sharp gf-555 & gf-666 differences

Hey guys im new to this site thought id join as i used to have a couple oldskool boxes when i was younger and im wanting to get back into collecting these things again. Im keen on a gf 666 that needs abit of tlc but then i found a gf 555 that is pretty much mint but is about $300 more. My question is are there many major differences between the 2 models would it be worth fixing the 666 or get the 555? Both units are the same size from what ive found but cant find much else.
Thanks for any help!
Sim

vkboy said:

Hey guys im new to this site thought id join as i used to have a couple oldskool boxes when i was younger and im wanting to get back into collecting these things again. Im keen on a gf 666 that needs abit of tlc but then i found a gf 555 that is pretty much mint but is about $300 more. My question is are there many major differences between the 2 models would it be worth fixing the 666 or get the 555? Both units are the same size from what ive found but cant find much else.
Thanks for any help!
Sim

Click to expand...

IMHO I certainly wouldn't spend $300 on a 555. I'd go the 666 and clean her up

Yeah thats what i thought. The 666 needs new belts and one of the deck hinges are broken but would go alright after a clean up i think. I was just curious to know the differences between the 2 models.
Cheers.

Honestly these are ok units but for $300 you can get a whole heck of a lot nicer model

Got any recommendations or examples for me?
Ideally i would love a jvc m90 but i would imagine they go for crazy money, if i could even find one.

Not a lot of difference between the GF-555 and GF-666 truth be told, 666 has blue accented trim, some other small differences, metal tape etc.

GF-555's can be found for 50-75 dollars at times here in AU, they are not a rare box by any means, For me $300.00 for a fully working mint unused example in an orginal perfect box would be top price.

M90, rare as hens teeth here, unlikely that you'll find one at all.

Buy from an established member here, you'll get a great box at a great price with lots of good free advice.

Welcome to Boomboxery, we need more Aussies and we need to have a big get together too.

vkboy said:

Got any recommendations or examples for me?
Ideally i would love a jvc m90 but i would imagine they go for crazy money, if i could even find one.

Click to expand...

Sharp VZ2000 is an awesome box

hah yeh i've seen pictures of those things they look pretty crazy, the whole turn table thing is abit much for me though .

555's go for very little money in the UK, around £20 to £40. I got the very similar but prettier 525 for £16 on eBay UK so I reckon $300 for a 555 is daylight robbery Good solid construction and reasonable sound tho on any of them.

I agree with Bill that a VZ2000 is an awesome box, just got one of those too

i would love something similar size to the 666/555. ive seen a couple different models that have sparked interest but don't know enough about them (sound quality, durability) etc and the majority are overseas so i would be taking abit of a gamble with paying shipping costs to end up with a dud :/
heres a short list of afew that ive found that interest me:
Sanyo M-620K (everything seems to work, no cosmetic damage)
Sharp GF-9494 (seems to be all ok)
Sharp GF-8989Z (one speaker doesn't work, other doesn't go very loud, cosmetic looks to be good)
Sharp GF-828SB (looks similar to the 666 but has greyish speaker grilles etc and looks mint as)

$300 for a GF-555 is a super premium price. For that money, it would need it's original boxed, papers and the "demo" tape some of them came with, and it would need to be in 9++ condition. GF-666 is more rare and may command a few extra $$ for that...

Aside of the blue trim mentioned previoiusly, I think one additional difference might be that the 666 has a fader that lets you seamlessly mix from tape A to tape B (and vice versa, of course). I don't think the GF-555 has that feature. Can someone with a GF-555 confirm?

I'm kind of curious to know if there are any more differneces than that, too...

vkboy said:

i would love something similar size to the 666/555. ive seen a couple different models that have sparked interest but don't know enough about them (sound quality, durability) etc and the majority are overseas so i would be taking abit of a gamble with paying shipping costs to end up with a dud :/
heres a short list of afew that ive found that interest me:
Sanyo M-620K (everything seems to work, no cosmetic damage)
Sharp GF-9494 (seems to be all ok)
Sharp GF-8989Z (one speaker doesn't work, other doesn't go very loud, cosmetic looks to be good)
Sharp GF-828SB (looks similar to the 666 but has greyish speaker grilles etc and looks mint as)

Click to expand...

