Panasonic RX-5150 score!

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DKVII

DKVII

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I'm not worried about my tweeters right now...honestly, from the way it looks and performs, I don't think my 5150 was ever used much at all. Seller was totally honest about everything, and that's a good thing too, because I have had some bad luck out of boombox sellers. My most pleasant surprise, though, was when I bought my RX-5110. The seller had only one SELLER feedback and described it as perfectly working. She wasn't lying. :-D
 
Lasonic TRC-920

Lasonic TRC-920

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Great thread man, wow $61.00 is really kick ass.

This is a radio that I always watch. Haven't pulled the trigger, but one day.....one day
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
Reli said:
The pizeos on mine produced absolutely no sound whatsoever. :-/ No doubt why the seller sold it. 90% of collectors are dishonest, IMO.

Superduper told me that pizeos eventually burn out for some reason, and then they start bleeding power big time. By replacing them with cone tweeters which are more efficient, your woofers will receive more power too. He did that to his 5150, and it had a lot more bass than mine ever did.

Oh and he also painted his grills graphite metallic. Looked SICK. :drool:

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Although the piezo tweeters on mine work, they are very, very bright sounding. I also read about Norms mod. Do you have a link to the thread? There isn't much room inside the 5150 tweeter area for a old style tweeter.

Thanks,

James.... :-)
 
Reli

Reli

Boomus Fidelis
I don't think there was a thread. But the 5250 which is basically the same radio has different tweeters.
 
DKVII

DKVII

Member (SA)
TMR said:
i have the 5250 and my personal favorite the 5085.. such a classy bitch :p
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I had a 5085 in my watch list when I won this 5150 (the 5085 was incorrectly labeled as a 5080, but went for $105!)
 
caution

caution

Member (SA)
Reli said:
The pizeos on mine produced absolutely no sound whatsoever. :-/ No doubt why the seller sold it. 90% of collectors are dishonest, IMO.

Superduper told me that pizeos eventually burn out for some reason, and then they start bleeding power big time. By replacing them with cone tweeters which are more efficient, your woofers will receive more power too. He did that to his 5150, and it had a lot more bass than mine ever did.
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Hmm, I bet mine are dying. I'll have to find a couple of cones that work and toss 'em in.
It's weird how it almost sounds like the tweeters get quieter when I disable Ambience on it, but not exactly. Ambience is mesmerizing.
 
Reli

Reli

Boomus Fidelis
caution said:
Hmm, I bet mine are dying. I'll have to find a couple of cones that work and toss 'em in.
It's weird how it almost sounds like the tweeters get quieter when I disable Ambience on it, but not exactly. Ambience is mesmerizing.
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I'll ask Norm what kind of tweeters he put in his.
 
DKVII

DKVII

Member (SA)
Hisrudeness said:
By coincidence I just won this auction with a 'best offer' of $140. The boxes look ok but you never know till you get them eh?
I've got a 5085 already and love it but an curious about the different colour grills on the 5150? Yours are grey DKVII but some are black?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201238103561?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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I saw that same auction and was scratching my head at it! It's the first 5150 I have ever seen with black grills. The Quasar version of it has black grills, but not the Panasonic (usually anyway). Strange.
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
DKVII said:
I saw that same auction and was scratching my head at it! It's the first 5150 I have ever seen with black grills. The Quasar version of it has black grills, but not the Panasonic (usually anyway). Strange.
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Usually, the only 5150s with black grills are the metal grill versions. You never know though, maybe Panasonic did make a special black plastic grill version. I've seen the horrible colour the grills go though if exposed to too much UV so maybe a repaint has occured here. :hmmm:

James...... :-)
 
Hisrudeness

Hisrudeness

Member (SA)
DKVII said:
I had a feeling it may be a repaint job, too.
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Not had that model before but already have a 5085. I figured the price is good and the shipping was cheap for some reason.I'll put some pictures up when I get it. DKVII you should try to get the 5085 'Earth Wind & Fire' box. When they're in good shape they are nice to look at and the sound is great. You already know about the ambience.
 
Superduper

Superduper

Moderator
Staff member
Reli said:
I'll ask Norm what kind of tweeters he put in his.
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I put Delco (Onkyo OEM) car dome tweeters in mine, as well as those my Racoon Kaboom. They are 6-ohm tweets so they will add some highs without being overpowering. Car tweeters are typically very small and well suited for boombox use as they need to survive in the inclement environment of a car interior: moisture, blazing heat, freezing cold. Anyone want to know what they look like, I think I showed them in my kaboom thread.

The original 5150 tweeters are piezos, much like a small thin piece of round tin with wires attached to them. Really is that simple. No crossover. Nothing. How do piezos sound? Well, when working, think of what those talking greeting cards sound like. They are incredibly efficient with high spl's so if you can't hear them, then they are toast. Some folks like to keep things like this original simply because they are...... well, original. In this case, you can't see them behind the grills and they don't work anymore so such ideals are something I don't get. Nevertheless, if I recall, the original piezos are basically secured with plastic pegs that are mash/melt/welded. No screw bosses were ever molded in and the only way I could install the new tweets was to hot glue them in place. It's been a few years now and they are still performing fine. I know that after I installed them, not only did I now have highs, but the lows improved quite a bit as well and became one of my most listened to favorite boxes. I should also say that my 5150 has also benefitted from a full recapping about 5 years ago and that was to resolve mysterious gremlins present at the time. I can't rule out that the recapping helped with the lows but that wouldn't completely explain that the bass seemed to improve AFTER the tweeter installation unless my memory tricked me, haha.
 
monchito

monchito

Boomus Fidelis
norm the 5090 which is a small box has real tweeters just wondering if they could be retrofitted. it would make a whole differance plus they are small.. :-)
 
Superduper

Superduper

Moderator
Staff member
Monchito, dome tweeters might fit but I don't think there are any cone tweeters small enough for this application.
 
Reli

Reli

Boomus Fidelis
The 5250, which is just like the 5150 but with different VU meters, has 3cm "ceramic dome" tweeters according to the manual.
 
DKVII

DKVII

Member (SA)
Hisrudeness said:
Not had that model before but already have a 5085. I figured the price is good and the shipping was cheap for some reason.I'll put some pictures up when I get it. DKVII you should try to get the 5085 'Earth Wind & Fire' box. When they're in good shape they are nice to look at and the sound is great. You already know about the ambience.
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The 5085 is on my long "want" list for Panasonic boomboxes! The Pannys I currently want are the RX-5085, RX-5280, RX-5500, and RX-5600.

As for ambience, I never listen to anything with that turned on. I think it adds to much treble and space and drowns out the bass quite a bit.
 
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