Hello

I found the time now to restore my Hifi Jumbo - this thing is a carry combo with mini home hifi components, box itself is made of wood (looks like handmade), speakers are from Westra (great!), you can take the tweeter off and place them somewhere else to get a better stereo impression.

Mars is/was a brand of OTTO Versand Hamburg, later the named it Hanseatic. They sold next to this carry combo the same system as a shelf model. Think that must be back in 1982, but not shure (Jens???).

Sound is as the bbox looks - brutal. Lot's of power, lot's of punsh and bass. Very nice - one of my favorite in my collection.

This bbox is about 30 kg heavy - a real heavy weight champion!







Best wishes
TOM

WOW! WOW! WOW! Holy crap it's massive!

Wow , this machine must be mega rare

dont really care if it is rare or not but this is real impressive. fantastic, lucky you, really.

Definately got some Aiwa Carryin' Compo in her. Amp & tuner elements are identical.

30 KG?! That's more than TWICE the weight of a GF-777! Unbelievable... What are the dimensions of this beast hifitom?

BEAUTIFUL!!!I want one. Anyone know any details about this brand?

that is completely bad a$$, awesome!.

Good God, man, that things gonna leave a mark...

Does it run on batteries too? And that 100 watt, is that pmpo?

Tom as usual you have heavyweight contenders...and whew! That's a heavyweight!

You have written elsewhere that none can beat your Hi-Fi Studio 1/1M so how does this compare?

That is awesome! what a great unit! Thanks for sharing Tom!What are its dimensions, it looks about M90 size?

Hello

Here are some answeres to your questions:

To the brand:
This brand don't exist any more. It was from the german warehouse OTTO back in the early 80's. Sold mybe also in Austria and Switzerland, but not shure.

To the power:
The 100 Watts are real - the paperwork says, that it got 2 x 30 Watts rms, so 2 x 50 Watts of musikpower could be possible. Its very, very loud - more than just to make your neighbours angry.

Batterie:
No. Amp, tuner and tape got his own 220 volt input, but there is a connector in the bbox so you have just one cord.

The weight:
The sections are made in full metal, no plastic - so that alone is heavy. The box in made of thick plywood + speakers ...

The sound:
Sound is great - very powerful and dynamic. First unit I know that has a real kick-bass - a punsh I never heard before. Thanks to the Westra speaker system ... To compare that to the M1 is not fair. I try to explain that: the M1 is Mercedes 600 and the Mars is a Mustang GT - both same power but total different performance ...

Awia in it:
This Wega carry combo has also a few Awia parts in it. Wega (a german company till Sony bought them) has the same amp and tape like your Awia (which looks great - I love it!!!) The amp of the Mars got the same functions and buttons on it, so mybe there is also a bit of Awia in the Mars ...?


The size:
Sorry James, but the M90 is on the very top of the shelf. So I toke the 777, so you could see that it's not that big ...


Best wishes
TOM

still though that mars is the most bad a$$ portable stereo even if it's not a boombox ,just plain wicked ,totally impressive unit tom.

don't know what to write, couse this box is like....i don't know! It's simply the best looking and perhaps sounding unit ever made. Freundliche gruesse, sie sind einfach der glueckliste boombox besitzer auf die erde und auf der Mars auch!!!

Thanks

Even when it's not a "real" boombox because it don't work on batteries, I love this big unit. Carry combos (with or without batterie) is for me the most interesting thing - but they are rare and not that easy to find. Here are some other of my favorites ...









Best wishes
TOM

yes, wanted to ask about batteries, but anyway, it's more then awesome. Before this Mars my favourite hifi was that National/Panasonic on the bottom:

Man oh man these are stoopid units!

I would like to find this Blaupunkt one day....

Why u say stupid, Samsnite ???

Stoopid, crazy, insanely cool! Love 'em, never seen "carry-combos" before... sorry for any misunderstandings, my english ai'nt all that.

