Hi Guys,
Well my latest acquisition (National RX C-46) has arrived loose in a very thin box with very little bubble wrap.
The seller had separated the speakers boxes from the main unit which meant they were rolling around inside the box smacking each other! One of the speaker boxes arrived smashed with the front section completely broken away from the rear section :'-(
I am currently awaiting a reply from the seller.
It's a real pity as the radio was in great cosmetic condition. The deck works perfectly too!
The plan was to purchase the RX C-46 as a parts box so I could rob it of it's main speakers to replace a blown speaker on my C45. I guess I was lucky as the C45 & C46 are completely different units. Luckily the parts I wanted (the woofers) are the same but the tweeters are a different design. The C46 main box is wider than the C-45. The speaker boxes are also slightly wider on the C46. One thing that surprised me is the obvious drop in quality from the C45 to the C46. Before doing the speaker swap, I tested the C46 performance. The C46 sounded much less bassy than the C45. In fact, it sounded hollow which may in part be because of the lack of sound deadening in the C46.
I desoldered the C46 speakers and swapped them into the C45. I then swapped my old speakers back into the C46. These same speakers now sound much stronger and bassier in the C45!
My old speakers never sounded this nice!! 
It looks like my old C45 speakers were missing their chrome caps. Either that or they never had them. The new C46 woofers are much whiter and look great in the C45.
C45 before:
C45 after speaker swap:
The newer C46 whilst being a larger unit, is actually 500g lighter.
The controls also feel lower in quality.
The C46 also misses out on the excellent wireless speaker attachment setup of the C45. I can't stand loose wires hanging out the back of 3 piece units.
Size comparison: C46 on top: I combled it together for the photo. Don't touch it or it will fall apart!:
I have been reading many of your stories regarding damaged boxes and now I have my own. I can only imagine how disappointed you would be if this had been an expensive grail!!
I may end up parting out the C46 so if anybody needs parts (excluding the woofers) let me know.
James....
Well my latest acquisition (National RX C-46) has arrived loose in a very thin box with very little bubble wrap.
The seller had separated the speakers boxes from the main unit which meant they were rolling around inside the box smacking each other! One of the speaker boxes arrived smashed with the front section completely broken away from the rear section :'-(
I am currently awaiting a reply from the seller.
It's a real pity as the radio was in great cosmetic condition. The deck works perfectly too!
The plan was to purchase the RX C-46 as a parts box so I could rob it of it's main speakers to replace a blown speaker on my C45. I guess I was lucky as the C45 & C46 are completely different units. Luckily the parts I wanted (the woofers) are the same but the tweeters are a different design. The C46 main box is wider than the C-45. The speaker boxes are also slightly wider on the C46. One thing that surprised me is the obvious drop in quality from the C45 to the C46. Before doing the speaker swap, I tested the C46 performance. The C46 sounded much less bassy than the C45. In fact, it sounded hollow which may in part be because of the lack of sound deadening in the C46.
I desoldered the C46 speakers and swapped them into the C45. I then swapped my old speakers back into the C46. These same speakers now sound much stronger and bassier in the C45!
My old speakers never sounded this nice!!
It looks like my old C45 speakers were missing their chrome caps. Either that or they never had them. The new C46 woofers are much whiter and look great in the C45.
C45 before:
C45 after speaker swap:
The newer C46 whilst being a larger unit, is actually 500g lighter.
The controls also feel lower in quality.The C46 also misses out on the excellent wireless speaker attachment setup of the C45. I can't stand loose wires hanging out the back of 3 piece units.
Size comparison: C46 on top: I combled it together for the photo. Don't touch it or it will fall apart!:
I have been reading many of your stories regarding damaged boxes and now I have my own. I can only imagine how disappointed you would be if this had been an expensive grail!!
I may end up parting out the C46 so if anybody needs parts (excluding the woofers) let me know.
James....
Hope you will be refunded for this. But still bad that one old warrior finished this way. The good thing - that made other boomer to look and sound marvelous again.
It's easy and slightly profitable to do a hack-pack and hide behind a user name. 