It seems that there is a hole in the market these days between shelf systems and the smaller boombox eggs.For a limited market and time span,there were some larger cobra styled 1 piece designs and elongated more powerful eggs during the '90s.These eventually went by the wayside leaving only black 3 piece boxes in the large category.Then the 3 piece boxes totally vanished.
Browsing the internet I find the Sony Xplod and retro i931 seem to be the only mid to large sized boomboxes in production (unless I've overlooked something).Of course the new docking station market has also had an effect.Manufacturers seem to focus on these despite the fact that there's less features overall than on a boomer.However I would think that people would prefer the diverse functionality of a true boombox with the docking station simply added as an additional feature.
Since walkmans have been around almost since the birth of the blaster,I don't feel portable headphone devices could be the reason.Despite a walkman (or todays MP3 players) ability of reproducing a BIG sound between your ears,larger boomboxes still continued to sell well after the introduction of portable headphone devices.Also even after many communities cracked down on noise pollution in the mid'80s big boxes continued on for well over a decade.
It goes without saying that companies don't stop making things that actually sell.When something disappears,it creates a void.What has filled the void created by the big boxes disappearance?Can anyone give me some insight why people might have lost interest in the bigger boomboxes?
______________________________________________
*TPR* [edit:-featured-]
Interesting question.
One that merits discussion!
A few things came to mind reading through your openning statement.
I first thought... Right? With Gangster Rap taking over in the early 90's from what Rap/Hip Hop was in the 80's. One would think that BBX popularity and development would have been a natural fit.
My next thought was, as a kid, I remember being at the ZOO and kids walking around with BBX cranked up loud. Older people frowning their disapproval. Some bold enough to confront these unruly teenagers!
Just like going to the sand dunes to ride my motorcycle... Id see tons of three wheeled ATV's.
I think for much the same reason why you dont see three wheelers anymore, you also dont see BBX on every other shoulder on every city block.
Laws were passed to protect us from ourselves from over reaching governments because of a small percentage of those who ruined it for us. Either by crashing their brains out on an ATV, or not turning down their BBX while the Tigers were sleeping...
That is just one possible reason for the death of our beloved BBX.
Perhaps it just wasnt profitable anymore?
Some companies tried to hang on to the profit margin by moving production from Japan to other parts of Asia... So maybe that doesnt fit either?
For the most part, car audio killed the big boombox. Instead of walkin' around the neighborhood playin' tunes, cats discovered that they could drive around the entire city with more power and more bass than any boombox could ever produce. At least that's what I started to notice around '87/'88. Before "Do The Right Thing" came out in '89, I had stopped carrying my Lasonic and the cats I knew stopped carrying their boxes as well.
you know i thought the same thing at one time that people were more into car systems not much with boxes especially in the early 90s ...but in the 80s i use blast my conion along with my friends box in the car simultaneously the same mixed tape...it sounded so cool and so loud...it was like a system in the car..
quote:
At least that's what I started to notice around '87/'88. Before "Do The Right Thing" came out in '89, I had stopped carrying my Lasonic and the cats I knew stopped carrying their boxes as well.
Living in Southern Cali 1987-90, I noticed the popularity of MiniTrucks, tricked out rides now sporting the massive sound systems instead of the corner congregaters with the boxes.
transwave5000 - 2008-12-18 01:51
I see street performers downtown using large boxes . Like the Sony Xplod.
I'm in agreement with everyone here.
I think the portable market shrunk down to accomodate mp3's and the want for higher volume sound outdoors went to the car audio market.
These days it's a very, very small niche of the general public who'd consider carrying a large radio around for music when they can either take their ipod, or crank their car stereo.
That side of the bigger/badder/louder mentality towards radios is really catered for in the car audio market these days and it's standard kit these days for new cars to have 8 speaker mp3 compatible stereos with ipod connectivity.
I think these two markets are so very well cemented in popular culture that it only leaves a tiny demographic who wants to carry a 20 pound suitcase sized radio around. The fascination with miniaturising things and incorporating them into mobile/cell phones is what all the big electronics company's seem to want to invest all their R&D in.
The 'lastability' of this junky age of technology doesn't lend itself to large objects with any portability too. The appalling quality of most egg's and portable music systems with speakers is ropey at best. None are designed to be carried around at length and used on the move.
