Initial Thoughts:
When going through my mind of the many boomboxes encountered through the years, size is not the first, let alone the tenth item that comes to mind. Sure, one may think about the shelf it will sit on, but not the size of the unit itself as more often than not, you always have plenty of shelve space right? Well, if you happen to run across one of these, a Magnavox (nee Philips) D-8643, toss all previous thoughts out the window.
This bad boy comes in at the following whopping dimensions: 33.5†(85cm) L x 12†(30cm) H x 6.25†(16cm) D and a gross weight of 27.5lbs (12.5kg) toss in 10 D cells adding a few more pounds and the gross weight comes in at a whopping , get this, 30.25lbs (13.75kg)!!!
Ungainly dimensions and unbelievable weight aside, it is a much better looking box in person than photos do justice for. This box had nearly every feature one could possibly want packed into the spacious housing. Speakers are elegant, if not basic, in looks with real cloth coverings and MDF board cabinets. The combination of the dark gray against the very nice silver finish with chromed controls and blue colored accents add a feel of expensive elegance to the unit and actually help to balance the rather large dimensions of this beast. Be careful when maneuvering with this baby! (Did I say “Baby�)
As the review goes on, you will see the Philips name mentioned in reference as this is merely a Philips manufactured product with the Magnavox name as so oft happened in the 70’ and 80’s. That being said, the Magnavox versions are very, very rare. Ever see a whale give birth to an elephant? In the middle of Siberia? In mid winter?
It should be noted that the D-8644 is the same except for one less SW band.
Features:
The main body of the unit houses the requisite compliment of tuner, amplifier and cassette section. As with higher end units of the period, you have a five band graphic equalizer with frequency adjustments at the 60Hz, 300Hz, 1kHz, 4kHz, and 12kHz bands. At the rear is a four position RIF (Radio Interference: Common name Beat Proof) switch to silence AM garbage. Why manufacturers simply don’t make this a front side switch as Panasonic once did with the RX-C100 is beyond me. Also somewhat annoying is that you have a combined phono/auxiliary button on the front, and then a switch at the rear to decide what the input is to do! Now…if some engineer convinced the bean counters that this was a cost saving measure, he should have been fired. This was a plague of many boomboxes from 1985 forward. I could imagine the conversation now…â€Hey! Let’s eliminate the switch in front, add it to the back, and even though cost adding the additional dedicated inputs is negligible and the PCB board is ready, we’ll add additional engineering cost to combine the circuits! Yeah! That’s the ticket!†For what this unit cost new, it’s a lame touch. It also looks goofy when looking at the functionality LED’s as both the auxiliary and phono LED’s are lit.
A couple of really sweet touches though are stereo mic inputs and a true mixing slider. Also, the tuner dial goes in reverse of normal. Now some may carp, but it is unique and no functionality is lost. Also, the needle is lighted! LED meters let you know how much or how little is going on input/output wise and they’re small type with more increments than the usual five segment LED’s that look so chintzy. The ultimate bonus though is Philips Spatial technology and the adjustable slide which allows almost infinite adjustment between monaural and spatial stereo. You can adjust the soundstage to your tastes which is super nice. Really big thumbs up to Philips here for unique touches which add to the listening and recording enjoyment.
The cassette section features logic controls soft eject, and Dolby B. What?!? No music search. BOOOOOO!!! No record mute?!? BOOOOOO!!! Of course this deck is ready for whatever you have to slide in be it normal, Cr02, or metal tapes. You also have manual adjustment for recording levels, albeit with one slider. No individual adjustments for right and left channels. BOOOOOO!!!
Speakers are of the bass reflex type with a 6.5 inch woofer and a two inch tweeter mounted in high density MDF cabinets. On first glance, you’d think they were three ways, but alas, they are not. The speakers are rated at 30 watts maximum power with response from about 60Hz to 20kHz at 8ohms. Speaker connections are made to the main unit via standard European DIN connectors. Wires into the cabinets themselves are typical European style being hardwired to the cabinets, no push-pull clips. A bonus is a wire wrap at the rear on each speaker cabinet to keep things tidy.
