I'm sure this has been asked before-advice
 

I want to bring tube goodness to my jobsite. I want to find an AM FM tube powered radio to recap and mount in a new case. There's tons of them out there, is there a superior model? I'm looking for something small. I'm not going to gut a nice old European table radio, nor am I going to take a KLH model 8 to work, although a bare chassis Model 8 with no speaker would be ideal. Any suggestions for a second choice?

Are you talking about just a basic table radio? I have several and I would recommend finding a Zenith or Sylvania. You can pick them up cheap on ebay. They are going to need to filter caps replaced to get them going but besides that they are fairly trouble free.

The Zenith radio that appeals to me and seems to be plentiful is the K731. It is AM/FM AFC and looks to be powering at least a 4" speaker. I'm sure there's a limited number of different chasssis in their lineup. Is there a stand out Sylvania?

I'm figuring on replacing capacitors, are we looking at electrolytic or ceramic? Not there's much of a difference when it comes to replacing them, but if there are some simple upgrades I could do, I'd be more than interested.

I don't know much about the Sylvania sets, but I do have a Zenith K731 that I really like. They have a good-sounding oval-shaped speaker that puts out plenty of bass along with an electrostatic tweeter for treble that usually fails with age. The tweeter in mine doesn't work but it still sounds great without it. They have a typical compliment of electrolytic, ceramic, and ceramic-cased wax capacitors. Mine has always worked fine, and I've never serviced it so I'm not too keen on the details. I know the knobs don't simply "pull" off the front, and I'm not sure how exactly they come off. I'll get around to figuring it out sometime or another.

Where you planning to build a custom-made case for your radio? I image that would be a unique challenge, depending on what model you choose but I often see naked chassis's on Ebay that would be prime candidates for that sort of thing.

Thanks for the input. The longer I look at the 731 the more likely it seems.

A custom case makes sense to me in that I would hate to take a nice well preserved vintage radio and accidentally trash it. In addition, I think I could make a superfunky and functional case. There's only three stations in New Orleans so a dial indicator would need only three symbols. Fancy antique crystal knobs etc.

Three stations...well, maybe three worth listening to <g>

The Saints are on AM 870, so make that 4.

I don't push the dial above 91.5 on the FM scale.

Seems like people with higher IQs stay lower on the dial...:D

I will get you the model off my Syavania. Its not much bigger than the Zenith and has a bigger speaker and separate tweeter.

Thanks, I'm also looking at Zenith 835/845 which has a mono phono input.

The lower end of the dial is for people who already know what they intend to buy.

Amen brother amen.