My small cassette player collection:

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manimal347

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May 14, 2010
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Somebody posted elsewhere that they wished to see my stereo portables. It took a while, but I now have a few photos of them, plus a few other portable items. It's a petite collection, but then, I have petite living quarters and have only been at it for six months. Now, if only I can score some early 80's no-names from the likes of Unisef and ITT
 

manimal347

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Here's a shot of a Sears Roebuck 2000, by Sanyo. Lots of cut corners on this one, but it still works. Sanyo could be funny like that - cheap designs with brittle plastic adjacent to Japanese electronics, all slapped together crudely with gloopy soldering.

 

radiodayz

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Nice collection, manimal. :thumbsup: I've always liked Sanyo walkmans; cheap construction, but some of them last longer than you'd expect.

That looks like a transistor pocket radio by your left hand in the first picture (in the green vinyl case). What is it? Does it still work?
 

manimal347

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That seafoam-green box is indeed a transistor radio. Branded a GE, it was made in Japan, has six Raytheon transistors, and works darn well. It was my mom's, purchased as a young teen in the early 60's. All it needed was a healthy scraping of the rusted up battery terminals. Yes, rusted - the whole thing is a bit oxidized inside!

The yellow one was also my mom's. It's a Japanese transistor seven wrist-fit portable. Takes N batteries, so I've never tested it. Inside, it's a fright of gloopy solder and jam-packed space-age componentry. I'm sure it was amazing for its time - the shuffle of its era, only for folks that couldn't afford a Sony IC-based unit.
 

Fatdog

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The Parasound Companion was the first thing that caught my attention. Can you take some pics of it without the case? :yes:
 

manimal347

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Absolutely, but in a few days. I only know where my film cameras are, and I'm staying with someone else for the night/day. Anyway, the Parasound is a TPS-L2 clone, probably from '81 at the latest. It feels very solid in the hand, and the buttons have good action. Under the PVC cover, it's all blue. Like the real thing, it even has a hot line switch that works so well it's akin to a directional spy microphone. I've used it to pry into gossip! I'm sure the TPS-L2 is better, but the Sony is also 20x as valuable!

Oh yeah, and it sounds okay too. As good as any generic or branded player from the time was going to, anyway. Decently brash treble, some light bass thud, and a clear enough midrange. I can dig it.
 

Fatdog

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manimal347 said:
Absolutely, but in a few days. I only know where my film cameras are, and I'm staying with someone else for the night/day. Anyway, the Parasound is a TPS-L2 clone, probably from '81 at the latest. It feels very solid in the hand, and the buttons have good action. Under the PVC cover, it's all blue. Like the real thing, it even has a hot line switch that works so well it's akin to a directional spy microphone. I've used it to pry into gossip! I'm sure the TPS-L2 is better, but the Sony is also 20x as valuable!

Oh yeah, and it sounds okay too. As good as any generic or branded player from the time was going to, anyway. Decently brash treble, some light bass thud, and a clear enough midrange. I can dig it.
Very cool!! Can't wait for the pics. :-)
 

Styleking

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As I recall from the golden age of Walkmen, Aiwa always seemed to make a good player. Walkman averaged between $25 for your very standard version to about $150 for a yellow scuba diving model. Quick side note: If you were scuba diving do you really need to be listening to Teena Marie?
 
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