Additional items are a line output at the back to use the unit as a primary piece in a home system if that’s your thing. (So that’s where the money for a dedicated input went.) External connections for AM/FM DIN antennas are plugged for the U.S. Magnavox version but…it appears the plug could be removed and is merely hiding it. After a few very careful attempts, I left it alone seeing no need to rough house with it. Same with the DIN connector plug, best to leave well enough alone. Either way, use of either would be slim to none. The D-8643 runs (depending on the model) from 110-240v AC, 15v DC External Transformer, or 15v DC on ten D batteries.
Technical & Testing:
The D-8643 on the test bench using 1db signal put out about 21 watts. Maximum power per literature of the time is a healthy 2 X 35 watts maximum power. This has to be a stretch as the unit only consumes 70 watts of power. Either that or it is a secret weapon of power company strategy to increase consumer power use. I’ll take the 21 watts I found and leave it at that as it doesn’t matter. This thing is incredibly loud. I have not opened it up to investigate the internals but I would not hesitate to believe a beefier power supply section would probably do wonders for this box. This thing was designed first as a portable with high end features versus a portable component (see PC-55) with dedicated amp so there is definitely no disappointment with output levels. Total harmonic distortion is rated around 0.07%. When driven at reasonable volumes the unit demonstrates that it does have some muscle to flex and is willing to do so as long as you don’t push it too hard as the volume goes up. Like anything out there, it can be driven into distortion, but this one may have a case of speaker envy as I am pretty sure this unit can outmatch its supplied speakers.
The tuner section is ridiculously strong enough and proved so as I’m out in the country. The AM section is incredible, especially given that I tested in the evening when AM stations power down! This may be indicative of its European heritage and the need for good sensitive tuners for AM and shortwave. FM was as much as anyone could ask with the automatic stereo control, but with the aforementioned slider; you can adjust as necessary to get just enough separation with minimal noise. You’re not stuck with an either or situation. And full stereo or spatial is wonderful.
The cassette deck is solid sounding with a frequency response of 30-15,000Hz with Dolby on using Cr02 cassettes. The use of metal brings better clarity but you don’t appear to gain any noticeable frequency response. The use of Dolby improved sound as could be expected. As was typical there was no way, if this unit was to be affordable, would you get Dolby C. Nonetheless, recording in Dolby produced warm sounding distortion free recordings with a wow and flutter rating of 0.07%. That’s pretty impressive for this deck as my expectations were lower, as in expecting a 0.10% rating. I played some Vanessa Williams “Comfort Zone†and was quite pleased at the reproduction given the age of the tape to consider as well. “Sighâ€â€¦no tape search…
Powering the D-8643 with 10 alkaline “D†cells, at reasonable volume, it ran about five plus hours or so at medium levels of loudness before I had to start turning it down to conserve power. Very impressive run time I must confess. And why would you need a converter for 15v power with run times like this?
Ergonomics:
This unit feels intuitive with a sensible layout. The tuner dial will make you wonder who got into the Jagermeister at first, but it is merely a unique design offering a fresh flavor to the typical tuner dial. I am a fan of rotary controls (knobs) but also have no aversion to a good sliding potentiometer and they are laid out sensibly. Most buttons that need to be pushed are large enough for the average finger and the controls have a solid enough feel. The need to reach around back to find a tiny little beat proof switch is annoying. Even more so, is the ridiculous combination auxiliary/phono switch I mentioned earlier. The handle doesn’t feel like much when you hold it, let alone feel like it can hold much for a unit this size. This is a consistently persistent Philips design problem.
Another concern is the way the speakers mount. Instead of the typical slide on type from the top, these mount by sliding the speakers onto a set of metal pins. Well, if you get a little goofy or have an accident with this, things could get ugly quick. Remember, the housings are wood with plastic fronts. And when they are connected, by their design you don’t get that snug fit you hope for as they wiggle to and fro. But then do you really with any of these three piece units? (Well, yes…see the Sanyo C7 and C9. Best mounts in the business. Period.)