But it certainly doesn't stop me carrying my vintage radios around and using them for what they were intended, that's for sure.
Rock On.
Three piece boxes came about after the noise ordinances of the mid-80s.This allowed an offender to take his boomer inside,separate the speakers,and use it as a home stereo system.As more people did this it seems also that companies used this as an excuse to skimp on power also.You don't need as much power/volume to be heard indoor as you do when you are outdoors.It makes sense that car audio could have had a major impact in the late '80s/early '90s also.Perhaps those with car systems would laugh at those carrying boomboxes.After all,they had more "fire power" than your average pedestrian could hope for outside of a car.However,3-piece boxes were still produced for nearly a decade after car stereo became popular in a big way.For this reason Car audio couldn't have been what finally killed the 3-piece.
I did a search of the internet and find "0" 3-piece boxes currently being made.In fact,If you go to the manufacturers websites there are very few if any boomboxes larger than the smallest and roundest egg shaped variety.In addition to the Xplod and i931 I mentioned earlier,I should add the Kaboom to the current lineup of big performers.Though many here might balk,I feel any three piece boxes with attachable speakers are ripe for a surge in popularity as collectible and historic electronics devices from the past.If you disagree,just go to the manufacturers websites and see what they have to offer.
transwave5000 - 2008-12-18 08:37
There is also the JVC Kaboom available. I see a CD version in a local department store the other day.
But the 3-piece boombox has been transformed into the mini stereo system. When I see many of these mini stereos I still see a boombox.
.
.
Its funny how its such a forgotten niche market.
I mean... whenever Ive had a grail with me... even the non faithful stand in awe of the mighty vision of power and glory.
When they hear it, a wave of dumbfoundness sweeps over them.... this isnt limited to a few people... Everyone Ive encountered is this way. Except for one of my best friends... he remains unimpressed and 'doesnt get it.'
However, in his defense, he proves the last couple of posts perfectly... Early 90's when we finally had some money, he loaded the back of his 5.0 GT with woofers!
There was a time then, when bass really did impress the ladies! Not sure what impresses them these days! Credit cards?
quote:
Originally posted by JLF: Except for one of my best friends... he remains unimpressed and 'doesnt get it.'
However, in his defense, he proves the last couple of posts perfectly... Early 90's when we finally had some money, he loaded the back of his 5.0 GT with woofers!
Maybe your friend is now deaf and that is the reason he is not impressed.
As a general comment I think every one of you has hit the nail on the head... or should I say that every one of the nails you are hitting on the head are just one more in the Boombox coffin. However I think that there is a chance for commercial success in the BBX area. But it would require a manufacturer to step out on a limb and build a high-quality boombox that looked good, had lots of power etc etc.... but it would have to be something SOLID. Not some flashy piece of cr*p. And I don't see that happening anytime soon....
transwave5000 - 2008-12-18 09:07
How about this monster.
.
.
Has anyone heard that monster?
I wonder if my tech guy could remove everything inside it, and install it inside an old school box? Something that is a poor performer. Nah... what am I talking about?!
quote:
Originally posted by transwave5000:
There is also the JVC Kaboom available. I see a CD version in a local department store the other day.
But the 3-piece boombox has been transformed into the mini stereo system. When I see many of these mini stereos I still see a boombox.
.
.
In the mid '80s when manufacturers decided to add flexibility by giving us removable speakers,I imagine some were not happy with this change.Keep in mind though that,as designed,these were 1 piece boxes that broke apart into 3 pieces for added flexibility.The shelf system of recent years may look somewhat similar to a boombox when moving the pieces tightly together. However,it actually was designed from the perspective of an integrated components system that benefits from ease of setup.The probable reason that none has appeared with attachable speakers is simple.It never occurred to the designers that anyone considered them a replacement for a boombox at all.Manufacturers just feel that people do not want large boomboxes.As I said,this had to be the result of lack of sales.Since bigger boxes disappeared in the late '90s,I'm still not convinced it was caused by car audio.That it had an effect is certainly true to some extent.However,I feel it would have disappeared far earlier if this was really the issue.This leads me to wonder what else was happening around the turn of the century to change peoples buying habits.Anybody?
transwave5000 - 2008-12-18 19:38
The monster::
Model::
Portable DVD Player Radio Cassette Recorder
RX-1000DVD
Capable of playback of DVD/ MPEG4/ DivX/ WMA/ SVCD/ DVCD/ MP3/ Photo CD/ Audio CD discs
AC/DC two way operations (UM1 Battery x 8pcs.
