Two cassettes decks are cool, but how ’bout three? Panasonic tried the idea in their RX-F333. There’s TV sound on this one, too!

Super collector Mia Sparko provides an aerial shot of this collection. Imagine all of these powered up simultaneously with the volume cranked playing your favorite jam…

Andy in Manchester, UK has an excellent boombox collection. One of his recent finds is this sweet Aiwa CA-70, a compact but powerful system with “Acoustic 3D” sound. A bassy middle speaker tucked beneath the controls provides a more dynamic sound.

Panasonic’s massive and loud RX-C300 had a spectrum analyzer too! Bailey in Sydney emailed this gem found for $90AUS (what a bargain) and provides this information: “it features a 4 band Tuner, (AM FM SW1 SW2) Phono Input, Aux Input & a Line Out. It has a Single Auto Reverse Logic Controlled Cassette Deck w/ music search a 5 band Equalizer. The Amplifier in it is the best i have seen yet in any portable unit, having 30W RMS per channel (uses 2 Hybrid ICs whereas nearly all others use Monolithic ICs like the BA,HA,LA,TDA series of output ics) which is coupled to the detatchable 3 way speakers 6.5″ woofers + 2″ tweeters that are in wooden boxes. The system break to four pieces: speakers, amp and cassette unit.” Thanks Bailey!

Shawn provided a pic of this amazing Sharp with a spectrum analyzer! He’s partial to late ’80s/early ’90s models. He’s also an avid seller of audio and video stuff on eBay, so see what he’s got for sale here.

Do you prefer the original green leds or these slick blue ones? Yep, Shawn performed a nice little hack to his box and replaced the LED spectrum analyzer. This is great!

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.