Overall Sound:
The large 6.5 inch (16.5 cm) woofer and 2 inch (5 cm) mid-tweet do a good job at reproducing across the spectrum with all settings at neutral. Be careful though with the equalizer as different types of music leads to different expectations. At low volumes it seemed to lack punch and there is no loudness control available, but if you turned he unit up, you would get better punch. That’s a good thing. Then you turn it up beyond 65% to 70%…and it appears the speakers let you down. That being said, the D-8643 does its best work where it should at levels where most people would listen to music. Like any stereo with an equalizer, there is a sweet spot of adjustment that works well, but as with anything it depends on your taste and music. Once I found my spot though, it was very punchy without distortion and clear. Remember, you will not jam this thing to the limit without backing off the bass and the D-8643 is not alone in that respect. See the technical section as to why. I played Trans-Siberian Orchestra/Wizards in Winter (Classical) per my wife’s request, Narada Michael Walden “I Should Have Loved Youâ€, Sunburst Band “New York City Woman†and Alicia Meyers “You Get The Best From Meâ€. Overall the D-8643 has outstanding sound at reasonable volumes. There was plenty of power and the sound was extremely clear and balanced, very warm, though neutral at times. But the equalizer takes care of that. You can find a “set it and forget it†setting. More modern music with the over boosting typical of today’s recording may sound harsh but that is no fault of the box, as it was designed at a time when analog was king.
Highs: Fantastic Tuner, Proprietary “Spatial Stereoâ€, Unique Tuner Window, Warm Sound, Very Good Battery Life, Magnavox Version Rare as “Rocking Horse Droppings†in the U.S.
Lows: Cheap Feel Handle, Questionable Speaker Mounts, Funky Inputs, No Search Function, Is This Size Really Necessary?
Recommendation: A solid unit with great features. The D-8643 is absolutely worth the purchase if you can get one and will make a fine addition to any collection.
When going through my mind of the many boomboxes encountered through the years, size is not the first, let alone the tenth item that comes to mind. Sure, one may think about the shelf it will sit on, but not the size of the unit itself as more often than not, you always have plenty of shelve space right? Well, if you happen to run across one of these, a Magnavox (nee Philips) D-8643, toss all previous thoughts out the window.
This bad boy comes in at the following whopping dimensions: 33.5†(85cm) L x 12†(30cm) H x 6.25†(16cm) D and a gross weight of 27.5lbs (12.5kg) toss in 10 D cells adding a few more pounds and the gross weight comes in at a whopping , get this, 30.25lbs (13.75kg)!!!
Ungainly dimensions and unbelievable weight aside, it is a much better looking box in person than photos do justice for. This box had nearly every feature one could possibly want packed into the spacious housing. Speakers are elegant, if not basic, in looks with real cloth coverings and MDF board cabinets. The combination of the dark gray against the very nice silver finish with chromed controls and blue colored accents add a feel of expensive elegance to the unit and actually help to balance the rather large dimensions of this beast. Be careful when maneuvering with this baby! (Did I say “Baby�)
As the review goes on, you will see the Philips name mentioned in reference as this is merely a Philips manufactured product with the Magnavox name as so oft happened in the 70’ and 80’s. That being said, the Magnavox versions are very, very rare. Ever see a whale give birth to an elephant? In the middle of Siberia? In mid winter?
It should be noted that the D-8644 is the same except for one less SW band.
Features:
The main body of the unit houses the requisite compliment of tuner, amplifier and cassette section. As with higher end units of the period, you have a five band graphic equalizer with frequency adjustments at the 60Hz, 300Hz, 1kHz, 4kHz, and 12kHz bands. At the rear is a four position RIF (Radio Interference: Common name Beat Proof) switch to silence AM garbage. Why manufacturers simply don’t make this a front side switch as Panasonic once did with the RX-C100 is beyond me. Also somewhat annoying is that you have a combined phono/auxiliary button on the front, and then a switch at the rear to decide what the input is to do! Now…if some engineer convinced the bean counters that this was a cost saving measure, he should have been fired. This was a plague of many boomboxes from 1985 forward. I could imagine the conversation now…â€Hey! Let’s eliminate the switch in front, add it to the back, and even though cost adding the additional dedicated inputs is negligible and the PCB board is ready, we’ll add additional engineering cost to combine the circuits! Yeah! That’s the ticket!†For what this unit cost new, it’s a lame touch. It also looks goofy when looking at the functionality LED’s as both the auxiliary and phono LED’s are lit.