From the Specs on this thing its not as junky as it looks.
Product Link------------------------------------
Here is a 3-piece old-school model from the same company.
With DVD and USB and more.
So there is still a 3-piece available.
DVD Video Boombox, 3-piece.
.
.
.
WOW,great detective work!Though I can't find anything on the site saying they are 3 piece,the box with the DVD screen certainly looks like it has the appropriate latches in the picture.This company is doing what the others should be doing.I wish I could find one at a brick and mortar store.To be truthful,they look pretty cheaply built from what I can see.But wow,that's the compatibility and features many of us would like to see.Could use some restyling though.The question is,"Are these selling and why do we not see them from other manufacturers?"
I agree!
Great detective work!
There are specific markets (mainly tropical/desert) whre the cassette is more viable than the CD. This is due to high humidity (tropical) or dusty (desert) conditions that wreak havoc on CD's. Those models above (See the one with "XBS") are what Panasonic manufactured. Go to the Malysian site and you should see a few there as well as the Middle East site.
i agree/ with monolithic ,and i might add that around 1988/89 boomboxes started getting really ugly and losing the chrome in favor of that all one color with no excitement look which led to the current state of affairs ,boomboxes nowadays are a joke except for the kaboom which is butt ugly but sounds good .
quote:
i agree/ with monolithic ,and i might add that around 1988/89 boomboxes started getting really ugly and losing the chrome in favor of that all one color with no excitement look which led to the current state of affairs ,boomboxes nowadays are a joke except for the kaboom which is butt ugly but sounds good .
The SONY Xplod CFD-G700CP is butt ugly as well but sounds better than the Kaboom and I do own both. This is a great sounding box by SONY and I fear it's getting ignored around here. It's not to be confused with its weak predecessor the cfd-g505. It's about twice as big as the 505 with more bass and dedicated tweeters for much better highs than the Kaboom. All I ever see on store shelves is the 505. I had to order the 700cp direct from SONY. Their outlet stores rarely carry the thing but it's being ignored all over e-bay. Please I beg you guys to take a look at this thing. A great boombox of today.
The CFDG700CP:
The CFDG505:
The red UNIREX above seems to be a copy of the Sony cfd-g505. Please don't confuse that with the 700cp pictured below.
DKD,
This is very encouraging news!Are those small round thinks to the outside of each woofer the actual tweeters?Are the main speakers larger than those on the 505?Of course if they are the same size the newer units larger cabinet could still aid the ported design to produce more bass.Also,is there a software adjustable multi-band equalizer on the 707 and/or does it have a "custom" type option in the sound presets?Despite its unconventional style this would certainly qualify as a high performance type of boomer-and a one piece at that!
I've had my eye on this series for a while.It annoys me greatly that the Kaboom doesn't have tweeters.It would be interesting to know how the 707 stacks up against the more expensive retro i931.
I think I know the reason for the demise of the big boombox. It's the lack of upper body strength in todays youth caused by being over coddled as children. I mean it's different time ,man. Todays kids are seriously overprotected. Heaven forbid a boombox should have a sharp square edge! Hence the small egg shaped portables of today. These limp wristed youth dont stand a chance to hoist up a rightcheous ghettoblaster loaded with 10D cells on a shoulder. Damn shame!
Peace,
Paul Z.
transwave5000 - 2008-12-24 20:03
Savety first these days.
Wear your safety shoes too.
A lot of these big blaster were a new thing and they were testing the market "how big can we go".
Many blasters went over the size of normal and into extreme.
Leaving us with some relics of the past.
.
.
.
Master Z,transwave5000,
You bring up some interesting points.To build on them here are some more possibilities for consideration.Ever since the '80s there has been a growing campaign to get kids off the streets.Over the years,even halloween has become an almost exclusively indoor activity.During the same period,other ideas such as product safety and the discouraging of "unsafe" activities have been increasingly stressed and/or implemented through laws.
In a sense political correctness certainly plays a big roll also.This is born out of our modern media driven and excessively litigious society.Tragically,It seems everyone is afraid of lawsuits these days.This deters companies from promoting anything that might get them into trouble.No company is going to feel comfortable designing and advertising something big and heavy with deafening sound to be carried around on your shoulder.
