The Lyric Model 546T

BY RICHARD ARNOLD

WEB EDITION

Richard Arnold is a lucky man -- he has a wife who purchases radios for him. She, in turn, is also lucky in that she has a husband who trusts her judgement in such serious matters. Sounds like the ideal "radio pair." (Editor)

The Lyric model 546T is a radio we don't see very often. This is another radio that my wife purchased for me last year on her vacation to Galveston Island, Texas. I like this one a little more than the RCA 8X541 that she purchased at the same time. The 8X541 is described in the May 2001 issue of Antique Radio Classified.

The Lyric 541T, shown in Figures 1 and 2, is a 1947 model made by the Rauland Corporation, Chicago, Illinois. E.N. Rauland, previously associated with All-American Mohawk, started the company in 1929. By 1941, Rauland was a major contributor to the World War II war effort, and in 1947, Rauland also manufactured a Zeus Survey Meter for the Atomic Energy Agency.

Figure 1. The Lyric Model 546T from 1947 is housed in an attractive Bakelite cabinet.

Figure 2. While many AC/DC radios from the 1940s used cardboard back covers, the Lyric used a Bakelite cover.

On December 6, 1948, the Rauland Company was acquired by Zenith when Zenith bought up the capital stock. In 1968, Rauland became a division of Zenith and produced television picture tubes used worldwide.

The Lyric Model 546T

There are at least three radios that I know of that used the Lyric trade name. There is a cathedral ModelJ, ca. 1930, and a large tombstone that has the radio mounted at the top of the cabinet with the speaker on the bottom.

The subject of this article is a 5-tube AC/DC superhet that uses a 5-inch permanent magnet speaker and covers the AM broadcast band from 535 to 1620 Kc. The IF is 455 Kc.

The radio uses a version of the All American Five tube complement a 12SK7, a 12SQ7, a 12SA7, a 35Z5, and instead of the usual 50L6, a 50A5 loktal. In 1946, the 50A5 was usually used in concert with other locktal tubes such as a 14Q7, 14A7, 14B7 and 35Y4. I would suppose the reason for the use of this tube was that Rauland must must have gotten a good deal on the bulk purchase of 50A5s.

The plastic, wrap-around, Deco looking cabinet was available in brown and ivory. It measures 9" x 7 ³/4" x 6". Both the grille and dial scale are a brown/tan mix and are really sharp looking. The dial is lighted by a single #47 bulb. The loop antenna works pretty well, and the two knobs are for on/off-volume and tuning.

In my research, I found that this cabinet was used earlier. A Burnstein Applebee advertisement in 1937 shows the cabinet used as an office intercom. There were two models available. One was the OC-2 that had a 2-station capability and sold for $66.50 per station. The other model was the 0C-M that had a 2 to 10 station capability and sold for $38 per station.

This is a nice, not so common, and unusual looking radio. l am glad that my wife found it for me.

References:

Edgewater Historical Society, www.edgewaterhistory .org/v07-1-3.htm

Pelham, John. Radiophile. www/radiophile.com/lyric.htm

(Richard Arnold, Box 275, Lone Grove, OK 73443)

Richard Arnold, a frequent contributor to A.R.C., has been collecting radios since 1985. Primarily interested in cathedrals and 1920s battery sets, his collection ranges from crystal sets to a 1928 American Bosch in a Pooley cabinet. The 1932 Jackson-Bell Peter Pan featured in the June 1991 A.R.C. is his prize.