A couple of really sweet touches though are stereo mic inputs and a true mixing slider. Also, the tuner dial goes in reverse of normal. Now some may carp, but it is unique and no functionality is lost. Also, the needle is lighted! LED meters let you know how much or how little is going on input/output wise and they’re small type with more increments than the usual five segment LED’s that look so chintzy. The ultimate bonus though is Philips Spatial technology and the adjustable slide which allows almost infinite adjustment between monaural and spatial stereo. You can adjust the soundstage to your tastes which is super nice. Really big thumbs up to Philips here for unique touches which add to the listening and recording enjoyment.
The cassette section features logic controls soft eject, and Dolby B. What?!? No music search. BOOOOOO!!! No record mute?!? BOOOOOO!!! Of course this deck is ready for whatever you have to slide in be it normal, Cr02, or metal tapes. You also have manual adjustment for recording levels, albeit with one slider. No individual adjustments for right and left channels. BOOOOOO!!!
Speakers are of the bass reflex type with a 6.5 inch woofer and a two inch tweeter mounted in high density MDF cabinets. On first glance, you’d think they were three ways, but alas, they are not. The speakers are rated at 30 watts maximum power with response from about 60Hz to 20kHz at 8ohms. Speaker connections are made to the main unit via standard European DIN connectors. Wires into the cabinets themselves are typical European style being hardwired to the cabinets, no push-pull clips. A bonus is a wire wrap at the rear on each speaker cabinet to keep things tidy.
Additional items are a line output at the back to use the unit as a primary piece in a home system if that’s your thing. (So that’s where the money for a dedicated input went.) External connections for AM/FM DIN antennas are plugged for the U.S. Magnavox version but…it appears the plug could be removed and is merely hiding it. After a few very careful attempts, I left it alone seeing no need to rough house with it. Same with the DIN connector plug, best to leave well enough alone. Either way, use of either would be slim to none. The D-8643 runs (depending on the model) from 110-240v AC, 15v DC External Transformer, or 15v DC on ten D batteries.
Technical & Testing:
The D-8643 on the test bench using 1db signal put out about 21 watts. Maximum power per literature of the time is a healthy 2 X 35 watts maximum power. This has to be a stretch as the unit only consumes 70 watts of power. Either that or it is a secret weapon of power company strategy to increase consumer power use. I’ll take the 21 watts I found and leave it at that as it doesn’t matter. This thing is incredibly loud. I have not opened it up to investigate the internals but I would not hesitate to believe a beefier power supply section would probably do wonders for this box. This thing was designed first as a portable with high end features versus a portable component (see PC-55) with dedicated amp so there is definitely no disappointment with output levels. Total harmonic distortion is rated around 0.07%. When driven at reasonable volumes the unit demonstrates that it does have some muscle to flex and is willing to do so as long as you don’t push it too hard as the volume goes up. Like anything out there, it can be driven into distortion, but this one may have a case of speaker envy as I am pretty sure this unit can outmatch its supplied speakers.
The tuner section is ridiculously strong enough and proved so as I’m out in the country. The AM section is incredible, especially given that I tested in the evening when AM stations power down! This may be indicative of its European heritage and the need for good sensitive tuners for AM and shortwave. FM was as much as anyone could ask with the automatic stereo control, but with the aforementioned slider; you can adjust as necessary to get just enough separation with minimal noise. You’re not stuck with an either or situation. And full stereo or spatial is wonderful.
