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1961 Grundig Solo Boy 201

Micro-radio with tabletop speaker cabinet
Thermoplastic radio cabinet, thermoplastic speaker cabinet
3 x 2 1/16" x 13/16" inches / 76 x 52 x 20 mm
(speaker cabinet 6 3/8 x 4 1/8 x 1 1/4 inches / 162 x 105 x 32 mm)
MW, six transistors (Grundig), superheterodyne circuit
Two short & squat 1.5-volt cells
Manufactured by Grundig, West Germany

Likely the only micro-radio made in Germany in the 1960s, and definitely the coolest "speaker box" cabinet made anywhere, ever! And a micro-radio with a slide rule tuning dial is a pretty cool thing in itself.

Another interesting thing about this radio (see photo below) is that its dial tuning wheel projects out of the back face of the cabinet as well as the front, allowing one's thumb and forefinger to work together in tuning the dial, a real plus when you're attempting to tune in a station on such a tight dial! Grundig's 1960 Mini Boy 200 had a similar arrangement, as did East Germany's c.1963 Stern T120 "Mikki".

As collectors of this radio know all too well, it's far more common than not to find this radio's speaker cabinet missing its brass foot. In the 1990s a prominent collector arranged with a machinist to have copies of the brass foot made and he then sold them to his fellow "Solo Boy" collectors who owned examples missing the foot. My Solo Boy shown here came to me in a trade from another collector in those years, and I've never been sure whether the foot is original or a copy — if it's a copy, it's perfect!


Grundig Solo Boy 201

Grundig Solo Boy 201


Grundig Solo Boy 201

Grundig Solo Boy 201


Grundig Solo Boy 201

tabletop speaker cabinet


Grundig Solo Boy 201

tabletop speaker cabinet


Grundig Solo Boy 201

back face, with tuning dial


Grundig Solo Boy 201

chassis — click on the photo for a larger image


Grundig Solo Boy 201

"operating manual"

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