Stereo Cassette Players/Recorders with Built-in Speakers

Hey everyone,

I have been on the hunt for a compact and cool looking stereo cassette player that has a built in speaker for a while. My daily cassette player Sony WA-33 broke recently and so I have been trying to find a compact replacement for months. Usually I can find what I need online however, there are so many different models that either have speakers and are mono or have a speaker and are quite large, so I thought I would ask the forum to see if there are models that I have missed.

Ideally the cassette player would be a compact stereo cassette player, have a radio, with a built in speaker. Extras would be dolby, cassette type, microphone, pitch wheel.

Models that I have looked up but cannot find:
Unitech R-1008AF
Fisher PH-45
Sanyo MR-JJII
Sony TCS-470
Sony TCS 90/100
Sony TCS 600
Sony WM-R55
Sony WM-F57
Sony WM-F66/F76
Sony WM-GX221
Sony WM-SR10
Sanyo M-G38DT
Fisher PH-S320
Fisher PH-A400
Siemens TRAMP RM 949
Panasonic RQ-A220
Panasonic RQ-L480

I cant find any Aiwa or Toshiba cassette players that have built-in speakers. If anyone has info on other models that fit this description please let me know. Thanks!

 

An example of an Aiwa that fits those requirements would be the HS-J315, though personally I'd prefer a more vintage unit

I assume that you're looking for something smaller than your WA-33? If not, I think the WA-55 is a really cool looking one.

If radio's not a must, the Sony TCS-370 is relatively compact and rather interesting, being an early logic control unit.

Other pretty looking units I can think of would be
Sony WA-77
Sanyo MR-JJ/JJ0 (no radio)

 

Hey thanks for the input, the Sanyo MR-JJ/JJ0 looks really interesting and must be the originator of the Fisher PH-35.

I came across another obscure tape player that seems to fit the bill, Panasonic RQ-A70 but its slightly larger than the other compact models.

The more I dig the more models I find but so many have that late 90's bubble look and don't have that classic walkman-like retro vibe. Does anyone know if there are Japanese exclusive models that have that classic look and feel with a radio/speaker/stereo out?

 

How do you intend to use the speakers on the unit ?
A problem is that once the speakers and their casing gets below a certain size they sound terrible. On the small radio front I have a Sony ICF-SW1
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sony_icf_sw_1_s.html
which sounds acceptable,

and an ICF-SW100
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sony_icf_sw100_icfsw100.html
which sounds terrible.

If a mono speaker is O.K. one of these might suit you
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sony_icf_sw_1000_ticfsw1000.html
The speaker looks to be about the same size as the SW1 and the deck is stereo.

 

This one has everything except the radio - Sanyo MG4. Sounds way better than it should!

 

If you want to go a bit bigger, we can also include "micro boombox" units like the
Sony WA-8000 MkII
Aiwa HS-J11
Toshiba RT-CS1 (this one has a detachable walkman, and a tuner pack to make the walkman into a radio)

And there are also the option to fit a walkman with matching speaker accessories. Not regular portable speakers, but those that become part of the walkman itself, like this Toshiba SS-W1 + KT-VS1 walkman combo. Aiwa also had one for their slim Aiwas from their mid 80's unit but I forgot the model number.

 

The more I look at different models the more I would rather get one that is smaller and more compact than one that is larger and more boombox in shape.

The speaker quality isn't really a big issue to me because I only use the speaker as background noise when I am tired of wearing my headphones or when I simply want to chill after a long day of staring at a computer screen and working with clients all day. So its definitely not used for hifi sound (thats what my Sony FH-100W is for)

Also, has anyone else noticed how incredibly hard it is to tell if a model with a speaker is mono or stereo out?? Its been a pain to have to research each model (especially the Panasonic's and Sanyo's) to find out if they have 4 track / 2 channel stereo output or not...

 

For the older units at least, I tend to find that the absence of the word "stereo" on an easily noticeable place is usually good enough indication that the unit's a mono. The difference between stereo and mono is of more importance back then, so when it's stereo they tend to want to show that.

@Mister X, I have one of those Sanyo MS-30 here right now with me, mine's fitted with a mono head.

 

Yeah your right, seems like early models with speakers plaster "STEREO" all over them, while late models are just assumed that they are in stereo.

Also seems like most models that fit the description are from brands that are not as popular as the main Sony, Panasonic, Aiwa, Sanyo brands. I am finding a lot of random and obscure brands that include all the features that a walkman would rarely include. (perhaps this is competition in the works)

So far these seem to have the look, size, and features that fit the description best:

Everything

1. Sony WM-F57
2. Siemens Tramp RM 9496
3. Sanyo MR-JJII (with radio cassette)
4. Sanyo M-G38DT (with radio cassette)
5. Sony WM-F66/F76
6. Panasonic RQ-A70
   
7. Fisher PH-S320
8. Fisher PH-A400
9. IRRADIO Trapper 03RR
   
10. JEC 612EQSP

No Radio

1. Sony TCS-470 (no radio...)
2. Sony WM-R55 (no radio...)
3. Sanyo MR-JJ/JJ0 (no radio...)

 

I am looking for something like the same. Which one did you go with? Also, did Sony WA-33 have good sound from the inbuilt speakers?

 

I can recommend the Sony WA-8000; mine has recently been services/restored by @Valentin

 

Great! How is the sound from the speaker?

 

Looking at pictures with the WA-33 (never seen or serviced one), this one has a paper diaphragm speaker, while the WA-8000 has a plastic diaphragm.
From experience I can tell the paper one will have the better sound as it's much more flexible and can have way more travel without restrictions hence less distorsion.
The WA-8000 one also has a pretty small magnet, this combined to a stiffer diaphragm makes the speaker unfortunately not the best.
It is a compromise, because there's not a lot of space on the WA-8000 and they had to make the speaker very thin to fit inside.

The WA-8000 speaker has ok sound, especially on radio which is limited in bass. On cassette, the sound is ok at low to medium volumes.
At anything higher than a medium, bass distorsion is rising exponentially and becomes very audible.
This unit is nice because of the 120/70us EQ and because of the SW radio.

In regard to the speaker itself, I would prefer the National/Panasonic RX-2700. But that one doesn't have 120/70us EQ and is way more involved to service.
It's to be noted that even the WA-8000 needs to be disassembled quite a lot just to service the mechanism, so not the most service friendly unit that's for sure.

So question is what are you looking for exactly ? Just a walkman with a good speaker ? Do you need radio ? Do you need recording ? Do you need 120/70us EQ ?

 

Thanks for your detailed response! I am mainly looking for a walkman/very compact cassette player with a good speaker. I don't care about radio, recording or EQ.

 

Think from the SONY WA series, devices like the WA-33, WA-55 and similar are to be considered.
So are devices from Panasonic like the RQ-335. Or devices like Sanyo TRC-1500, M1120 etc.
There are quite a few options to choose from if a good speaker is the only requirement.

But for the most part look for a reasonable dimensions speaker: it needs to have a decent size magnet and a paper diaphragm to sound good, especially at louder levels.
One thing to keep in mind is this: most that have a good speaker will only have one so they will be mono and stereo will either be available only on headphones or not at all (the TRC-1500 is mono for example).

 

Woah. Sanyo M1120 looks cool and is actually affordable on eBay unlike the Sony WA series. Thanks!