The Vintage Radio Repairman

Despite living in a digital world, Allen Chiang embraces the art of our analog past. He has a busy hobby of restoring and selling vintage tube radios made prior to 1980. He’s basically a retro radio farmer.

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[tonykeene]

when I repair these old radios, I'm giving back their voices and that made me weep a little

[RCAvhstape]

I bought an old tube radio from an antique shop a few years ago and use it every morning while I get ready for work to listen to local news and weather. It's not just a decorative item, it's still a useful radio.

[rogerdavis]

I was brought up with these old valve radios and when I left college I became a radio technician. Valve radios have souls and it is so nice to switch one on and wait for the soul to warm up before coming back to life again. The first radios sets I built was in the late 1940s and used 2 volt filament valves. Even today, 70 years later, I love working on valve radios.

[ajisstillright]

Can't believe some people just throw vintage radios/or ANYTHING VINTAGE in the trash and call it "useless" or too "old" those are the type of people that need to be in the trash and the type I stay away from.

[Thermionman]

many people have no idea how wonderful vacuum tubes sound...even AM in mono radio sounds incredibly deep and rich on a vacuum tube console radio..or even a small table top ....My DVD/TV/VCR etc all go into a vacuum tube amplifier and the sound is out of this world especially for movie music soundtracks, incredibly rich warm bass frequencies and silky highs... believe me radio is alive and and every night I listen to old radio shows that are played nightly here in Ontario ...like "The Whistler" "Suspense" The Key" , Inner Sanctum" etc etc... It is great to listen to these shows in the dark especially if the radio has a lighted dial....You can also get low power AM transmitters and actually transmit radio shows /music etc from another source to the radio in another room .... and also believe me I hear Morse code on shortwave all the and interesting music all the time on shortwave coming from India, China etc or Cuba (Radio Havana) Shortwave is an experience the way it seems to "phase shift" like a wind sound and makes music sound really neat there seems to be people taking radio consoles and removing the vacuum tube chassis (not "the guts" I hate that) turning the cabinet into a bar liquor cabinet placing a solid state amplifier disgusts And there are a zillion videos on books.... and online
antique radio forums on how to repair and restore them....

[jimspamfolder]

Allen, I could not have said it any better myself. Your words gave me chills. This is exactly how I feel about my litter of old tube radios. Thank you for saying it the way I always wanted to and for saving history .

[Jamesify]

I've had a General Electric radio from the 60s for years and still use that thing. Quality classic sound

[jeffking]

Everyone talks about “recycling “. Well, when an old radio is repaired (recapped, etc.), the radio has now been recycled.
And ready for another generation [or two] to enjoy.
📻🙂

[vivecksingh]

Seeing this, I remembered when I was around, my grandfather used to listen to radio when we went to our village as there was always electricity issue. And that was last time I saw radio in my house.

[chriscunningham]

These damn old radios go from a hobby to an obsession before you know what happened. The best thing about it, I think, Is we are actually bringing an important part of history back to life so that future generations can see, touch, operate, use and enjoy that part of history. There is not many historical things that are that involved and personal.

[animalcorvair]

never give up i am like you .. keep them playing

[michaelschaub]

Not a better feeling in the world then when you bring one of these things back to life. I get the sense that I am restoring a piece of history. The employees who built these radios may be long gone but the fruits of their labor lives on.

[spacetrucker]

I was called old because I keep a pocket radio on me and not a smart phone. Also I wear a wrist watch.

[tinkeroundbackyard]

Cool I am 14 years old and I work on my 1964 philco tube radio and I fixed it.

[Indeedibly]

My grandpa does the same exact thing! His house is FULL of radios and their parts, it's so cool. He finds radios from various parts of Europe as well as the States, and sells them :)

[moisessan]

All the beautifull things were already build in the 40's 50's and 60´s. The poetry were refleted on it.

[MikesMovies]

Wonderful, I'd like to see more about this guy and his work

[KOLDBLUSTL]

Sir,
You're awesome. I love vintage radios! They're art to me. Like yourself, I get a real nostalgic feeling imagining all the events that have poured thru their speakers. 🤓

[nerdful]

I was working on those when he was born.

[brucegordon]

Love the "All American Five".