What's your best sounding mid sized 'tone box'?

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jimmyjimmy19702010

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I've been digging up some of my rarely used boxes and come across my freebie Sanyo M4500K.

To those who aren't familiar with this often overlooked model, it dates from around 1978 and was a mid range stereo blaster with a phono line in, AM, SW, FM stereo and tape deck. It also has the excellent Sanyo Wide Mode. :-)

No kidding, with the tone control set to near max, the sound is very similar to an equaliser box with the mids turned down and the bass and treble maxed! The early Sanyo amps really do sound nice. The build quality is typical 70s which is very solid and no nonsense.

I could listen to this box for hours no problem. Great tuner, really nice highs, good bass and with an attenuator, the phono line in sound and sensitivity is perfect. Watching those huge VUs bounce is very cool. :-)

I'm not going to say it's 'nice and light' because it's actually pretty heavy for its' size. Its kind on D cells and only needs 6 to get the party started. It's pretty loud too making it suitable for outdoor use.

What's your best sounding mid sized tone box??
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jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
BoomboxLover48 said:
James, Do you mean boxes with a single tone control, or those ones with the best sound?
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Best sounding single tone control boxes. :-)

It sounds very much like an M9990 except the 4500 has the benefit of the phono line in which sounds great.
 
BoomboxLover48

BoomboxLover48

Boomus Fidelis
Always stayed away from single tone boxes, but the few cute ones I have are tiny midgets and sound not that good. They chirp! haha!
 
caution

caution

Member (SA)
I second that. My stereo boxes tone control are minis. Excluding those, I think the list would be short.
 
blu_fuz

blu_fuz

Well-Known Member
Staff member
My sharp 8686 actually sounded pretty nice and I think that was tone control.
 
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jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
Ha ha :lol:

C'mon guys, trust me, this is a great sounding box. :-) I sure as hell wouldn't say it if it wasn't so. :lol:

I think a lot of tone boxes tend to be minis. Now minis do tend to sound poor not because they lack bass and treble controls but because of the weedy amps and speakers combined with small cabinets that don't make much bass.

I guess the 4500 is a bit of an oddball as it's mid sized with a similar power output as an M9990 but without the separate bass/treble knobs.

This is my theory on a topic no one has ever wanted the answers to: :-)

The 4500 is an early model. It may even predate the M9994, M9990, M9998 etc. Now we all know how good the late 70s Sanyo amps sound right?

****, I've got 5 band equaliser boxes here that sound worse! :lol:

Wow, you're thinking, this James guy really has lost the plot right?? :lol: It's probably true. :lol:

Well, in closing the argument for the defence, some boxes you 'click' with and others you don't. I think anything from the golden era of Sanyo (late 70s) is worth trying even if it doesn't have multiple tone knobs. :lol:
 
MyOhMy

MyOhMy

Member (SA)
Although a 'Tone box' will never compete with a box with separate Bass & Treble controls I've just made a comparison with the following 'Tone boxes' in my (limited) collection.

These are the 'Tone boxes' that I have (apart from minis):

Aiwa CS-300
Aiwa CS-440
Aiwa CS-600
Bush 5902
Sanyo M-9916
Sharp GF-6060
Toshiba TR-70S

The best sounding of these are the Aiwa's and the difference from the other brands is quite noticeable but, what stands out the most, is the Aiwa CS-600 as this also has Aiwa's 'DSL' feature. The 'DSL' feature is also on the Aiwa CA-100 even though this has separate Bass & Treble controls, making this a pretty good three piecer by any measure.
 
koleloi

koleloi

Member (SA)
I had only one box with tone control - the National RX-5080, and it sounds really good with great bass.
 
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