Philips

The 133 was a small table or large mantle radio that followed the cabinet designs of previous models such as the pre-war 3052.

By the early 1950s Philips was getting the message that their designs with the glass dial protuding from the top was a bad idea. Too many were either being broken or "housewives" were wipping the lettering and numbering clean. Philips must have woundered what they could do cheaply to tide them over until new designs could be made.

The result is a freshened old design.

Elevtrically things were both moving forward and beoming more stable. 
A modern valve lineup was used with the exception of the 6X5 GT rectifier. (6AN7, 6N8, 6N8, 6M5)

The set is a Short Wave capable one that really extends the Medium Wave band, but allow people to pick-up overseas services popular at the time. It does not have band spread to make tuning easier.

This example was made from two radios, the top cabinet was poor, but had a good chassis and back.  Whilst the lower cabinet was excellent, it had major rodent damage to the chassis. That chassis was subsequently taken to the metal recycling as it was well beyond repair. The dials were swapped. The grill cloth is not original.

Performance wise, it pretty good with it's "modern circuitry and valves. However, it not a patch on some of the later Sony and Panasonic radios of the late 1970s.

Page last updated: 1 December 2021