Sets to identify. HMV 1117 and Astor?

[Station X]

Spotted these two in an antiques centre in Norwich yesterday. Can anyone identify them?

I did not buy them and have no intention of doing so.

[ms660]

1st photo:

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/hismasters_1117.html

?

Lawrence.

[agardiner]

The 2nd one looks very unusual. I wonder if the telephone dial is original or if someone added it?

[Station X]

Originally Posted by ms660

1st photo:

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/hismasters_1117.html

?

Lawrence.

Well done Lawrence.

[Station X]

Originally Posted by agardiner

The 2nd one looks very unusual. I wonder if the telephone dial is original or if someone added it?

Despite the appearance it isn't a telephone dial. It has 11 "holes" and is actually the tuning knob.

[paulsherwin]

Two very nice sets. The woodie is obviously British and looks late 40s. The bakelite one appears to have Australian call signs on the tuning scale but I've never seen anything like it.

[Later] Yes, the woodie is HMV. Must have cost a fortune in the austere postwar years.

[ms660]

2nd photo....me dinners ready so no can trawl.

Lawrence.

[yestertech]

Astor Aladdin perhaps ?
Looks quite similar ....

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/astor_aladdin_cd.html


Andy

[Station X]

Certainly looks similar. I wasn't able to look at the back or inside to see the power supply arrangements.

[paulsherwin]

Agreed, very similar. Aussie sets are often a bit idiosyncratic, but that one takes the biscuit.

[Station X]

I'm back in Norwich in a week's time and I'll check the price in case anyone on here wants to buy it.

[Paul_RK]

I used to have an 1117 - heavy and quite impressive to look at, a rarity among post-war sets in having station presets and two tone controls, but a regular 4V+R superhet at heart and unremarkable for sound quality: of course I may not have had mine working at its best. The Astor's certainly a rare bird in this hemisphere.

Paul

[radio69]

I repaired an HMV 1117 for a distant relative (long since brown-bread) - must be 30 years' ago now. He had owned it from new, his pride and joy, type thing...

Build quality is that of a battleship, sound quality is excellent.

A word of warning; when carrying, be careful not to drop on your toes!

[PJL]

The Astor looks interesting. They seem to come in various forms for AC, DC and battery. The one in the link says it's DC but it has a mains transformer?

[joebog1]

A circuit I think.

Joe

[joebog1]

Nice bit of back biassing the centre tap on the transformer for AGC action.
Its in fact the bias for the audio output bottle.
Joe

[electrogram]

I repaired an HMV 1117 some years ago, it is a beautiful looking set, despite the two speakers, one energised one PM, and two tone controls, it didn't sound that good IMHO. Due to the complex tone controls there are six of 'that capacitor' to replace.

[Laurence Smith]

I have two HMV 1117s, one (which was given to me at Retrotech 2021) is in almost daily use and works very well and the other (which I got at a Radiophile auction in the late '90s) works but is super quiet and I've never been able to get to the bottom of what is wrong. One has a much darker cabinet finish than the other, and I don't think either have ever been refinished.

[Mr 1936]

Hi

Another HMV1117 owner here. Mine was working when acquired and I don't remember ever having to do anything to it electrically. Sound is a little distorted when it's been on for a while, so maybe I should check it out.

My fallible memory says that the set once appeared in the background of an Anthony Hopkins film, possibly Shadowlands. Any takers to watch through the whole film and then tell me I'm wrong ?

[ms660]

So far as I can make out, the Aladdin receiver is a reflex job, and has two AGC systems, simple and delayed.

Lawrence.