Hi brand new here, have question

[Deadweight]

Going to buy my 1st box.
I am an old Deadhead type, this the handle.
My budget is $250 or less.
My priorities are -
1. Really good tuner, with shortwave.
2. Loud, but bass is not an issue.
3. Crisp, clear balanced sound. Hi fidelity would be great.
4. Metal, or at least chrome tape player.
5. Line in is a must for Bluetooth, can be RCA. (I'll use an adapter.)
6. Build quality.
7. Weird, cool features are always welcome.

Asking a lot for $250, I know.

How close can I get?

Thanks, and great to be here!

 

[floyd]

it seems like there's a lot of good boxes on eBay right now for a relatively low prices that's where I would look at least you can see what the features are on each box to make your choice. one piece boxes with those features are expensive you might be able to get a three-piece box a little cheaper but they're generally built very well. I have nothing against a good three piece box as a matter of fact I love them. oh and if you want to look for a Boombox on eBay just type in vintage Boombox in the search box. the price is I've seen in the last week or some of the lowest there has been in years.

 

[Deadweight]

it seems like there's a lot of good boxes on eBay right now for a relatively low prices that's where I would look at least you can see what the features are on each box to make your choice. one piece boxes with those features are expensive you might be able to get a three-piece box a little cheaper but they're generally built very well. I have nothing against a good three piece box as a matter of fact I love them.

Thanks!
I have been going nuts looking at all of them, then coming back to google to look for reviews!

The consensus seems to be you can't go wrong with a decent Panasonic Platinum, such as a 5100. But, no shortwave..

Which leads me to the Sanyos, but it's hard for me to tell a good one from a bad one.

 

[floyd]

another piece of advice is buy something that fully working even if you have to wait because fixing them just to listen to him it's not much fun I've owned over 100 boomboxes and I've had to work on all except one. if you want to buy a fixer upper make sure you get it as cheap as you can that way you don't have the buyer's remorse involved with buying something you think works and it turns out to be a piece of s***.

 

[floyd]

Thanks!
I have been going nuts looking at all of them, then coming back to google to look for reviews!

The consensus seems to be you can't go wrong with a decent Panasonic Platinum, such as a 5100. But, no shortwave..

Which leads me to the Sanyos, but it's hard for me to tell a good one from a bad one.

boomboxes with shortwave generally have two antennas that's one way to tell if it has short wave. those Panasonic platinum series sound great but sometimes the woofer surrounds are either dry rotted and ready to fall apart or have already fallen apart so you got to be careful they're not that hard to re-foam and it doesn't cost that much you just have to know how to do it.

 

[floyd]

you can also search for the boomboxes by the brand let's say you want a JVC just search for a vintage JVC boombox or a vintage sharp Boombox or a vintage Panasonic Boombox and that's the best way to narrow down by looking at each brand individually.

 

[floyd]

Thanks!
I have been going nuts looking at all of them, then coming back to google to look for reviews!

The consensus seems to be you can't go wrong with a decent Panasonic Platinum, such as a 5100. But, no shortwave..

Which leads me to the Sanyos, but it's hard for me to tell a good one from a bad one.

sorry I forgot that there was older Panasonic Platinum series I know they had a later model Panasonic Platinum series and I actually had one with the woofer foams were rotten.

 

[Deadweight]

another piece of advice is buy something that fully working even if you have to wait because fixing them just to listen to him it's not much fun I've owned over 100 boomboxes and I've had to work on all except one. if you want to buy a fixer upper make sure you get it as cheap as you can that way you don't have the buyer's remorse involved with buying something you think works and it turns out to be a piece of s***.

I kind of had that feeling, but wasn't sure.
Now I know.
Thank you!

 

[Deadweight]

boomboxes with shortwave generally have two antennas that's one way to tell if it has short wave. those Panasonic platinum series sound great but sometimes the woofer surrounds are either dry rotted and ready to fall apart or have already fallen apart so you got to be careful they're not that hard to re-foam and it doesn't cost that much you just have to know how to do it.

Yes, I have run into that problem with vintage speakers.
I have a set of Advent 3's with rubber surrounds, which circumvents the problem.

