Soundesign stereo

T

Tooth

New Member
I just bought a Soundesign pll am/fm stereo with 8 track, tape deck and a built-in turntable and I can't find any info online about it. I'm curious to what it's worth. Found it at a estate sale for $10 bucks with speakers. Everything works great. Anyone know anything about it?
 
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It's probably worth about what you paid. You'll find that Soundesign is not thought of very highly here.
 
Soundesign is rather inexpensive. You should clean it all up, maybe put some Lemon Pledge on the speakers and cabinet, and see if you can trade it for a good high end GPX unit with a CD player. :) If that's not possible and you happen to live in a rural area where you can play music loud and not disturb anyone, try this; Cut the little wires coming out of the back of the speakers leaving about 6 inches. Place the speakers outside on a deck or porch at least 7 feet apart facing away from the house. Acquire enough wire to reach from the speakers to the bedroom that you want to put the head unit in ( It' important that it's a bedroom ). Now back to the speakers. Separate the two little wires noticing that one of them is marked, usually with little white dashes. It's important also that the wire you get be marked or of different colors. Mate the wires and take note of the markings such that both pairings are identical being sure to wrap your connections individually with tape to prevent a short. Connect them accordingly to the receiver screw terminals, then test. Wait until late at night when everything is quiet and set up your soundstage by opening a window and adjusting it to the night air. Summer nights with high humidity will sound warmer and winter and fall nights will add crisp tones and if you are lucky at times, a slight echo. By adjusting the volume and tone controls, and the window, with consideration of the air of the season, ( and having moderate amounts of your favorite beverage ) you can just close your eyes, smile, and enjoy your new investment. ;) If you live in the city maybe someone will take it off your hands for $20, or you can give it to one of the kids in the family.
 
You'll be hard pressed to find much info on this - they were lower end systems and I'm guessing not cost effective to get repaired.
Play it, enjoy it for what it is.
Enjoy the music
 
When I was a young man, newly married, there wasn't much money for a high-end stereo. I had some nice speakers-which my son "borrowed". I also had (and I still use) a Pioneer PL12 d 2, with an Empire cart. But, Receivers were way above what I could afford. So, I bought a Soundesign receiver. It was really cheap. But it was pretty, had a lot of knobs, and it worked well for me for about 10 years. I think we sold it at a garage sale for $2.00.
 
Soundesign, Electrophonic, Craig......those were the brands I experienced in my teens. They were low end inexpensive systems for the masses. Still good enough for a garage system.......
 
As for your first question for a fully functional Soundesign 20.00-30.00 bucks is a fair price. Now for what it is, output power about 10 watts per channel 15 if it's one of there better units. The BSR changer uses a ceramic cartridge and tracks at around 7 or 8 grams so it is hard on records that you play on it. The speakers were typically a full range 6" speaker or a two way with a 8"woofer and 3" tweeter paper cones with crinkled edge for a surround and a small square piece of rug padding as insulation inside the cabinet. Price when new I remember them being around 99.00-149.00 at my local Kings department store in NH. If the 8 track still works it could be worth something to someone into 8 track tapes.
 
Tooth said:
I just bought a Soundesign pll am/fm stereo with 8 track, tape deck and a built-in turntable and I can't find any info online about it. I'm curious to what it's worth. Found it at a estate sale for $10 bucks with speakers. Everything works great. Anyone know anything about it?
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For resale it's worth about what you paid for it. For your listening pleasure it could be priceless.

If you are playing records on it that you don't want to damage, you probably should see about replacing the stylus at least.
 
Montycat said:
For resale it's worth about what you paid for it. For your listening pleasure it could be priceless.
Click to expand...

There is a lot of merit in that statement. I gave a friend an AM/FM plug in radio to use in his garage and even though he at first said "I don't need that" he was very happy after finding out how much better life is with tunes in the garage.
 
Many many people listened to systems like this. Whether you move on to other gear or not, enjoy it. If you get 'the bug', like many of us did, stick around here - there's a world of gear.

Meanwhile if you have more questions about your stereo, post em here or in the appropriate forum. Lots of good folks here will help out. A few of us are kooky. :eek: :biggrin:
 
Tooth said:
I just bought a Soundesign pll am/fm stereo with 8 track, tape deck and a built-in turntable and I can't find any info online about it. I'm curious to what it's worth. Found it at a estate sale for $10 bucks with speakers. Everything works great. Anyone know anything about it?
Click to expand...
I had a sound design but don't remember the model. It was a combo am / fm and turntable. I liked it a lot and it sounded good to me until It got stolen. If yours sounds good to you that is all that matters. It's only music with no lives depending on it.
 
SDI Technologies is the name of a consumer electronics manufacturer whose products are marketed under several national brands, including Timex, Sylvania, eKids, New Balance, KIDdesigns, and iHome. They used to market under Soundesign, a now defunct brand. SDI Technologies employed 110 in 2007, and has a distribution network that covers over 70 countries. Including Asia, SDI employs over 400 people
Soundesign
Soundesign, a defunct division of SDI Technologies originally known as RealTone, marketed inexpensive home and portable electronics. The Soundesign brand faded as SDI began selling its products under the Zenith brand in 1993. SDI's current offerings include small electronics of the iHome and Timex brands.

( Stolen from Wikipedia )

COMPANY NEWS; ZENITH AND SOUNDESIGN TO MARKET AUDIO PRODUCTS
Published: November 25, 1992
The Zenith Electronics Corporation, in difficult straits from a weak consumer market, said yesterday that it would join forces with the Soundesign Corporation to sell audio products under the Zenith name. Soundesign is a division of SDI Technologies Inc. of Jersey City.

( Taken From The New York Times )


http://sditechnologies.com/

(website)
 
My very first system was a Soundesign. It consisted of a receiver and small bookshelf speakers. I had a turntable but don't remember if it was the same brand or not. Served me well during my high school years. I'm sure I ruined most of my records using that table! Can't remember what happened to the speakers or turntable but I still have the receiver packed away in the basement. I came across it not to long ago and it sure brought back some good memories of my youth! Good times!
 
I guess my first post was a little over the top and for some offensive. My very first system was a Sound Design and I was really impressed with the number of knobs and all the lights and bling and it sounded great at Cook's Department Store. When I got it home it sounded more like a rubber band stretched across a shoe box. No matter what I did it just wouldn't improve the sound. Finally it became a piece of furniture and sat for a few years until a neighbor showed interest in it and I traded it for an old BSA Comet 22 air rifle. ( Which now would fetch a premium ). I guess that's why I displayed the absence of mind and interest. I later sold the gun and forgot about that old sound system and other than a few pieces on ebay and at flea markets I haven't expressed any feelings about them except to myself. I guess I should have kept it that way. Sorry.
 
Long before boomboxes and rack stereo systems , companies like Soundesign made stereos for the less afluent masses. They allowed people to afford a stereo - usually a combo receiver, turntable, and an 8-track or cassette (sometimes both!) Back in the 70s, a modest component stereo with receiver, turntable, and speakers was $500. Soundesign made all-in-one units for $80 - $200. I don't know who actually manufactured them, but most of their early 70s units were made in Japan. By the mid 70s, they'd moved into Hong Kong and Tawain. When rack system became the rage in the early 80s, Soundesign made rack-looking all-in-one systems.

If I were you, I'd clean it up and use it. I think stuff like that is cool.
 
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