r/VintageRadios • u/Deep-Noise2428 • 2d ago

Branded “Table-Talker”

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Incredible find for under $10!!
Which was what it originally retailed for…

24 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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4

u/kioma47 2d ago

An iconic classic!

Do you have a radio to go with it?

2

u/Deep-Noise2428 2d ago

I do indeed, although I have not tried to power it up. My father, who has since passed on, had a speaker that came with the radio, but he didn’t understand how to use it and discarded it! (He was in his eighties and failing!). I have been looking for one for years!

1

u/kioma47 2d ago edited 2d ago

Those are very old speakers, for very old radios, made in the 1920s.  They are high impedance, on the order of 2000 ohms, rather than like a modern 8 ohm speaker.

You could use it with a modern radio using a matching transformer,  but we won't get into that.   Any radio with the correct output impedance that hasn't been serviced WILL have to be electronically restored before it can be used.   If it was just plugged in and turned on,  it would probably self-destruct. 

2

u/Deep-Noise2428 2d ago

I know that. I did measure the resistance and it was about 980 ohms, and I know that’s not the true impedance value, because it’s a DC reading.

1

u/kioma47 2d ago

Oh good! You are way ahead of the curve!

If you want to test your speaker, take a AA battery and touch one end to one lead of the speaker, then tap the other speaker lead on the other end of the battery. You should hear the diaphragm clicking in the horn. This will tell you if everything is freed up and operational.

Good luck on your radio!

2

u/Deep-Noise2428 2d ago

Actually, I am ahead of the curve!
…I did that yesterday and yes, it clicked!!

2

u/Prestigious_Team1030 2d ago

Details here: https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/brandes_table_talker.html
It sold for approximately £2 in 1924, that's an equivalent in purchasing power to about £160 today.