Hi all. I have a Sony CFD-5 that I bought new (in '83 or '84 - can't remember exactly). Does anyone know the value of this? It's in very good shape and still works, though I'm not sure about the cassette since I don't have any to try!
MST7020, I like you, cuz your persistent. The CFD-5 seems to be a great box, maybe highly collectable, but it's kind of like buying a used car with out seeing or test driving it, there's no way to even have something to start on. Personally, I think you must have good taste since you also have a highly collectible Booda Khan and most people would take great care of these units knowing what the initial cost was. They don't sell a lot so it's hard to attach a hard dollar amount but they are both very nice high-end units and you might get some decent money if you list them for sale.
A Google search brings up various articles claiming that the CFD-5 was the first ever CD boombox which I would hope would add to the value. It would be interesting to hear CD fan Jorge's opinion. Thinking about it I didn't know anyone who got a CD player until about 1987. In fact I remember in 1987 gawping in wonder at a display made from about 30 CDs at the First Bristol HiFi show thinking "that's £500 worth of CDs hanging there'. Of course nowadays you could do the same for £30 using CDs from any charity shop. It would be interesting to hear how much you paid for your CFD-5 back then and any CDs you bought for it,which I recall being over twice the price of vinyl.
Thanks, @Mister X and @Longman - appreciate the input. It was the first CD boombox, and I remember the first CD I bought (Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair), and feeling like I had the coolest, most futuristic device anywhere! Looking at the release date of that album in 1985 makes me think that I was wrong earlier - I guess I got it in '85, after all. It does have very good sound quality, too, compared to many boomboxes, and I love the consistently square shapes, including the speakers - no random, organic forms. I was a teenager and saved all my summer earnings to buy it - hard to say how much, but maybe $500? Either way, I remember lots of Born to Run and other early Springsteen blasting out of it, among many 80's classics...
I went skiing with Club 18-30 back in 1987 and the bloke in the next room had a Sanyo CD boombox which he seemed to be using as a babe magnet. "Hey chick, would you like to come back to my room and see my CD player". One of the few CDs he had was Jellybean; "Just visiting this planet", which I must have heard a dozen times through the rather thin wall. Tears for Fears was a good choice. In the UK Dire Straights, Brothers in Arms was said to be the CD that sold a million CD players. https://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/28/tech/innovation/compact-disc-turns-30/ My first CD was Cyndi Lauper - A Niight to Remember but that was in 1989. p.s I wouldn't make the mistake of selling childhood memories. It took me three years to track down the same model of cassette recorder I had as a teenager.
