Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 47 minutes ago
The Sanyo brand didn't appear on American store shelves until 1970. So this radio, from at least ten years earlier--I shouldn't even have. Well, too bad because I like it and I'm keeping it!
Some collectors aren't so fond of the transistor radios that are in a horizontal configuration like this one, preferring the vertical shirt-pocket style. But what's not to love about this little Sanyo. What a beauty. Sanyo was doing underpainting with gusto right from their earliest transistor models. We've got three colors underpainted here in the escutcheon, plus the clear areas for the dial number to show through. Mmm, nice!
On the back this model has an external speaker jack, and a jack for external power. The jack for the earphone is on the side by the volume knob. It says earphone 1 and 2--but I can't really tell if what we have here are two earphone jacks or whether this is one of those large two pronged plugs for a single earphone as we saw on some of the earliest transistor radios from Japan. I couldn't even tell which it was when I opened up the radio. We'll do that in a moment and maybe you can.
We see this radio as a Channel Master sometimes, with the 6501 model number on it. While the Sanyo BRAND wasn't sold in the US until 1970, Sanyo PRODUCTS were, including this stylish mid-century modern bookshelf stereo and these very popular tape recorders with a kind of joystick control--like a gearshift. These Sanyo products were branded Craig. And these images are from a video on this channel that shows this entire Craig catalog, full of 8-track players for the home and car, big reel-to-reel recorders, clock radios, car stereo, and even televisions. Not to mention some very cool transistor radios.
But before there were Craig transistor radios, there were the Channel Masters.
I did a video recently about a Sony radio from 1972 that had Sanyo transistors in it. Well, this is a Sanyo radio with Sony transistors in it. It's a six transistor... Now what about this--the Channel Master version, the 6501? What brand of transistors do we find in here? Well, there are Sony transistors in the Channel Master too. So, that's the same. But what's different in these two models, other than the name? The Sanyo has the twin prongs--or the two earphone jacks-- on the side while the Channel Master has a simple, single earphone jack there. The Channel Master has the rear jack for external speaker just as the Sanyo does but on the Channel Master this is marked 'ext. speaker' or 'ear phone.' The external power jack on the Sanyo is nowhere to be found on the Channel Master. But the Channel Master has something the Sanyo doesn't have, the word "Japan" on the lower right corner of the back. Of course the Sanyo was made in Japan too, but the country of origin appears nowhere on the outside of it. What does this tell us? That the Sanyo was not made for export to the US, but rather for the domestic Japanese market or for export to some other country that did not require country-of-origin markings on foreign products. So, obviously, Sanyo-branded radios from this era are extremely rare in the United States. And that's where we came in--talking about a radio I shouldn't even have. But I like it.. and I'm keeping it.
The Sanyo brand didn't appear on American store shelves until 1970. So this radio, from at least ten years earlier--I shouldn't even have. Well, too bad because I like it and I'm keeping it!
Some collectors aren't so fond of the transistor radios that are in a horizontal configuration like this one, preferring the vertical shirt-pocket style. But what's not to love about this little Sanyo. What a beauty. Sanyo was doing underpainting with gusto right from their earliest transistor models. We've got three colors underpainted here in the escutcheon, plus the clear areas for the dial number to show through. Mmm, nice!
On the back this model has an external speaker jack, and a jack for external power. The jack for the earphone is on the side by the volume knob. It says earphone 1 and 2--but I can't really tell if what we have here are two earphone jacks or whether this is one of those large two pronged plugs for a single earphone as we saw on some of the earliest transistor radios from Japan. I couldn't even tell which it was when I opened up the radio. We'll do that in a moment and maybe you can.
We see this radio as a Channel Master sometimes, with the 6501 model number on it. While the Sanyo BRAND wasn't sold in the US until 1970, Sanyo PRODUCTS were, including this stylish mid-century modern bookshelf stereo and these very popular tape recorders with a kind of joystick control--like a gearshift. These Sanyo products were branded Craig. And these images are from a video on this channel that shows this entire Craig catalog, full of 8-track players for the home and car, big reel-to-reel recorders, clock radios, car stereo, and even televisions. Not to mention some very cool transistor radios.
But before there were Craig transistor radios, there were the Channel Masters.
I did a video recently about a Sony radio from 1972 that had Sanyo transistors in it. Well, this is a Sanyo radio with Sony transistors in it. It's a six transistor... Now what about this--the Channel Master version, the 6501? What brand of transistors do we find in here? Well, there are Sony transistors in the Channel Master too. So, that's the same. But what's different in these two models, other than the name? The Sanyo has the twin prongs--or the two earphone jacks-- on the side while the Channel Master has a simple, single earphone jack there. The Channel Master has the rear jack for external speaker just as the Sanyo does but on the Channel Master this is marked 'ext. speaker' or 'ear phone.' The external power jack on the Sanyo is nowhere to be found on the Channel Master. But the Channel Master has something the Sanyo doesn't have, the word "Japan" on the lower right corner of the back. Of course the Sanyo was made in Japan too, but the country of origin appears nowhere on the outside of it. What does this tell us? That the Sanyo was not made for export to the US, but rather for the domestic Japanese market or for export to some other country that did not require country-of-origin markings on foreign products. So, obviously, Sanyo-branded radios from this era are extremely rare in the United States. And that's where we came in--talking about a radio I shouldn't even have. But I like it.. and I'm keeping it.
