was just having a think, when looking at the box's you can get "what make me like it and want it ?"

is it the
size ?
power ?
shape ?
colour ?
availability ?
strange design ?

at the moment i like the look of, two big speakers two, small tweeters, single deck, twin ariels, for me a classic look - but there are so many different stlyes out there - more chrome - stealth grill 3D black box ?

so what make you go "i want that one" or "i love the look of that !"

let me know what makes it for you and why !

cheers B

When I graduated Navy Boot Camp back in '78, up at Great Lakes, IL. I went to the Exchange and saw this Pioneer (SK-Series, but can't remember which one) and it really grabbed my attention!

First of all the speakers had BLACK REMOVABLE CLOTH COVERS with 2 silver chrome stripes that ran horizontally across both of them. The rest of the box was SILVER. It also had a PROGRAMABLE MUSIC SEARCH, in the CENTER CONTROL PANEL, that let you pick which song on a pre-recorded tape that you wanted to hear. It had GREEN and RED LED lights for your recording levels, along with seperate LFT & RGHT sliding recording levers. VERY PROFESSIONAL!!!

It even had an auto-rewind feature on it so that you can replay that song as many times as you wanted!!! (Very Advanced For It's Time) It had Condenser Mics built into the HANDLE!!! In the back of it, it even had INPUT & OUTPUT RCA CONNECTORS to hook up to your DJ EQUIPMENT!!!

I've NEVER seen a box like this EVER, and haven't seen one SINCE!!! How much did it cost back then??? $140.00. Did I buy it? Yep.........spent my whole check on it!!!!!

'NUFF SAID

P.S. DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT PIONEER BOX I'M TALKING ABOUT???

Size, shape and lots of bass!

HIGH CONTRAST....
I love the look of a black box with large areas of shiny chrome or a silver box with big black speakers. I love the Philly Mags with the silver ring in the middle of a black square surrounded by more chrome for the speaker placement.
Good sound is a must but it's got to catch my eye first with high contrast.

Cheers OSS

First: the LOOK
Then: Sound, features, price....

First: the SOUND
Then: Features, brand, look....

quote:

Originally posted by Fuzzyduck:
Size, shape and lots of bass!

Now there's a lady after my own heart you got a Kaboom Fuzzy?

First: The look,
Then: Large size, features, sound, brand...

I like early '80s 'silver' era boxes, with chrome trims round the woofers, a bulky size, with lots of knobs and switches.

Shape and brand....



SHARP

Great Post!

I agree with everyone on everything but there is one thing that I remember the most when I bought my JVC RCM70 in 1981 - THE SMELL!! I know you guys/gals know what I mean - that fresh soder/electrical smell. Mine still smells like it!!

The speakers and the overall look of the box.

Like, your know. Boxes have that "look". Classic, High-Tech, etc.

Well, thanks for asking our opinion, for me it's a number of things that simply HAVE to have
1-features in relation to weight (if it's heavy it better have a lot of good circuits inside, not just for cosmetics)
2-sound, as a recorder AND a player. The quality of the recordings should be at least close to that of prerecorded tapes.
3-convenience- ease of operation is important especially if you have it sitting next to you in your car.
Looks- It should look professional, no lights that have no function, no plastic protrusion with no use for them, lines should be straight
and not look gaudy, it should be shiny but not sparkly, and solid without being too heavy. It should look like something you could carry around if you were wearing formal clothing or if you were a secret agent working from a fancy hotel room on the Riviera. It should not look like something that came from an alien spaceship. I may have other issues which I have not mentioned here, but other contributors might know what I mean already.

good question, b.
i just love these things. theyre so retro. so cool. so much better built and looking than the modern crap. who wants i pods, eh? everythings i-this and i-that nowadays. keep it. its all trash.
i love the big speakers on show, and i love the noise these things make. and i love the size of 'em. the bigger. the better.
best thing i ever did getting into this.
great idea for a post b!
andy v

First the look

quote:

Originally posted by paulchris2:
THE SMELL!! I know you guys/gals know what I mean - that fresh soder/electrical smell. Mine still smells like it!!

fuly .

That smell of a new boombox I'll never forget.

quote:

First of all the speakers had BLACK REMOVABLE CLOTH COVERS with 2 silver chrome stripes that ran horizontally across both of them. The rest of the box was SILVER. It also had a PROGRAMABLE MUSIC SEARCH, in the CENTER CONTROL PANEL, that let you pick which song on a pre-recorded tape that you wanted to hear. It had GREEN and RED LED lights for your recording levels, along with seperate LFT & RGHT sliding recording levers. VERY PROFESSIONAL!!!

I've NEVER seen a box like this EVER, and haven't seen one SINCE!!! How much did it cost back then??? $140.00. Did I buy it? Yep.........spent my whole check on it!!!!!

'NUFF SAID

P.S. DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT PIONEER BOX I'M TALKING ABOUT???

I think you're talking about the sk 95, i have one, it does look really cool.

http://www.stereo80s.com/bbx.cfm?id=437

I like the classic look, think Sharp 8989, Crown 950, Rising 20/20 with the chrome and silver, round speaker bezels rather than square grilles, cool vu's or LED's, size to some extent, sound is important but then again I've got 2x Crown SZ5100's so style can also be an overriding factor even with mediocre sound!!

