Very interesting thread subject. I could pick a few, but I think I'm going to try to hold to a few criteria.
#1 Price. There are some radio's that go for super cheap and are great performers
#2 Looks. There are some radio's that don't look all that great, but the sound quality makes up for it.
#3 Size. There are some radio's that are slightly smaller than a typical "Mid-sized box" (say the M70 as the benchmark 'midsizer') That punch above their weight class.
#4 Perceived low build quality. There are some radio's that are either from a known low quality manufacturer, came into the game late (late 80's, or early 90's) or were just one off name plates.
But with all that said, I really feel the Lasonic TRC-918 is a totally under rated box.
If we go through the list above:
Price: These can be found for penny's on the dollar and are fairly common. If you don't see one now, wait a little while, they show up often for CHEAP!
Looks: At best, the look like a Sanyo rip off, but the look is kind of bland. They did make some variants of these boxes and some are better than others. And one with it's chrome intact looks great in the sunshine.
Size: The size of the 918 is about the same as a Realistic SCR-8, not tiny, but they come off as small in pictures IMO.
Perceived low build quality: Lasonic has a bad reputation for build quality (some of it inflated, some of it justified), but the 918 suffers far less and in fact, one of the best radio's they ever made. It doesn't use the troublesome rotary function switch that plagues the 920 and 931.
The TRC-918 has some features. It has Cr02 and Metal tape playback, stereo wide settings and some have Short wave 1 & 2 (mine doesn't). Opposing LED VU meters.
Mine is a warn out old beater. But a proper 918 has a solid low thumping bass, with crisp highs. The woofers are 5 inch I think and are shared with the L30. The preamp is EQ'd to provide a very solid THUMP. They also use the famous Red/Orange tweeters shared in the 920, 922, 931, 935, 951 and 975 so you get great over all volume. These go pretty loud and hold it together very well. They use good old reliable knobs and push buttons to get the job done.
In my opinion, one of the most under rated radio's that can still be found dirt cheap (at least before this post
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