Although there are several other quality radios represented in the group, they poll themselves each year and overwhelmingly choose several Satellit models as the overall best radios ever in their categories. These people didn’t form their opinions based on what they’re read…they based them on their own experiences, comparing hundreds of radios side by side. The next amazing point was that, virtually unanimously, they all agree that the best Grundig Satellit radios are simply without peer for overall quality and pleasantness of use. Some of these members have amassed collections of over 1500 radios, including all the popular brands…now that’s serious collecting in anyone’s book! Some of them have many samples of each model, ranging from collector quality (which means absolutely perfect condition cosmetically…no signs of use, in the box with original papers) through “daily use” or “daily player” samples which are still very nice but show some normal wear and tear and are therefore of lower monetary value, even though they work properly. I began exchanging daily messages with these Grundig Radio experts and discovered some amazing things.įirst, these people are SERIOUS about collecting Grundig (and other) vintage radios.
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From their acclaimed Royal 500 portable radio series of the 50′s and 60′s (the famous “Owl Eye” radio which survived several upgrades and is considered by many to the best radio of all time in its category), to the equally popular Trans-Oceanics, both tubed and transistorized models, I’ve never known of any other radio to outperform a top of the line Zenith in its size or price category…but now that opinion was being challenged. At a time when Zenith Trans-Oceanics were being highly promoted in print advertising and were considered premium radios selling for around $150, a Grundig Satellit would set an American customer back approximately $500 – $600! Part of the high cost was the fact that they were imported from Germany, but they were intrinsically more complex, more highly engineered instruments and were still a luxury item even in Germany.Īs a “Zenith Man” I will admit I’ve always been in love with Zenith’s better radios.
Perhaps one of the reasons they weren’t imported into the US in greater numbers had to do with their price. As I read the book and followed the history of this ambitious line of radios, the pride of German engineering which went into them became evident. To try to get up to speed on what the excitement was all about I bought a copy of Thomas Baier’s chronicle of the Satellit line, “Grundig Satellit – All Models In Word And Picture” (available through Universal). Many are really too big to be considered portables and actually are better as large table top sets, but they all operate on batteries or AC power and have built-in antennas and handles so they can be carried around and taken outdoors and so are technically portable. I happen to belong to a small group of radio enthusiasts…yes you could call them fanatics… who have embraced the Grundig Satellit’s as among their favorite SW portable receivers ever made. Interestingly I never saw too many Grundig or other European radios, and perhaps when I did I somehow didn’t lock into them as I would more familiar US and later Japanese manufacturers. Although I admire the Satellit 800 for what it does well (which is considerable) this radio has nothing at all to do with the original European Grundig company which marketed many high quality audio products, and its famous “Satellit” range of radios (“Satellit” is the proper spelling) beginning with the Satellit 205 introduced in 1964 through the model 700 which ceased production in 1996. The Grundig Satellit 800 does not spring from the European heritage of Max Grundig…only the name is the same. A semi-technical, nostalgic step back in timeĪs a lifelong radio hobbyist and professional, I have had the opportunity to check out many types of consumer radios, from the tube sets of the 40′s and 50′s through transistorized radios from the late 50′s and 60′s up through the present day offerings from China.