What makes a radio "vintage" in 2024?

Looking at it the other way, I suppose the question is what's worth your while repairing.

The modern DAB stuff doesn't cost very much to begin with (~£50) and is basically car boot sale fodder after a few years, so there's no point spending labour on that unless it's very special. Same would go for modern disposable FM sets.

The very old stuff is probably more furniture restoration than electronics. I imagine a lot of people don't actually care very much about them working (only R4 on LW any more, MW is full of interference) but may want a line in (or sacrilege - Bluetooth) to feed in their own audio.

The intermediate transistor sets might have more of a market. There's enough on FM to be useful as a day to day set and different enough from a modern tuner. They're also more likely to be portable so usable in the garage or whatever rather than in the living room.

I don't really know if there's a strong enough market for particular models, but maybe quality brands in fancy cases still have a market?

There's also the unusual stuff you can't get any more, like high end SW receivers. But I'm not sure if enough people actually care about that, since SW is also suffering and the idea of a SW travel receiver is probably dead too. (just play radio on your phone instead)

That's looking at it from a sales market perspective. As to what's worth collecting, that's in the eye of the beholder.

There's also the other hifi bits which I understand are popular - record players, reel to reel, cassettes - so could be a market to refurb those.

Theo

Given the number of punters and dealers I saw at the AudioJumble meets in Tonbridge, there must be. Those guys must make a living at it.

I'd go with the dictionary definition of vintage: 'of high quality and lasting value, or showing the best and most typical characteristics of a particular type of thing' and 'of the past'. So anything that's 'good' - in terms of engineering, sound, ergonomics, innovation, aesthetics, nostalgia, for example. And I'd place the date from the introduction of DAB - mid-90s, say.

I'd also place collectability as a variable - and price is a guide. Grundig and Roberts radios of the 70s and 80s a good example of valuable modern vintage. Seems pretty much anything in a wooden or Bakelite box qualifies as older vintage.

Apparently cassettes are the next big thing. Bands are actually relasing stuff on cassette.

I've bought 3 high end cassette decks and repaired them - all had perished drive belts. Easy enough to repair but very fiddly, circlips pinging all over the place. Very unlikely I could get involved in electronics repair, though - so I made sure they lit up before buying, and had no signs of heavy use (worn buttons etc.).

I did it as a hobby, bit like some do jigsaws, and gave 2 of them away. Looking at ebay there could be some money to be made.

I would add Hacker to that list. Just a personal opinion.

That's why you get crackling when you turn on a combined on/off volume control; there is DC flowing to charge up the coupling capacitor. Also the constant rotation wears out the control.

I don't know why mains valve radios had them. You had to wait 20 seconds before you could hear anything to adjust the volume.

Wow! I have a Grundig Music Boy 160 from 1990.

Jumble? As a teen I bought valve radios from jumble sales for a couple of shillings each. I brought them home on a trolley and plugged them in. Usually they either worked or went up in smoke. I sold one to a school mate.

AudioJumble is not a jumble sale.

I have a Grundig Melody Boy 1000.

selenium rectifier ?

That's what failed on the wartime Ministry of Supply radio I found in the attic as a kid. Replaced it with an OA81.