Micha from Weimar Germany wakes to this monster Sharp VZ-2500 every morning. Says Micha, “I found it on a “flohmarkt” for 15€. then i invested 60€ more for new stylus and (riemen). I think i`ll try to get a new lp-window and some buttons are old and scratchy.”
Another Trident golden ghettoblaster. Marco copped this at the local Swap Meet, $12.00. If you see him at the Swap Meet RUN! Just hope he doesn’t catch you on that classic Raleigh chopper.
The boombox fan, heck, any gadget fan who ever spent any time in a big city was drawn to the electronics shops like a moth to the fire. Ed, from Brooklyn immortalizes one of his fondest memories in the photos below. He recalls a day 1984 when he purchased a giant Conion ghettoblaster, a stereo as loud and glitzy as the shops that sold them. Refusing to let one of his fondest childhood memories fade into obscurity, he documents his trip on film.
We were obviously drooling at the merchandise displayed on these store shelves. Sure, we’ve got eBay now, but there’s something special about spotting gear like this in its “natural” state. Until someone builds a time machine, we’re hoping our boombox museum will suffice for the good ol’ days. Thanks, Ed for taking us back to a happier, more exciting time in electronics history.
Here’s some cool info provided by boombox enthusiast Jens. He’s compiled a list of those well-known and not-so-well-known boombox brands. Is your favorite missing? Let us know! Thanks Jens!
“Here is a little ‘ghetto blaster appearance statistic:’
(items found in the last half-year on ebay and other internet auctions)
included ghettoblasters built from about 1976 till 1989.doubles were not
counted. From the needle-meter time up to the detachable machines…that
means all the blasters we are looking for …)this is absoloutely not
exact or complete cause I`m not an expert-searcher but the search criteria
were allways the same, nevertheless it’s interesting how many blasters were
sold of the different brands….. and there are a lot of interesting manufacturers!!!”
sharp-------------------------------103 panasonic/national------------------------99 aiwa-----------------------------------------71 sanyo------------------------------------------60 philips----------------------------------------62 grundig-------------------------------------59 hitachi-------------------------------------- 47 universum ------------------------------47 jvc-----------------------------------------45 toshiba--------------------------------30 siemens--------------------------25 rft(gdr)--------------------------24 g.e.---------------------------24 goldstar----------------20 saba-----------------20 telefunken--------------21 itt-----------------------------18 pioneer------------------------16 crown------------------------------16 emerson-----------------------------12 realistic----------------------------------12 akai------------------------------------------11 lasonic--------------------------------------11 fisher---------------------------------------11 magnavox--------------------------------9 uher---------------------------------------9 sears-------------------------------------9 conion-----------------------------------8 sanwa---------------------------------8 superscope------------------------8 samsung---------------------------7 tec---------------------------------7 lloyds----------------------------7 isp----------------------------7 unisef---------------------6 mitsubishi-------------6 sankei--------------------------------------5 ultrasound----------------------------------------------5 interfunk--------------------------------------------------------5 nordmende------------------------------------------------------6 victor--------------------------------------------------------5 teleton------------------------------------------------5 prosonic-----------------------------------------5 elite-----------------------------------------5 loewe------------------------------------5 diatone-----------------------------5 maximal-------------------------5 maratz-------------------------5 lenoxx------------------------5 mbo-------------------------------4 nippon---------------------------------4 hgs(grundig)----------------------------4 mars---------------------------------------------4 jcpenney--------------------------------------------4 contec--------------------------------------------------4 mainton---------------------------------------------------4 sondesign-------------------------------------------------4 perdisco------------------------------------------------------4 rising----------------------------------------------------------------4 quasar------------------------------------------------------------------3 helix--------------------------------------------------------------------------3 jeagam---------------------------------------------------------------------------3 kenwood---------------------------------------------------------------------------3 intercord--------------------------------------------------------------------------3 mi-------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 clairtone------------------------------------------------------------------3 audiosound---------------------------------------------------------3 electronics------------------------------------------------------3 candle----------------------------------------------------3 luckay---------------------------------------------3 eaton-viking-------------------------3 belair-------------------3 aimor-------------------------3 montgomery----------------------------3 radiotone-------------------------------------------3 electro-brand-----------------------------------------------2 citizen--------------------------------------------------------------2 adyson--------------------------------------------------------------------2 ashahi-------------------------------------------------------------------------2 b&o----------------------------------------------------------------------------------2 casio-------------------------------------------------------------------------2 blue-star------------------------------------------------------------2 cobra---------------------------------------------------------------2 deltaphon------------------------------------------------------2 euromatic-----------------------------------------------2 harvard-----------------------------------------2 kings-point----------------------------2 macdonald---------------------2 magnus------------------------2 multitech---------------------2 philon-----------------------2 signal-------------------2 silva--------------2 symphonic---2 yamaha----2
If there were a single boombox you could own, one that had nice looks, performance and lots of features you’d probably select either the Panasonic RX-7700 or this JVC RC-M90. It’s the RC-M70’s big brother, making this one a holy grail among grails. It’s large, it sounds great, and has a knob for just about everything. Tune AM, FM and many SW bands. Coverage must be impressive, because I’m counting eight buttons (on the left) for band selection. That large hole toward the bottom is for a remote. We must thank Ed for the photo and info on this rare system. He keeps this on his desk at work, right next to a JVC DC33. Hmm, my co-workers complain about my loud typing, wonder what they’d say if I strolled in one day with one of these on my shoulder?
This system was Aiwa’s gift to the mix tape makers everywhere, their top-of-the-line system in ’84. This is not your everyday double-cassette boombox, it’s a home editing studio. Single-touch double-speed dubbing, random programmable auto dubbing of up to 10 music selections, .04% wow and flutter, Dolby NR, and record muting are just a few recording features. This system also has Acoustic 3-D sound, a wireless speaker connection, variable DSL (dynamic super loudness) and line in/out & phono jacks. I gotta get one of these!
Beware, our friend Dezzy in Minnesota will subdue you with his Conion if you fall out of line.
North Bay’s Chris shows us a rare make among ghettoblasters, an Eaton-Viking. Looks a little like some of the earlier Sanyos. A quick scan on the ‘net shows they appeared to be a manufacturer of home appliances and tabletop radios. Chris describes, “This Eaton-Viking has a FM/AM/SW1/SW2 4 band tuner, CrO2/Metal cassette, stereo-wide sound processor and four speakers. It uses 6 C batteries. The LED meter displays audio output or recording level. The weight is about 10 LB. The size is 15″ wide by 6″ high. For its small size, this is a very high-quality, solid unit which was made in Hong Kong. Audio is loud and clear, but without bass due to the limitations of 3″ woofers.”
Dave was on a road trip through Indiana and spotted this not-so-portable boombox. How many of watts of power are we looking at here?
Chris in North Bay, Ontario shares another Canadian exclusive, a Candle JTR-1286. Says Chris, “This Candle has a LW/FM/AM/SW 4 band tuner, cassette, four speakers and stereo-wide sound processor. It uses 8 D batteries. The LED meters can display audio output or recording level. It has a full set of inputs and outputs. The weight is about 15 LB. The size is 19″ wide by 12″ high. The quality is acceptable, about as expected from Jutan International ( JiL ). This plays really loud, but doesn’t have the deep bass or sound quality of a similar-sized JVC unit.” Thanks Chris!
