Transistorized
Member (SA)
$249 on Amazon atm. If it looks as good in person as it does in this video, I'm going to love the black version. Also, it appears the VU meters are back-lit. Too bad the tuner doesn't have a light.
New boombox in 80's retro style with radio, cassette, cd, usb, bluetooth, line in, mic in.
- Thread starter goodman
- Start date
Wow. How does it get from $880 from an overseas vendor I don't really trust to $249 from the largest "trusted" vendor?
Reli
Boomus Fidelis
The $880 version has a remote and a rechargeable battery
Also Alibaba is full of shady small-time players who set whatever price they dream about getting
Transistorized
Member (SA)
Very interesting. I never knew about the remote and rechargeable batteries. I saw the price, laughed and didn't go any further.
I opt more for the shady individual who set the price high hoping someone might come along. The reason I say this is because I can't see how anyone could justify a $650 dollar increase for a remote and rechargeable battery alone.
I wonder if the remote IR receiver and battery charging circuit is present in the low cost model?
I opt more for the shady individual who set the price high hoping someone might come along. The reason I say this is because I can't see how anyone could justify a $650 dollar increase for a remote and rechargeable battery alone.
I wonder if the remote IR receiver and battery charging circuit is present in the low cost model?
Friends, I have already written all this. Please read carefully.
There are only two versions with remote control:
7 version: Orion SCR-B9
This version appears in Japan in 2023.
It is a clone of 2 version: Medion Life MD 44238, without a DAB tuner.
Apart from a different color scheme, the new version have a remote control.
10 version: LEOTEC LT-BT600RUC
This version appears in China in January 2025.
It is a clone of Leotek LT-CD1908BUCT.
There are 3 different colors: red, black and gray.
This version have a remote control and built in lithium battery - 5200 mAh.
Other versions don't have a remote control.
I guess, they don't have a receiver and you cannot buy a remote control.
As we commented before, there is an additional compartment in the back case
where you can put a rechargeable battery. This is a possible custom upgrade.
Honestly, anyone who's ever purchased a used boombox that originally came with a remote control knows how rare it is to have it come with the remote when sold used. They almost always gets lost over the years. My point being that having a remote control may seem great at first, but it's almost a surety that it will eventually get separated or lost. Even the Toshiba wireless boombox that has a pocket for the cassette key wireless are often lost, not to mention all those other boomboxes with remotes that don't have a dock.
Transistorized
Member (SA)
@goodman
My apologies. Honestly, my mind performed a reset when I saw $880 dollars
For that price, it could have a 500,000mAh battery and a universal remote to run my entire home and I still wouldn't purchase it.
But for $249, I can live with that.
They updated the shipping. Apparently, I am supposed to have it next week. Looking forward to seeing what it's all about.
My apologies. Honestly, my mind performed a reset when I saw $880 dollars
For that price, it could have a 500,000mAh battery and a universal remote to run my entire home and I still wouldn't purchase it.
But for $249, I can live with that.
They updated the shipping. Apparently, I am supposed to have it next week. Looking forward to seeing what it's all about.
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beansmaynard
Member (SA)
I'd be interested to hear how it sounds on cassette playback. It will make terrible recordings but that's no big deal as never record on my classic boxes.
Transistorized, no problem, I understand you.
I have posted a lot of information in this topic,
which I have collected over the last 2 years.
It takes time to review everything.
When you receive the boombox,
you will be able to share your personal impressions.
In the meantime, here is another video (in Italian)
where is made a physical comparison with the Sharp 575:
beansmaynard, when playing the cassette the sound is softer
and the dynamic range is narrower (compared to CD playback), which is an expected result.
There are clips of some of the models on YouTube,
but they were shot under different conditions and the assessment is subjective.
I have posted a lot of information in this topic,
which I have collected over the last 2 years.
It takes time to review everything.
When you receive the boombox,
you will be able to share your personal impressions.
In the meantime, here is another video (in Italian)
where is made a physical comparison with the Sharp 575:
beansmaynard, when playing the cassette the sound is softer
and the dynamic range is narrower (compared to CD playback), which is an expected result.
There are clips of some of the models on YouTube,
but they were shot under different conditions and the assessment is subjective.
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You may have seen the physical comparison in the video above.
I assume they used the casing of an old Sharp to make the matrix for the new model.
If you noticed, Leotec has developed two versions:
A model with a cassette and a CD, which we are discussing here.
