Heyya box freaks...
NO, I am not drilling holes into this monster, so everyone can relax....no interventions please.
I saw this amazingly huge & complex looking NATIONAL RX-A2 Boombox/Portable Mixing Console for sale from Peppin on eBay & no one was willing to bid on it, even tho the starting bid was 250 bucks + shipping from Hong Kong.....
I took a chance anyway & got it on the opening bid, in the last minute of the auction....YAY!!! Now what? So he charges me 90+ bucks for bulk container shipping which was OK for me since I know he had 100% feedback & the boom-box, or whatever it is called, has a cabinet built like roadie equipment. Everything snaps together with solid chrome clasps, heavy vinyl skin & solid, heavy duty corners, handles & hardware. I knew it would have to be really roughly handled to have anything break.
Well, he lets me know via eBay msgs I had to wait about 2-1/2 months for it to arrive by cargo shipping container. I have to wrangle with PayPal, eBay to extend the claim window in case this behemoth gets lost or stolen somehow. The eBay agent required me to let him know he had to update the tracking info to the listing itself, instead of eBay msgs, etc. It was a big P-I-T-A$$ to juggle everyone but eventually, by the tail end of Jan, it arrived.
It was in ROUGH condition, operationally, but EXCELLENT physically for a shelf-find, in the wild.
Sure as $#!+, it arrives with some mystery part flopping around near the tuning section(top), inside the box & I can't tell what that is obviously. The speakers were in amazing condition & the glass for the tuner & cassette were in great condition. Maybe they were a little grimy but that was about it.
The radio works sort of & the tape deck worked OK too & the speakers were in awesome condition so all was not lost, but it was hard getting the left channel to work beyond intermittently & there was a substantial & more than noticeable amount of hum & static with no input at all. . NOT good....ALL knobs, switch caps, sliders & switches were intact & complete, looked amazingly good, but had all kinds of operational deficiencies, electronically, etc.
The overall sound was POOOP!!! I was a bit disappointed since the listing stated normal operation& Peppin never really addressed that issue when I raised it via eBay msgs or the fact that apparent shipping damage was evident upon immediate inspection. Oh, well, I kept it anyway & just never left feedback, either way, since it wasn't a terrible deal but yet, it was a bit misleading to state normal operation, if you're not willing to discuss any claims to the contrary. After deciding to keep it & have it serviced by my 'dude', I took it to him & told him to give it a full going over & cleaning, etc. Fix it up, the best you can & I'll pay it upon pick up, in a few weeks. He took about 2 weeks with it & went over everything twice to get it all right & now she is ready to go....It cost a bit but I'm sure it was well worth it.
Now that I have it back home & serviced, check out how big these beasts are! Holy Mixing station Batman!!!
This is only the center piece & it is actually a 4-piece component shelf system if you count the cassette organizer & speakers. It comes as 2 roadie style cabinets, 4-pieces, has traditional MDF speaker enclosures with 8" woofers & 2" tweeters if I'm not mistaken. I can't wait to take it out for a victory lap, tomorrow. I hear they crush, like the CONIONS do...
MORE PICS LATER:
Stay tuned.......
NO, I am not drilling holes into this monster, so everyone can relax....no interventions please.
I saw this amazingly huge & complex looking NATIONAL RX-A2 Boombox/Portable Mixing Console for sale from Peppin on eBay & no one was willing to bid on it, even tho the starting bid was 250 bucks + shipping from Hong Kong.....
I took a chance anyway & got it on the opening bid, in the last minute of the auction....YAY!!! Now what? So he charges me 90+ bucks for bulk container shipping which was OK for me since I know he had 100% feedback & the boom-box, or whatever it is called, has a cabinet built like roadie equipment. Everything snaps together with solid chrome clasps, heavy vinyl skin & solid, heavy duty corners, handles & hardware. I knew it would have to be really roughly handled to have anything break.
Well, he lets me know via eBay msgs I had to wait about 2-1/2 months for it to arrive by cargo shipping container. I have to wrangle with PayPal, eBay to extend the claim window in case this behemoth gets lost or stolen somehow. The eBay agent required me to let him know he had to update the tracking info to the listing itself, instead of eBay msgs, etc. It was a big P-I-T-A$$ to juggle everyone but eventually, by the tail end of Jan, it arrived.
It was in ROUGH condition, operationally, but EXCELLENT physically for a shelf-find, in the wild.
Sure as $#!+, it arrives with some mystery part flopping around near the tuning section(top), inside the box & I can't tell what that is obviously. The speakers were in amazing condition & the glass for the tuner & cassette were in great condition. Maybe they were a little grimy but that was about it.
The radio works sort of & the tape deck worked OK too & the speakers were in awesome condition so all was not lost, but it was hard getting the left channel to work beyond intermittently & there was a substantial & more than noticeable amount of hum & static with no input at all. . NOT good....ALL knobs, switch caps, sliders & switches were intact & complete, looked amazingly good, but had all kinds of operational deficiencies, electronically, etc.
The overall sound was POOOP!!! I was a bit disappointed since the listing stated normal operation& Peppin never really addressed that issue when I raised it via eBay msgs or the fact that apparent shipping damage was evident upon immediate inspection. Oh, well, I kept it anyway & just never left feedback, either way, since it wasn't a terrible deal but yet, it was a bit misleading to state normal operation, if you're not willing to discuss any claims to the contrary. After deciding to keep it & have it serviced by my 'dude', I took it to him & told him to give it a full going over & cleaning, etc. Fix it up, the best you can & I'll pay it upon pick up, in a few weeks. He took about 2 weeks with it & went over everything twice to get it all right & now she is ready to go....It cost a bit but I'm sure it was well worth it.
Now that I have it back home & serviced, check out how big these beasts are! Holy Mixing station Batman!!!
This is only the center piece & it is actually a 4-piece component shelf system if you count the cassette organizer & speakers. It comes as 2 roadie style cabinets, 4-pieces, has traditional MDF speaker enclosures with 8" woofers & 2" tweeters if I'm not mistaken. I can't wait to take it out for a victory lap, tomorrow. I hear they crush, like the CONIONS do...
MORE PICS LATER:
Stay tuned.......
