Disco light Boombox revue.

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Old school Scott

Member (SA)
Will somebody make one please?
Maybe there was already a thread and I missed it?
I've always wondered if it was a big empty box with a great light show,
or is there something more, how does it sound?
How is that graphic equalizer?
How much does it weigh,
Inputs etc.

Thank You in advance OSS :afro:
 

Gluecifer

Member (SA)
Ohh not reviewed DiscoLite yet! I think you were dreaming that one, Chris!

I'm probably not one to review mine as it's been tinkered with soundwise. I replaced the tweeters in mine and dyna-matted the box.

Theres a possibility mine is the 'best' sounding one around! Which means much, much less than you probably think!

They don't sound awful, just 'average' but the stock tweeters do absoloutely zero. She's got little to no stereo separation without replacing the tweeters.

The sound, once you deaden the box and replace the tweeters is reasonable. But it seems highly dependant on environmental conditions, almost more so than any other box I've got. You take her outside and the sound quality and range drops very noticibly. Indoors she sounds quite good with nice bass. Same can be said if she's set an a non-acoustically friendly table or something. The possible cause of this might be the lack of depth in the case. DiscoLite's are very thin for their size.

The EQ helps a lot though, you can get some nice thuddy bass, but it craps out a little over half volume, again, I think it's the case letting the sound down. As you can imagine, the radio is by no means super heavy or solid. I wouldn't say it's the worst quality case ever, but it's in the lower end of the quality range for sure.

The decks sound pretty good for cheap mechs and the line in and radio work great. The one thing I really don't like on the DiscoLite is the handle. It feels so flimsy and ready-to-snap when you pick her up. That concerns me greatly! I'm possibly going to replace mine with a metal bracketed one. For this reason I don't take mine many places, as I can just see the handle snapping at the most inopportune time and I highly doubt the case would survive any drop onto a hard surface.

As far as scoring one goes, I'd always look for one with ALL the LED's going. These things are wired up in the most convolouted and hacky way inside. I had to replace about 10 on mine and it was a stressful and tedious process!! And I wasn't even doing it! I replaced a few and then I got a friend with 20 plus years of electronics soldering experience to do the rest. Even he was pushed to the limit!

I think most everything on the DiscoLite is made-up for it, you aren't going to be swapping many bits in and out, so the idea is to definitely get one as fully working as possible. Especially the LEDs!

At the end of the day though, all this cheapness and technical shortcomings mean absoloutely screw all. Once you see one going, you forget everything else entirely. This is EASILY the most entertaining piece of audio equipment ever created. Even my disbelieving friends get hypnotised by her beauty.

Judging a Discolite on her sound exclusively is like judging Marilyn Monroe on her acting ability.
It pales into insignifcance once the whole package is experienced.


Hope this helps OSS! Only too happy to field any more questions too.



Rock On.
 

Gluecifer

Member (SA)
Yes sir. Line-in in the back.
And very little else connectivity wise outside of the front headphone socket!

Just testing mine out for volume and you can enjoy nice-bass up to about 2/3rds volume.

But that's hardly massively loud though. But a good listening level.



Rock On.
 

redbenjoe

I Am Legend
another great and careful glue review--THANKS

i would give it a tad more credit for the sound than glue did --
due to its size --we might be expecting it to compete with the
big boys --so then - yes - its a letdown --

but -all by itself --its puts out some nice music -

i surely agree about the wimpy handle -
so - i never carry mine around -
instead - its gets moved very slowly//gently out to my golf cart-
where it rides on a 3" thick foam seat :-)

as for the overall fun//value.....
there is NOTHING even 1/4 close :w00t: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 

baddboybill

Boomus Fidelis
Funny My G.F had one when she was a teeny bopper and a few years before her and I got reaquanted she had given it away to her Ex brother in law... :thumbsdown: Believe me when I told her, and showed her what they are going for she literally kicks herself in the butt..I tease her when i see them on epay selling for over $800 :lol: .Plus she appoligizes to me...because of not knowing I am a vivid collector :yes: Some day i will have one though :-D :w00t:
 

redbenjoe

I Am Legend
the way its going with them --pricewise --
it might be better to study some recent and past threads
that offered advice and suppliers for converting boxes into disco-lites :hmmm:

(my 100,000 cents) :-)
 

Lasonic TRC-920

Moderator
Hey Glue, thanks for the review! Now we have one! :thumbsup:

I have seen one of these in person....never really blew my mind. But I can see the attraction.

I think I'm going to dynomat my 975 and 935 like you did. Great radio's but rattle traps!

I hope OSS gets one too.....But I hope he finds one in the wild from someone that has no clue what it is and gets it dirt cheap! I like those stories better! :yes:
 
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