 

[floyd]

Yes, I have run into that problem with vintage speakers.
I have a set of Advent 3's with rubber surrounds, which circumvents the problem.

actually refoaming speakers is a hobby of mine I've been doing it for about 20 years.

 

[Deadweight]

you can also search for the boomboxes by the brand let's say you want a JVC just search for a vintage JVC boombox or a vintage sharp Boombox or a vintage Panasonic Boombox and that's the best way to narrow down by looking at each brand individually.

Thanks! Searching tonight, I encountered a Williamson (?) in fair condition, going for around $700! Wish I had that kind of bread!

 

[Deadweight]

actually refoaming speakers is a hobby of mine I've been doing it for about 20 years.

Refurbishing vintage speakers is an art! No doubt after 20 years, you are quite good at it!

 

[floyd]

I agree and as simple as it is to do with a little bit of of practice it's amazing the deals you can get on speakers with rotten foams or better yet the ones you can get for free. the reason I started doing it because I threw away a very expensive pair of pioneer 4-way car speakers and I hated to do it but I was too dumb to just buy the parts and do it myself. now if you can find a set of those pioneer car speakers they would cost over $300 for a set of six by nines. I said it before hell even original set of Jensen tri axial speakers would cost you $300 and they were relatively inexpensive new and they all suffer from rot if you find a good set they're super expensive.

 

[floyd]

Yes, I have run into that problem with vintage speakers.
I have a set of Advent 3's with rubber surrounds, which circumvents the problem.

I have a pair of the baby advents is what they call them they're basically bookshelf size speakers but these things punch way above their weight.
I also refoamed my acoustic research bookshelf speakers and those things sound fantastic.

 

[Deadweight]

I agree and as simple as it is to do with a little bit of of practice it's amazing the deals you can get on speakers with rotten foams or better yet the ones you can get for free. the reason I started doing it because I threw away a very expensive pair of pioneer 4-way car speakers and I hated to do it but I was too dumb to just buy the parts and do it myself. now if you can find a set of those pioneer car speakers they would cost over $300 for a set of six by nines. I said it before hell even original set of Jensen tri axial speakers would cost you $300 and they were relatively inexpensive new and they all suffer from rot if you find a good set they're super expensive.

Holy spit! The Pioneers I could understand, but Jensen's?
Jensen triax were the bomb when we were driving our 72 Dusters and Chevelles. LOL

 

[Deadweight]

I have a pair of the baby advents is what they call them they're basically bookshelf size speakers but these things punch way above their weight.
I also refoamed my acoustic research bookshelf speakers and those things sound fantastic.

I hooked a KLH bookshelf up to a late 50's National NC-183D communications receiver with a push pull 6V6 tube(s) audio amp.
It sounds really great.

 

[floyd]

Holy spit! The Pioneers I could understand, but Jensen's?
Jensen triax were the bomb when we were driving our 72 Dusters and Chevelles. LOL

that's why they're so expensive because everybody wants them in their classic cars you wouldn't believe the price of car cassette players like Alpine and Kenwood and JVC they've shot through the roof.

 

[Deadweight]

I have a pair of the baby advents is what they call them they're basically bookshelf size speakers but these things punch way above their weight.
I also refoamed my acoustic research bookshelf speakers and those things sound fantastic.

Anyway, thanks for your time and the great information!
Glad to see my first contact on here waa helpful and friendly one!

 

[floyd]

that's why they're so expensive because everybody wants them in their classic cars you wouldn't believe the price of car cassette players like Alpine and Kenwood and JVC they've shot through the roof.

and those Jensen's probably only cost about $39 new but they did throw out some sound that was far beyond anything you would get from a factory stereo speaker at the time.

 

[floyd]

Anyway, thanks for your time and the great information!
Glad to see my first contact on here waa helpful and friendly one!

that's the way it should be. I see you're from Pennsylvania I spent some time up there I had friends up there but most of them were gone now unfortunately old age got the got the better of them. I went to the Maple festival up in meyersdale Pennsylvania a few times I loved it got to eat a lot of good pancakes and eat real maple syrup. I visit up there regularly around Cumberland and West Virginia but I've been known to go up wellersburg mountain up to Pennsylvania on my motorcycle. oh by the way I live in Maryland about 1 hour from DC.