I would love to have this Blaupunkt unit ...! What a babe ...

Best wishes
TOM

hi tom -
asking your opinion about how your favorite sounding boxes compare to your rotel #10 ?
thanks

Hello

The once I showed here are not my favorite "sounding bboxes" (they are my favorites in "cool looking"). They are great sounding units - the Mini Marantz sound as good as my big PMS 7000, the Hitachi CC is a home-hifi unit with good all around sound, Kenwood sounds super but the bass is to soft, the Mars in a bass pumping monster which got a great dynamic, but a bit stage is missing.

You can't compare those CC to a bbox. Top of the list is the Telefunken M1 - no other Ghettoblaster sounds bigger, got sub bass and such a great stage. Followed by Grundig PC 2000, Telefunken HP 800, Universum Senator 1000, Yamaha YST and the Rotel. Those units play on the same (real high) level.

Wish I could find some speakers for my JVC PC 1000 - mybe this could also play in this top list (got a few other of this PC-series and I love them - great dynamic und bass + sub-bass, but the smaller units got no stage at all) ...

Best wishes
TOM

some very tasty boxes there tom

quote:

You can't compare those CC to a bbox. Top of the list is the Telefunken M1 - no other Ghettoblaster sounds bigger, got sub bass and such a great stage. Followed by Grundig PC 2000,

Doesn't the 3000 sound better than the 2000?

Hello

These are just numbers, and it will nothing say about the sound! You can't compare the Grundig PC 3000 to the 2000 - even when the price when new was the same, the 2000 is a real HIFI unit, the 3000 is a Stereo unit.

And you will hear that - speaker system says a lot about a bbox (systems and weight). The 2000 got real heavy Hifi-speakers with a frequenzy switch (don't know if this is the right word in english), massive built, closed system with a fantastic sound. The 3000 got a plastic case ...

So if you are looking for a great sounding unit, go for a Telefunken M1. It's the best sounding one. The units behind those are:

Grundig Party Center 2000 hifi


Telefunken HP 800 hifi


Rotel 10


Uher mini port


Universum Senator 1000 hifi



Yamaha AST-11


Unit's like a GF777, M90, PMS7000, ... sounds next to the units I listed above like a radio-clock (my opinion) ... Don't get me wrong. I also have other Bboxes, GF's, M90 and PC's, ... and I love them all - but sound and look is a different story ... and I just talked about the sound.

My personal opinion:
- Best all around look'n for mobile systems - Technics SA-05/07
- Best looking ghetto on battery - Philips D8814
- If I could just safe one - Marantz 53 (James Bond unit)

Best wishes
TOM

Ah, never mind, I confused the model numbers. I was thinking Grundig 2000 was entry-level and 3000 was premium, but actually the 1000 is entry-level and the 2000 is the premium, and numbers higher than 2000 are plastic junk.

Grundig started to produce the very first big boy box - Party Center 1000 stereo - back in 1982. That was the biggest unit at this time ...

1983 or 1984 they still produced the PC 1000, but had a new flagship - the PC 2000 hifi. More goodies on board, a hifi-tape, -amp, -speakers, and the best tuner in a boombox I know. But the price was to high - at this time it cost's over 1000,- DM. For this money you already get a Grundig home hifi system (same story with the Telefunken HP 800) ...

The later versions (started 1985/1986) hasn't that quality any more - but to call them black plastic junks is also not fair. Those where also good units, but not that good as the older, massiv once ... there are worlds between it ...

Best wishes
TOM

Did the PC 2000 ever have an analog tuner? I am partial to nice flywheel-weighted tuners.

Unforunately the back of the MARS is open with the wires showing and a 3way power plug, which ruins the overall image a bit.

To the Mars:
As you could see the back is not open - just one wire ...


To Grundig:
Take a look above - there is a picture of my PC 2000. Here is a pictures of the broshure with the PC 1000 (which got a analog tuner section) ...


Best wishes
TOM