first box in a long time.

[bill]

when i think of the name sankei i usually think of big cheap boxes with all kinds of wierd bells and whistles. i mean i seem to remember one of there offerings having a built in drum mahcine back in the eighties.
well after todays find i have come to think that maybe back way way back in the mid seventies sankei was putting out some pretty amazing boomboxes for the time frame.
after many months of finding nothing i went out on a whim and checked out the local value village. sure enough tucked aways on the lower shelf the chrome handle smiled at me from the corner of my eye. what i had thought was a marantz at first rapidly revealed itself as a old old old sankie trc1000 super stereo.
looks like they knicked a bunch of ideas from the old sony four speaker units or maybe it was the other way around i have no idea.
wow this six cel box is quite heavy and its build quality is extremely good. everything was intact dusty but all there i opened the battery cover of course value village almost always leaves the batteries in there merchandise. it kind of pisses me off because they really should remove old corroded batteries but for some reason they dont.
no power cord so i have to take this 15 dollar box on good faith a little bit of a gamble but hey i figure it was worth it.
am fm and two short wave bands. i look at this box and right of the bat you can tell this was made to be serviced. again it is quite heavy i cannot recall having a six cel boombox that wieghs this much.
two condenser mics nice meters for levels and tuning. fm stereo light. a very long proper antenna.
i could take of leave the grills on the box . side firing speakers .http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/1084/f8
i arrive home give it the old clean up wipe wipe wipe wipe.
find a plug for it after getting rid of most of the rust from the battery tray.
the moment of truth.
power up push a couple of buttons and wow the room is filled with nice warm detailed sound. all the knobs and buttons work. no static.
will the tape player work.
sure enough it does. this really shocks me because i cannot think of many units with a thirty three year old belt that just work with no servicing needed.
i dig around a bit and find the original add for the unit online. wow 300 dollars 1977 dollars for this radio mrsp. even if you did get it for 250 dollars it would still be a massive chunk of change.
the box plays very loud much louder than you would expect for a 6 cel boombox. i think it must have something to do with the kind of transformer being used in this boombox.
well you can take of leave the looks i guess. i like it and i am extremely impressed as i say with the quality of construction and the sound of the unit.
is it my favorite boombox i of course not.
i do think tho if you have a chance to get one of these for cheapish you should jump at it. i mean it is no cheapo made wanna be sony box its a really high end portable radio from the early boombox era.
nope its not a m90 or a m70 and there is lots of beefierboxes but this is one nice radio. i am just posting a photo of the add but you get the idea.

[img]http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/1084/f88b09c5ee58b5e58acbcb0.png

 

[MasterBlaster84]

The picture looks like that of a quality unit, your right that's not what I think of when I think Sankei.
Congrats on the find bill.

 

[bill]

master the thing is extremely well made. i mean its heavy as hell for a box this size. i think something must have happened to sankei along the way. perhaps the name was sold off once they went bankrupt.
this box does fill the room with good sound.
is there a ton of bass nope but there is enough for most kinds of music.
i cannot be sure but something tells me there is a connection between this box and some of the early marantz units. i could be wrong but it seems to have somethings in common with those old marantz superscope boxes.

 

[monchito]

i really like those older boxes they are very well built and as some years went by there were alot of modifications to the same type boxes,, it was latter that was the downside of electronics that really is a shame that you cannot ever get something like a boombox that will last you 25plus years

 

[Superduper]

That sorta looks like one of those early GE units, doesn't it?

 

[bill]

you could be onto something there.
in fact it would not surprise me at all if this is a early ge aka.
the radio reception is extremely good on this unit.
i am really surprised there is no static in any of the controls at all. they all still feel nicely dampened and fairly fresh.
the sound of this unit might surprise some.
looking at the advert for it i think it is a safe guess this was not being marketed towards the budget minded consumer.
i mean it really is a nice radio.

 

[Superduper]

Some differences but the resemblence is unmistakable.
A few other Sankei models had lots of AKA's too.

 

[bill]

definately kin thats for sure.

 

[Superduper]

Well, if it is anything like the GE, I can tell you that it's not very large but you should be very happy with it. It's built solid, like a tank. Might be the heaviest boombox for it's size and oozes quality.

 

[bill]

does that ge have side firing speakers as well.

 

[redbenjoe]

i think it looks heavy and solid -
and similar in design to some $$ expensive panny boxes -
from the late 70s
nice going

 

[Superduper]

does that ge have side firing speakers as well.

Sadly and regretably, I sold mine cause it was missing a decorative cap on one of the cassette keys but I don't believe it has side firing speakers -- it's not a very deep box so the speakers would have to be like 2" wide or something. If you want the side firing speaker setup, go for the Sony CF-580. RBJ might have one for sale.

 

[bill]

yes ira it does have some of that flavor as well.
i just took the back panel off. wow what a easy looking box to work on.
i mean everything is very accessible and well thought out.

 

[redbenjoe]

thanks for the timely off-topic thread jack !!

norm recently sold or traded ( i forget ) one of his extra 580s to me -
so - then i do now have an 'extra' that could be sold --
to any brilliant member who 'knows good boxes'

its one of those
get what you pay for $$ deals


will wait a few hours-
for that ONE collector to emerge

 

[bill]

this box does have side firing speakers. it is about four inches or so deep.

 

[AZA]

I have cleared out a lot of this style of box that i used to own but i kept my
Sankei like this.
A very nice radio and definately a keeper, for now at least.
And $300 retail in 1977 !!
Congrats on getting yours Bill

 

[bill]

I have cleared out a lot of this style of box that i used to own but i kept my
Sankei like this.
A very nice radio and definately a keeper, for now at least.
And $300 retail in 1977 !!
Congrats on getting yours Bill

i cant see myself getting rid of this one. i mean the tuner on it i think is the best tuner on any of my boomboxes.