Did you have a boom box or portable stereo that you thought sounded good

There were actual tweeters behind those "horns". The RC-770 didn't have any "stereo wide" modes, but it I back up to an ideal distance, it images quite good (for a boombox without detachable speakers).

The small squares on the extreme left and right of the tweeters were indeed internal mikes.

In the late 80s and early 90s, I started to record radio dramas off of my local public radio station (on a Sony 3-head, 3-motor cassette deck, using C-120 cassettes, mostly Maxell UR-120's, all of which I still have). I would listen to those tape recordings as I fall asleep and the RC-770 would stop the tape at the end of each side.

 

I always used LN tapes and stuck to Dolby B so that my tapes were compatible with my car's deck, so not having that on my RC-770 was OK.

 

I had one of these and I was very pleased with it. I wouldn't mind having it again but they are fairly rare. When I use boomboxes these days the only two I have in working condition are a large JVC and a Sony but the sound of the Fisher was much nicer and the tape player for payback through an external amp was excellent, funny I no longer have the device which I sold but I still have the original box.

http://wikiboombox.com/tiki-index.php?page=Fisher+PH-470

 

Panasonic boom box at like 6 years old. I loved it for awhile until I got the full stereo itch.

 

I don’t have that model specifically. Little smaller with horns tho like that. Jvc. With Dolby B. Silver. Short wave built in. My Dad bought it used for me in 84 ! It was my very first stereo ! I still have it !! I think it has input on the side or outputs too.

 

Frankly, a boom box can never sound as good as an audiophile quality home stereo system. But, some boom boxes are good for outdoor dancing and basic entertainment.

 

I’ve still got one of these that I bought in the 90s.



It sounds pretty good as there’s a sub at each end.

 

I have a Makita portable at work that sounds ok.

 

This works well for picnics and smaller parties. Big 2-way oval speaker makes sound travel further than most compact Bluetooth portable speakers. Also sounds very musical and slight distortion at louder volumes makes people dance. You can plug in the phone or Bluetooth receiver. Batteries last for ages... A year or so with about 10 picnics on average.

 

Same one that I have except mine is the more common gray. Somehow the cassette player still works. I rarely used it. People are asking big money for these things on EBay. The rubbery ends by the subs seems to leave black marks on your hands if you touch it. I have it on my nightstand beside my bed and use it at night to listen to the radio to fall asleep.

 

I remember those. Tube subs were big in cars around that time - I'm surprised we don't see more portable devices which exploit that design, essentially bolting full range speakers, batteries, playback devices and controls to a tube sub and calling it a day.

 

I have the dark grey version, It sounds surprisingly good in a small room with a well recorded cd.

As for the rubbery plastic end pieces that leave marks everywhere i tried cleaning that stuff off with goo-gone, gasoline with poor results, what did work amazingly well was model aircraft fuel, think mine was 10 percent nitro. it cleaned the black crap off literally in a few minutes and left a nice shiny smooth plastic surface.

 

I had this beauty in high school in the 80s. The speakers detached and you could get decent stereo separation. I thought it sounded great.

Just looking at the picture brings memories of the Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd, Public Enemy, LL Cool J and Run-DMC cassettes I wore out in that thing.

 

This was mine.

The Pioneer SK303L (L cos it had long wave apart from medium and short wave), had a decent radio section with manual tuning on FM/AM, a tape unit that did play dolbyized tapes very well although it feature slow acting ALC on record and the great Aux for attaching 8 track or cd units as needed with a good amplifier into speakers with separate woofer and tweeters.

For a single unit it was very good for the money sounding clear.

 

Didn't Meridian made some portable all-in-one F80 or something.
Should be well regarded though never heard one.

Give the Naim Muso a handle and some battery, it would sell like hotcakes

 

Never for anything other than noisy, outdoor environments.

 

I've got one of these as well, mine is silver/grey and didn't come with sticky rubberized coating. My cassette is toast even though rarely used..the mechanism was just very fragile. The bulb on the display is out as well. Everything else still works/sounds good.

I also re-bought my old Sears boombox from back in the day. Not too good in the bass department, but it is quite loud (albeit thin sounding). Needed a couple of new belts and a speed adjustment, but it's working fine.

A similar model was sold under the Saba brand in Europe.

 

I wouldn't expect any boombox to sound anywhere as good as even an inexpensive bunch of components and $295/pr speakers, but I did have one that sounded good back in the 20th Century. I don't recall a model number, but I believe it was made by Fisher (not Fischer Price). It had speakers that could be detached from the main unit. I think you could actually make a 4" equilateral triangle with them. It had a CD player, and I think it had a dual cassette deck. It wasn't "boomy," but it had enough bass to make it sound good, and the mids and treble weren't tinny sounding or brittle. It served me well, and I ended up selling it 3 years later for about 75% of the original cost.

 

Bought a JBL Extreme a while back and used it in large rooms for exercise classes. The sound was more than ample for the space of up to 50 people. None were real audiophiles but there were certainly many music lovers among the groups. The number of comments about the unbelievably good sound coming out of that relatively small unit was astonishing to me.

 

I *thought* they sounded good, but I was usually high and you don’t get the best SQ when your boombox is setting off to the side of a basketball court.

 

Some extremely rare times I find that I’m “low” and I hear what things really sound like.

 

Had a JVC boombox I won in a raffle - it sounded fantastic for 25 years.

Had a Hitachi 'portable' mini-component system that sounded absolutely unreal. It sounded SO GOOD that I bought a 2nd one for a backup. Audiophile all the way. Wonderous Amazingness !!

 

I had a Pioneer portable stereo that I thought sounded great. It had a number of great features, including a five-band equalizer and the ability to search cassette tracks. Also, it didn't look like the typical boombox, it had a wood finish and a rectangular shape rather than the typical curved shapes that emphasize the speakers that most boomboxes had. Unlike many boomboxes, it looked like a piece of audio equipment when it sits on a shelf.

 

I had a Sanyo one with detachable speakers and a Hitachi '3D Super Woofer Mega Bass' type one with just speakers on the front. I thought they sounded fine at the time. I won't hear a bad word about them or anyone calling them junk. They gave me years of happiness throughout my childhood.

 

That's the exact one I had! I forgot the graphic equaliser was on the front too.