Did Toshiba make good radios?

[Ferguson3T18]

Hi, I am looking to buy a vintage portable mono radio with a 2 way speaker (main speaker plus tweeter). It must have good FM reception and sound clear but not cheap and tinny. I've got my eye on a Toshiba RT-F452D but cannot find any info about it online. I zoomed in on the photo and it says made in Korea. Are Toshiba radios of this vintage any good (I'm guessing early 80's)?

 

[Hisrudeness]

Toshiba made some excellent radios in the 80s. Some of them like the RT-S90 are one of the best sounding 1 piece stereos ever made. Other coverted models include WX1, Bombest 40, Bombeat new9 and plenty of others.
Unfortunately in the UK I can only recall the cheaper mediocre ones being sold over here. The best Toshiba’s were sold in other countries it seems.
I don’t know much about the monos but it looks like the RT-2780 & the 2800 are the pick of the bunch.

 

[Reli]

Toshiba was very high quality in the late 70s, up to about 1984. After that, they started to go downhill.
Look for the RT-2800, RT-2780L, or R-1500.

 

[Ferguson3T18]

Thanks, I decided to take a chance on the RT-F452D as I was intrigued by the lack of info on it, also looks like unusually there is no tone control?! Not sure if that's a good or bad thing? I am thinking this might be a fairly rare box? Anyway the seller accepts returns so if it turns out to be a heap of junk then I can at least return it. I will let you know what I make of it when it arrives.
Cheers.

 

[Zippy]

The RT-F452D looks like a later and cheaper model and is likely to be of lower quality. Was made in Korea and not Japan, too, so it might be a model for the low price segment which Toshiba didn't bother manufacturing themselves and rather sourced out to another manufacturer. Maybe you should look for one of the models Reli suggested. There are a lot of quality mono boxes from other brands too though if you don't necessarily need a Toshiba.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

The RT-F452D looks like a budget model. No doubt it will probably be reliable after a service but I don’t think hifi sound is offered by that model.

 

[Ferguson3T18]

Update.I now have the RT-F452D . As others have suggested it looks like a budget model as the cassette transport looks cheap (not sure if I want to risk putting a tape in there). But the radio actually sounds pretty good, FM reception is good. Although it boasts 2 way speaker on the front I cannot hear much if anything coming from the tweeter. I may try and replace the tweeter for a better one. I will likely ask for advice about this on a separate thread under the tech section. I will probably upload some photos when I take the back off to look inside.
Cheers.

 

[Ferguson3T18]

Here are some photos of the RT-F452D , I'm not sure if this radio was made by Toshiba? The main speaker has Samsung printed on the back if that means anything. As suspected the Tweeter looks practically useless, I think they just threw that in there so Toshiba could call it 2 way and up the price.

 

[Zippy]

As I suggested, if it was made in Korea and not Japan it's likely to be Toshiba branded, maybe Toshiba designed but not Toshiba manufactured. As a Korean company, Samsung grew big in tech by manufacturing other companies' designs more cost-efficient. The Samsung speaker makes sense in that regard.