Hacker experiences.

[Aristotle]

As a "Johnny come Lately" to collecting 60's thro to 80's transistors my favourites are Hacker and Grundig - although my couple of Roberts R707's often gets a listening nod.

Of my favourite Hackers I now have several Sovereigns 2/3/4 and they all have a good sound and as I type this am listening to Elgar tuned to Classic FM on a late Hunter- it's wonderful.

My Hacker Heralds both MW/LW and FM also produce great listening experiences - - - - so here's my questions.

The gap in my collection is a Super Sovereign 75MB and I suppose like everyone else I watch the usual sales sites to see those that come up for sale. Most need work which I'm happy to do but occasionally one sells for (what seems to me) an unreasonably high price.

Now as an admittedly "Johnny come Lately" I don't understand all the various variants and modifications - I've seen ones with and without royal warrants - placed in different positions on the dial scale - were some produced after the Hacker Bros relinquished control and so potentially not as desirable.

? 1. Were there different models of Super Sov's - a less than mint one sold on a well known site today for £470 - it was designated as a "MOD" 75MB what is that - - - are there variants that are better and therefore more valuable ?

? 2. I don't want to own a Super Sov 75MB as prestige object - I listen to my radio's on a regular basis so is the Super Sov as good to listen to as say my best performing Sov 2's ?

David.

[mhennessy]

If you have a Sovereign III, then the Super Sovereign only adds short wave and a battery meter and ISM to the mix. The sound quality is much the same. If you're looking for one, I'd recommend the later MB models that tune to 104MHz. Broadly, the history goes something like this:

1. Super Sovereign RP75. Battery or external DC only. Tunes to 101MHz.
2. Super Sovereign RP75MB. Replaces the external DC input with a mains input. Adds SW aerial tuning control.
3. Super Sovereign RP75MB. As #2, but tunes to 104MHz.


Personally, I'd rank the sets as follows:

1. VHF Herald RP37A (but with the large-magnet Elac loudspeaker).
2. Hunter RP38A (providing you have good FM reception in your area, as they are usually not as sensitive as the other models).
3. Sovereign II with the Celestion loudspeaker.

1 and 2 are close; there is a larger gap between 2 and 3.

The various Sovereign III sets with the Peerless 5-by-7" loudspeaker don't light my fire in quite the same way as those. In part, it's the sound quality, as I've documented elsewhere on this forum.

I'm not sure what the "MOD" reference means - could you provide a link?

Don't forget the Mayflowers - they're great.

Many Grundig sets can also sound good, and FM sensitivity is always excellent - usually equal to or better than the Hackers. Harder to restore, given the thin aluminium trim and custom plastic parts. One in mint condition is a joy; anything else is likely to be a "donor" set...

[Paul_RK]

I was typing a largely similar answer to Mark's, and there's no point in repeating his observations. The Super Sovereign ceased production before the financial downfall of Hacker Radio Ltd., so unlike with some other models there's no reduction of build standard in the later sets.

I've a feeling that the relatively uncommon RP75MBs tunable to 104 MHz tend to command a premium, and I'm not aware of any other advantages they have over earlier models, in which case it may not be worth pursuing one if, like me, you're never tempted to listen to anything broadcast above 100 MHz.

EDIT: Ah, Classic FM. You'll want a late one, then

Paul

[Thyristor]

I don't currently own a Super Sov, but have owned a couple in the past; one of them was a fiver from a boot-sale circa 1993.

They are really just a Sov III in a bigger box, with added bells and whistles.

[Paul_RK]

Yes, the little tuning meter is hardly a necessity, if you want ISM you've got it on your Sovereign IIs, and you needn't go so far as a Satellit (though it's a pity not to...) to arrive at a Grundig model that will run rings around a Super Sov. on short wave.

[Nukeybrown]

I have had a few hackers in my time , still have a few rare ones in my collection. Personally i would rather have 5 hacker hunters to 1 super sov as for all round everyday usage i think theyre the best of the bunch

[Paul_RK]

It gets to seem a little silly that, while over 47 years I've gathered at least one example of every known model of Hacker radio, and numerous variants of some of them, I still haven't heard an Elac-equipped RP37A. I'll aim to fill that gap some time in the next few months.

[mhennessy]

I'm amused that I'd forgotten that the battery meter was also a tuning meter

Of course, I did know that - I've fixed faults with them in the past - but this is telling me just how little attention I pay it. And in fairness, it was a reasonably complicated feature for them to include - there is quite a lot of circuitry behind it, including a couple of pre-set adjustments. Given that, I wonder if they should have picked a physically larger meter. Perhaps with a backlight? There: that's what the Super Sovereign needs - backlights! Given that it seems they were looking for any and every excuse to add a button, I'm surprised they didn't do that

Around here, Classic FM is on 100.1 and 100.4 (Sutton Coldfield and Ridge Hill respectively). A minor tweak to the RF alignment would extend a 101MHz model up slightly if needed, though naturally that does upset the accuracy of the scale. In my experience they've all drifted quite a bit by the time I get them on the bench. Personally, I find that going through the line-up procedure is quite satisfying because they can be very accurate indeed once finished, but to most normal folk, I can see that would be much less important than an ability to get a station that would otherwise be just off the top of the scale.

[Aristotle]

Thank you to everyone for your responses.

Believe I'm now clear on the differences between Super Sovereign variants, it's also good to know my current crop of radio's produce at least as good a sound.

The Super Sovereign in question was a later model to 104MHz.

Mark - - I like my Sovereign III but if listening to music on FM find myself reaching to switch on either a VHF Herald, my Hunter or one of my Grundigs it's good to know others with more experience than me would agree.

I assume my VHF Herald has the Elac speaker can you confirm from the picture below ?

Paul, My Grundigs are good particularly on FM - I don't have a Satellit to compare SW but my Melody Boy pic below is for me pretty much ok.

Thank you again everyone.

David.

[mhennessy]

Hi David,

Yes, that's the Elac. A later example; earlier ones had painted chassis. Looks like a lovely set - I doubt any of my red ones will restore as nicely as that one...

Lovely Grundig too. It's done well to survive in that condition - especially knowing how easily they pick up dents and scratches.

Cheers,

Mark

[SteveCG]

David,

I tried to make out which local radio stations were marked, down at the 88 Mc/s end of the band on your Herald 'photo but the glare meant I could not. Could you oblige please?

Steve

[Aristotle]

Steve,

Happy to - - away at the moment - probably Friday.

David.

[Paul_RK]

It looks to be the standard VHF Herald tuning scale - from left Durham, Merseyside, Leicester, Rotherham, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Leeds, and at the 88 MHz end Sheffield and Brighton.

Paul

[Aristotle]

Originally Posted by SteveCG

I tried to make out which local radio stations were marked, down at the 88 Mc/s end of the band on your Herald 'photo but the glare meant I could not. Could you oblige please?

Hallo Steve,

Pretty much as Paul say's - below are couple of photo's of my red 37A and a black 37 - have a further 37A which is identical.

Regards,

David

[SteveCG]

Thank you David. I too have a VHF Herald (Red) which shows the Brighton Local Radio as being 88.1 Mc/s. I presume that all these radios were produced in a limited time-span as I don't think Brighton stayed 'down there' for long.

[Paul_RK]

VHF Heralds, first the RP37 then the 'A' version, were current from 1969 until replaced by the Black Knight in 1973. I think there's only one tuning scale pattern, used from first to last except for the Open University variant, which doesn't show the local stations. Radio Durham was short-lived, closing down on 25/8/72, so the tuning scale will have been somewhat out of date by the end of production.

Paul

[SteveCG]

Thank you Paul for the explanation.