Out of these the Sharp GF9494 is best pick

ive just checked out the 9494 again and it says the deck doesn't work, doesn't specify whether it eats tapes or just doesn't work at all, apart from that everything else works and it looks great.
would something like that be a relatively easy fix? would it be something like changing the tape belt?

9494 is a beautiful box with really good sound. I've got a few sharps and they were all easy to rebelt. They are well constructed and logically put together so it can be done withou a service manual. If its more than belts it's the notorious gooey capstan rubber which again once you've done one is a piece of cake. You just need to find a suitable replacement for the rubber which most use a rc car fuel line from a model shop. I have some so if you struggle to find any I could send you a short length. If you search the forum you'll find repeated mention of this capstan issue but honestly it's dead easy to do and if you can't find an existing walk through I'll give you a step by step. I did my 9494 and it's one of my absolute favourite boxes for looks, sound, build quality, and just for being cool!!

Ive got a Sharp 8989 and its in like new condition except that the rewind starts out fine but when it gets near the end of the tape its starts to get slower and slower until it hits a complete stop, never finishing the rewind. Any suggestions? Could it be belts or idler tires?

Way back in the early 80's I was so surprised to see the first double cassette boombox for the first time.
What a luxury it is to copy tapes using one boombox!
It was a jaw dropping experience to me then.....I had a GF9696 at that time and it was way powerful than both 666 and 555, but was jealous....seeing the double cassette feature.

FRizzo17 said:

Ive got a Sharp 8989 and its in like new condition except that the rewind starts out fine but when it gets near the end of the tape its starts to get slower and slower until it hits a complete stop, never finishing the rewind. Any suggestions? Could it be belts or idler tires?

Click to expand...

It can be both, if it´s near the end that means that mech struggles due to slipping belt/other rubber wheels that are worn out or contaminated. I´d clean/replace the belts and clean all rubber surfaces such as idler wheel rubber with rubbing alcohol.

BoomboxLover48 said:

Way back in the early 80's I was so surprised to see the first double cassette boombox for the first time.
What a luxury it is to copy tapes using one boombox!
It was a jaw dropping experience to me then.....I had a GF9696 at that time and it was way powerful than both 666 and 555, but was jealous....seeing the double cassette feature.

Click to expand...

I have a GF-555, the very first double radio cassette and it sure is a cool box, it weighs a ton, already the whole tape mech assembly weighs kilogram at least Mechanism is very well built, is sandwiched of 3 layers full of cogwheels and springs. Mostly their decks fail due to capstan roller rubber tube that disintegrate after all those years, i replaced mine and it sure was a messy work. Sharp GF-555 is one nice well built box that doesn´t sound too bassy, but looks cool, one of a kind and great collectable.

As far as i know the 666 dosen't have a tuner but i could be wrong tho

well built boxes but very bass shy

These boxes were targeted to schools & universities. Heavy duty decks for constant commercial use. Booming bass wasn't in the design brief hence the weedy drivers.

Rimmer36 said:

As far as i know the 666 dosen't have a tuner but i could be wrong tho

well built boxes but very bass shy

Click to expand...

Oh yes, 555s are very well built, i could tell it when i opened one up, it´s also quite easy to service as it disassembles in 3 sections- front casing with speakers, middle casing with all the electronics and deck inside and rear cover.

jimmyjimmy19702010 said:

These boxes were targeted to schools & universities. Heavy duty decks for constant commercial use. Booming bass wasn't in the design brief hence the weedy drivers.

Click to expand...

Oh, i didn´t know that, but that´s good to know