A model with 2 cassettes, which is an exact copy of the Sharp 575.
However, for now this model is only conceptual and has not been physically realized.
What do you think? Do you like it?
www.leotec.hk
I assume they used the casing of an old Sharp to make the matrix for the new model.
If you noticed, Leotec has developed two versions:
A model with a cassette and a CD, which we are discussing here.
A model with 2 cassettes, which is an exact copy of the Sharp 575.
However, for now this model is only conceptual and has not been physically realized.
What do you think? Do you like it?
LT-1909BUCT
www.leotec.hk
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Transistorized
Member (SA)
Mine came today.
Functionality wise, it does exactly what they advertise. It sounds much better than my GPO which I will be selling and replacing with this one.
The CD player spins the disc and buffers while playing a standard audio CD. Then it stops, plays off of the buffer and then spins again to read more data. It's very interesting watching it do this while listing to your music. I am sure they do that to preserve battery power, prevent skipping and possible disc damage while being carried. To my knowledge I do not recall anyone mentioning this, so I was surprised and intrigued at the same time. I like watching the disc spin though the window.
The only issue I have with mine is, one of the beauty speaker rings has a slight scrape/flaw from the factory in the gold chrome plating. I have decided not to worry with it as no one but me would notice. My wife looked it over and gave up. I had to steer her in the direction of the defect. The reason I am not going to worry about it is because if I swapped it out,
1: I'd probably just notice something else with the swap unit that could potentially be worse and, this one functionality wise is perfect.
2: I have a plan to solve this to where it won't bother me. The plan is to open it up one day and rotate the bezel around to where the flaw is on the inside
bottom where no one will see it.
I have attached a photo of the flaw. The picture makes it look worse than it really is, but it is there.
Otherwise, I think this is going to be a decent purchase. I'm not sure how well the LCD display will like being out in the sun so I think if I take it to the beach, I will keep it in the shade to be safe.
Edit: I want to preface this edit before I get started. None of the factual information below is intended to discredit the radio or is being done in an attempt to discourage sales. What I am about to describe may only apply to my purchase and may not reflect anyone else's purchase experience. I really like this radios performance for the price. That being said, I enjoy my radio even though it did come with a blemish on the speaker ring. I understand that I could've returned it and received another but, I chose not to because I didn't consider it a deal breaker for the price and it gave me a chance to see inside for myself. This is where I want to inform folks of if you ever need or plan to take your radio apart.
The main thing is being extremely careful when removing and reinstalling the case screws. The plastic is very soft. On my radio, three out of twelve case screws were stripped from factory and the threads came out with the screws. I almost decided to abort the process of turning the speaker ring because I wanted enough screws holding to prevent rattles. So I did a test of the other screws before removing them to get an idea how many were stripped and how many weren't. I did this by lightly loosening them and then seeing if they would snug back up. Once I realized it was only three out of twelve, I proceeded with my original plan. The type of plastic they use doesn't give you that nice crack sound when you loosen them. It has a very flexible feeling. Almost like a very hard rubber. The back came off with the antenna wire needing to be removed first followed by the red and white power and blue battery connector. I then proceeded to remove the left speaker trim to rotate it 180 degrees and put the flaw at the bottom inside corner. There was a tiny surprise waiting for me when I removed the screws. The back of the speaker trim piece has a locator pin that aligns with a predrilled hole in the case. This prevents you from putting it on 180 degrees out. I looked that thing up and down, even taking consideration of the grill pattern and everything. The grill is glued and crimped through slits in the plastic like many radios and it looks the same upside down as it does right side up. After determining that there was absolutely no difference in the trim ring, I removed the locator pin and installed.
Next, I tackled the three stripped screw posts. I removed the thread that came out with the screws, from the screws themselves. I was able to carefully thread them back into the posts. Then put super glue in there to lock the threads back in place. I used a toothpick to prevent the super glue from closing up the center hole until the glue was dry. I reconnected all the necessary wiring and put the rear cover back on. Knowing how delicate the threads are on this radio I used a technique that I have always used on my radios. I insert the screw into the radio. I slowly turn the screw backwards until I feel it fall back into the stock threads. Then I slowly tighten the screw. This worked on all of the screws holding the radio case together. The stripped posts tightened up snug just like all of the others but I recommend you do not go any further. Once you feel a little resistance, stop!
