Author Archives: pocketcalculatorshow

1987 Sony D-88 Discman World’s Smallest CD Player

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Paul’s been holding onto this since he got it on clearance at electronics chain Tokyo Shapiro back in 1988. It was his very first CD player. This model was designed to work well with the 3″ compact discs (a short-lived fad of the late ’80s), but a slide mechanism adjusted the player to handle standard CDs. Obviously, the player needs to remain stationary during play, but if you’ve got a disc with a cerrated edge, the D-88 doubles as a buzzsaw!

1970s Bellsound CB-8 CB Receiver to 8-Track Adapter

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So, it’s 1979 and you love your 8-track player, but want to jump on the CB bandwagon like everyone else, what to do…what to do? Easy, just grab Bellsound’s CB-8. This CB receiver was capable of receiving all 40 CB channels via the on-board rotary tuner. It was also shaped like an 8-track tape–all you needed to do was pop it into your player and you’re ready to listen!

Panasonic Walkman Models

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RX-SR29

1987. Pansonic is a leader in consumer electronics, and the sheer quantity of portable stereos manufactured by them is significant. This one is an eyesore in our opinion, completely lacking in design. The buttons are stainless steel and match the name plate on the front but this walkman is bulky and feels cheap. Functionality was a saving grace for the SR29, as it sported stereo recording capability, internal microphone and external stereo mic jack, beat control, a pause button and queueing capability. AM/FM tuning is pretty good, too. I purchased this on clearance at Lechmere back in early 1989 for around $40–I recall J&R Music World selling this model for well over $100, so I thought I was getting it for a steal. I’d grown to hate it, but somehow it’s always stayed with me, and never broke–I use it to this day, in fact. I guess that says something, doesn’t it?

RQ-WJ1 “Way“

1983. Very unusual cassette player for Panasonic. Small chassis, sleak controls and contemporary color scheme. Panasonic was probably running after Sony’s silver WM line. The rewind and fast-forward controls behave much like those of Toshiba’s KT-4016, but this one’s obviously a better implementation.

RF-11

1985. Simple little FM stereo radio with a unique feature: the three buttons up front served to enhance sound, boosting treble and bass. Called Preset EQ, the switches allowed the user a simple equalizer of sorts. The design is interesting, but I found myself always using the topmost switch (hi and lo boost). Tuning wasn’t so impressive, either.

RX-HD10

1986. Panasonic chased Sony’s WA-800 with their RX-HD10, making the two the only dual cassette personal stereos ever made. Panasonic’s offered a recorder and player in one unit, allowing the user to dub cassettes anywhere. The HD-10 also offered Dolby NR, auto-reverse and one-upped Sony by offering a radio tuning module to boot. Good luck finding one of these today–set your sights on the far more common WA-800.

JVC Walkman Models

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CX-57K

1986. JVC is a personal favorite for personal stereos. The quality, performance and sound were top-notch, the looks were the most appealing of all ’80s walkmans. Take the CX-57K–slim design, logic (feather-touch) controls and cool look. Too bad they dropped out of the portable cassette market. Paul picked this one up from Crazy Eddie, a New York area electronics chain back in 1987. He used it almost daily until the rubber pinchers began to fail in 1991.

PC-DM100JW

1985. Again another winner here, this one’s a bright red recording portable, with tape counter and Dolby noise reduction. Chrome buttons, flashy, everything a portable stereo should be. But there’s no tuner…yes there is! It’s built into its boombox home!

CQ-F22K

1982. What a gem–this is at the top of our want list. This model featured all the functions of others in its class, buts it tuner was detachable and useable on its own! The tuner sported and atypical telescopic antenna and its small size was impressive. Take a look at those folding headphones! At steal in 1983 for $160. Be on the lookout for this baby or its little brother, the CQ-11K which was a cassette-only portable.

1986 Aiwa Dual Cassette

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Paul’s faithful stereo in 1988 thru the 1990s, this Aiwa replaced a hefty ’82 Sharp that would’ve appeared in the earlier era. There’s some sentimental attachment to this boombox. It offered auto-reverse, eq, and fair FM reception. While the stereo has moved on, the original Newmark & Lewis receipt (a defunct electronics retail chain) is still here!