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Old 29th Apr 2021, 10:07 pm   #1
WilliamTK1974
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Question Was the Roberts RP28 a popular radio?

Hello everyone,

One of the older threads on here mentioned the Roberts RP28 as being a radio symbolic of the internal rot that the Roberts company has been through. They mentioned how it had a Chinese-made PCB and maybe a British built cabinet. However, only the end pieces on the cabinet were real wood and the rest of it was MDF with a Rexine covering and a Roberts badge. They went on to say that when new, the radios came with a hang-tag that said they were assembled in the UK, but that's not the same as being actually made there.

So, I decided to find out more. Interesting set up with the station pre-sets. The pictures I saw made them look nice, at least to my eyes. We don't do longwave over here, so that preset would be wasted, but I typically listen to only one or two AM stations, and maybe four or five on FM, so that could work. The OP also mentioned that the radio was rather expensive when it was new.

Was it a good-selling popular radio? I'm under the impression that Roberts went through some hard times, some of which may have been self-inflicted, and that they may have managed a turnaround just in time for a large portion of British manufacturing to go overseas.

Any thoughts?

Thank you,
-William
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Old 30th Apr 2021, 1:41 am   #2
Paul_RK
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Default Re: Was the Roberts RP28 a popular radio?

The story here begins with the RP26, a very similar radio to the 28 with slightly different external style, which launched in 1988. It was replaced by the RP26B in 1990, which differed mainly (solely?) in reallocation of one of the station presets, from AM to FM if I remember correctly, then the RP28 came along in '93, differing in having its mains power supply in a "wall wart" rather than built into the set. The RP28 itself was available until at least 2006, but its internals changed fairly radically over time - earlier sets have a more substantial loudspeaker and a much higher component count.

All the models seem to have sold quite well - I suspect the straightforwardness of operation led to their being popular in care homes or guest houses, where once set up the three or four stations at most that comprise the whole of most folks' interest in radio listening would each be available at the press of a button. MDF cabinets with teak side cheeks were general to Roberts' "traditional" range by 1993, and these models delivered pleasing if unremarkable sound quality for their fairly compact size.

There was also the RP20, a wholly imported model (no claim to British "manufacture") which offered the same controls and six presets in a completely different presentation, with charcoal or silver coloured plastic case, and I suspect fairly or very similar electronic construction -

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...8&d=1558717500

Paul

Last edited by Paul_RK; 30th Apr 2021 at 1:54 am.
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Old 30th Apr 2021, 10:07 am   #3
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Was the Roberts RP28 a popular radio?

Roberts has always been a relatively upmarket brand, and still is, with prices to match. Their customer base was and is middle aged to elderly and middle class, though they have tried to market to younger customers by exploiting the 'retro' trend. Their models sell in relatively large numbers in the UK, despite being somewhat overpriced.
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Old 30th Apr 2021, 7:36 pm   #4
Paul_RK
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Default Re: Was the Roberts RP28 a popular radio?

Yes - up to the mid 1960s price differentials between Roberts radios and those of mainstream UK producers were fairly small, given that Roberts had an edge on most of the others in cabinet sturdiness and finish. By the early '70s, though, most other UK brands had either folded completely or were offering sets produced in lower wage economies, and a wider gap was opening up. Hacker was an even more high-end company, which maintained its production standards until the mid '70s brought insolvency: Roberts had already started trimming theirs, and survived. From the early '80s their range of "traditional" UK-assembled radios began to be joined by imported plastic-cased products, first a radio-cassette recorder, a badge-engineered Hitachi if I remember rightly, then small portable radios etc..

I don't have a price for the RP28 itself, but it will have been very close to its forerunner the RP26, which circa 1990 retailed at £89.99: well above what most people would have paid for a portable radio at the time.

Paul
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