GPO Brooklyn Boombox review

Transistorized

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I'm still wondering if there is a trim pot inside that might turn down the gain to the amp.

Haven't gotten the nerve to take mine apart that far yet :-)
 

retrohead

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Just received one last week ,slightly used ,paid 100 for it .I love it. Great sound , love the features and love the overall concept .only thing I don't love is the rechargeable battery. Should have been standard d cell batteries imho.had it on charge for more than an hour and a half and the charge light still doesn't go green anyway .still a great attempt at a quality product .
 

Transistorized

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That's awesome retro. Did you get the one with AM/FM or DAB+? Mine has AM since it is the US version.

Oh and don't forget to unplug from charger once charged and if let sitting disconnect the battery or it will drain it within 24hrs even sitting idle.
 

Reli

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I thought if you turn off the meter switch, the battery won't bleed down anymore.
 

Transistorized

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Reli said:
I thought if you turn off the meter switch, the battery won't bleed down anymore.
Hi Reli. I did too. It slows it down but still drains it. I turned off my LED and after a day or so it woke me up at 3AM flashing the meters and saying Low Batt. :bang:
 

Nickeccles

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I see these are already turning up on the second hand market & not just one or two either........

Makes me wonder for sure why they are no longer required??

I was thinking of buying one, the price is slowly falling - I'm just cautious especially seeing a few second hand ones.........Are they really any good?? :w00t: :w00t:
 

Reli

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I'd be very hesitant to buy a second-hand digital device. Witness the TDK failures...
 

Transistorized

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Nickeccles said:
I see these are already turning up on the second hand market & not just one or two either........

Makes me wonder for sure why they are no longer required??

I was thinking of buying one, the price is slowly falling - I'm just cautious especially seeing a few second hand ones.........Are they really any good?? :w00t: :w00t:
The only issues that I am annoyed with is
1: the battery drain issue when not charging.

2:The meters do not accurately respond to music.

3: No bass and the vol needs to be way up to thump.

Those are the biggies. There are a few other minor things like wiggling in the knobs and no music search, etc..but it's the best throwback of the 80s available as of yet. I think the price accurately depicts the box as it is. IMO $249.99 would be a decent price if in great shape.

I still have mine and I dig it out every now and then. So far I have had zero issues with it as far as defects or something breaking.
 
I bought one off eBay the other day £115, they said they had tested it all and put it back in the box so i though....OK lets go for it.

It arrived two days later.....i couldn't wait to get it out of the box. first impressions.....mmm....looks OK lets plug it in.

first thing try a CD.....worked OK, sounded OK.....try the DAB radio....no signal FM worked only on a few channels.

Bluetooth....connected straight away but playback was a bit shallow, I changed the settings on my iPhone and it sounded much better.

stick a tape in......didn't sound to bad, long time since i tried a tape in my VZ2000 (deck needs a service) so i wasn't expecting much.

record to a tape......Bluetooth to tape, did a full C90 both sides from my phone, played back side A.....mmmm.....average....flipped the tape over and rewound ......ahhhggg......terrible......one channel and muffled to hell.

i did some testing......found out that the record head is half over the wrong side of the tape, so it records over the other side of the tape slightly overwriting the opposite side.....terrible.....a pre recorded tape sounded OK both sides.

the record head is very strange, it doesn't seem to have the two lines in the centre that lay down the record track and the head itself folds down 90 degree when you press stop. Pressing play the head stays 90 degree out of the way, when you press play/record the head lifts up....very strange tape deck.

i ended up sending it back. I found another but im in two minds if i should buy another......thinking about it, i don`t think it will still work in 30 years time like my VZ2000!!!!

who on here in the UK can check out the electronics on my VZ for me.....I`m sure mine should sound better..


Reli said:
No specs page in that manual? Odd.

Is it made in China? Anyone got a pick of the rear label?
yes made to a budget in China........
 

Transistorized

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Since playback is good on both sides on a prerecorded tape, this tells me that the read write head is most likely okay. I'm betting it's the permanenet magnet to blame for the partial erasure when going the other way. The fixed magnet they use for erasing is on a swinging hinge and I am sure is not accurate in its placement when engaged and may be too powerful. On a blank tape you don't notice but once you flip and the erase magnet makes a pass with recordings already made on the tape, the magnet is not as precise so it tends to wipe out the pre recorded audio and the highs are the first to go.
 

Radio raheem

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jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
Unfortunately, it’s a pipe dream to expect a quality deck in something new.
you mean
it's a pipe dream to expect quality in anything new lol