Looking for a nice looking boombox - need some suggestions!

[iwantmytwodollars]

Hey everyone - I've been searching for a boombox for about a week and everything is starting to look the same. I'd like to keep this between $100-$200, but if it's closer to $300 that's not a dealbreaker. It doesn't need to be portable, I'm keeping it in my living room on a table. How loud it gets (bass, etc.) isn't as important as how it looks. This is mostly for ambient / soundtracks / dungeon synth / trip-hop type music.

Here is what I'm going for:
- something unique looking
- something that is heavy duty and not cheap looking
- it could be vintage or newer
- only need one cassette player, don't really like the look of two
- if it's asymmetrical that's better, not a must
- clean (mostly) and nothing broken

A few things I don't like:
- the typical bright silver w/ 2 round speaker look
- TOO vintage or TOO modern
- too much going on (some of the ghetto blasters, etc)
- if it's gigantic (trying to fit it on a table that's 24" long / 8" deep)

Some that I've written down that have caught my eye are:
Panasonic RX-5015DLS - dark gray
Sharp GF 8989 HB - champagne
National Panasonic RX-5100FA - gold
JVC m71 - gold

I like the idea of it being a different color than the bright silver - gold or champagne options seem interesting. Please throw some suggestions my way if you get a minute. I've been scouring these threads and my head's spinning. Thx!

 

[Brutus442]

Welcome!
A couple of my personal favs that tick a few of your boxes but may be a just out of $$ range IMHO are the
Pioneer SK-71 or SK-95
JVC PC-550
Sony CFS-99

A Pioneer SK-71 has a unique design with brown mesh covers and it's price (if found in moderate condition) won't break the bank.
Good luck with the hunt

 

[iwantmytwodollars]

Welcome!
A couple of my personal favs that tick a few of your boxes but may be a just out of $$ range IMHO are the
Pioneer SK-71 or SK-95
JVC PC-550
Sony CFS-99

A Pioneer SK-71 has a unique design with brown mesh covers and it's price (if found in moderate condition) won't break the bank.
Good luck with the hunt

Thanks for the reply... I've checked out all of these and I do like a few, the closest is the Pioneer SK-71 w/ the brown mesh like you predicted. At least when every single one of these boomboxes looks like the next, that one stands out a little bit. I imagine it'll be hard to find one w/o the mesh all old and dirty looking.

I'm finding now that maybe I'm not so much on the search for a boombox, maybe just an interesting looking standalone cassette player. I feel like that will make this harder, but I'm not in a rush. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Tinman]

 

[Fatdog]

I would also add the following to your list to consider:

Panasonic RX-5085
Panasonic RX-5150
Panasonic RX-5250
Sanyo M9935K

Good luck with the search!!