Technically this was quite a high spec radio, it has an RF pre-amplifier with a three gang tuning capacitor (one for pre-amp input, pre-amp output and local oscillator) It has a built in frame aerial and is extremely sensitive.

That’s the upside. The downside was that it came to me in a very sorry state, there was lots of rust on the chassis that had to be dealt with. Three of the valves were faulty, the mixer oscillator valve broke in half on removal and the loudspeaker’s cone had been removed?!?

Before and after, recapping the chassis

With new valves installed into the cleaned sockets, this radio was working, but still needed a lot of cabinet attention and a new 10″ speaker to fit the original.

The cabinet had all of it’s varnish stripped back so that it can be re-finished with clear lacquer

A 10″ speaker was found on eBay, this was supposed to be a 40 Watt unit, but what actually turned up seemed to have been a much higher output unit, judging by the voice coil and magnet sizes. That can only be a good thing though, as it provides really good stability to the cabinet and gives a more controlled deeper level of bass than one would expect.

The complete radio from the rear, high power speaker driver dominates the space while the EL41 output valve provides a super clean class-A amplifier experience

Overall, I think this is one of the prettiest PYE radio’s that I’ve restored. I especially like this one for it’s super sensitivity, selectivity and deep confident bass.

Click above to play video