The cassette deck is solid sounding with a frequency response of 30-15,000Hz with Dolby on using Cr02 cassettes. The use of metal brings better clarity but you don’t appear to gain any noticeable frequency response. The use of Dolby improved sound as could be expected. As was typical there was no way, if this unit was to be affordable, would you get Dolby C. Nonetheless, recording in Dolby produced warm sounding distortion free recordings with a wow and flutter rating of 0.07%. That’s pretty impressive for this deck as my expectations were lower, as in expecting a 0.10% rating. I played some Vanessa Williams “Comfort Zone†and was quite pleased at the reproduction given the age of the tape to consider as well. “Sighâ€â€¦no tape search…
Powering the D-8643 with 10 alkaline “D†cells, at reasonable volume, it ran about five plus hours or so at medium levels of loudness before I had to start turning it down to conserve power. Very impressive run time I must confess. And why would you need a converter for 15v power with run times like this?
Ergonomics:
This unit feels intuitive with a sensible layout. The tuner dial will make you wonder who got into the Jagermeister at first, but it is merely a unique design offering a fresh flavor to the typical tuner dial. I am a fan of rotary controls (knobs) but also have no aversion to a good sliding potentiometer and they are laid out sensibly. Most buttons that need to be pushed are large enough for the average finger and the controls have a solid enough feel. The need to reach around back to find a tiny little beat proof switch is annoying. Even more so, is the ridiculous combination auxiliary/phono switch I mentioned earlier. The handle doesn’t feel like much when you hold it, let alone feel like it can hold much for a unit this size. This is a consistently persistent Philips design problem.
Another concern is the way the speakers mount. Instead of the typical slide on type from the top, these mount by sliding the speakers onto a set of metal pins. Well, if you get a little goofy or have an accident with this, things could get ugly quick. Remember, the housings are wood with plastic fronts. And when they are connected, by their design you don’t get that snug fit you hope for as they wiggle to and fro. But then do you really with any of these three piece units? (Well, yes…see the Sanyo C7 and C9. Best mounts in the business. Period.)
Overall Sound:
The large 6.5 inch (16.5 cm) woofer and 2 inch (5 cm) mid-tweet do a good job at reproducing across the spectrum with all settings at neutral. Be careful though with the equalizer as different types of music leads to different expectations. At low volumes it seemed to lack punch and there is no loudness control available, but if you turned he unit up, you would get better punch. That’s a good thing. Then you turn it up beyond 65% to 70%…and it appears the speakers let you down. That being said, the D-8643 does its best work where it should at levels where most people would listen to music. Like any stereo with an equalizer, there is a sweet spot of adjustment that works well, but as with anything it depends on your taste and music. Once I found my spot though, it was very punchy without distortion and clear. Remember, you will not jam this thing to the limit without backing off the bass and the D-8643 is not alone in that respect. See the technical section as to why. I played Trans-Siberian Orchestra/Wizards in Winter (Classical) per my wife’s request, Narada Michael Walden “I Should Have Loved Youâ€, Sunburst Band “New York City Woman†and Alicia Meyers “You Get The Best From Meâ€. Overall the D-8643 has outstanding sound at reasonable volumes. There was plenty of power and the sound was extremely clear and balanced, very warm, though neutral at times. But the equalizer takes care of that. You can find a “set it and forget it†setting. More modern music with the over boosting typical of today’s recording may sound harsh but that is no fault of the box, as it was designed at a time when analog was king.
Highs: Fantastic Tuner, Proprietary “Spatial Stereoâ€, Unique Tuner Window, Warm Sound, Very Good Battery Life, Magnavox Version Rare as “Rocking Horse Droppings†in the U.S.
Lows: Cheap Feel Handle, Questionable Speaker Mounts, Funky Inputs, No Search Function, Is This Size Really Necessary?
Recommendation: A solid unit with great features. The D-8643 is absolutely worth the purchase if you can get one and will make a fine addition to any collection.
Good review! now if only Phillips would start remaking classic boomboxes! HINT HINT!
I can't wait to see and hear it in person.
