Zenith...over rated or not! - Printable Version

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RE: Zenith...over rated or not! - jcr1972 - 06-01-2013

This is a very interesting thread!
It is very much like the "battle" we have here in Denmark with the Bang&Olufsen brand. I'm not able to give a lot of inputs on the Zenith products because they were not sold over here. I do have a Z console myself, a 12U159, and to me it sounds wonderful, but as mentioned in another reply I think the acoustic adapter on the large main speaker has a lot to do with it. It is very easy to tune the sound to the room. I have an unrestored Philco, so I can't really compare the Zenith with others, and we didn't even have those large powerful consoles here.
Well about the B&O brand, it was in my opinion always overrated. Especially later on when they started all their modern design models late 50's - early 60's (among lots of other brands as well). Although Denmark is a very small country, we had more than 30 companies producing radios/tv's (only 24 of them managed to produce tv's) from 1925-1975.
The only one left now is B&O, and they are HIGHLY overrated. In a biography about the B&O company, one of the founders Peter Bang or Svend Olufsen told, that they were not even that good at building radios They were better at the AF section. And I heard a lot of the older technicians say the same thing: vintage B&O radios/tv's are in general only standart engineering/products. Other brands where a lot better tecnically. Just like it seems with the Zenith products.
The brand that could manage the highest overall quality here was Neutrofon, and later Linnet&Laursen. Early Neutrofon radios are rare because they were very expensive. Linnet&Laursen started in 1946. The founders, Harald Linnet and Valdemar Hofman Laursen were B&O employees until they split with them to start their own factory, building higher quality products.

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RE: Zenith...over rated or not! - TA Forbes - 06-01-2013

SABA has an interesting history.

Also, they were responsible for some of the greatest recordings of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.

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RE: Zenith...over rated or not! - Ron Ramirez - 06-01-2013

Well, folks, this may come as a shock to some of you, but I'll be getting a Brand Z 9S262 at the end of this month, and possibly a 5S29 as well. Not sure where the 9S262 will go...possibly in my office at work in place of the Philco 19X which I may bring home and put...well, I don't know where I'll put it, but I'll figure something out...

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RE: Zenith...over rated or not! - w4rtc - 06-01-2013

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RE: Zenith...over rated or not! - Eliot Ness - 06-02-2013

Quote: but I'll be getting a Brand Z 9S262 at the end of this month, and possibly a 5S29 as well.

The 9S262 was my first shutter dial/motor drive Zenith find. I found it years ago at a flea mkt in Ohio and at the time I didn't even realize it had those features. It has a lot of sentimental value now and still has a spot in my displayed collection.

The 5S29 is just a real pretty little 1936 tombstone that had a small role in the 2009 movie Public Enemies:
[Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/jmiller981/Transistors/5S29.jpg]

I used to have a 5S29 but the cabinet was in pretty bad shape so I eventually traded it off many years back. A couple of years ago I decided I liked the styling enough to try and find another one if the price was ever right. Then I was looking over radios in my garage for a Kutztown trip and moved a large set to discover a very nice 5S29 I had forgotten about tucked away behind it! As soon as I saw it I recognized when and where I bought it, but it was like Christmas finding a radio on your wish list without even leaving home

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RE: Zenith...over rated or not! - Art Hoch - 06-03-2013

I like many different brands of tube radios and have leaned toward the Z's. At last count I had 33 total including a very few transistors. Consoles include 8S154, 9S262, 7S363 and a Super VIII (if that's a console); 2 tombstones--5S29 and 4F133, and numerous table models including a J615 which was my first collected radio. But... Philco is in 2nd place. Styling has always been a factor in my pursuit of a "new" one. I suppose that is what keeps me from looking at 1920s and earlier sets...not much cabinet beauty IMHO.

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RE: Zenith...over rated or not! - rocketeer - 06-04-2013

Generally speaking I agree with the brand "Z" comments made by others but I would point out that later models such as the H-845 and MJ1035 table radios are, IMHO, top of the line performers and should not necessarily be painted with the same brush as some earlier Zeniths.

Larry

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