Zenith 6S532

With the “6” prefix in the model number, you know that this Zenith, c. 1941, has six tubes.

Its wooden cabinet, with good tone and pushbutton tuning, indicates that this was at the upper end of Zenith table models. The attractive styling is enhanced by the large black dial with airplane-style, Z-shaped pointer–both classic pre-war Zenith touches. To my eye, Zenith’s styling was superior to most other pre-war manufacturers, including Philco. Zenith styling commands the attention of many antique radio buffs.

The two pull-out switch levers on either side of the dial are for bass and treble. The tuning knob action is smooth, though not as luxurious as the Zenith consoles incorporating heavy flywheels just to improve the owner’s tactile experience. Inside, the electronic design differs little from other manufacturers. After WWII, radio styling seemed to decline—with the advent of plastic cabinets. The insides of post-war radios slowly began to incorporate unspeakable horrors, culminating in printed circuit boards (with vacuum tubes, no less).

Four of the six tubes are loctals, the proprietary tube base developed by Sylvania, apparently to one-up RCA, which was hyping their metal tubes. Since there was little love lost between Zenith and RCA, Zenith became a big user of loctals.

Like most AC sets, I added a fuse to the 120-V line circuit ahead of the power switch and a polarized power plug to ensure that the 120-V hot leg is switched. Also, I added a CL-90 in-rush limiter to reduce wear and tear at turn-on and to cut my line voltage, which runs about 124V.

© 2005 Doug Criner