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Mini-stereo / boombox nostalgia

Justgotohm said:
I know this is kinda off the subject of vintage boom boxes. I spotted this Riva Festival on CL too cheap to pass up. I have been curious about these since I saw them on Madison Sound several years ago.
This little box is very impressive, has incredible bass compared to even moderately size book shelf speakers. With gear like this being produced I totally understand why current generations don’t see a need for HiFi in the traditional sense. Would it work as a stand alone for me, or course not, but in a kitchen or the back porch maybe at a cabin or beach house it does add the ability to play loud with just enough range and depth to be fun to listen too. It still isn’t as fun as the vintage boom boxes in a sense but it sure sounds damn good.
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That's an impressive amount of drivers and radiators in one unit. I wonder how it sounds.
 
Wow.... So, I stopped checking AK, for a long time, and I had no idea that this thread had so many awesome responses. I'm a little disappointed that I missed a good chance to participate in a lively discussion. Although, reading all of those great personal narratives and enjoying the photos, in one sitting, was rather enjoyable.

I'm really glad to see that so many 80/90s boomboxes are living out extended lives. I always hate to think of how many usable devices wind up, unnecessarily, in landfills.

Here's a little something for all of the boombox / personal stereos fans.

 
superdog said:
I had one big boombox around '80-81.It was a Toshiba but I dont remember the model or what happened to it.I did pick up this 25 lb JVC brute at a thrift store last week for $15.
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I have one of these, but mine is black. Tape deck doesn't work, and if you use the power button to turn it off it locks up and needs to be power cycled. Mine still has the remote!
 
thebisch said:
I have one of these, but mine is black. Tape deck doesn't work, and if you use the power button to turn it off it locks up and needs to be power cycled. Mine still has the remote!
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The tape deck on mine didn't work either and it would not shut off when powered off either.Luckily I have found a retired tech who opened it up and found that someone sprayed WD40 inside the tape mechanism.I guess it gummed up parts and wouldn't let it stop so it wouldn't power off.A cleaning and new belts,$100 later its back in business.I have found a couple of JVC remotes work the volume which is all I need.Do you mind posting a pic of your original remote or at least the model # ? Thanks.
 
superdog said:
I had one big boombox around '80-81.It was a Toshiba but I dont remember the model or what happened to it.I did pick up this 25 lb JVC brute at a thrift store last week for $15.
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If it works that’s a steal. Usually the cassette deck dies on them. It does only have 1 belt and I believe it is relatively easy to take apart to replace it. I never tried but downloaded a service manual for it and it looks easy anyway.
 
RickeyM said:
I had a boom box back in the the eighties that was a pretty nice one. AM/FM double auto-reverse cassette but I don't remember the brand. The cassette section was unique in that instead of the tape wells being side by side had the tapes one behind the other. It was advertised as 10 watts per channel and the two way speakers (non-detachable) for nice for a boom box. It also had an Aux in with actual RCA jacks that I made use of when I got my first CD player. Sadly back in those days "static" in the volume and tone controls spelled the end of many a piece of audio gear and my boom box got junked.
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I decided to do a little sleuthing and found it. A Sharp WQ-T238 There's several listed on Ebay currently. Now, I don't need another audio device but it would be handy to have something portable, self contained with RCA audio inputs :idea: :)

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Going to be picking these three (and more, probably) out of a guy's garage this Saturday evening. Will go through them and put them back into service for the first time since...who knows how long :)
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My long dead Sharp GF-575 has been replaced by a Sharp GF-565. Yep, the slightly lesser model.

I use it when in my wading pool. That thing hits and sounds great! I gave a princely sum of 60 bucks for it.

Of course both tape decks are dead, but that's just fine. RCA input on back (switchable to PHONO as well) works fine for my old Apple Ipod 160gb.
 
That was/is one feature of my Panasonic RX-F35 that I always liked: it has RCA in and out. Not many did back in 1983, when it was released.

It came in handy MANY times over the years!
 
70s montgomery ward boombox made in Japan i believe by Panasonic. Got it free from the curb and it works perfect. I think im going to open it up and install a hidden lithium battery & bluetooth so i can jam it all day on one charge and play tunes from my phone. Takes my back to my break dancing days in the early 80s.
 

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I don't know what about the differences are in design, but I feel that generally Bluetooth speakers sound far, far better than boomboxes ever did. The only Bluetooth speaker that I own is a really tiny, useless one that doesn't sound very good, but other ones that I've heard which are still smaller than the average boombox sound better than they have a right to...
 
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I've enjoyed this thread. I never had one of these all-in one mini stereos for myself, but friends and others in my family had them. The closest thing I had was a pair of Sony self powered speakers that I hooked up to a portable CD player in the late 1980s. That was a great little setup that I took with me as the Navy moved me around.
 
Never much into "boom boxes" but I have these. The single box "Music System" was in the bedroom where I play a CD on occasion as background. The Model Two was for the computer sound.

I'm installing an outdoor antenna at my place in the Philippines so to check I'm taking along a radio for the setup on my vacation there next month. I auditioned the pair last night with a CCrane indoor antenna. The switch for external antenna on the Music System is stuck on "internal" so that's out. The external antenna made a big difference on the Model Two and checking that connection is the point of taking a radio.

Then I used a hires Sony Walkman in the auxiliary inputs to compare sound quality. Even though the Music System seems to have larger speakers the Model 2 was clearly the better unit. The Music System is prettier and plays CDs but goes back to the bedroom and the Model Two and the Walkman go along with me to the grass shack.

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Did someone say Yamaha? The bottom two are original designs, the top is made by Sanyo (badged Yamaha) and is a true "compo" separating into five pieces. The bottom is a monster battery compartment, kind of unique with the front opening door, I guess you could put some beach kush in there.


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Cool thread, I’ve got a number of the Aiwa mini systems, I’ll post some pic this evening. Big fan of the mini stacks.
 
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