Tesslor R601 Classic Tube AM/FM Radio, Incredible Tube Amplified Sound, iPod Input, Vintage Radio

I have had the Tesslor R-601 for several weeks and the time has come to review it. I have a Tivoli One, a Sangean wr-11 and many old Bakelite tube radios for the 40's for comparison. First, the Tesslor came very rapidly and packaged in a terrific manner--double boxed and professional packing materials. The radio box itself is a beaut with a full comprehensive history of radio development printed on all sides.The radio is heavy, well constructed and in perfect shape out of the box. In proportion it is a little higher than the classic radios' but has the same art-deco lines and feel. The dials are very secure and feel right. The magic eye is a nice detail and a throw-back to pre-digital days. It takes the tubes about 10 seconds to warm up then the radio needs to be re-tuned slightly after 15 minutes or so--but that is the nature of vacuum tubes. It is truly beautiful.The sound is very mellow and warm as one would expect from a tube radio. It is also very balanced especially for classical music and jazz. The sound will fill a large room, but this is not a boom box. The mono sound fits the personality of this radio.The uniqueness is the blue-tooth capability of the Tesslor. It was funky to start and I could not get the connection to work. But, after I hard-wired the aux-in to see if there was a defect, then unplugged the rca cord, the blue-tooth started to work perfectly and has continued to do so. I spoke with the distributor who said that this is fairly common due to shipping which moves a switch.Plugging in a hard wire, resets the switch.The intangibles of the Tesslor make it worth the extra cost. First it fits in well with home decor keeping the spouse happy. It is the only radio, besides my grundig-960 (google it), allowed in the living room. Finally, and the fact which makes me the happiest, is the feeling one gets from sound from a fine radio. I can listen to internet radio, Pandora, Jazz Radio.com, ect. on my audiophile stereo with the Squeezebox Duet, but there is something so perfect about listening the the great american songbook on the Jonathan Channel thru this radio that a stereo wont give. Maybe it is the embracing sound, or the warm glow of the yellow dial or the feel of the cabinet. Whatever, I am very pleased with this purchase.

I ordered this for my wife. We love it.1) It is larger than I expected. The photo here made me think it was smaller than it actually is. Not a problem, but read the description. It's as big as a bread box.2) It's a solid radio. Heavy.3) We get used to contemporary electronics being made of light plastic with light weight controls that are small and hard to decipher. The controls on this are very simple: An on-off knob that also adjusts volume; A Tuning Knob; A Selector Switch (AM, FM, Auxillary Input). The knobs are large and heavy themselves, and they turn precisely.4) It comes with an AM antenna and an FM antenna, ready to connect. Both antennas are good quality, and are long. They are easy to run down behind a cabinet if you want to hide them.5) The tube amplification sounds GREAT. When you turn it on, it takes ten to fifteen seconds to warm up before the sound can be heard. If you are over forty, this effect will take you back to your childhood.6) The auxiliary input on the back is just an RCA input. It is NOT an 1/8" phono jack or an ipod dock. If you want to connect your ipod to this, you will need an RCA to 1/8" cord. Not a big deal, but this is not the normal cord one would use to connect an Ipod to another device (You can see the jack in the photos here if you scroll far enough to the right).7) The price is right. You get what you pay for. I won't say that this is a steal or a bargain; this is a very fair deal.8) The radio tunes better than I am used to. I have gotten used to devices where the radio is an afterthought. This is a radio first. It fines stations well and plays them clearly. I live in the mountains of New Hampshire where radio stations are not easy to receive.

This is a beautiful vacuum tube radio and it sounds fantastic. The sound character is warm and full. Spoken word, piano music, and jazz sound particularly good through it, especially in a small space. The construction is solid and the device is heavy for its size. The knobs move smoothly and the dial has a warm orange glow when the device is on. Paired with the blue glow of the "magic eye" station finder, this makes the radio look very pretty when in use.I especially love the Bluetooth feature, which lets me enjoy the warm sound of this device while listening to radio stations from around the world, or my own music, by simply streaming from my computer or phone. The Bluetooth pairing is as simple as it could possibly be. I've had more trouble pairing Apple devices with other Apple devices.Do note that this is a vacuum tube radio, so there are a few things to note:1. It takes a little while for it to warm up. When you turn it on from cold, it takes a few seconds for it to come alive. While it's warming up, the tuner tends to drift somewhat, and you have to periodically adjust it until it's fully warmed up. But once it's warm, it holds its tuning perfectly well until you turn it off again. I use the Tesslor mostly for its Bluetooth feature, so I'm not too bothered by it. I find it kind of charming, really.2. For the first few times you use it, there is a faint smell of "electrical heat" as the electronics heat up. It smells a bit like a heating blanket. I don't find this smell particularly unpleasant, and it is very faint.3. At higher volumes, there is a slight background hum. I don't normally listen at volumes were this is noticeable, but it is there. In my limited experience with building amplifiers, this could be fixed by replacing the capacitors with better ones.