Roberts R606 & R606MB Radio - The Best Vintage Kitchen Radio

[@mikemallen9378]

An absolute classic, well designed and made unlike modern equipment, thanks as ever for posting.

[@radiowyn1703]

Yes, they are one of the best! Never to be repeated in these modern times. Thank you for tuning in again and commenting. Cheers👍

[@andy84251]

Another great video. I couldn't agree more - these radios easily outperform modern DAB portables. DAB is such a let down. Thank you for the time spent on this video.

[@radiowyn1703]

Hi, thank you so much for watching another of my videos and for your kind comments. I enjoy making these videos and appreciate people like yourself taking the time to comment and share in this great hobby. I find the worst thing about DAB radio is the station tuning. Nothing like a classic Roberts radio where you can be listening to your favourite station in seconds. Cheers🍻

[@andy84251]

@@radiowyn1703 You are very welcome - this was a very enjoyable watch. Sometimes the DAB signal is ok (but rarely excellent) and other times it's very poor. to the point its best to turn off the radio. The lag to turn it on and retune is also a pain. The batteries are quick to be used so portability has never been ideal. The only advantage is the wide range of stations but perhaps most people still only listen to to a small number of stations. I miss 4Extra on my older radios but that's it. Even Radio 5 sounds good on a decent Roberts set. 'm not sure that a decent FM / MW set will ever be outperformed but they are probably very expensive to make compared to the modern DAB. I wonder if in 50 years anyone will be filming a video talking about the performance of a DAB set - I suspect not.

[@radiowyn1703]

@@andy84251 Yes, the tuning, powering up, and battery consumption of DAB radio is a big negative. It's a shame we couldn't have 4Extra on FM, some great old comedy shows, which would sound much better coming from a vintage set. With more station choices on DAB comes less quality in output, much like digital TV and Freeview. Back in the day with only 3 TV channels, there was always something to watch. You are OK these days if you like watching cooking programmes. I would think most modern DAB radios will have been skipped by the time 50 years have passed. The old Roberts sets were made to last with wooden cabinets and designed to be repaired with easy access to circuits, and a good spare parts supply. Enjoy your vintage radios. As long as we have some good radio stations on FM, we are OK. Cheers🍻

[@andy84251]

@@radiowyn1703 Absolutely!

[@kevincooper8666]

Had to watch your vid again just found a 606 mb for sale in v good condition and succumbed to the Roberts magic thanks for the info oh don't worry about the wife women don't always understand the needs of men

[@radiowyn1703]

Brilliant! I'm sure you will enjoy your new Roberts R606MB. I hope you have all the aluminum caps on the knobs, or you might end up like me with 7 sets🤣. I get away with a lot, but for some reason, she picks on my R606 radios. Cheers!

[@ReallifeBambiDeerattheFarm1]

Both my Mom and grandmothers had the radio going all the time to ether KWIX or KRES in the 70's to the 2000's. As you said, radio was a friend, trusted and true. For my Mom, that stopped back in June 2024 when Alpha Media fired all the staff of those 2 stations and had AI run the show. They also lost a lot of local advertisers to KWWR, KMZU, and the stations out of Columbia. 😁

[@radiowyn1703]

Like most of us of a certain generation, our radios are our best friend. Even if I’m not listening, I like the radio switched on in the background. It is quite alarming to think that AI could replace a DJ and the staff of a radio station. Nothing can replace a good DJ. Hopefully, they soon realise and return to real people entertaining a real audience. Thank you for watching and sharing this point! Cheers.

[@andyg1957]

I sold loads of these back in the day but it was a bit outclassed by its bigger brother the R707. Both great radios! I had one for years, eventually got fed up with buying the two huge batteries it took, so rewired it to work from a spare power supply I sort of 'borrowed' from work - just to test it, of course! :)

[@andy84251]

I hope you still have the R707 ;)

[@radiowyn1703]

Yes, the R707 outclassed the R606 in performance, I agree. Can you remember the price comparison between the two radios? Interesting, that you sold these Robert radios. They must have sold well given the amount still available. Sadly, time has proved that the R606 is a better radio for longevity. The R707 suffers from “tin whiskers” in the transistors and requires the module to be removed to replace them, which isn’t an easy process. I sent my R707 away to have the offending transistors replaced, and now it is an outstanding performer! Thank you for sharing this! Cheers.

[@rkmklz7562]

I wish I could get a few of these

[@radiowyn1703]

Hi, thanks for watching! Are they not available in your location? There are a lot of them in the UK. Cheers.

[@kevincooper8666]

Nice video I have one of the roberts R800's in bright red but it runs on the big cubic 9v battery which is impossible to find here in France we can get D's c's and AA 's how could I convert mine to run on available batteries yes I can plug into the mains but it sounds better on batteries any advice would be appreciated unfortunately living in the sticks we don't have anything resembling maplins or the like

[@andy84251]

Can I suggest ebay. There is an adapter set you can purchase to transfer the 9v to six AA which is sold online. I think they even wrap the adapter in an 70's Ever Ready wrapper ;)

[@kevincooper8666]

Thanks a lot

[@radiowyn1703]

Thank you for watching and for your kind comments! The R800 is a great radio. Check item number '115494897430' on eBay, this is a UK supplier that sells replica Ever Ready PP9 battery adaptors that use 6 AA cells, I have one of these. If you are not concerned with originality, you can also wire into your radio a '6 AA battery holder' which makes up the 9V required, there are plenty of these on eBay for around £3.00. Cheers!

[@jonathanmaybury5698]

They were too big there were too bulky and you couldn't get stereo. It fell off the mental piece one time too many and that was it.

[@radiowyn1703]

Sorry to hear about the demise of your R606. Yes, compared to some vintage sets they are large, but I prefer the look and sound of the R606, including the wooden cabinets. The little 'Roberts Rambler' sets take up less space, but the sound isn't as good. I know Roberts now produce stereo radios with a vintage look. Cheers!