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Mini-stereo / boombox nostalgia

Wildcat said:
I bought this circa 1985. Still use it in the garage although in typical Sony fashion, the CD player doesn't work, and the cassette quit also a few years later. I use the AUX input with a Chromecast Audio and it fills the garage with a lot of noise of my choosing. The speakers sounded less plasticky when I closed off that slot port on the bottom. Sony CFD-5. Picture "borrowed," of course.

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In the kitchen, a JVC UX-T1, in white.

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The speakers were kind of poopy sounding (very plasticky) so I've always used this into a pair of Boston A40-IIs, which I have tucked away on top of cabinets in the kitchen. Again, it's fed by a CCA attached to the AUX input. The backlit display has now gone dark, but I'm sure I could probably replace the bulbs if I wanted to. (It's hidden in a cabinet, so there's no reason to read the display.) Like the photo, different parts have yellowed from age. But at least it still all works.

Similar to what @Justgotohm has, I have a pair of RIVA Arena speakers--I had considered the Festival but felt these would be easier to place. The Festival does have more bass and sounds much larger than what you'd think. I still may get a used one for my better half, so she has something better to listen to.
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That Sony is gorgeous!!
 
I picked up 5 radio receivers last night. 3 of them are boomboxes/Cassette recorders (one of which isn't worth showing). The other two are a monobox/8-track FM/AM portable.

-1983 Lucky Goldstar TSR-581
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Needs a tuner knob & antennas for completion, and could use a bit of deep cleaning. Nonetheless it works.

-1981 General Electric 3-5265A
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Real nice unit with amazing FM reception and a wide assortment of features, including a (wired) remote input, ext. RCA speaker inputs, Cer/Mag. Phono cartridge input, and an LED Tuning meter.

Also sounds pretty darn good for its size. Good bass response and clarity.
 
Artie said:
Those little quasi-cassettes, with the 1/8" plug actually work surprisingly well. I still occasionally use my old Sony. (Internet pic.)

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I realize this is an old post, but I have, and still use, this exact same boombox. The sound was surprisingly good, but apparently has a frequency "hole." When I would play the Queen CD of "Killer Queen" the "..Anytime.." phrase cannot be heard unless you really get close and listen. On any other stereo it is very obvious.

I'm guessing a frequency gap between the "woofer" and the cheap "tweeters" rolls off the vocals at just that range.
 
Romeo Wolf said:
Boombox: I recently picked up this 1979 Sanyo M9909 as an "upgrade" from my crappy 1990 GE 7-7150 and Sanyo U4S6 cassette recorders. It sounds pretty good for what it is, and it gets decently loud. (Uses x2 Sanyo 4102 Amplifier chips, which put out 1.05W into the 4" 8 Ohm [1.6W Nom. 2.5W Max] Full-range drivers @ 9V [6 D-Cells]). It needs a bit of TLC, and the $32 I paid for it feels a bit steep.
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It's nothing incredible, but it's a start.

Mini-Stereo: I also have a 1993 Soundesign 5826ABB. Of course, it's worth nothing. But it sounds decent...that's all I've got to say.
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Your lucky that Sanyo isn't the all black version, or else I would be begging you to sell it to me. That was my first new Stereo. I got it for Christmas when I was in 5th grade. I could now take Back In Black with me everywhere!
 
thebisch said:
Your lucky that Sanyo isn't the all black version, or else I would be begging you to sell it to me. That was my first new Stereo. I got it for Christmas when I was in 5th grade. I could now take Back In Black with me everywhere!
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I just Googled the Sanyo. I don't see a single all black one? Is my memory faulty?

EDIT: Nope, I just found one.

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Allen1981 said:
View attachment 2151223 View attachment 2151224View attachment 2151223 View attachment 2151224 View attachment 2151225 View attachment 2151226View attachment 2151223 View attachment 2151224 View attachment 2151225 View attachment 2151226anyone remember this one?! The JVC PC-V77 also known as the "ghetto blaster"
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I was with a good friend and occasional AK’er a couple weeks ago painting a garage, that’s the exact unit we were jamming to. Corner loaded it actually put out noticeable lowend.
 
I just drove by that art installation, it's outside of the twin cities, there isn't anything too nice on it but the overall look is cool. I think he has another one down south.

Here's an oddball you boys might like, the Sony TC-PB10. It looks crooked but I just took a bad photo. This unit retailed for a few hundred dollars when it came out, speculation is it was for music exec types that just wanted to listen to music, there's no radio on it and it can't record. It has an interesting MIC in so you could throw in a tape and sing to the music, a lot of early boomboxes had this feature. The unit also has the wire stands that will collapse into the body so you can angle it for the best sound stage. Overall a very beefy unit.

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Cool thread: here's a picture of my ossum (to me) Mitsubishi boom box with 3D Acoustic Super Woofer.....:eek:

I bought it for $5 in a New Haven consignment store about 11 years ago and it did sterling work in my garage until a few years back. Then about 3 months ago I took it apart, cleaned it thoroughly, replaced any belts and gave it a general service. Now it deserves an easy inside life. Pic is Before cleaning!! Everything works; auto reverse, CD display, the lot. Weird coincidence; I looked for two years for a replacement tuning knob, and the SAME WEEK I started the refurb, one came up on eBay. Woohoo, thanks audio gods!!

It sounds pretty good, and VERY 3D :rockon:

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Those Hitachi 3D's are pretty cool Doctorhugo, I've got the Darth Vader Model and would grab more if I could find them. Search out the boombox sites, there's a photo of a guy in Russia that has most of the lined up for a group photo that looks pretty impressive.
 
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