I think I may have lost my Boombox mojo!

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jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
Hi Guys,

Well I've got a confession to make: I've never been a big fan of the way boomboxes sound - (at least the one's I could afford). Oh ****, what have I said?!

See, I got into boomboxes back in the day for one reason: Music! For me, boomboxes were a means to an end. It wasn't about the box, it was about the sound the thing produced.

In 1987, I started work on my real DIY V1.0 box - a plywood box with a high powered car tape deck head unit with 4 x 6.5 inch speakers powered by a 12v motor cycle battery. I loved that box - No Boombox could compete with that thing!! It went everywhere I did. It went to the beach, to parties, on the bus, the train - everywhere really. Everybody used to laugh when they first saw that flat black, beat to hell box but they always stopped laughing when I fired it up!!! :-)

Unfortunately, one day I left it with a friend at the beach while I went for a surf and it got stolen!! (While my friend walked off for a piss)!!

Don't get wrong, I love the build quality of the high end, early models. Working on these old girls is great fun, particularly when you can help out a fellow member out with a troublesome box. It's very satisfying getting a long dead Boombox back into a fully working state! :-)

Advice to those few of you who love boomboxes and are thinking of making a DIY box: DON'T!!! If you build it right and you value sound quality, it will mess with your head!

Now I know I could fix things by getting rid of my DIY boxes and then get a brainwash to remove all memory of these beasts. :-)

But that's not going to happen! :-)

See, I'm not the guy who has thousands of spare $$$s lying around to win Ebay auctions. I love checking out the awesome 'silver & chrome' walls guys build.

I don't mean to upset anyone here, you're a great bunch of guys. This is easily the best forum I've ever been a part of! I have the utmost respect for everyone of you. I just don't get the auditory buzz I used to when I fire up a classic Boombox. :-(

James.... :-)
 
trippy1313

trippy1313

Member (SA)
Quite alright, we are all allowed our own opinions.

My personal experience is that most of today's equipment kinda sucks, unless you're willing to pay huge money or build it yourself, but even then I don't know of many quality portable radios, as most things seem to be made for indoor only use (home stereo systems), or to isolate your music to yourself, (headphones).

Plus there's the cool looks of these, most things nowadays are "murdered out." Flat black stuff that looks cheap like they hit it with a can of spray paint, (possibly exaggerated). But not much real design in them.

I have no problem with your thoughts. Understanable, but I call dibs if you decide to part with your boxes. Haha.
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
trippy1313 said:
Quite alright, we are all allowed our own opinions.
My personal experience is that most of today's equipment kinda sucks, unless you're willing to pay huge money or build it yourself, but even then I don't know of many quality portable radios, as most things seem to be made for indoor only use (home stereo systems), or to isolate your music to yourself, (headphones).
Plus there's the cool looks of these, most things nowadays are "murdered out." Flat black stuff that looks cheap like they hit it with a can of spray paint, (possibly exaggerated). But not much real design in them.
I have no problem with your thoughts. Understanable, but I call dibs if you decide to part with your boxes. Haha.
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I know what you're saying. That's why you won't find me buying any modern stuff either.

I dunno, maybe I shouldn't have started this thread. I just want to find a classic Boombox that has the sound and power I want/need! :-)
 
Mystic Traveller

Mystic Traveller

Member (SA)
jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
Don't get wrong, I love the build quality of the high end, early models.
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Me too, plus their looks. Plus nostalgy, etc., etc. :-)

I've never personally been looking for good sound quality in boxes - they weren't made for that.
If I need quality and thump I turn to my home component system with a separate subwoofer.

As for DIY boxes - they might have good sound for sure but I have never seen pics of ones looking appealing to me, some of them looked just ugly homebuilt stuff.
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
Mystic Traveller said:
Me too, plus their looks. Plus nostalgy, etc., etc. :-)

I've never personally been looking for good sound quality in booxes - they weren't made for that.
If I need quality and thump I turn to my home component system with a separate subwoofer.

