Hi all, I've been bopping around here for a bit, and have appreciated everyone's helpful attitude and welcoming nature. I've loved boomboxes since I was a kid, when I had a Sanyo m7000 and jammed to Run DMC in my room.
Recently, I've been into trying my hand at repairing older tech (Just fixed a Qbert Nelsonic game watch), and have enjoyed working on boomboxes as it's a good 'meditative' hobby that helps me focus (my day-to-day requires collaboration with many people over Slack and Meet, and it can feel hard to focus on a single thing for long). Also, I think it's very important to try, where we can, to reuse instead of just chunking tech in the trash when we're done with it as so many companies encourage us to do heh.
It is personally satisfying to get some of this older tech running again, and I'm continually blown away by how well-made some of these things are and how great they hold up 40+ years later.
SO! Without further ado, here's my collection progression so far:
Victor M90: Such an impactful sound! I love this set so much I made a custom walnut shelf in my office so I can blast it when I'm working. It's in unbelievable condition, and the person who owned it before me took great care of it and even swapped out the belts. This introduced me to the differences in Japanese and American outlet voltage, and now I've got several of those converter boxes lying around. Perfection! One day I want to find the remote that goes with this, but haven't found anything at all so far.
Next up, the Sharp VZ-V2. Got lucky and found one in great condition, even with all the original sliders! My next project with this one is to re-seat the record player as it's slightly crooked, and can make the record wobble a bit and skip. Still plays really well aside from that. The fact that it can play both sides of the record without needing to flip it is so awesome!
My 'daily driver' is the Panasonic RX-6400. I call it 'party in a box' since it can fold up into two rugged carriable cases. They said it was one of the loudest boomboxes from the golden years of '79-'83 and they were not kidding! If I even approach 1/4 of the way up the volume dial the kids start running. Love it. Found this one in insane condition: basically mint / never played with just a few scratches on the outside of the case.
Good, balanced sound. Bass can be a tiny bit thin, but it fills a room superbly. Got this one hooked up to my record player setup and put on an album every meal.
My daughter just asked for "side two of [Songs From the Big Chair] because that's where 'Head Over Heels' is!" I enjoy this phase since I know she'll be into whatever music her friends are listening to soon enough
My latest project has been the Sharp GF-999. Bad belts, crackly pots. Otherwise in good condition. Y'all helped me figure out some of the complexities with this one, and I couldn't have fixed it up without you Got one more slight problem I'll be posting about later where the line in only plays from one side of the set but the phono input plays from both?
Bass monster! I really wanted to find a gf-1000, but the price I saw on one made me scream out loud and faint, cartoon-style. No gf-1000 in my future I think
Finally, got a small box for my daughter so she could jam out in her room. She loves it! Wife likes the color too. Needed new belts and a deep clean. The switches were scratchy feeling and sticky so I polished up their plastic contact points and now they're like butter. Good stuff. National FM30. The 'ambient' setting on this does an impressive job of emulating wide stereo separation.
That's it! Hope this tour was interesting in some way.
I am currently fiending over the National Panasonic RX 7200 or 7000 but man those prices are high. A guy can dream.
Thanks, and it's been a pleasure to be here!
Recently, I've been into trying my hand at repairing older tech (Just fixed a Qbert Nelsonic game watch), and have enjoyed working on boomboxes as it's a good 'meditative' hobby that helps me focus (my day-to-day requires collaboration with many people over Slack and Meet, and it can feel hard to focus on a single thing for long). Also, I think it's very important to try, where we can, to reuse instead of just chunking tech in the trash when we're done with it as so many companies encourage us to do heh.
It is personally satisfying to get some of this older tech running again, and I'm continually blown away by how well-made some of these things are and how great they hold up 40+ years later.
SO! Without further ado, here's my collection progression so far:
Victor M90: Such an impactful sound! I love this set so much I made a custom walnut shelf in my office so I can blast it when I'm working. It's in unbelievable condition, and the person who owned it before me took great care of it and even swapped out the belts. This introduced me to the differences in Japanese and American outlet voltage, and now I've got several of those converter boxes lying around. Perfection! One day I want to find the remote that goes with this, but haven't found anything at all so far.
Next up, the Sharp VZ-V2. Got lucky and found one in great condition, even with all the original sliders! My next project with this one is to re-seat the record player as it's slightly crooked, and can make the record wobble a bit and skip. Still plays really well aside from that. The fact that it can play both sides of the record without needing to flip it is so awesome!
My 'daily driver' is the Panasonic RX-6400. I call it 'party in a box' since it can fold up into two rugged carriable cases. They said it was one of the loudest boomboxes from the golden years of '79-'83 and they were not kidding! If I even approach 1/4 of the way up the volume dial the kids start running. Love it. Found this one in insane condition: basically mint / never played with just a few scratches on the outside of the case.
Good, balanced sound. Bass can be a tiny bit thin, but it fills a room superbly. Got this one hooked up to my record player setup and put on an album every meal.
My daughter just asked for "side two of [Songs From the Big Chair] because that's where 'Head Over Heels' is!" I enjoy this phase since I know she'll be into whatever music her friends are listening to soon enough
My latest project has been the Sharp GF-999. Bad belts, crackly pots. Otherwise in good condition. Y'all helped me figure out some of the complexities with this one, and I couldn't have fixed it up without you
Got one more slight problem I'll be posting about later where the line in only plays from one side of the set but the phono input plays from both? Bass monster! I really wanted to find a gf-1000, but the price I saw on one made me scream out loud and faint, cartoon-style. No gf-1000 in my future I think
Finally, got a small box for my daughter so she could jam out in her room. She loves it! Wife likes the color too. Needed new belts and a deep clean. The switches were scratchy feeling and sticky so I polished up their plastic contact points and now they're like butter. Good stuff. National FM30. The 'ambient' setting on this does an impressive job of emulating wide stereo separation.
That's it! Hope this tour was interesting in some way.
I am currently fiending over the National Panasonic RX 7200 or 7000 but man those prices are high. A guy can dream.
Thanks, and it's been a pleasure to be here!
