Most Beautiful Receiver / Integrated - Ever was... ?

mbl N51 Integrated Amplifier $17k
http://www.mbl.de/n51-integrated-amplifier/?lang=en
Still current, but too beautiful not to included

@almarg , I was intrigued by your radio, so looked it up.
$350 new, check out the current price...

http://www.primeaumusic.com/browse/35-Collectibles/view/331-1936-Sparton-Nocturne-Console-Radio

The Kenwood kr-9600 😎

The old Scotts were nice.  Also a fan of the Sansui integrated.  Buttons all in the right places. 

Gentlemen, thanks for your comments about the Sparton Nocturne, and thanks to Lowrider for the good reference he provided. Upon checking a little further, I found an actual selling price from a recent (November 2015) auction. The pre-auction estimate by the auction house was $70K to $90K, but it ended up going for $149,000! See this link.

As alluded to in the reference Lowrider provided, the electronics and speaker drivers in the better 1930’s radios were quite outstanding. In the early part of that decade some used type 45 or 2A3 power tubes, in push-pull configurations. The Nocturne came a bit later, and used 6F6’s, while some other high end sets used 6L6’s at around that time. Most of these sets used field coil speakers. Many of the better sets had separate chassis for their tuner and power amplifier sections. Sound familiar?

Antique radio collecting is one of my other hobbies, and I can attest to the fact that the better sets of the 1930s were the best sounding, best performing in terms of station getting ability, and certainly the best looking AM radios ever produced. (FM did not yet exist, of course).

John (Roxy54), yes, I too have seen various pieces of furniture and other items from around that time having blue-mirror surfaces, in antique shops, flea markets, and at auctions. So it was not an uncommon style element in those days. And in fact besides the floorstanding Nocturne, Walter Dorwin Teague also designed a few mirrored table model radios for Sparton. (That name, btw, was derived as a contraction of the name of the company and its principals, Sparks-Withington). The table model sets can be seen in this photo, and typically go for around $2K to $5K or so depending on condition. The circular "Bluebird" is the best known of them. Mirrored sets were also produced by a few other manufacturers.

Best regards,
-- Al