As for DIY boxes - they might have good sound for sure but I have never seen pics of ones looking appealing to me, some of them looked just ugly homebuilt stuff.
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Yep, most DIY boxes looks pretty goofy. The reason I want a good sounding portable is that I use them outdoors all the time! Parties, BBQs, football training etc. I need great sound and power and it has to be battery powered!
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
JustCruisin said:
Just stuff your DIY components into a classic blaster case..problem solved!
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Excellent point! I have a dead Sanyo M9998K that I have plans for. Still trying to work out the logistics. I want to utilise the existing locations for the volume and tone controls etc to make it at least look like a factory M9998K. The factory guts and speakers will have to go though to have any chance of generating the performance I'm after. The M9998 sort of has speaker cabinets too so I'll attempt to seal those to generate nice, solid bass.
 
Mystic Traveller

Mystic Traveller

Member (SA)
jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
The M9998 sort of has speaker cabinets too so I'll attempt to seal those to generate nice, solid bass.
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Many one-piecers were designed to carry open type acoustics having open type boxes.
So isolating speakers might make bass worse but it's worth trying anyway I believe, worth of experimenting. :yes:
 
Mystic Traveller

Mystic Traveller

Member (SA)
BTW, this used-to-be ultra expensive and now sought-after small SONY CFS-F70
has sealed speakers but no doubt that was thorougly calculated. :)

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SONY_CFS-F70_1.jpg
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
Mystic Traveller said:
BTW, this used-to-be ultra expensive and now sought-after small SONY CFS-F70
has sealed speakers but no doubt that was thorougly calculated. :)

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1.jpg

attachicon.gif
2.jpg

attachicon.gif
3.jpg

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SONY_CFS-F70_1.jpg
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Hmmmm..... Yes, I'd love to get me one of those!!':-)
 
Mystic Traveller

Mystic Traveller

Member (SA)
jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
Hmmmm..... Yes, I'd love to get me one of those!!' :-)
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Yep, me too - this Sony was outrageously expensive domestic model for its size back in 81 and it still is. :(
Nowadays, considering inflation, a new CFS-F70 would have cost 1500$, give or take.
Prices at Yahoo JP for a good one could soar pretty high - up to 700$.
They say that for its size it sounds great and it is bloody heavy! 9.2 kg! :w00t:
Most probably the heaviest boomer of such size.

CFS-F70.jpg
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
Over build boxes never fail to impress! Well out of my price range unfortunately!
You do have to love a box that punches way above it's size! You can't say weight as it weighs as much as a large box!

James....':-)
 
im_alan_partridge

im_alan_partridge

Member (SA)
Hey James, I think that sometimes people need to have a time out.
Take a break for a few months from boxes, dont look at boxes on ebay, move some of your blasters into a spare room or pack them away somewhere safe, maybe even don't log on here for a while.
A break may reboot your box mojo :-)
 
Lasonic TRC-920

Lasonic TRC-920

Moderator
Nothing wrong with building a box to meet your needs. The beauty part about using modern components is they are small. so you should be able to fit what ever you need into a classic case if you take that path
 
E

eli

Member (SA)
For me---
It's playing mix tapes I've made---on new old stock cassette tape I've hunted down----
On a vintage piece of music history I have restored and repaired---
If i get great sound---that's a bonus---but the sound is not the main goal----
it's more of the entire concept to me---sort of like actually putting to use
archaeological artifacts---
Hope i don't sound too strange about this-----
 
Hisrudeness

Hisrudeness

Member (SA)
For me it's about character. It's the same as why people restore vintage cars. They'll never handle, give good fuel economy and be as fast as modern cars but people spend thousands restoring them.
Old boomboxes 'talk' to you the way an iPod dock doesn't.
I've been gawking at this all day! That probably won't happen with a dock.

Just my humble opinion. But I do however understand the concept of a frustrating boombox day!
 
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