[Hallicrafters] SX-88 Thread: Continue or Die?

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 6:36 AM,  <WA1KBQ at aol.com> wrote:
> I believe I offered some substance that was  supportive to the scope of this
> thread and you brought your usual insults and  outlandish claims. Perhaps we
> should ask the forum for a vote on which side  supplied support to the value of
> this thread and which side ran counter to the  spirit of it.

Like a vote will provide some substance to what are otherwise nothing
more than glorified opinions, Greg?  Not likely.

You are entitled to your opinions as is everyone else. Trying to
qualify them as technically superior facts by running through the
SX-88s design features still doesn't cut it. Which is what makes this
comment so amazing:

"Opinions claimed to  be facts get posted on the internet and someone needs to
counter these baseless  allegations with the attributes of this great
receiver because good information  needs to be available to those who might be
genuinely interested."

In the AMfone thread, you posted photos of a set that hadn't been
completely gone through by its previous owner and seem to attempt to
attribute all of your assertions to this approach, that someone found
an old beat up receiver and based their opinions on that. You not only
totally ignore the information provided by others like W3JN, you seem
to want to explain the rest away while showcasing your restoration
skills and perceived vast knowledge to all. My guess is the guys
caught onto this pretty fast since we already have one of these guys
on the board, a 2 lander transplanted to Maine who buys up sets from
other collectors then tries to be seen as the expert on them by
ownership or price paid.

Keep in mind that the group on 'fone is certainly more biased to the
user/utility side vs. collector.

I've yet to see you provide any technical side-by-side comparisons
that go the the root of the original poster's question: is the SX-88,
performance worth the prices it commands? I'm talking about a verified
test against equally restored and peaked receivers from the R-390
family, Collins, National, or Hammarlund for starters. Something
witnessed by others so as to end these 'baseless allegations' you
refer to. Because WB3HUZ's post following your post on the design
features did an excellent job of putting it all in perspective,
denying you that argument. You should get together with Carl and pay a
visit to Jay, W1VD as he suggested. Jay is another incredibly talented
guy who can get the absolute most out of a rig and identify any
shortcomings.

To the average or even above-average user listening with a decent
antenna and appropriate speaker, it would be difficult if not
impossible to tell the difference performance-wise between a
properly-overhauled $200 Hammarlund Super Pro (SP-400 or earlier) with
its variable IF and push-pull audio output, and a properly aligned and
overhauled $5K SX-88. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the
Edsel also had some interesting features. They didn't sell well
either, but some collectors are willing to pay a lot to own one.

What confuses me the most with respect to this thread, are some of
your others words from the 'fone thread where you say:

"There is currently about 100 of these still known to exist which is
the only factor driving current prices. Otherwise it should not sell
for more than other receivers in its class."

You seem to be agreeing with us that the numbers, not the performance,
are what drive the price? This is all that Bill was really asking.
Intentionally or otherwise, you're basically saying in so many words
that the SX-88 is indeed overrated (doesn't perform to a level
justifying its current price), instead being more on par with the
75A-4, R-390, HRO etc in the $500 - $1.5K +/- category.

So...uh....thanks?  (o:

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4