Beer and Boomboxes!

It's only stereo if it's being broadcast in mono.....

 

Happy Halloween! I've been checking out our meager selection of Pumpkin Beers and found this happy surprise at Trader Joe's. For our European Friends, Trader Joe's is like Aldi, but we already have Aldi so they called it Trader Joe's. ( I think you have Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud). Anyway, with the very limited pickings I did get to check this out and was happy to find it was made by Shipyard who make my favorite Pumpkin Beers. Shipyard Pumpkinhead didn't do too well up here and I haven't found any this year, or for that matter any good pumpkin beers. The KBC Pumpkin is pretty good and you can have quite a few while wiggling those little belts into place. Tonight I'm listening to my Sharp WQ-T212 Twin Mechanism Double Cassette Deck. This model is so cool and still can be found for very reasonable pricing. It has a quesi-military look but it pretty robust and not cheap with a really cool side by side cassette tray, yep two cassettes in the same door. Not only can you play two cassettes but you can also dub, mine's a little dirty and will get the full treatment when I rebelt it. If your looking for one, try to make sure it has the very long and kind of rare plastic strap which compliments it nicely, along with the side vents for intense boombox playing.

 

I was surprised to see a few different versions out there, unfortunately they haven't had many posts on the site. Post a photo if you can Radio Raheem, they're really neat boxes, a little cheesy but not cheap.

 

Beer and Boom Boxes!

 

Let's kick the holiday season into full blast! I'm bumming about Jorge's Situation and I've offered to send MN's Finest. I've learned from the early days of forums that no matter where people are, that common connection or bond is real. Over the years guys have literally disappear or quit posting without any withdrawal disclosure. Several of the founding members have stopped posting or moved on but there's still a few and now there's a ton of new guys that love the technology and are starting to write about their adventures. If you leave please post so we can at least have a parting gesture, there's so many that we'll never know what happened.

I just grabbed this classic while nobody was looking, a Pioneer SK-210, a very understated box and they were practically giving it away. In the old days, I'd find a Pioneer about three times a year, now there's a handful for sale at any time. Weltron, Clairtone has a nice collection and this model always evaded me, but I lusted after it after reading his awesome thread. Mine doesn't have the strap handle but otherwise is in great condition. I think I need some DeOxit, the LEDs do work but just for a fraction of a second and they don't want to be photographed, at least tonight. I am listening to it and it sounds very firm, it's definitely a keeper even though there's no lights in the photo.

As a kid, the big three stereo guys were Pioneer, Marantz and Sansui, yes some of their boxes were kind of entry level but most of them will really surprise you, I'm trying to get their full line-up but it ain't easy.

North Coast PranQster is my fill in beer, Belgium Taste but 1/2 the cost, it's one of my go-to beers when working on the ice-rink in my front yard with sub-zero temperature, but I won't kid you, there's some empty Delirium Tremors out there as well. Tonight I'm in cuz the temps are kind of warm, and I wanted to show off my new find.

 

These Sharps are so funky with the cool double cassette, i have the model with Spectrum analyser and i love it:

 

The holidays are almost here and it's time to bring out the bad boy of boomboxes, another arm-breaker but a gentle giant, the Technics SA-009S in beautiful black. A three piece that only wants to bring us together in perfect harmony. I'm just getting excited about heading into the holiday week with an ice-cold Tin Whiskers and some lovely Strawberry Kit-Kats, fresh from Tokyo. One of these days I'll have to have a three-piece throw down but this one is sounding great right now and my arm is hurting from moving it into rotation. I know a bunch of you are enjoying the holidays, time to post some holiday cheer with your best box!

 

I'll keep the soiree going, it's been a little warm here but winter's chill has returned which means I need to get some more ice on my melting rink. I've switched it up and gotten out some Redstone Meadery, Nectar of the Hops. My all time favorite mead, it goes down great while spraying the ice. Legend has it if you spray on a full moon around midnight you'll be able to deke any goalie the next day. Being around 20 degrees and outside, I take my go-to Ion Job Rocker, yes it doesn't get a lot of props but it's cranking out No Sleep Til Brooklyn on the radio no less. Nothing like a Beastie Boy Block in the early morning and just loud enough that the neighbors might hear it.

 

The times sure have changed, it takes a monster snowthrower to clear the rink these days and we're expecting another 12" tonight. Just in case there's a real emergency I grabbed my Ward's Airline 1483 8-Band Portable Radio, not quite a boombox but one of the best sounding portable radios out of the 70's and a true radio monster.

For mono it really does sound good and bass is nice considering nothing has been replaced on it. I may have posted it before but it's such a nice unit, heavy and so well built I can't help but think this was pretty cool back in the 70's when you could reach more of the radio bands.

Tonight I stocked up and Dogfish Head Sea Quench Ale is hitting the spot, light and spritzy with lime juice and a hint of sea salt, perfect for high winds and lot's of snow.

I've been working on my photo quality, this one stinks and the box is crusty, just a little too late to fine tune it.

 

I heard Jorge might pop in this thread so I thought I'd post some inspiration. Ever since I posted a photo in the microcassette thread with this little Sanyo M-5850F, the world's smallest boombox using unicorn flakes, not rice, I've been lusting after one and a few weeks ago, got one. My Koko Brown Kona Brewing is kind of the same, I have to drive around to find it when it's in around this time of year. Walkgirl is the only other member that's posted one but it's a real gem and feels like lead when you pick it up, truly an engineering marvel and the cover is real leather, bonus!

 

It's official, the beer and boombox thread has been the inspiration for several beer ad campaigns!