It's back together and I can no longer see that blemish so I am happy. I am especially impressed with the cassette player. The speed was spot on out of the box. W/F are good enough to not really notice except on certain piano intros. The radio picks up nice. It has a decent weight to it. The bass and treble are worthy of a positive review and I like the stereo separation on this. Sometimes I have noticed that the woofers have the ability to ripple voices on bass heavy songs but not a deal breaker. I like the lighted VU meters. Nice touch.
Overall, I think I am going to be happy with this thing now.
Functionality wise, it does exactly what they advertise. It sounds much better than my GPO which I will be selling and replacing with this one.
The CD player spins the disc and buffers while playing a standard audio CD. Then it stops, plays off of the buffer and then spins again to read more data. It's very interesting watching it do this while listing to your music. I am sure they do that to preserve battery power, prevent skipping and possible disc damage while being carried. To my knowledge I do not recall anyone mentioning this, so I was surprised and intrigued at the same time. I like watching the disc spin though the window.
The only issue I have with mine is, one of the beauty speaker rings has a slight scrape/flaw from the factory in the gold chrome plating. I have decided not to worry with it as no one but me would notice. My wife looked it over and gave up. I had to steer her in the direction of the defect. The reason I am not going to worry about it is because if I swapped it out,
1: I'd probably just notice something else with the swap unit that could potentially be worse and, this one functionality wise is perfect.
2: I have a plan to solve this to where it won't bother me. The plan is to open it up one day and rotate the bezel around to where the flaw is on the inside
bottom where no one will see it.
I have attached a photo of the flaw. The picture makes it look worse than it really is, but it is there.
Otherwise, I think this is going to be a decent purchase. I'm not sure how well the LCD display will like being out in the sun so I think if I take it to the beach, I will keep it in the shade to be safe.
Edit: I want to preface this edit before I get started. None of the factual information below is intended to discredit the radio or is being done in an attempt to discourage sales. What I am about to describe may only apply to my purchase and may not reflect anyone else's purchase experience. I really like this radios performance for the price. That being said, I enjoy my radio even though it did come with a blemish on the speaker ring. I understand that I could've returned it and received another but, I chose not to because I didn't consider it a deal breaker for the price and it gave me a chance to see inside for myself. This is where I want to inform folks of if you ever need or plan to take your radio apart.
The main thing is being extremely careful when removing and reinstalling the case screws. The plastic is very soft. On my radio, three out of twelve case screws were stripped from factory and the threads came out with the screws. I almost decided to abort the process of turning the speaker ring because I wanted enough screws holding to prevent rattles. So I did a test of the other screws before removing them to get an idea how many were stripped and how many weren't. I did this by lightly loosening them and then seeing if they would snug back up. Once I realized it was only three out of twelve, I proceeded with my original plan. The type of plastic they use doesn't give you that nice crack sound when you loosen them. It has a very flexible feeling. Almost like a very hard rubber. The back came off with the antenna wire needing to be removed first followed by the red and white power and blue battery connector. I then proceeded to remove the left speaker trim to rotate it 180 degrees and put the flaw at the bottom inside corner. There was a tiny surprise waiting for me when I removed the screws. The back of the speaker trim piece has a locator pin that aligns with a predrilled hole in the case. This prevents you from putting it on 180 degrees out. I looked that thing up and down, even taking consideration of the grill pattern and everything. The grill is glued and crimped through slits in the plastic like many radios and it looks the same upside down as it does right side up. After determining that there was absolutely no difference in the trim ring, I removed the locator pin and installed.
Next, I tackled the three stripped screw posts. I removed the thread that came out with the screws, from the screws themselves. I was able to carefully thread them back into the posts. Then put super glue in there to lock the threads back in place. I used a toothpick to prevent the super glue from closing up the center hole until the glue was dry. I reconnected all the necessary wiring and put the rear cover back on. Knowing how delicate the threads are on this radio I used a technique that I have always used on my radios. I insert the screw into the radio. I slowly turn the screw backwards until I feel it fall back into the stock threads. Then I slowly tighten the screw. This worked on all of the screws holding the radio case together. The stripped posts tightened up snug just like all of the others but I recommend you do not go any further. Once you feel a little resistance, stop!
It's back together and I can no longer see that blemish so I am happy. I am especially impressed with the cassette player. The speed was spot on out of the box. W/F are good enough to not really notice except on certain piano intros. The radio picks up nice. It has a decent weight to it. The bass and treble are worthy of a positive review and I like the stereo separation on this. Sometimes I have noticed that the woofers have the ability to ripple voices on bass heavy songs but not a deal breaker. I like the lighted VU meters. Nice touch.