Perhaps the resulting cultural changes from all of these "do good" campaigns have made carrying large boxes increasingly "unfashionable" (if you'll excuse the term).In view of this,maybe the electronics companies didn't realize soon enough that this would also allow freeing themselves from the design constraints battery power put on the larger units.Even so,after a long decade (the '90s) of decreasing sales 3-piece boxes were eventually phased out.This seems to make some sense.And why not?An indoor stereo usually occupies the same space from start to finish during its service life.This spot is usually chosen with a close electrical socket as a primary consideration.Most people are going to forget they have the option to use batteries at all.By default large battery operated units were replaced in the market by generally more powerful 3-piece shelf systems though they weren't initially designed for that purpose.These changes helped to evolve a tighter definition for "portable audio" to include nothing bigger than small "eggs" at the large end of this category,the boombox.
Of course a few odd examples of the bigger battery powered stereos are still produced for a limited market as we have seen.In truth I'm thinking the real issues since the classic era have been laws and politically correct decisions changing peoples conduct.It's funny how government,media,and the legal system shapes industry and peoples behaviors in general.Right beneath our noses theres a lot of subtle coersion that goes on in society without our noticing.
quote:
Originally posted by oldskool69:
There are specific markets (mainly tropical/desert) whre the cassette is more viable than the CD. This is due to high humidity (tropical) or dusty (desert) conditions that wreak havoc on CD's. Those models above (See the one with "XBS") are what Panasonic manufactured. Go to the Malysian site and you should see a few there as well as the Middle East site.
I am from Malaysia. I also intrested with that model you see however Panasonic Malaysia did not bring in that model further it is long obsolete. They are plain lazy to remove from their website. As for high humidty, cassette is more prone to fungus than cd. Over here we have no problem with cd or cassete. VCR tapes do suffer from fungus. Nowadays youngster prefer the mp3 player with headphone. That is why boombox got killed in Malaysia.
el.rojo.grande - 2009-03-02 21:35
I think you guys who noted the changing public taste or acceptance of loud public radios are on the right track. I remember subway and train placards that had the "no radio" graphics to help keep sonic order in public transportation. However, I think stereo-wide helped to kill boomboxes.
Here's why:
On even the largest one piece box the speakers are at best 2 feet apart. Fancier stereo modeling made the necessity of removing speakers to add distance in order to appreciate stereo wide and surround sound. However, it was a pain to coil up the speaker cables and connect everything back together to make it portable, when it was so much easier to grab your walkman or discman (in the 90s) and headphones, since you couldn't enjoy music broadcast over speakers anyway.
Per the design changes in boxes, remember how everything used to be rectangular? As the 80s changed to the 90s the whole idea of "biomorphic design" came into focus, and among industrial designers, it became almost a design flaw if any product had any straight line on it. Check camera designs from the same era to see my point.
Right now, it seems that we are in a "Transformer" design phase as the new Sonys illustrate the look of part robot, part human.
Will boomboxes, other than a table top model ever come back? I suspect not. With the notable exception of televisions, all consumer electronics keep shrinking in size, some to the point of ridiculousness as shown in some of the mp3 players. There is just a convenience in having thousands of songs in such a compact easily transportable format. And I think convenience, portability and boatloads of musical choice will always trump any thoughts of returning to the large single piece boombox format.
Well, off of my boombox bully pulpit. I have some vinyl to spin...
I also "graduated" to the in-car audio scene from boomboxes. It was just natural to go for bigger & better.
Let's be honest, most of us moved on from the boombox to hifi or ICE without a backward glance, eh?
That big Sony looks interesting. Looking at the spec it has 2x3W & 1x7W proper output. That's lots these days. ...& it has a tape deck too. Looks like a viable Kaboom chaser, but with tweeters
peter.griffin - 2009-03-13 09:02
I'm not sure about other areas, but here in Toronto, it seemed to die after the first "breakdancing" craze died out(1985 or so). It was no longer "cool" to carry boomboxes around. And like everything else in the world, there was a movement to "smaller", smaller cars, smaller homes, etc...
I'm hoping the newest breakdancing craze, "b-boying" will help bring back boomboxes into the mainstream.
quote:
I'm hoping the newest breakdancing craze, "b-boying" will help bring back boomboxes into the mainstream.