I do like lots of different styles though, not as keen on the less 'conventional' box styling eg; the Sanyo Big Ben and that upside down Panasonic with the wooden sides.

I like nice deep bass, good midrange presence and detailed, sparkly highs rather than abrasive sounding 'boom and tizz' boxes with little real sound definition - but then again that is true of many boxes and it's not fair to expect true hifi sound.

The main thing that does it for me,is to get hold of those stereo`s that i wanted when i was a kid but could`nt have..
sometimes its to do with sound and looks but also to get that box you`ve always wanted,regardless of sound ect..

When I look for a boombox, I always like to find the most unique looking ones and ones that have lots of features (eg. graphic equalizers, 2 way speaker systems,etc).

for me it would be.
1 size that gets your attention.
2 sound quality cuz thats what there made for.
3 lights
4 knobs that do things
5 chrome
6 no less than 10 inch woofers for bass
7 anaolog meter no digital ones for the frequencys

For me a boomer has to hit two senses HARD, sight and hearing.

This is where the little units the enable you to play ipods out loud fail. Even when the young think of a blaster they have an image in their head of a JVC M90/70, Crown 850, Conion etc. That's because the boomer IS iconic. So for me the look has to slap you in your face.

That means it has to be very big and full of knobs.

Secondly, it has to be not just loud but have a penetrating sound; tight bass and good highs ( I equalize by music specially to play on my boomer).

Like ghettoman, I lusted for a 777 after seeing a friend of my cousin travelling with his 767 playing it at FULL WHACK! and that was across a high road. I was about 12 or 13 at the time and I remember thinking sh.. that is soooo loud. I remember members of the public stopping and looking at him in surpise... FROM ACROSS THE HIGH STREET!

For me, I like the "techie" look. I love the smaller 3 piece boxes with logic decks, lots of features. I occasionally go for the boxes that folks give good press to that aren't that type, but I usually go for the higher end three piece boxes.

My "ideal" mental picture of a classic boombox typically has these common characteristics:

One-Piece design
Cassette deck in the middle
Analog tuner
Twin VU's (prefer analog, but LED okay)
Twin antennas (single ok, twin looks cooler)
Handle that folds down into the outer edges of the box, rather than outside.
Chrome accents around the speakers
Ideally, buttons on top... M90 is an exception to that rule.

Picture the Sharp GF-9090 through the 9696, JVC M70 & M-90, Aiwa TPR-950, Sanyo M9990 & M9994 (even though only one antenna) and the Hitachi TRK-8180 as immediate "examples" that come to mind.

That said, if a box sounds good, I don't care if its a 3-piece, or a cigar-tube like the Panny RX-DT707... It will get play time.

quote:

Originally posted by JT:
My "ideal" mental picture of a classic boombox typically has these common characteristics:

One-piece design
Single Tape deck in the middle
Twin VU meters (preferrably analog, but LED okay)
Twin antennas ('cuz they look cool)
Handle that does not go to the outside L&R side of the case, rather folds down into the case.
Analog tuner
Chrome highlights here and there
Two way speakers

Picture the Sharp GF-9090 through the 9696, JVC M70 & M-90, Aiwa TPR-950, Sanyo M9990 & M9994 (even though only one antenna) and the Hitachi TRK-8180 as immediate "examples" that come to mind.

That said, if a box sounds good, I don't care if its a 3-piece, or a cigar-tube like the Panny RX-DT707... It will get play time.

JT, I couldn't have said it no better myself. You almost brought a tear to my eye.........

'NUFF SAID

Yeah, it has to be said that the Crowns, JVCs and Panasonics, plus the ones you have mentioned, JT, are what people think of when they picture a boombox.

quote:

Originally posted by KBallenger53:

quote:

Originally posted by JT:
My "ideal" mental picture of a classic boombox typically has these common characteristics:

One-piece design
Single Tape deck in the middle
Twin VU meters (preferrably analog, but LED okay)
Twin antennas ('cuz they look cool)
Handle that does not go to the outside L&R side of the case, rather folds down into the case.
Analog tuner
Chrome highlights here and there
Two way speakers

Picture the Sharp GF-9090 through the 9696, JVC M70 & M-90, Aiwa TPR-950, Sanyo M9990 & M9994 (even though only one antenna) and the Hitachi TRK-8180 as immediate "examples" that come to mind.

That said, if a box sounds good, I don't care if its a 3-piece, or a cigar-tube like the Panny RX-DT707... It will get play time.

JT, I couldn't have said it no better myself. You almost brought a tear to my eye.........

'NUFF SAID

but you guys forgot to mention size. bigger is always better.....

quote:

Originally posted by gld:
Yeah, it has to be said that the Crowns, JVCs and Panasonics, plus the ones you have mentioned, JT, are what people think of when they picture a boombox.

only the radio heads and older kids know brands! when i was a kid, you dont remember the name or the brand... you remember what was the size and how big it was and how loud it played...

I agree with you there, ghetto blaster. Certainly, when I was younger, I didn't know the brands at all. I just remembered what they looked like. It is sites like this that enable me to quote the brands now but to an ordinary member of the public boomers are just big, shiney and loud

true gld
you guys are very knowl egable on the radios. but guys are forgetting 2 qualities
size...
and sound...

sorry gld
2 qualities

size and sound...guys are forgetting...