Overall, I think I am going to be happy with this thing now.
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Transistorized
Member (SA)
Hi Reli
I attempted the following formats: MP3 / AAC / FLAC / M4A / WAV
In addition to MP3, it did play the WAV file but nothing else.
The tuner is digital with an analog display however, unlike the GPO it feels more refined and tunes in without too much of that digital stutter you get when tuning into a station like on the GPO. It's still there, but not nearly as bad. The GPO has more slop in the tuner indicator. This new aiwa doesn't have that play in the tuner needle going back and forth like the GPO. When I say feel, its the resistive feedback from the tuner wheel when being turned. The GPO has that plastic on plastic feel whereas this aiwa seems to have damping fluid that gives it that nice smooth tuning feeling. The AFC works really well. I haven't had any FM stations drift on me. I need to test AM. Okay, I did a brief test of AM. It's a city radio on AM..lol. Certainly not a DXer but if you have a local talk radio show close by, it will pick them up. However the AFC has more trouble trying to keep AM stations from drifting.
I also tested with batteries. I had some Alkaline hanging around that were around 1.30V per cell (used). I popped those in there. It worked fine until I turned up the volume. The amplifier reduces sound and distorts when the batteries are not fresh. I will test later with my rechargeable NiMh batteries. I sure hope that it isn't voltage dependent like some radios. My rechargeable D's are 1.2V cells (1.35 / 1.39 fully charged). We'll see how that goes. But I generally don't like running my rechargeable batteries in things that do not have a battery voltage meter because I don't want to over discharge them by accident. But if you want to run this thing at full tilt, that amp chip is hungry
edit: The Tenergy 10,000mAh batteries work like a charm in this thing.
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Jam_On_It
Active Member
If I could add my 2 cents here. I’ve been obsessing about this radio for weeks. I did a really deep dive researching it. I feel this unit is different than the cheaply made, fake looking retro-inspired boom boxes by GPO, Studebaker, and others. IMO this radio really looks the part…a nice GF-575 aesthetic clone.
I’ve never bought a new retro unit bc of the cheap looking builds and disappointing reviews. The Aiwa just feels different for many reasons. The build quality seems pretty solid and the details feel mostly correct. Online reviews are consistently favorable.
I am pretty sure I’m gonna pull the trigger on this and get either the silver or yellow one.
The silver is a classic, but the yellow has some attitude.
It would be nice to have a decent-sounding, brand new, old school boombox to play tapes and CD’s with the worry of old electronics. (I can be a pro-level worrier lol).
This YT video was a big factor in my decision. He does a great job reviewing the build of the radio:
PS - Please don’t roast me if you disagree LOL.
In the end, I know that the vintage units are better quality.
I’ve never bought a new retro unit bc of the cheap looking builds and disappointing reviews. The Aiwa just feels different for many reasons. The build quality seems pretty solid and the details feel mostly correct. Online reviews are consistently favorable.
I am pretty sure I’m gonna pull the trigger on this and get either the silver or yellow one.
The silver is a classic, but the yellow has some attitude.
It would be nice to have a decent-sounding, brand new, old school boombox to play tapes and CD’s with the worry of old electronics. (I can be a pro-level worrier lol).
This YT video was a big factor in my decision. He does a great job reviewing the build of the radio:
PS - Please don’t roast me if you disagree LOL.
In the end, I know that the vintage units are better quality.
Transistorized
Member (SA)
I think you will be happy with it. It's the next best thing since the DJ-Tech IMO. Sure, they are built at a cost like most things these days but I would say go for it
Like Reli, I’m still wondering…. Is that analog tuner display fake or does the needle actually move?
When I started this topic, the reactions were quite weak.
But over time, the comments and interest to this boombox grew.
The reviews on YouTube helped and some people has already bought this boombox:
@goodman, @TMR, @Transistorized, @BoomBoxStash
I hope to brings you a lot of positive emotions.
I believe there will be more comments in this topic.
Have a nice day.
But over time, the comments and interest to this boombox grew.
The reviews on YouTube helped and some people has already bought this boombox:
@goodman, @TMR, @Transistorized, @BoomBoxStash
I hope to brings you a lot of positive emotions.
I believe there will be more comments in this topic.
Have a nice day.