The REL company is famous for The Precedent 646C  (one of the finest FM tuners ever).. thus helping to launch & popularizing FM for the home listener  (google E.H. Armstrong, he was envolved deeply with REL’s labs & dealings. Their other product, far less common than the living-room-manicured 1950s Precedent 646”C” , was this 1940s era 646 “B” receiver.  It was the companies’ first HiFi offering ever. In 30 years+ of searching for vintage audio, only the second I’ve seen. Nicknamed the “green monster” by the guys back then ... thanks to it’s imposing, all aluminum post-deco late 1940’s shell and Mil-spec construction!  Rather hard to believe the short lived REL marketing folks intended this for homes…yet they did.  See the photo from a 1950 AUDIO magazine (the editor’s personal system).  Clearly it was all about the sound.  In the late 40s/1950s postwar era HiFi was cutting edge and did often assume the laboratory look. The REL 646B,  is FM and does also  have a nice AUX in (labeled Ext AF), for a CD or other input. Using this input yielded very clean and quiet sound.  The dreamy amp is unique for the use of PP 7C5 loktal type tube outputs — you don’t see these uber-ruggedized all chrome tubes in anything much past late 40’s and almost NO other HiFi gear. They sound much better than even the BEST 6V6 tubes.  This REL is in the league of the late 40’s best-ever (remember, this was made around the same time as a Brook 10 / 12 amp). Loktal’s are excellent for audio.  After we heard this REL 10 years ago for the first time —- I can truly say few things short of WESTERN ELECTRIC can beat it. In fact, in a direct A/B, it just gave a beating to a china-made WE91 clone running an original WE300B!  Forget Fisher or Scott. This thing has the incredible detail —- it makes almost any material and any speaker efficient enough (10 watt amp built in). After years of fighting RCA, Major Armstrong committed suicide sometime in the early 50’s and REL went out of business sometime after that. The lack of commercial success with the Precedent tuner project did them in.

     I was lucky enough to find this rare piece — serviced many years ago, and in still working condition. I just brought it up on a VariAc and gave it a bench test (test was with short antenna, I only tried the 8 ohm tap, it also has 500 out for bridging). Amazing, sweet sound. Beautiful tone and detail, sparkling clarity. It’s rather like putting a REL Precedent and the best PP Pentode amp I can think of…. (say like a Langevin 117) together under one roof. Remember too, it’s mono 1 channel… increasingly embraced the new generation HiFi purists I’ve noticed…. (why not these days?) The FM tuner pulls in even distant stations from 70 miles away. The 10 watt amp is very quiet, and needed a bit of power to drive, from my pre — with excellent results with even not-so efficient Yamaha bookshelf’s. I shot a test video, with a calibrated mono mic. So, IF you know the sound of your speakers…you’ll hear what I mean!