Hello Mister X, First all yes this has one mono speaker built in the chassis of the radio is made of wood I think this will play a couple different size records I have only played 45 s thou . I replaced every electrolytic capacitor in the unit plus two battery springs . The unit works as good as it did when left the factory and is in amazing shape for it's age .
Hello longman, Yes that is basically the same one as mine mine has all those exact features as that one and has that exact turntable . The one item that i am thinking of adding to the radio is one my tiny Bluetooth modules . when I restored mine there is a perfect empty spot where I could add it . my bluetooth module has a onboard relay and aux input so there would be no visible switches . Sincerely Richard P.S. thank you for sharing the video
I posted an ad for these units down in the brochure section, hopefully I'll find more, they're kind of a rarity around here.
Hello MR X. I agree I think that unit is rare by it self anyway and being A jc penny model even makes it more rare . Sincerely Richard
In another thread the first boombox is coming up and this other Sony Gem is mentioned, the Sony CF-2500, the catalog (found below in Sony Brochures) is marked 1972. It is identical to the CF-550 visually, was it JDM only? We need TPR chiming in!
Thank you for posting this 1972 brochure. Now I can see the price of the Sony CF-550 at last! As per the "Dollar Yen Exchange Rate - Historical Chart" we can see on the listing for 1972 the exchange rate average for that year was 303. So 45,800 / 303 = $151. And the inflation calculator has that as $1114.14 US in 2024.
How about the Weltron 2004 from 1971 ? https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/weltron-2004-model-mega-1971-space-305691109 Apart from it being a sphere it meets all the other "Boombox" criteria of stereo cassette, stereo tuner, battery box, and carrying handle. I am currently restoring a Weltron 2001 which some sources say was first released in 1969. However, that has a playback only 8 Track deck. Interestingly the deck is Matsushita (Panasonic) while the speakers are Pioneer. People have shown that those were around £1000 adjusted for inflation when new.
I think two visible speakers on the side help with the rankings. Honestly these are great discussions, if anybody puts together a documentary I have to believe all this info helps! As a side note, doing a little more research, I think the CF-2500 is JDM only it does look like it only goes to 90 MHz in the photo above, the CF-550 would be the "world" version. Even in this 1973 ad, Sony proclaims it's the original. There's more of these in the Sony Thread, Brochure Section. I'm not sure how much these were, you'd have to go through the newspaper ads but the model that followed it, the CF-580 was advertised at $400 USD, I'd probably add another "store discount" of around 10% to the sell price. I know when I first saw a boombox around 77, it was a mono JVC and I think my friend's parents paid over $200 USD for it, maybe more. I remember it had a ferrite antenna on the back, I don't think I've seen a boombox with one since, anybody else seen one?
That sound projection sketch reminds me of today's single piece surround sound bars. It makes, the Sony CF-550 the grand father of all of today's sound bars, which are claimed to be made with sound projection technology!
Mr X, Yes , I have seen that Sony model I will have to check my inventory of stuff because I have an ealy model of Sony plus a realistic model that looks like that Sony ! Sincerely Richard
Cool, a Sony-Realistic (Radio Shack) Version, I'd love to see that, I don't think anybodies every posted one.
I think the first one piece i had was in around 1985, GF8989 that i bought from a friend for £10, i remember it didn't work on batteries, i think i repaired the power supply board and got it working..
