VOLUME 24               DECEMBER 2007                NUMBER  12

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

From Antique Radio Classified for December 2007
(Copyright 1996-2007 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

In 1947, exactly sixty years ago, what might have been the ultimate Christmas gift for Dad to bring home to the family? As Norman Braithwaite tells us in our lead article, it might well have been one of RCA's top-of-the-line, custom-designed radio/phono/TV Berkshire models. Of course, Dad would have had to be among the affluent or those willing to go for broke for better music quality.

For a moment, just think about the contrast the Berkshire models make with the set pictured on our cover. Only 24 years before RCA's big pitch for the Berkshire line, folks were listening on headphones to the music of the day coming from a little box. Norman's article tells us about a high-end line that offered giant steps in quality -- AM/FM, preset tuning, 25" TV (large for its time), loudspeakers chosen by experts, designer cabinets -- and on and on.

Though RCA's venture into this "ultracostly" market was not successful, Ray Bintliff's recollections about his assignment as the RCA engineer on the Berkshire project corroborates all that we read in Norman's article. Among other things, Ray reminds us of how important the LC-1 speaker designed by Harry F. Olson was to the quality of the Berkshire sound. This was the time when the quest for sound quality was really taking off, and both these articles illustrate what a fascinating interlude this was in radio history.

Walter Hall takes us further into that quest in the 1950s with his article on restoring vintage audio amplifiers. The Bogen and Scott amplifiers that Walter saved from the dumpster illustrate what was driving the market in the mid-20th century -- the demand for reasonably priced, but ever elusive "near perfect sound reproduction." Walter also describes the manufacturing processes of the time -- manual assembly and hard wiring -- another reminder of how far our automated world has come.

And speaking of how far we've come, our update composite article on the meaning of "JARS" indicates that A.R.C. needs to go much farther in its research on terminology. Though we like to be right all the time, sometimes it can be fun to find that we're wrong. Then we have alert readers like Ray Chase, Andy Emmerson, Mike Feher and Ludwell Sibley taking us to the woodshed. The term "JARS" and others like it will never again "snooker" us -- we hope.

Nevertheless, real mysteries abound in the radio collecting community. Once again the subject is sound quality, and Jerry Wieland tells us about his search for a solution to a higher than normal noise level on the shortwave bands of his Trans-Oceanic R7000-2. To make things more challenging, Jerry throws in another little mystery -- why does a Motorola emblem appear on his Zenith radio?

Well, we can't answer them all, but we can keep coming up with more information. Auctions provide one way to find out what's been going on in the marketplace, and to that purpose, we present another Estes Auction report. Prices were impressive for high-level sets like a Sparton Nocturne, an E.H. Scott Philharmonic, and a number of Catalins. A private collection auction like this one reveals what has been hidden away waiting to change hands.

A.R.C. Benefits. Be sure to take advantage of A.R.C. benefits: a toll-free number (866) 371-0512; Discover, MasterCard, American Express, Visa accepted; the Web, www.antiqueradio.com; books shipped free in the U. S. by USPS media mail; and for current subscribers, a 10 percent discount on all book orders.

Coming Radio Events. Late fall and the collecting action continues. Listed this month are 6 meets, 20 meetings, and 3 auctions. Holiday festivities will no doubt be included, so be sure to join in the good times.

Happy Holidays to all from everyone at A.R.C.

John, Cindie, Dorothy,

Bobby, Ray and Dave

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ON THE COVER

Our cover is a postcard from the John V. Terrey collection. It has a clear postmark of "Boston, Mass., Dec. 26, 6 P.M., 1924." Addressed to "Dr. & Mrs. Gleason, Hotel Buckminster, City," it has the street address, "Beacon St.," written at the bottom of the card. The sender, Anna Rudolph, relied on the legend on the front of the card for her message -- " Hello, it's Christmas. If you're listen' in today, you'll hear the wish I send your way, A Very Merry Christmas."

New in 2008 for A.R.C.

Rates. Our subscription rates have been the same since 1999 and during that time, mailing, production, and other costs have continued to increase. We are finally forced to respond with a rate increase. On January 1, 2008, U.S. subscriptions by Periodical Mail will be $45.00; by First Class Mail, $60.00.

The "good" news is that current subscribers may renew now at the old rates. So, renew now and save.

Foreign rates by air mail will remain the same, but unfortunately, international periodical surface mail is no longer offered by the postal service.

Web Site. Changes are being made on our web site also. To reduce the exposure of our subscribers to scams, we no longer make ads available to nonsubscribers. And, we have improvements to our marketplace in the planning stages and hope to add a past auction price search capability soon.

OOPS!

It's one thing to make an error within an article, but quite another when it's on our cover. Our thanks to Robert Diegoli for pointing out that the set on the November cover is an Air King Model 66, not a Model 52 -- a mistake also in the auction listing.