Notice a trend with the systems of this era? Here’s Lasonic’s TRC-931, a popular system from around ’86 or so. I remember when these were given away as prizes on that kids’ game show Double Dare. The one pictured is an original, unlike the one below which is a re-release. A couple of years ago, Lasonic had the brilliant idea to reply to market demand and sell a slightly re-designed 931. Notice the features and graphics look pretty much the same, but the chassis has a more rounded look. Even the second release models are hard to find these days and fetch up to three times list price.

Max in Lousville, KY scored with this Helix HX-4636. It’s equipped with 5 speakers, dual amps, dual tape decks, 5 band equalizer, 4 band radio! Says Max, “I took it to school today (it was Decades Day) and blasted Run-DMC through the halls while carrying it on my shoulder. After all, nothing sounds better out of it than Run-DMC.” Geez, times have changed, I remember getting detention for wearing my pitiful $20 Soundesign walkman through the halls!

This is one of our favorite stereos from this era. At around 12″ in length it’s hardly a ghettoblaster but is cool nonetheless. The radio tunes AM/FM and shortwave, the speakers are detachable and the cassette records. Oh, that’s detachable too, so you can carry it about as a walkman. The PC-DM100 came in assorted colors too, including red, blue and silver.

Our friend Tim in south Florida has an affinity for walkmans, but he appreciates the larger audio devices too, like this JVC PC-DC33. It a very cool 4-band system with a slide-out turntable! The cassette recorder and line-out function makes this incredibly useful for dubbing bulky LPs and 45s. The detachable speakers and equalizer make this an adequate all-purpose stereo system, for home and on the go. Thanks Tim!

A B&O boombox? Sure, if your ghetto happens to be Beverly Hills or St. Moritz. Indeed, audio snobs will scoff us for placing this on the site, the BeoSystem 10 stereo cassette recorder merits notice. The sleek, minimalist design and hefty price tag is typical Bang & Olufsen, but very much unlike any other portable stereo of the period.

Crown is a long time audio component manufacturer. Rumor has it they may even be responsible for selling the very first boombox back around 1971 or so. Our friend Jens from Germany was nice enough to send us a pic of his massive mid ’80s Crown SZ-5100, laden with graphics and LEDs. Check out the tiny condenser microphones mounted up top!

There’s no doubt that Jens is a devoted boombox enthusiast. We must thank him for his terrific additions to the site, including this Tecsonic Mach8800. The chrome trim, six speakers and twin cassettes make this model pleasing to the eye.

What a shame–Dave found this defaced Helix for cheap, but will require great effort to restore. We’re guessing this was modified for some sort of theatrical production, as the lower cassette has been covered and painted. The Helix name is a well-known one for boomboxes, but we have yet to find the brand on anything except portable stereo.

Another Crown courtesy of Jens, this one is the SZ-8801. It certainly has all the inklings of a “decline era” ghettoblaster with its detachable speakers, tiny tuner indicator and blase looks.