hey everyone.
what are our feelings on monoural boxes in general?
i mean, i know theres the mighty jvc rc550 that i know a lot of you guys have, and is firmly on my wish list (especially a victor version),but how do we all feel about aiwa's mono boxes?
the reason why i ask is i have just netted an aiwa tpr180k (no pics before you ask, ill try and nick a representative one from another site soon) and this thing is great.i mean, it may not have a vu,or seperate bass and treble controls, but its speaker is huge (16 or 18 cm at least)and on first impression sounds pretty good.my tape deck is shot,and its generally gonna need a good cleaning up, but once ive got past that ill have a true stunner.its dimesions are quite large too, almost verging on the size of a small stereo box.
hows about you all post pics up of your monos- aiwa or not, and make this thread really interesting!
ps as i say ill try and google a pic for you of my model asap.
andy

well gang- ive tried and tried and cant find a picture on the whole world wide wotsit of the tpr180.must be one hell of a rare beastie!
if anyone else has one, or has a pic of one, do me a favour and put one on here for me?take pitty on me, im just a useless idiot without a camera
it would be nice to know if someone else has one

...from the 'base:


I love a nice, big mono box with monster build quality & loads of toys. There's something worthy about 'em, not sure why...

The best mono 'box that I own is the Sony CF-495L, by a long shot. It's a massive 'box from 1977. Amongst its features are: bass and treble controls, a loudness switch, an 8" woofer and a tweeter, tuning strength meter, lighted tuning dial, auto focus control (AFC), 4 band tuner... the list goes on. It sounds extremely good to say the least. Its build quality is about the best I've seen in a boombox, and it's heavy. I'm not a big fan of mono 'boxes otherwise, 'cause I'm not keen on the strange 'non-symmetrical' look. Plus, I've always considered mono 'boxes to be cheaper, less well-equipped radios than their stereo relatives.

The big National Panasonic with the 'pepper pot' woofer grille (I don't know the model number) has always interested me though. I remember someone had, or still has, a picture of one as their avatar on this forum.

Here's my Sony...


R.A.

Best thing about mono boxes is, they don't have any of that stereo hiss. Some stereo boxes hiss so bad you might as well turn the switch to mono.

This is my Sharp GF6000. It is the best monobox I have.

^ Those are well-built 'boxes, Skippy. I like the little door under the band selector.

Here are some of ine

This is the National Panasonic I was referring to. Thanks agentorange!

they are Groo-Vay!

what can i say, gang?FABULOUS PICTURES THERE!some really nice examples of really fine, decent mono boxes.just love the big sony owned by retro and agent,that really is a monster-surely a worthy rival to the fabulous jvc rc550,shown in that other picture.on a personal level i do rate monos, because they can sound really nice, and yes they nicely avoid stereo hiss.plus they can be mean, the bigger ones. my aiwa is a bigger one-no seperate bass and treble controls but this box sounds nice without it.now,if only i could find a decent pic of it.......

just found out my model in japan was known as the tpr640.

Cris, that Sony Rhythm Capsule is fantastic

...just browsing yr Flickr photos - I didn't know you had a Panasonic RX-FM27!

What's a Panasonic RX-FM27? Oh, the mini, yeah it's pretty crappy for a Pan, not an expensive unit at all.

Not mine but here are some great Aiwa Monos









Here's your 640

hey,cheers agent.sadly i cant see the pics as my library computer woulnt bring them up,but at least everyone can see what these gorgeous aiwa monos look like, and the one i have.had it on yesterday aft for a good run-sounds fantastic, the bass out of it is really good-clear and crisp-its sometimes hard to tell this thing is only a 1 speaker.its just a pity the tape is dead.if this thing were fully working id be on cloud nine.wow-imagine if i found that sony on this post or a rc550!

Andy, not sure that the TPR-640 I found is the same as yours, this is a small simple affair.

pity i cant see the picture agent.
mine is fairly simple, its just that the speaker is at least 18cm and it sounds really good-i have found it does struggle sometimes when the radio plays modern tracks-lady gaga etc-the background noise sometimes distorts a bit, and i havent got the tone fully flat or the volume over high.but i had an 80s night on the radio last night and it played all the 80s tracks perfectly-no distortion or nothing, even with the slightly bassier tracks-so its a mystery!!!!!!

My one and only mono so far - Radiotehnika ML 6102. Made in Latvia.

That's a heavy-duty looking 'box, Brigadier. The cassette door is nice, it reminds me of the Sharp GF-8585/9292. It looks like the radio has plenty of features too. Also, that perspex is one way to fabricate a missing battery cover!

that's crazy heavy and fair made box from, i guess 85. And yeah, that battery cover was simply way out :]. It's flexible (it's hard to break it) made from DVD box":]. Radio is useless, couse instead of FM there's oldschool soviet UKW - ultra short waves :/ :]. Look at those crazy cassette function names- i'don't understand sometimes, what means what.

My Vega 326

Here's one of mine. I use it quite a lot especially to listen to the ra dio.

hey skip-just bought a gf6500 off ebay - this machine is the twin sister to your gf6000-i only paid a tenner for it-whats the opinion of yours-how does it sound etc?

hey guys i don,t mean to offend anyone here but come on you can,t compare them contraptions with stereo boxes cum on they look absolutely ugly, would any of you guys be seen dead walking round with 1 of them? u would,nt make any heads turn, but still whatever floats ur boat, nice 1 on your scores andy nice to see you,ve pepped up a bit by the way commodore 64 i like the look of the box in your avatar, what is it??

hey lav loo-buy a mono-you might just like it-on that score man,what are your thoughts on the jvc rc550-cos id fecking kill for one of those!!!!!!!!!!!

ok andy, lets put it this way, i would rather have a mono box than any of the modern s**t that,s around these days, but i still think their ugly as hell same goes for the rc550, it looks like a tractor, look at a tractor side on, it,s a double mate

hey mate i understand-theyre not everyones cup a tea-although i would still love a 550-cos as you may remember me mentioning to you b4 ive never owned a serious jvc box yet-and this or a m70/m80/m90 would do-hey-who knows-perhaps with all the crappy weather thats going to be about this weekend, theyre may be some big boxes at the carboot-but im willing to put on £1000 of money i havent got that ill never come accross any of the above.its that poor round here.i went through the whole summer season of carboots around here last year, and came accross NOTHING major-let alone any mono's/above models!its the area you see!and ive got 5 boots over the next few days to do-and im still willing to wager a small amount that i come away with nothing from none of them!!!!!!!!!!
the days of finding boxes at bootys are over, and yes lav,id rather stamp on the modern crap than ever get one of those-i can confirm to you all i have liberated many a modern egg at the charity shop recently-by simply crushing them under my size 10 toecaps!!!!!!!

i like the size 10 toecaps bit mate, thats all their worth stamping on the carboots may not be up to scratch ur end andy, but ask si he picks up regular where he goes. theres a lady who sells blasters there and he gets em nearly every week think maybe you need to go further out. and as for the 550, if i ever come across 1 you can have it for what i pay, [which won,t be much]

The JVC RC 550 is the only mono unit I have in my collection and one of the most unique in appearance, only Ten Inch speaker out there, and it sounds great. Proud to have it in my vintage shelf.