Just arrived: Hitachi J3

Hello! My name is Fran and I'm from Argentina. I introduce to you my new Hitachi J3 (circa 1984).
These pictures show how well preserved the machine is. Also, I haven't cleaned it already. I want to gain a little more knowledge before doing something wrong or permanently ruin it. Of course, any advice would be apreciated.
I hope you enjoy it.

Full front system view:






Handle (still has factory protective film):


Power button:




Input selector:


Sliders:


Graphic equalizer:


Radio (lateral view):


Cassette deck cover:


Cassette deck controls:



VU meter:


Speakers:



Batteries compartment:


Deck (inside):



Well, that's it. Please let me know if you enjoyed it!
Thanks for letting me be part of Boomboxery!

Hello Fran, we met on YouTube.
Welcome to Boomboxery!
That Hitachi is rare, and looks like a heavy hitter.
I would be interested in seeing inside the speakers.

Wow that looks like a beast. Does it split into 5 bits?

Welcome!

Looks in good condition, just surface dirt. You can see the belt has gone so that’ll need doing.

Wow that looks like a heavy hitter and not a box i would of thought Hitachi would produce. Very cool and looks in great order. As Si says the belt is gone so deck will need all new belts.

Welcome to the forum and merry crimbo.

I know somebody had one of these Hitachi's haven't seen one in a while .

Hell that's a kick ass box .
though.

Hard to get good pics of this box, thank you.

Three little letters are all I need to see: B T L

Reli said:

Hello Fran, we met on YouTube.
Welcome to Boomboxery!
That Hitachi is rare, and looks like a heavy hitter.
I would be interested in seeing inside the speakers.

Click to expand...

Hello Reli! I'm glad I found this site thanks to you! I'll take a picture of the inside of the speakers ASAP. I think they are rated 12watts each, and are completely made of reconstituted wood chip. It looks really amazing and with very little signs of wear. I'm very happy with it.
Sincerely,
Fran

Van Presence said:

Wow that looks like a beast. Does it split into 5 bits?

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Thanks!! It's a pleasure to be here.
Yes! it does: tuner, amp, deck and both speaker. I'll take a picture of the rear and will try to take one with it splitted.

Northerner said:

Welcome!

Looks in good condition, just surface dirt. You can see the belt has gone so that’ll need doing.

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It really does! I'm trying to collect as much info as I can before doing a deep clean so I can preserve all in its original condition.
Indeed the belt is melt! XD
Thanks for your support!

T-STER said:

Wow that looks like a heavy hitter and not a box i would of thought Hitachi would produce. Very cool and looks in great order. As Si says the belt is gone so deck will need all new belts.

Welcome to the forum and merry crimbo.

Click to expand...

Thanks T-Ster! I'll try to take a couple more of pictures so as you can appreciate its guts. I'm really happy with it. Thanks again! And merry crimbo to you all too!

JVC Floyd said:

I know somebody had one of these Hitachi's haven't seen one in a while .

Hell that's a kick ass box .
though.

Hard to get good pics of this box, thank you.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much, Floyd. As I told before, I'll try to take more pictures of it, even from its insides. I only plug it to mains to check its working condition. I need to clean sliders, switches and of course, deck belts.
Have a great day, and thank YOU!

jimmyjimmy19702010 said:

Three little letters are all I need to see: B T L

E4344F3D-F159-4BF0-A069-E1D386C04D26.png

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Hey! Thanks Jimmy. Saddly that's one of the thing I don't know about it. Nothing Google wouldn't help me out. I'm reading something about it as I'm writing this reply to you. It says Bridged-Tied Load amplifier type.
Have a great weekend and thanks for your reply!

Nice Hitachi, thanks for sharing such detailed photos!

I think oldskool69 has one of these boxes , I'm not positive but I do seem to remember him being the only other person to have one.

I like that Hitachi made the deck easy to access and with some quality parts . I always said that Hitachi's are more like big radio's than boomboxes .

I want one of these boxes but there are just none to be had.

Very nice Hitachi you've got there.☺Ive not seen that one before,so thanks for the show.

Mystic Traveller said:

Nice Hitachi, thanks for sharing such detailed photos!

Click to expand...

Thanks Mystic Traveller! I'm very happy with it! I'll post more any time soon now.

JVC Floyd said:

I think oldskool69 has one of these boxes , I'm not positive
but I do seem to remember him being the only other person to have one.

I like that Hitachi made the deck easy to access and with some quality parts . I always said that Hitachi's are more like big radio's than boomboxes .

I want one of these boxes but there are just none to be had.

Click to expand...

I think you're right. I haven't seen much of these around. On the other hand, there are a couple here in Argentina still on sale in online sales sites much like ebay (here we have one called MercadoLibre.com)
Don't lose faith, maybe you'll find one of those soon.

ralrein1 said:

Very nice Hitachi you've got there.☺Ive not seen that one before,so thanks for the show.

Click to expand...

Thanks ralrein1. Lucky for us here in Argentina there was a significant number of these units sold at that time. It even have an ad! Take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9-PtHNmgCk

Rear side:

frvo said:

Nice Hitachi, thanks for sharing such detailed photos!

Click to expand...

Thanks Mystic Traveller! I'm very happy with it! I'll post more any time soon now.

JVC Floyd said:

I think oldskool69 has one of these boxes , I'm not positive
but I do seem to remember him being the only other person to have one.

I like that Hitachi made the deck easy to access and with some quality parts . I always said that Hitachi's are more like big radio's than boomboxes .

I want one of these boxes but there are just none to be had.

Click to expand...

I think you're right. I haven't seen much of these around. On the other hand, there are a couple here in Argentina still on sale in online sales sites much like ebay (here we have one called MercadoLibre.com)
Don't lose faith, maybe you'll find one of those soon.

ralrein1 said:

Very nice Hitachi you've got there.☺Ive not seen that one before,so thanks for the show.

Click to expand...

Thanks ralrein1. Lucky for us here in Argentina there was a significant number of these units sold at that time. It even have an ad! Take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9-PtHNmgCk

Click to expand...

That advert is awesome

frvo said:

Lucky for us here in Argentina there was a significant number of these units sold at that time. It even have an ad! Take a look:

Click to expand...

Cool Ad!! Merry Christmas, mate!

Awesome. Love the detailed pictures. Externally that thing already looks clean

Are the sliders for the EQ supposed to be white plastic that has turned yellow or was it always that way when new?

Nice machine. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Bet that kicks A$$....very nice, congrats on a nice rare boomer

Mystic Traveller said:

Lucky for us here in Argentina there was a significant number of these units sold at that time. It even have an ad! Take a look:

Click to expand...

Cool Ad!! Merry Christmas, mate!

Click to expand...

Thanks! Marry Christmas for you too!

Transistorized said:

Awesome. Love the detailed pictures. Externally that thing already looks clean

Are the sliders for the EQ supposed to be white plastic that has turned yellow or was it always that way when new?

Nice machine. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Click to expand...

Thanks! The sliders are yellow, but I can tell that they have yellowed even more. I've dissasembled it and I could see that the part that has more exposition to the natural daylight has a darker yellow.

These are pictures of the Hitachi on nude . I'm currently cleaning up every part that can be cleaned. Mostly sliders and plastics from the inside. I found in the tunner some variable capacitors that are broken. I marked it in the picture the broken one and the one that is the same but not broken.