[Hallicrafters] SX-28 "Good in Her Day"

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On 2/1/06, Grant Youngman <nq5t at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > Have been following the recent traffic on SX-28s. It was my
> > first rig 40 years ago as a teenage novice. Good deal at the
> > time for $50 and one heck of a legacy but I hate to agree
> > with Gary that there are many other "vintage radios" readily
> > available that perform much better for fewer bucks.
>
> That's certainly true, but IMHO it's beside the point.  The SX-28 is ---
> well --- an SX-28.  It is what it is -- a georgeous thing, wonderful to
> listen to, that oozes a level of "romance" that very few, if any, radios
> since have managed to capture.
>
> I have one -- still in the restoration queue -- but when I finish it, I plan
> to enjoy the h*ll out of it :-)

Precisely! Never heard it put that way, but it sure sums it up in very
few words.

I think folks tend to lose track of the initial intent of using,
muchelss wanting one of these beasts, and also confuse 'different'
with 'better'. Better how? More sensitive or stable, sure. We could
compare a new Yaecomwood box to a 1930s design and it would be like
comparing a 747 to the Spirit of St Louis. It's neither fair nor
accurate to compare sets electronically that are decades apart in
design advancement. Better for SSB is not better for AM foreign
broadcast, for example. So a cheaper, leter model receiver designed as
a compromise between several modes isn't a better deal to me, if I'm
after what the SX-28 offers.

As Mike said, 'Good in her day' with the only close competition coming
from the Hammarlund Super Pros. They are as good, maybe better from an
electronic point of view, but the SPs aren't much to look, and they
lack many of the cool aspects of the SX-28.

But again, few today use the SX-28 for weak signal work or some
function that requires precision stability, selectivity, and so on.
Other than the Halli follow-ons (SX-42, 62, etc) the only sets that
compete at all with it for push/pull audio enjoyment are the early
Super Pros, NC-183, and I thought there was another but it escapes me.
There are other good sounding sets like the RCA AR88 series, but to
me, nothing comes close the the SX-28.

Enjoy the h*ll out of it, indeed!

de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