Produced in 1956, the Carmen belongs to the Nordmende middle class tube radios. But what makes this Carmen 56 stick out from the other middle class radios is its beauty.

Nordmende was carefully naming its radios and even in this case the name Carmen suits this product perfectly.
This Carmen 56 model is flashier than the general Nordmende production, typically much more austere. No doubt though that the balance of the forms and the quality of the materials represent Nordmende at its top. A massive use of high quality wood and brass inserts, a wise balance of dark and bright colours and the special touch given by the transparent and bright insert around the knobs of the equalizer: here stands the secret of such a beauty.

Our professional restoration process further enhanced this feature, giving new life to a classical handmade object that is now ready to work for many more decades.
We have been trying to place this radio in different locations: in the end we realized that this Carmen fits perfectly with a classical and refined ambience but that also a more modern environment can put a special spotlight on this beautiful radio that will definitely catch the attention.

Carmen 56 sound is nice, deep and refined. The separate tone controls, the A Class final stage, the triode preamp, the efficient feedback system that linearizes the response are all elements that make the sound of this radio a very warm and pleasant listening experience.

In fact, accordingly to its name, this Carmen is really a delicious crush.

- Bluetooth receiver embed - The unit is equipped with a BLUETOOTH receiver powered directly by the receiver power supply. This makes it possible to control the amplifier from any external digital device as an IPAD, a Smartphone, or a sophisticated multimedia station. So you can hear your preferred web station or your lossesless file without cables on the room. Wireless Receiver can be equipped upon requests.
- Multi Platform Connection - A customized adaptation cable to connect any digital device as Iphone, Smartphone, Laptop, CD Player etc. will be provided with this radio. This special cable suits the different impedances between the modern equipment and the receiver. Furthermore the two stereo channels flow into one without increasing the load to the input unit.

In 1923 Otto Hermann Mende founded Radio H. Mende & Co. in Dresden. After the bombing of the factory in 1945, Martin Mende (son of the founder) created a new company in Bremen, the "North German Mende Broadcast GmbH" whose name was later changed into NORDMENDE.

In the 50s and 60s it became one of the most prestigious German TV and radios manufacturer.

In the 70s the televisions by NORDMENDE became famous for their frames, cards and for the rigorous testing and quality controls carried out on their finished products. Unfortunately, the high cost involved in such detailed quality determined a competitive disadvantage when the price of color television began to fall.

In 1977 the majority of the shares was sold to the French Thomson. The following year, the family sold the remaining shares. In 1980, the factories of Bremen was closed, NORDMENDE becoming purely a trademark of Thomson.