I'm hoping for that as well. This is a new style from what I grew up doing. Although I don't really care for the excessive freeze poses and boring hand/elbow stands, I do think they've ushered in 'some' next generation moves that impresse me. Still, I don't see enough Boomboxes from this younger generation to pay homage to this culture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsl4Lca6j_gold.school.scott - 2009-04-29 20:20
HIP HOP died. It was replaced by the rap music industry. It brought the boom box with it.
This is a general statement of-course. I still find break dancers graffiti artists and true MCs but it's gone back underground.
That surge that happened around 1980 created a need for heavy base and all of the accouterments that the manufacturers could cram into a boom-box.
There are many of us that could use a good boom-box right now.{alot of my b-boy friends} but not enough for the industries to care.
OSS
Great topic!
My days of regularly carrying around a boombox pretty much ended when the handle on my GF-9292 broke. I carried that thing around so much it was ridiculous. From 1980 to 1982 I think I spent more money on D-cells than I did on tapes! I was 13-15 years old at the time and loud music really appealed to me as I was discovering what I liked and swapping tunes with my friends!
That era took place in a metropolitan area in Germany for me. Then, in mid 1982 the Army transferred my Dad and my family moved to rural Georgia. We're talking about some major culture shock here! All of a sudden I had to make new friends from a pool of people with whom I discovered I really did not have much in common.
When we moved to Georgia, my prized GF-9292 pretty much became room decor (although I do remember it serving quite well as a car-stereo in my first ride). I don't remember ever seeing anybody in Hinesville, Georgia back in 1982 toting around a boombox. So, I didn't either.
In rural areas, everything tends to be too spread out for walking anyway, so without a car you were basically screwed. Lucky for me, I had a walkman, which I could listen to while riding a bike, or on the bus, or during lunch at school, or even in the corner of the library during study hall. For the first couple of months in the new place, my Walkman was my best friend.
Now that I really think about it, I'm kind of surprised that more people aren't attributing the demise of the jumbo-boombox to the rise of the walkman? The walkman had real appeal because the stereo sound was better via the direct-to-ear headphones and resulting stereo separation, plus you could listen to it everywhere without drawing negative attention to yourself.
Early rap and hip hop kicked things off, but it seems like breakdancing and such had a pretty limited following outside of major metro areas. Addionally, I think that gangsta-rap and the content of the music itself made it even more obnoxious and inappropriate to play out in public. The music of the late 70's and early 80's seemed much more innocent than much that evolved from that era.
Times change, and we evolve with them. Sometimes the manufacturers follow us, and sometimes they lead us. And while we all lovingly reflect back to the early 80's and remember how cool we were (or thought we were) toting around our suitcases of music... The truth of the matter is that loud boomboxes being played out in public, while they were more acceptable then, were still largely frowned upon by pretty much anyone over the age of 30 back then. I also remember public area signs that said NO RADIOS (or Radios Verboten in Germany) as well. Much like NO SKATEBOARDING signs are all over the place now.
It was about that same time that the Sony Walkman became mega popular.
Many of us love these things because they are a part of our past and to some degree they represent a time in our life when we were really starting to form our own opinions and choose our own paths. We were doing our own thing and making the immediate world around us take notice.
If boomboxes like the C-100 or M-90 were still made today, would we really think they were as cool? Would we even be here on this site?
Great comments JT.Yes,I feel we would all still be here to answer your last question.If those boxes (C-100,M90) had remained in production they would be quite a bit different in a current form.There would have been subtle styling changes and technology updates along the years.This has happened with automobiles in some cases.The newest Porsches based on the original 911 design look somewhat different from the original.It has been a gradual evolution.This doesn't make the older ones less valuable.The effect has been quite the opposite.Consider the fact their are singular forums spanning the years of production of many different makes of cars.We all have different tastes,but a newer version of a Conion C100F would still be a C100F just as an old Porsche and a new Porsche are both still Porsches.
quote:
Originally posted by Jovie:
Great comments JT.Yes,I feel we would all still be here to answer your last question.If those boxes (C-100,M90) had remained in production they would be quite a bit different in a current form.There would have been subtle styling changes and technology updates along the years.This has happened with automobiles in some cases.The newest Porsches based on the original 911 design look somewhat different from the original.It has been a gradual evolution.This doesn't make the older ones less valuable.The effect has been quite the opposite.Consider the fact their are singular forums spanning the years of production of many different makes of cars.We all have different tastes,but a newer version of a Conion C100F would still be a C100F just as an old Porsche and a new Porsche are both still Porsches.
