Total beginner and need help...

[Arctic Jack]

Last year I bought an old Sansui Eight receiver with some Kef Concerto’s, they sounds great. Off the back of that my daughter has asked me to buy her an old 80’s portable boombox for cassettes. I’ve no idea what I’m looking for or where to start. I’d like to pay around £200 (I’m in the UK) I’m guessing that isn’t much at all when it comes to these. The only requirement I have - must sound decent, be portable (not too large that it’s a lump to move) and play cassettes.

Any advice on where to look? eBay? And what models to look out for?

Cheers

 

[Northerner]

I’m UK and sell a couple of fully restored boxes a week on eBay…I’m simonf4234 on there if you want to check out my listings as they come up.

 

[Marcus]

If it's not too large a lump to move.. what possible fun can you have with it?

 

[thekrakenisme]

Hey, maybe something like this would fit the bill? It's a Marantz CRS-2104. Smaller, the price looks good. Somehow the tape deck still works (they often need belt replacements). I like this particular box because it comes with a good strap to carry it around with.

Marantz SUPERSCOPE CRS-2104 4 band boombox WORKS but read description | eBay

A picture is worth a thousand words so take a look as that is the actual item and accessories you will receive. LOOK PICTURE. MODEL CRS-2104. Why wait, use Buy It Now and get it for a very low price.

www.ebay.com

 

[Marcus]

Hey, maybe something like this would fit the bill? It's a Marantz CRS-2104. Smaller, the price looks good. Somehow the tape deck still works (they often need belt replacements). I like this particular box because it comes with a good strap to carry it around with.

Marantz SUPERSCOPE CRS-2104 4 band boombox WORKS but read description | eBay

A picture is worth a thousand words so take a look as that is the actual item and accessories you will receive. LOOK PICTURE. MODEL CRS-2104. Why wait, use Buy It Now and get it for a very low price.

www.ebay.com

It looks like somebody substituted the strap for where the handle was. Not a bad idea tho.
I like that unit, it probably sounds nice.

 

[mudman]

Oh man, that Superscope's not original, low price? I don't know.

Girls love a totally different boombox than guys, they marketed a million version just for them. Usually small and bright colors, something like the Panasonic RX-FM15 in pink would foot the bill. The budget would fit a lot of models on Ebay but if you can't fix it, get one with a new belt.

 

[Northerner]

I love it when a noob joins, asks a question, then stops logging in after 2 days lol

 

[caution]

To be fair it no longer emails you for new replies anymore, so users might be loath to revisit until they're notified.
Could be intentional. I noticed the banner images are gone too, probably trying to run the site with as little "serving" as possible to keep costs low so the site can stay up.

 

[Reli]

Best box for a beginner:

GE 3-6035A | The Boombox Wiki

The 3-6035A is very thin and space-efficient, but still provides big volume and sound quality. I think it was introduced in 1982.

www.wikiboombox.com

Light, slim, easy to carry, clean powerful sound, and a very simple layout without a bunch of pointless features nobody uses.

 

[Hajidub]

Found a $10 Sony boomer for my daughter, $3 for replacement belts, cleaned the tape-path and she's good to go for another 20yrs. $200, in the States, would buy you a cracker of a starter box. Since EUR/UK have tons of good boxes (more than us that have survived), you should find something no problem.

 

[Superduper]

That box is sold, maybe he bought it, and his dilemna already solved so no need to check back in. Yes, the handle is gone, it should've had a real handle. That model is fine but the CRS-2200 is about the same size and a much better sounding boombox. The CRS-2200 is very compact, easy to carry, not overly complex or fragile and sounds excellent plus it looks dope. Too bad superscopes are so very rare. I've been collecting them since the very beginning and even back then they were scarce. BTW it looks tiny in the wiki page but that's because it was placed next to an elephant.

 

[Marcus]

That's got me thinking, but unfortunately too late. I recently bought a two channel stereo receiver and speakers for my shed. Had I not done that, I would have (should have) bought one of these boxes as they are reminiscent of the radios my uncle used to send home to my family in the late sixties, early seventies, from the PX in Vietnam. My mother always had one playing in the kitchen from early morning til dinner time. The CRS-2200 looks to from the next gen where showing off the speakers became the style.