Archive / Classics, 1946 to 1969
TS 502
Radio, Brionvega, 1963
A cube-shaped transistor radio in moulded plastic designed by Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper, held by the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum and other collections.
A-21, isometric, same camera for both
- Drawing
- A-21
- Introduced
- 1963
- Produced
- Not published
- Made in
- Italy
- Designed by
- Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper
- Launch price
- Not confirmed
- Size
- 215 x 135 x 130 mm
- Weight
- 2.2 kg
Wikipedia says Brionvega first released the TS 502 in 1963, while Brionvega's own page gives a project year of 1964. The first version has nine transistors and two audio transformers, runs on dry batteries and receives broadcast and FM bands. Later models III and IV have ten transistors and no audio transformers. Brionvega still sells a remake called the radio.cubo, which keeps the original materials and the Zanuso and Sapper credit.
In the collections of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (TS 502 black, created 1964, purchased 1985; a white example is also held).
Specification
| Item | As published |
|---|---|
| Transistors | 9 (first version) |
| Power | 3 x 3 V dry batteries (2R10) |
| Wave bands | Broadcast and FM, FM to 104 MHz |
| Loudspeaker | Permanent magnet dynamic |
| Audio circuit | Two transformers; no earphone or external power jacks (first version) |
| Materials | Moulded ABS plastic and aluminium (Sotheby's lot description) |
Reissued
Brionvega radio.cubo 50th anniversary
Brionvega builds the TS 502 again. Pricing is through dealers.
The house
- Founded
- 1945
- Founder
- Giuseppe Brion, Onorina Tomasin-Brion and Leone Pajetta
- Origin
- Milan, Italy
- Today
- The brand has changed hands since Sèleco bought it in 1992, with Wikipedia naming SIM 2 Multimedia, Super//Fluo and BV 2 srl, and it still markets re-editions such as the radio.cubo.
Further sheets
Sources
- https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/brionvega_ts502_ts522.html
- https://www.boijmans.nl/en/collection/artworks/108434/ts-502-black
- https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/bowie-collector-part-iii-design-ettore-sottsass-memphis-group-l16149/lot.447.html
- https://www.brionvega.com/gb/product/radio-cubo/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brionvega
Notes for the record: Year conflicts: Wikipedia and Radiomuseum (with a question mark) say 1963; the Boijmans record and Brionvega's page say 1964; a search summary says MoMA catalogues it as 1963, but moma.org returned 403. Dimensions are the Boijmans record (13.5 high, 21.5 wide, 13 deep cm); Radiomuseum lists 230 x 130 x 130 mm and 2.2 kg, and Sotheby's lists 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in for its lot, so sources differ by a few centimetres. Weight is Radiomuseum's. A Bowie-collection unit appears in a Sotheby's sale with an estimate of GBP 150 to 250; the sold price was behind a login.