Right on...
And to answer my last question, I would still think they are cool and I would still be here...
I just feel that the big boomboxes died out due to the generation moving on. Yes we all had the big monsters with the 10d's in them and the balls and strength to carry them. It was a sence of pride to walk the streets of our neighborhoods with these Monsters. And it didnt matter what the hell had been playing out of these beast either. Rap,Hip-hop.Metal,Rock,disco it was all respected and appreciated.And then as time goes on all of us youngsters started driving and of course we went Nuts with the stereo equiptment in the cars. And drove around the same streets of our neighborhood playing the stuff Loud as hell so it took the walking around with the Boomboxes out of the picture. Its crazy how our younger generation did not develop the pride and want for these monsters we had once carried around. and drove our neighborhoods crazy with.Hell if ya think about it we had killed that younger generation with the monsters as they carried around there walkmans and buy the time they had gotten those tinsy winsy boomboxes our car stereos over powerd them so bad that they just never left the house! Now thats funny ..... Hey atleast we can all say we had been there at a time when the true giants walked the streets and we carried them to hell and back and developed alot of respect for one an other it was a brotherhood that only we had obtained. thats all i have to say about that!
quote:
Originally posted by peter griffin:
I'm not sure about other areas, but here in Toronto, it seemed to die after the first "breakdancing" craze died out(1985 or so). It was no longer "cool" to carry boomboxes around. And like everything else in the world, there was a movement to "smaller", smaller cars, smaller homes, etc...
I'm hoping the newest breakdancing craze, "b-boying" will help bring back boomboxes into the mainstream.
thats a hell of a nice sony you have there in the middle......I like that one!
old.school.scott - 2009-07-14 08:29
Actually I've always kinda liked the looks of those Xplods.
I'm glad there is something designed of the day that can catch my eye because that's how I know I'm not a Geezer yet.
Xplod.
It's not an egg or a football or a tube, It's more like the grill of a cool car or a space ship.
And again, If I went back to 1981 with one of these things, the Boom-box enthusiasts of my High-school would pee their pants!!
Cheers OSS
Here's my two sents.
Consider the time when b-boxes where in fashion. One word .. RECESSION. We are in the middle of one now and whilst I agree with all the other points made on this thread, I think there may be a possibility of a renaissance. The young, disaffected and unemployed just need to see the boomboxes as 'their voice' or a means of escapism and voila. Alternatively, most trends come from some undergound movement like punk in New York in the 70's. I think if the artists catch onto it as, for example, a statement against the 'selfishness' of an Ipod, then you might see something interesting happen. Who knows?
I think people like us need to educate the younger generation about the how their music technology evolved. You get youngsters here in London who think they are being rebelious and irritating to older folk by playing music through their phone!! It does irritate me, only because I can't hear what they are playing. A phone will never play music properly because of its size.
When I bought my 777 home, just the reaction from my six year old made buying it worth it; the sheer wonderment. She even shows it to her friends and they're only six!. I have fitted the strap from my Loweprow camera bag (really heavey duty strap) to it so when I carry it out I can see the reaction.. should be interesting.
Thats funny. Well a neighbor of mine walks over one day with a 12pack of beer and says damm how bout some music. I said Okay. He says i got it. He walks over 10 minutes later with an Ipod and a little docking station and i said Okay. He's like wow man doesnt that sound great. I said well Okay but.........I come outside with the monster. The panasonic rx-c300 and plugged the ipdod into it and said Now that sounds great he said Gosh Darn dude what the hell is that. I laughed........
I would like to weigh in on this one....I am just getting into boomboxes again...I am a child of the 80's and I did carry a JVC around. (can't remember the model).
I think the demise of the boombox is due to legal changes to a certain degree, and yes, the car audio thing had a lot to do with it. I also think that as a society (as a world?) we have become more and more inundated with information and stimuli from all directions to the point that it can be overwhelming. Listening to music through headphones allows a person to "fine-tune" his own environment so to speak and find a bit of refuge that he is able to control.
