[morzh]

She's a beautiful thing.
116X is a thing of beauty, and this one displays great.

Congrats!

[rdnzl]

[Image: https://i.imgur.com/92Bv71p.jpg]

[rdnzl]

I love the hyperbole.

[rdnzl]

Soooooo…...does the grille cloth pass muster? I had some concern initially if it would look original or not.

[Electrothaumaturgist]

Well, I don't think anyone is ever going to say "That looks like the wrong cloth". The only real difference I see is that the original cloth may be more golden honey colored, but the pattern sure looks very, very close. Exquisite!!! The receiver is in excellent hands, with you as caretaker and guardian!!!! 

[morzh]

I know some folks could be picky but to me it looks good.

[rdnzl]

The cloth is such that it looks slightly different depending on the angle of view. It almost "flips" from being dark stripes on a light background to being light stripes on a dark background. Reminds me of those old optical illusions in some old magazines. Sorta.

[Image: https://i.imgur.com/YzO9Yck.jpg?1]

[Image: https://i.imgur.com/Mz7KgVp.jpg?1]

[Phlogiston]

I like those.

You can also use 6B4s in place of the 6A3s. A 6B4 is a 6A3 with an octal base. Problem is that it is not a secret and they may not be cheaper.

[rdnzl]

A brand new shiny pair of 6A3's are glowing in the radio right now, and they cost me $60 including shipping. Seems reasonable compared to some of the prices I've seen online.

[Tubesforme]

Doesn't sound like a bad deal, however I always purchase my tubes from Bob Dobush, because I have found his prices are always the best and his used tubes are excellent and always clean.

[Phlogiston]

That is a good deal. Are they the Chinese version?

[rdnzl]

Sylvania.


I have a question about the dial. It lights up but is not real bright. I can see the numbers just fine, it just seems like maybe it should be brighter. It's a dark amber color.

Is this because the "paper" with the pointer cutouts is more opaque than it used to be, or might it be a bulb or dial glass issue. the bulb seems pretty bright, and I have not taken the escutcheon off to check the glass.

Is there a source for the "paper"? It looks like it is just held in by a couple clips. I hesitate to touch it in case it crumbles.

[rdnzl]

After a few days of listening to this radio, I can now give my observations. It's a good performer. With a simple wire antenna, I can get all the AM stations I can get on my other radios, and they do well, considering I live in a pretty horrible area for reception. I'm on the back side of a hill, and away from the city.

As far as "Hi-Fidelity", I'd have to stretch a bit to call it that. But when I play music with Bluetooth, off my laptop, I use an software equalizer to just add a bit to the mid's and highs. Not a lot, but it starts getting close to high fi. It sounds quite nice, especially on some old R&B and Blues. And a baseball game sounds great. It's not going to knock my Sparton 1867 off of the hill as far as music goes, but it is quite nice. As for the "acoustic dampeners"......I think they are just a gimmick. But who knows, I can't turn them off to hear the difference.

[morzh]

You could take them off. I'm not sure they are terribly effective but at least in theory they should improve.... something.
This radio has a smaller speaker than the later 116 sets. I think with the 14" piece they have it'd sound just awesome.

[rdnzl]

Does anyone sell or have replacement vellum paper or whatever you call it that's behind the dial and has the arrow cutouts in it for the pointer? I'd like to make my dial brighter. If not, it's really not a big deal.