Mini-stereo / boombox nostalgia

[SingleAction]

I was never into boomboxes when they came out.

But about 4 years ago, we were in a new thrift shop and they one for $10 that looked and worked like new.

It was a Magnavox D-8287 made by Phillps in 1983. I was very impressed with the audio quality and feature.

It had auto-reverse, hi-speed dubbing, 3-band EQ, AM/FM stereo, and worked on both Ac/DC power.

 

[Bone Yard]

One of my favorites, the AIWA TPR-950 is definately one of the best looking of all time and the little guy in the front is a tiny Pioneer (I love the small equipment). That square in the front is the same size of a tape so you can visualize how small it is. It was marketed towards young females so it comes in several different colors.

 

[newenglandj]

Have never ever seen a D8304 in real life come to think of it.

I've seen a few of the Magnavox branded version at flea markets, I could have bought one for $20 a few years ago, probably should have. I remember Sears sold them.

 

[Dony]

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I recently picked up, restored and recapped this Panasonic RX-C45, from circa 1983.

What a sleeper! It seems like Panasonic was taking the assignment seriously when they made this thing. I've been surprised at how good it sounds for a 3 piece portable stereo. It makes a decent amount of power for a little guy (claims 20w peak.) It doesn't match up a true audio setup but you can get a nice soundstage with careful speaker positioning and manipulation of the equalizer. It sounds legitimately good in a small space (I'm running it in my office now), and it's probably the best I've ever heard from this class of device.

For the speakers: not only are the tweeters real (not a guarantee on smaller boomboxes), but the speakers are properly braced and dampened.

The whole thing is heavy and well built, feels like maybe 15 pounds without batteries, and from having fixed it I can say that it's very well laid out and serviceable internally.

I also like how the speakers connect internally when they're locked onto the unit so it doesn't have wires hanging off the back, and that it has a line out, line in and phono in. That makes it still useful in the present day.

Finally, it just looks neat. Chromed up, but not too chromed up.

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Wow Stack,

This is incredible I have the exact same Panasonic boombox that I purchased new back in the 80's. Mine still works just fine, although it could probably use a service and re-cap by now.

I remember when I bought it I thought it was the best sounding boombox available that I could find. It was expensive when compared to other units in the 80s but I liked the fact that I could easily separate the speakers from the unit and connect them with speaker wire to make it more like a mini hi-fi component system with better speaker placement. It also has a RCA line-in/phono input which increases it's flexibility.

As you mentioned, the speakers (woofers and tweeters) are real quality drivers and not just fake visual pieces like in some other vintage boomboxes. The 20w amp is actually pretty good with the ability to drive the speakers to pretty high SPLs for such a small boombox. My unit has been assigned to my garage now where it mostly only plays FM radio, although the cassette deck still remains fully functional.

This just goes to show that quality design and parts can make a difference when it comes to electronics. Roughly 40 yrs old and still running! I can honestly say I don't regret spending the extra money when I bought it 40 years ago.

 

[GlamrLama]

My friends and I never had much need for a boom box when we were younger. Everyone had a nice home system or car system or both. Spring break in Florida was a problem though. Mid thru late 80s when I was in high school and uni we would land in Florida and head for the local Sears! Remember them? They had a no questions refund policy. 2 or 3 of us would pool together what cash we had and buy a boombox, listen to it for the week, then return for a full refund. We'd usually end up with a SONY or Panasonic unit. Not proud of it but we needed tunes!