And yes---kids are so much more lazy today. It is a crying shame. The change in obesity rates is a real epidemic.
I have to say even though it annoys me because of the tinny sound, I do think it is cool and satisfying to see kids listening to music out loud on their cell phones....
I am sitting here right now turning my neighbors on to the contents of my Cowon D2 pumping and thumpin' through my Pana 5050!
quote:
Originally posted by JLF:
Has anyone heard that monster?
I wonder if my tech guy could remove everything inside it, and install it inside an old school box? Something that is a poor performer. Nah... what am I talking about?!
in the late 80s & early 90s, there used to be a stall in Camden market where you could buy ancient looking valve radios which had the original (broken) contents stripped out & replaced with donor guts from a boombox. Generally the original, large elliptical speaker had two drivers from a stereo boomer in it's place. He did a steady trade too, it seems, 'cos he was there for years.
You know, the portable CD player helped to kill the Big Boxes too!!! CD's were becoming more popular than Cassettes were. The only problem with walking down the street with a CD Player was that, if it didn't have an anti-shock feature on it, it'd be skipping on you all the way down the block!!!
This is a very good question, though. It's almost the same as asking why did the auto makers get rid of the Big Caddys, Lincolns, Electra 225s, Oldsmobile 98 Regencys, Chrysler New Yorkers, and all of the other Pimp Mobiles from back in the day!!!
It's because of the Recession!!! With the Big Cars, they got rid of them to save GAS. With the Big Boxes, they got rid of them to save BATTERIES!!!
I know that sounds crazy, but think about it!!!
'NUFF SAID
quote:
Originally posted by KBallenger53:
With the Big Boxes, they got rid of them to save BATTERIES!!!
'NUFF SAID
And many many miles of tapes.
quote:
Originally posted by KBallenger53:
You know, the portable CD player helped to kill the Big Boxes too!!! CD's were becoming more popular than Cassettes were. The only problem with walking down the street with a CD Player was that, if it didn't have an anti-shock feature on it, it'd be skipping on you all the way down the block!!!
This is a very good question, though. It's almost the same as asking why did the auto makers get rid of the Big Caddys, Lincolns, Electra 225s, Oldsmobile 98 Regencys, Chrysler New Yorkers, and all of the other Pimp Mobiles from back in the day!!!
It's because of the Recession!!! With the Big Cars, they got rid of them to save GAS. With the Big Boxes, they got rid of them to save BATTERIES!!!
I know that sounds crazy, but think about it!!!
'NUFF SAID
i'd have to agree with this, because of cd players they had to start making boomboxes or portable players to accomodate the shape of the CD and its loading system,, notice when CD boomboxes came out they were all circular dome'd shaped? i hated that so much, why dont any of them have a slot loading system?,, they can fit a cd walkman down to the size of a CD, why not have a CD player in a boombox such that it doesnt make the player look like a round little bubble that looks like its a toy from a day care centre? This also encouraged smaller, less wattage speakers, because the dome shape left less real estate for things like this, and that was because of the CD player. Only thing i really hated about CDs, minus the fact that they can scratch to the point that not only do they skip every second but until theyre unplayable.
The reason 3-piece boxes were killed was because there was a lot of peer pressure between these companies to offer multi-CD changers, which require lots of space. So they eliminated the handle, because it's almost impossible to carry around a box with a 3-5 disk changer. Not to mention those changers were very fragile and broke easily. So they started calling them "shelf systems" because that's where people were leaving them anyway.
Shelf systems are currently split into 2 categories:
1) Huge, ugly, plastic systems with tons of power and bazooka-looking bass ports, but very poor overall quality. Typically used by kids who hook it up to their gaming system.
2) Nice-looking "executive" systems with metal and wood finish (I love them).
brian84corvette - 2010-06-10 21:05
I agree with car stereo - causing a lack of demand for big portable radios,
and also alot of other things come to mind tho.. like back in the day - people used to go camping and other related activitys like picnics at the park and what not. but now that the world is so "modernized" we dont find our selves that far away from civilization to have the need for a portable battery powered stereo... there is always a wall socket somewhere now to plug in to - and headphones / ear buds connected to I pods are the way of the future sadly. people also dont comunicate as much verbaly / audably anymore either. when was the last time you walked up to a complete stranger and said anything to them... yeah people are just not that outgoing now adays with sexual predators / murders potentialy on every corner of the earth we are more or less to our selves.
