Grundig 960 Classic AM/FM Shortwave Radio

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Product Details

Product Manual [83kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000JD4W
• Item model number: 960
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,008 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
The Grundig 960 Classic 50th Anniversary model blends a functional AM/FM shortwave radio with the quality design of Grundig's 1950s-era box radio. Replicating the original wood construction with brass accents, the 960 provides rich, warm sound through its three-speaker cabinet. Also included is a very contemporary external audio input, which supplies the option of connecting a TV, CD player, or VCR.

This solid retro unit has an attractive cloth-covered speaker and sturdy manual volume and tuning knobs. Tuning initially requires developing something of a feel; we found that it was easy to spin past our preferred frequency at first. But with a little practice, we began to feel quite expert, and we were soon tuning in very clear FM, medium-wave, and shortwave signals, both foreign and domestic. Since there are only a few controls, setup is easy, allowing plenty of time to sit back and listen.

Two 3-inch side speakers and one 4-inch front speaker with 3-watt power output produce a clean, crisp sound. Grundig's instruction book is designed to look like the original, but its text is thoroughly contemporary. As an attractive conversation piece or an opportunity to discover shortwave radio, the Grundig 960 Classic is a real turn-on. The unit comes with a one-year warranty on parts and labor. --David Greenberger

Pros:

• Great radio reception
• Classic styling
• Auxiliary input for CD, TV, and VCR
• Shortwave fun for the neophyte

Cons:

• Constructed of wood-based particle, not solid wood
• Precise tuning takes some practice

Product Description
Remember when radio sounded so real that voices were almost with you in the room? When music had a warm, rich, full-bodied tone? Those wonderful days are back! Grundig has revived its legendary Model 960. The long-lost sound is back. The 3" side speakers, left and right, spread a spacious stereo image, while a front-firing 4" speaker reinforces the bass and fills your listening room with glorious Grundig sound.You need a great radio to enjoy great radio! More stations. More news and more music. Get yourself a 960 with full, rich sound and enjoy. The Grundig Classic 960 is your listening post that lets you travel the globe without ever leaving home.It's your entertainment center. Auxiliary input takes the audio signal from your CD, cassette player, or TV... and turns it into spacious, room-filling, glorious Grundig sound! This special 50th Anniversary Edition faithfully replicates the dimensions and styling of the original Model 960. The cabinet is solid wood. The gold-tone illuminated dial and knobs are accented with solid brass.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good Looking, Bad Engineering, August 5, 2000

By	B. Beker (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an absurd piece of junk. If you intend to limit its use to light local AM and FM broadcasts or pretending you're Flash Gordon it may suffice, as long as you have a home palatial enough to accomodate it. However, even with a decent long wire shortwave antenna you will need either a lot of patience or very strong stations, because tuning the clumsy slide-style tuner is almost impossible to do with any degree of precision. Even in an area of good radio reception this unit requires a quality antenna for any, including the strongest, stations, especially on FM. You will need -- and this is not a myabe, you will will will need -- separate antennas for FM and AM, and don't underestimate the headache this may represent for you, not to mention the extra expense and rat's nest of wires needed just to bring static down to acceptable levels. And you won't get away with just a cheap FM dipole antenna: the one I tried did nothing for this gigantic colossus, and I had to use a powered FM antenna. (I had to try three until I finally tuned out the static on FM). The feel is mushy, and in fact, the knobs aren't even firmly set in place -- whatever it is that they're are attached to moves around as you rotate the knobs, as if they didn't finish putting the thing together inside the case. It surprised me how shabbily made this fairly cool-looking radio was when I first started messing around with it. There are two things about this radio that are unforgivable: NO HEADPHONE JACKS! Even as I write this I can't quite believe it, and feel like one will appear, it will have been cleverly hidden -- but no matter how hard I look, how much credit I give them for ingeniously disguising the thing -- it's not there. So if you're going to use this bedside, just remember that it will always be a group activity, and using it to record anything is ruled out for you. This is absolutely beyond belief, considering that a jack would have added about four cents to the cost of this behemoth. Equally irritating is that the line input for using an auxiliary sound source -- your cd walkman, say -- is absolutely terrible. You need to turn the unit way up just to hear what you've attached, and then it comes through sounding like a damp toilet paper and comb kazoo. I don't know how they could have possibly failed to do this properly, but please do not buy this device if you expect to listen to your cd player through it. The sound will kill you. The wooden case is nicely made, but beware, it is much bigger than you might expect, about the size of a medium-size microwave oven, and it needs even more space than its footprint alone would suggest, because two of the three speakers are on the side. Bottom line -- if you really like the way it looks and you don't mind static on most stations, if you never intend to listen to an auxilliary player through it, if its use as a shortwave is limited to maybe BBC and other big-output stations, AND if you both never want to use headphones or record anything, then this might, just might, do the job. Or you could get a real radio nd use something else for decoration.

67 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ersatz Style/Mediocre performance, December 28, 1999

By	Bill Dunne (Phoenix AZ) - See all my reviews

Grundig's Classic is designed to call to mind the wonderful days of sitting around the radio listening to Fibber McGee and Molly, but most of the materials used in this presentation weren't even invented then. then it was labor, now its injection molding. It looks cheap as a result.

And, it doesn't perform as well as a portable battery powered Sony. With the exception of AM broadcasts. If you need to hear a ballgame in the middle of nowhere, this is for you. If not look again.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great homage to a classic radio of the fifties, March 3, 2000

By	Robert N Coleman (Minneapolis, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

If you're looking for an exact replica of a fifty-year-old radio, or if you want the latest in shortwave technology, this is not the radio for you. However, if you want to add a cool retro touch to your home or office, and you also want a radio with modern electronics and decent sound, this could fill the bill. Although it is constructed from modern materials, it is well-made and doesn't look cheap, at least to me. I don't use it for shortwave, but it does a great job of pulling in AM and FM stations in my steel-frame office building. It's a great conversation piece that everyone notices. It met my expecations and I'm glad I bought it.