone control pushed in, it sounds like pretty much every other Grundig set I've heard Additionally, I've subsequently obtained a photocopy of the user manual. It says this: Quote:
|
||
1st May 2016, 12:40 pm | #13 |
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,936
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Well, that's fair enough. The tone control and frequency shaping arrangements are certainly odd in this set.
|
1st May 2016, 1:01 pm | #14 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Evesham, Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 4,244
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Quote:
The dual-tap approach is surprisingly common on Grundigs - though most use the same approach as a single loudness tap, where the tone control shorts out the bass-lift capacitor when turned to the "high" end. |
|
1st May 2016, 2:10 pm | #15 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Southwold, Suffolk, UK.
Posts: 8,327
|
Re: Grundig "Yacht Boy"
Many thanks for all of your Posts. This has given me an insight into the tone control's design parameters and I have revised my views to to it being a "Bass Cut" device. I now realise that the function is that of a "Bass Boost". This accounts for the excellent, well balanced, sound in the non-boost setting. That dual tap on the potentiometer must be a near unique feature. I also agree it would have been a more elegant solution to have had the default setting when the knob was pushed in. Edward
|