I ride bmx bike / flatland and almost like to concider my styling of riding hip hop / urban or break styles and I currently wear big stereo headphones to I pod - but I would WAY rather bring a big boom box to ride with as having the phones conected to my ears is anti social / and they bug me when im doing riding tricks...
another potential turn off of the big boom box could possibly be that the musics of today are so graphicly violent / offensive to people that companies do not wish to produce devices capable of blasting this garbage to the ears of the elderly / or childrens possibly.
during the early 80s the demand for big radio cassette recorders was at its highest,and peaked i guess around 1981/82.it was all to do with the hip hop movement and the great music that guys wanted to play,loud and proud.but as the 80s wore on,people turned their attention to cost effective buying,and as such boxes became cheaper in price but cheaper in quality.you compare an early 80s aiwa to any say 1987 aiwa-chances are the differences will be huge.my heart falls in the 1976-83 bracket for boxes really-the 90s brought out the advent of egg shaped monstrosities that were both cheap looking and cheap sounding.with the exception of the panasonic cobras the rest of the stuff in the 90s was modern tat.and now?what is the state of the modern scene?with ipod this and ipod that i believe there to be nothing of any great importance out there to even be branded a boombox-for example,in the uk our main catalogue store is argos-their highest wattage machine is 2.4 watts-i have a fergusun 3t28 from 1985 with more watts in each speaker than that!and it doesnt take much to beat a ferguson!i wouldnt touch anything 90s anymore,let alone 2000+.id rather buy a lump of excrement,somehow plug in two speakers and a tape deck and use that than buy any of the crap out now.and thats why boxes fell-because costs were cut therefore quality was left by the wayside.and then there was the dreaded walkman.but thats another story,for another day!sorry guys,rant over!
Originally Posted by andyboombox:
during the early 80s the demand for big radio cassette recorders was at its highest,and peaked i guess around 1981/82.it was all to do with the hip hop movement and the great music that guys wanted to play,loud and proud.but as the 80s wore on,people turned their attention to cost effective buying,and as such boxes became cheaper in price but cheaper in quality.you compare an early 80s aiwa to any say 1987 aiwa-chances are the differences will be huge.my heart falls in the 1976-83 bracket for boxes really-the 90s brought out the advent of egg shaped monstrosities that were both cheap looking and cheap sounding.with the exception of the panasonic cobras the rest of the stuff in the 90s was modern tat.and now?what is the state of the modern scene?with ipod this and ipod that i believe there to be nothing of any great importance out there to even be branded a boombox-for example,in the uk our main catalogue store is argos-their highest wattage machine is 2.4 watts-i have a fergusun 3t28 from 1985 with more watts in each speaker than that!and it doesnt take much to beat a ferguson!i wouldnt touch anything 90s anymore,let alone 2000+.id rather buy a lump of excrement,somehow plug in two speakers and a tape deck and use that than buy any of the crap out now.and thats why boxes fell-because costs were cut therefore quality was left by the wayside.and then there was the dreaded walkman.but thats another story,for another day!sorry guys,rant over!
Andy, I agree with you 100%!!!
Let's take for example: The Biggest, Baddest Boombox today, with that so-called "Extra Bass" Feature, and put it up against a Lasonic or a Pioneer SK-91 from back in the day, and it will be NO CONTEST!!!
But let me tell you something, things in life tend to come full circle: I was in NYC a week ago, and as I was walking down 6th AVE, I saw a Stereo Shop with DJ equipment and stuff, and guess what they had for sale in the back of the store? Classic Boom Boxes!!! MY HEART ALMOST JUMPED OUT OF MY CHEST!!!
But what was more shock to me were the prices....OH MY GOD!!! They wanted two arms and two legs for them, but for nostalgia sake, it would've been worth it.
Maybe next time............................................................................................
'NUFF SAID
WOW ... has anybody read this thread all the way through recently???
Originally Posted by transwave5000:
How about this monster. its ugly and in my opinion a load of crap like most stuff they make these days. bring back the proper boomboxes.
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has to be to be the ICE (in car entertainment) as others on this thread have mentioned too,the timeline fits in the uk in my opinion,mid eighties hot hatches had to have top aftermarket audio.
^that xbass looks like a kids toy
...lol
