I found this boombox by accident in France for 30 euros, unfortunately without a function and the keys of the drive are firm, a pity must be quite rare.
good news the radio on the Olympus Boombox works again unfortunately the volume control is defective I have to disassemble the box maybe I can get the cassette drive going again...
Can you post the back label? It might have some good information on it. I'll try searching the model number. Most of the microcassette stereo boomboxes have very little internet info, they were produced 1-2 years and quickly disappeared.
I don't know what "FTZ" is? Maybe it was made for USA with the FCC ID #? The good news is it has a full FM band, thanks for sharing!
Olympus SR-501 from 1977, there's something super sexy about this model it even has a kick-stand so it sit nicely on the desk, the antenna slides into body and it has a wrist strap, too bad it's not stereo. Big money back in 77!
From HiFi Stereo Review 1978 found over on worldradiohistory.com This thing was silly money new and it only came with one module, imagine having all of them, it would have been a small fortune.
A really old micro recorder Guess around 1960 or 1970 It has no drive belt Takes place via the flywheel with a Transverse engine like a Sony DD Very cool model National RQ 170S
Finally found a cool ad, here's the Sanyo OTTO from 1981, sometimes branded Fisher depending on market. These were not cheap! No wonder they bombed, MiniDisc had the same problem in the USA, they were very expensive.
The super cool Pearlcoder XR, it almost qualifies as a boombox with the added radio. The front dial on the radio is for the screw mech that attaches it to the recoder, the antenna is that long, it fits the attached body perfectly. I just found the radio for my recorder, I'm not sure if it was an option that nobody bought or they were lost since it seems more recorders than radios come up for sale. This is from Mart Magazine 1982
"...At better audio, photo and department stores." Well, I guess that rules-out K-Mart, Walgreens and Montgomery Wards...!
I was just reading some stuff in Mart Magazine (archive.org), they were talking about the discount stores and the much less-expensive brands they were buying. The usual suspects, Yorx, Soundesign, Emerson.....
Yep, my brain is fried, posting too many ads but I love skimming through the old magazines. I think this one is fresh? A lot of the dictation microcassettes are kind of boring but the Panasonic RN-500 with a radio and handle is sweet! Not the smallest boombox (mono), Grundig, Sony and Fisher are all in there but it is a strong contender. For those that don't remember, Rich Little could mimic anyone's voice, it was amazing how good he was.
Another gem from the golden age, this is a AKA Panasonic, the Quasar GM3581TQ Microcassette Boombox. This is a little beast, one of the best looking ones as well with lot's of buttons, LEDs and dual antennas. For the size, this is a fat box, I imagine it has some nice tiny speakers in it because they can really throw the sound. The first song on the radio is Respect Walk by Pantara, how appropriate! Definately impressed with the sonics, there's little bass but the vocals are crystal clear. The cymbals are washed out but it might be the radio signal. Gotta go, Dio, Holy Diver is on!
Just found the Japanese Cutsheet for the Sony M-305 from 1982. These are fun little players and nicely built, I'm always game for the microcassette players with radios. I'm trying to figure out what the metal clad cord is for? They have something plugged into the HEADPHONE socket but the brochure has a one-sided ear phone, the cord on mine is a loop. Maybe it's a very small MIC? I doubt it, I don't think they had them that small back then.
