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Who made the best...

Who made the best "All-In-One" cheap-crap stereo?

  • Lloyds

    Votes: 26 24.8%

  • SoundDesign

    Votes: 44 41.9%

  • Yorx

    Votes: 10 9.5%

  • Emerson

    Votes: 25 23.8%
  • Total voters
    105
  • Poll closed .
pmsummer

pmsummer

simul justus et peccator
...all-in-one cheapo units?

"Best" meaning the "totality" of the experience. "Best" of the genre, not least disgusting.

"Cheapo" means just that. More plastic is better. Real wood veneer is not. We're talking the epitome of phony crapola stereo.

Please, no KLH and B&O, or other high-quality compact units (although Sony almost made the poll due to some of the craptastic "Home Entertainment Towers" they squandered their good name on).

This poll is not for those on a low irony diet.
 
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Technics made some nice looking all-in-ones from what I remember. All the features of the other "recievers" but I can't say I remember any real powerhouse amps being built in.
 
My brother had a nice Zenith all-in-one unit during the 80's. Magnetic cartridge, with counterweight and belt drive turntable, cassette deck with Chrome button, Dolby B and VU Meters, AM/FM Stereo radio with tuning meter. Hi/low filter switches with levers like on the Pioneer SX models. I think it was rated at 15 watts per channel. Sounded quite nice.
 
Thankfully, I don't have enough experience in this area to cast an educated vote :D
 
My vote goes for Juliette! I was thisclose to buying an all-in-one TT/radio combo before I got my VM console as an eighth grader.
Tom
 
Electrophonic. The one as big as a DJ coffin and seperate speakers a little bigger than large advents. The multi changer, Fm Am and I think it had eight track. I had a unit like that in a rough spot of life. The FM came in great and it cranked. It got me through a rough spot. That is the best all in one unit that gets my vote. glad Fm radio was still Fm at that time. very few commercials and most were the Dj reading off a sheet. :thmbsp:
 
+1 on the KLH Twenty. What a beauty, especially if you get the pedestal stands I've seen some of the speakers sitting on.
 
i had a lloyds set that was really well made for being low end stuff. its was am/fm/8 track but looked alot like a big 70s silver faced receiver. something along the lines of 20-25 wpc.
 
Aiwa made a really nice one with a metal case, single cd player, and dual solenoid operated cassette decks.
 
Panasonic.
 

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I dug my Soundesign in Jr. High.

I actually hooked the Soundesign's TT to my Sansui 8080DB in highschool. What can I say... I ran out of money after buying the Sansuis.
 
The actual best (of those I've seen) was probably a B&O, but that might not qualify by your standards, since it probably had as much of a metal frame as plastic.

As for the real plastic-y kinds, whoa, there are dozens of models out there, each chintzier than the next. Since I've only bought two or three of them, I can't say which was the best, but the best-looking, most typical/classic 80s style was probably the Pioneer "executive look" thing. I almost bought a bright yellow ITT, made in Italy, that looked like it would have been pretty good (as these things go).

The best almost-all in one? Without a doubt, the Marantz Casseiver, which doesn't quite qualify as it has no plastic casing (aluminum faceplate!) and lacks a turntable. Beats all the others I've heard or seen to Hades and back.
 
This Sony is representative of the shameful genre.

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I know what you're asking, but the best I can think of (based on personal observance) where a brand went above expectations, was a friend's Soundesign cassette/receiver. It was a top loader with Cr02/Normal bias (no NR), manual record levels with VU meters that doubled as signal strength and tuning meters, magnetic level inputs, solid walnut case and about 15 watts p/ch. This was around 1973. He used it for many years with a pair of very old JBL's and it didn't sound bad at all.
 
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