T 3

T 3 (Transistor 3 pocket receiver). Radio, Braun, 1958

Described by the Design Museum as the first pocket-sized transistor radio in Germany, a slim flat cube with a six-transistor circuit.

A-14, isometric, same camera for both

Drawing: A-14
Introduced: 1958
Produced: 1958 to 1960
Made in: Germany
Designed by: Dieter Rams
Launch price: 120 DM (first-year price listed by Radiomuseum; a 1958/59 handbook lists 140 DM)
Size: 150 x 83 x 41 mm
Weight: 0.5 kg

Braun launched the T3 in 1958, and the Design Museum calls it the first pocket-sized transistor radio in Germany. LACMA credits Dieter Rams as designer with a design date of 1958. The set carries six transistors, runs on four AA batteries and receives medium and long wave through a 7 cm speaker. SFMOMA lists the 1959 TP 1 as a T 3 radio with a P 1 phonograph, and the V&A describes that set as grey polystyrene units in an aluminium case.

In the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art (T3 transistor radio, designed 1958, accession M.2018.26), SFMOMA (Braun TP 1 transistor radio (T 3) with phonograph (P 1), 1959, accession 2012.148.A-B) and Victoria and Albert Museum (TP 1 record player and radio, 1959, W.28:1 to 3-2008).

See it in listening room no. 03, at the Villa Savoye

Front elevation of the Braun T 3 (Transistor 3 pocket receiver), 150 mm wide and 83 mm high — Front elevation, dimensions in millimetres. Drawn from published dimensions and descriptions; detail is simplified.

Specification

Item	As published
Transistors	6
Power	4 x 1.5 V (AA) dry batteries
Wave bands	Medium wave and long wave
Loudspeaker	Permanent magnet dynamic, 7 cm diameter
Output	0.3 W

Out of production

Find an original

The T 3 (Transistor 3 pocket receiver) is out of production. Originals change hands on the marketplaces listed here; buy restored, or budget for recapping and new valves.

The house

Founded: 1921
Founder: Max Braun
Origin: Frankfurt, Germany
Today: Owned by Procter & Gamble, with De'Longhi using the Braun name on kitchen appliances under licence since 2012.

Further sheets

Sources

Notes for the record: Radiomuseum lists 1958 to 1960 and a speaker output of 0.3 W; its transistor count is 6 although its semiconductor list has 8 entries. Wikipedia's Braun article says Rams designed the T3 in the 1960s, which conflicts with 1958 in LACMA, Radiomuseum and the Design Museum; the Design Museum timeline names no designer for the T3. Radiomuseum lists no designer. The LACMA record dims are 3 1/4 x 5 7/8 x 1 5/8 in (8.26 x 14.92 x 4.13 cm) and Radiomuseum's are 150 x 83 x 41 mm, so the two agree within rounding. MoMA also holds a T3 per a search result (object 595.1965), but moma.org returned 403 and was not opened.