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What's the best sounding vintage clock radio?

Romeo Wolf

Romeo Wolf

Super Member
Someday when I'm an adult I'd need to wake up sometime for work or college. Even if I have a roommate may their class start at an earlier/later time than me. I know there's my phone for that but it's not really what I'd want to wake up to. So I'd want a vintage clock radio. I currently have a 1972 Zenith circle of sound C472W solid state, and the clock doesn't really work. I doubt the alarm does either so it's practically done for.

So now I'd want something more reliable, with an LED/VFD display. I also want it to be louder/more efficient, and it most definitely shouldn't sound like a tin can like I feel that my C472W sounds like sometimes, or rattle the goddamn cabinet.

For that, I narrowed it to two options: the LED version of the Zenith circle of sound or the GE 7-4691A Fidelity I.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-ZE...sh=item469378a44f:g:CcMAAOSwmDJcrSVw&LH_BIN=1
https://www.ebay.com/itm/General-El...sh=item287a7ad78d:g:mjwAAOSwFYJb08Gp&LH_BIN=1
Which one should I go for? Or are there any better sounding suggestions?
 
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The best sounding semi-vintage clock radio I've had experience with is the mighty Proton 320. I have had one on my bedside table for the past several years, and other than a burnt-out bulb behind the radio dial, it's worked flawlessly. I also have a couple of Proton 420s, but at least one of them needs work, and I dunno whether or not they sound as good as the 320 (though they did offer extension speakers for stereo listening).
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We are talking AM clock radios, right?

No "contemporary" table radio sounds better to me than a tube model from the.40's or 50's.

I would say the same about tube car radios from the same era.
 
There are some great Sony models from the early 80s that sound very good. Look into them...

jblnut
 
Omegaman said:
Maybe a flip clock
View attachment 1479210

just put a UPS on it
Click to expand...
Flip clocks tend to be unreliable over the long term, in my experience. The motors just weren't designed to last 40+ years; even if you lubricate them, you may have to deal with plastic gears inside the mechanism or other such age-related issues. With regards to UPSes, most of them output a 'modified sine wave', i.e. basically a square wave, which these older clock motors may not run properly with.
-Adam
 
jblnut said:
There are some great Sony models from the early 80s that sound very good. Look into them...

jblnut
Click to expand...

Somewhere around here, I have one of those. Not only could you wake up to AM/FM/CD, but you could also do Surf/Wind/Rain etc. You could also set the sleep timer to fall asleep to those. It was cool. I think it was called a "Dream Machine".
 
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I recommend This! The Cambridge Soundworks 88CD. This blows the Bose Wave completely out of the water. I have one and it has amazing sound for a table radio. Even has aux inputs on the back. The Clock Radio function is very hard to figure out, though. Kind of hard to find these days.
 
I would not take one with a green LED clock, these green LED are bright like hell, and even dim able ones are still lighting up a dark room. My mom has one and has a welders glass in front of it to not get blinded :-)
 
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