^ That is the heaviest box of its size.
Here we have a GF-515. I had always been hesitant about these, due to their odd, non-macho appearance. But when you lay your hands on one, you'll understand the appeal. True, it doesn't have a "street" look, but it
DOES have a very "retro/vintage" look,
with its tweeter horns, microphone grills, fake coaxial tweeters, and real metal tape doors. I was hesitant about the beige-colored tape keys, but now I think they perfectly complement the champagne color of the rest of the box. Black keys wouldn't have looked good on this box. Chrome keys would have been nice, but it's not a big deal.
More importantly, this model has extreme build quality, with very heavy tape decks mounted to a very sturdy 3-part chassis. The keys
are a joy to use. No flex at all when pushing them down, because of the rigid inner chassis they're mounted to. Sharp was marketing this to people who wanted to do some really good quality dubbing. The wow & flutter is only 0.06%, which is very stable, and is bested by only a handful of boxes like the Aiwa CS-660, 770, and 880, whose wow & flutter is only 0.038%. But those are more modern, full-logic decks. For this Sharp's simple mechanical deck to get anywhere close to that is quite an achievement. Consider that the vast majority of boomboxes are somewhere between 0.15% (fair) to 0.3% (horrible).
A couple of unusual features: The Eject keys are separate from Stop keys. Sharp didn't cheap out and combine those keys like most boomboxes do. Also, the Stop keys are locked unless the tape deck is actually running. Also, the woofers are not mounted directly behind the chrome trim rings. They're offset inwards a bit. Perhaps something inside, like circuit boards or screw posts, prevented Sharp from mounting the speakers more outward. I suppose I could paint the speaker cones black to hide that fact. But again, it's not a big deal.
These models are a bit bass-shy, and require a phone or MP3 player with EQ settings to maximize their potential. But the sound is clean and accurate, not muddy like some boxes.
