My old, tired $3.99 Panasonic RX-5150... Restored!

[sunshine_ax]

My old, tired $3.99 Panasonic RX-5150... Restored! When I got this it was $3.99! The deck didn't work and it was grungy as heck. The inputs were so loose so that when you plugged something in, it made a lot of loud noise and sometimes would lose connection altogether so no sound came out until you jiggled it. All of the knobs and switches made scratchy noise. I cleaned all of the switches, cleaned the unit inside and out and cleaned and lubed the tape deck. I changed the belts and the deck started working! I cleaned the switches and knobs and they are silent and sweet! I resoldered the input connectors and they work flawlessly! Polished it inside and out and polished the "glass" to take out all of the scratches. Got a deck cover, antenna and some knobs off of ebay and repaired the speaker covers by cutting the old, broken ones out and inserting new metal ones that I cut to size.

I just recorded music off of the internet through the bluetooth receiver in my input jacks straight onto a cassette!!! OH that feels good! I feel like I'm thumbing my nose at new technology by recording it straight onto old technology and loving every minute of it

Recorded Komputer Krash, We Are the Robots and Skrillex!

 

[Fatdog]

Dang, that turned out very sweet!!! I've always hated the grilles on the 5150. What you did makes this box 1,000 times better.

 

[T-STER]

Damn that looks great! I agree with FD, massive improvement

 

[Northerner]

Nice. Love the new grills

 

[metalhandbag]

Very nice turned out well those grills are miles better .

 

[sunshine_ax]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I have another 5150 that has intact grills and it’s very clean, but I just don’t like it as much. The grills are not removable. They are pressed out of the plastic of the case. I’m sure it saved money and time, but it’s not a great look. I really like the black grills and the fact that now you can see the speakers in there! I realize this picture is from before I painted the tweeters black too! Funny thing! I have the door for the cassette on it now, but I really liked being able to see the tape before the door was on it. I absolutely love being able to record music with it. It wouldn’t record for the longest time. Thanks to you guys (and FD for the photo of what a record bar was) the record bar cleaning idea is what I think that did it!

I posted the updated photo with the tape deck door on and the black tweeters.

 

[skippy1969]

Looks great Ax!!!

 

[MyOhMy]

Excellent work, the renovated box almost looks like a different model altogether. I have to agree with your comments on the plastic grills, they just look so cheap but replacing them with metal grills has made a noticeable difference.

 

[sunshine_ax]

Thanks Guys! I agree. It’s actually a great boom, but the bad grills take away from the overall experience. I’m not about to destroy a good box, so this was a chance to have fun

 

[BoomboxLover48]

Grills replacement alone made a huge difference! Good job!

I am planning to change my grills too.

 

[sunshine_ax]

Grills replacement alone made a huge difference! Good job!

I am planning to change my grills too.

I'm glad that you can see it before you do it to be sure you like it. I got my grills online, but they didn't fit, so I had to dremmel them down. They gave me some trouble in that the new grills stuck out before I cut them, but then they flexed inwards once cut. I was going to put them in backwards so they still popped outwards from the case, but the inside were not as nice looking. So, mine stick in. I don't think that it effects the sound in any way AND I think that it looks great! If you find a better solution, please let me know. I dremmelled the old grills out and smoothed the inner ring out, but looking back, I should have left that for the new screens to glue to. I hope this makes sense once you get to cutting yours out.

 

[floyd]

I usually never pay attention to this model because I thought it was too plain looking but now I see that these can really be nice looking with some decent grills , looks way better.

 

[sunshine_ax]

I usually never pay attention to this model because I thought it was too plain looking but now I see that these can really be nice looking with some decent grills , looks way better.

I agree. I like them because they seem to work longer than other models. You can find more of these with working cassettes and the buttons are interesting. It's like they are powered somehow. Easy push action. Also, to record your just push one button. I also seem to like Boomboxes with lots of buttons on the front. I guess it feels like a control panel to a very sophisticated piece of equipment. I like them to be silvery and chrome with black speakers. So, now this one is perfect

 

[floyd]

I love all my Panasonic's , I especially love the low/ mid grade RX series those thing are just indestructible.

 

[oldskool69]

Man that looks awesome!!!

 

[JPAudio]

Those black grills really change the look, looks great.

 

[Owenf]

Looks great and a $3.99 Cinderella transformation as well. Awesome.

 

[BoomboxLover48]

I love all my Panasonic's , I especially love the low/ mid grade RX series those thing are just indestructible.

RX 5150 is a nice box to work on and sounds really clear. I love the decks on it. A complete speaker grills and mic grills will make a lot of difference in the looks.