so yesterday the better half tells me.


"hey theres a big old boombox in the wharehouse at work"

i immediately ask her what it looked like what brand it was and the condition.

aparently its a big old one piece badged as a viking.
now i use the term big beacause my wife is not a big woman so she thinks a m80 is huge.

"maybe you can trade the guy at work for a different boombox you arent using"

so off i go into the junk closet to find something appropriate.
a nice sony egg with a cd player jumps out at me.
i clean the the thing up and make sure everything is working.

the better half left with the sony this morning and i have hopes that i will be getting the viking this evening.
from the description is sounds pretty cool. i have no way of knowing for sure. i mean i am just going to have to be patient and heck i dont even know if the guy at work will do the deal.

i am not expecting much ,but if it does pan out i will for sure post some pics.

good luck with this cool mystery

yes i hope i get to find out too.

Cant wait to see what she brings you.Cool.

Here's my guess. Yes, I know it says Prosonic, but Viking had one too.

quick update.
wife just called.
he went for the trade....

plus there is a jvc boombox along with the larger viking boombox.
i am kinda excited.

aparently the jvc is slightly smaller by a couple inches than the viking box....
stay tuned this is gonna be a fun day.

just you WISH its the same as that prosonic fatdog posted -- those sound great --!!

and then -- perhaps the guy chucked in an m90

well i asked the wife how big they are.
i mean she said they were pretty big but not as big as some of the boomboxes i have.
for me seeing as how these are costing me basically nothing.
i am happy no matter what.
however.
i sense perhaps it could be as good as a m70.
i know its not the m80 beacause that is one of the wifes favorite boomboxes.
i dont care if they dont have working tape decks. apparently they are dusty.
really dusty but i have a vaccum.
sadly the wifes company let twenty six people go today at her work.
they were pretty good about it. six months notice with all kinds of help.
it is sad none the less. the guy has been there for almost twenty years.
i think i might have to give something more for these two old boomboxes than just a nineties sony with a cd player.
i feel bad for getting them for next to nothing.
i mean dont get me wrong i seldomly feel bad for getting a bargain,but i think i will find some other stuff for him.
i am just glad the wifes job is still stable.

so my wife called to tell me she plugged them in but the jvc has a wierd echo sound on the radio. heheheh
got me wondering.
the viking has bigger speakers than the jvc as well. the suspense is doing me in.
i really wanna know what they actually are.
i should know in about 90 mins.

refresh
...
refresh
...
refresh

This is fun bill, keep us informed.

BILL !!!!
i am OLD

might not live for 90 minutes
need to know sooner

guys the boomboxes are here and i am very excited.
they surpased my expectations. well not entirely. i did predict what one of them would be in the sightings section today.
lets start by saying the viking boombox truly did impress me .
i did not expect it to sound as good as it did.
as for condition. for being in a wharehouse for its life.
there is a few minute blemishes and the attenna is not perfect. it needs to be replaced.
the tape deck does work but it for sure needs belts.
the box is not extremely heavy but it does have some heft to it.
i have used the radio and it sounds very nice.
this is a very good looking boomer and for the price i feel truly lucky.
i have a good woman.
ok box one.

nice loud and cool as hell looking. i really like how this looks.
i like everything about this boomer. it really surpassed my expectations of what a old prosonic would be like.
the pots you can tell are not the best,but there is absolutely no static or scrithing in them.
all the switches work . all i did was basically damp cloth both of these fine finds.
both of them really are nice.
so here is box one.

so i have just been handed a tbone by the woman

you guys will have to hang tough for a bit till we get on too box too.

it is a jvc.
a really nice one.
be patient.
heheh.

Nice! Those speaker surrounds remind me of the ones on my Crown. Look forward to the JVC.

ira i ate fast not knowing if there was much left in your oxygen tank or if the defibrilator attached to the golfcarts battery was fully charged.

now before i get to far ahead of myself and post the picture.
lets say this.

this box was about to be thrown out.
my wife went in to the distribution area with the little sony portable cd player and was met by the stares of many wondering what the hell she was doing there.
so yeah.
she desribed the boomboxes as really dirty.
on the phone.
the guy felt so bad for trading a old old old boombox for a newer one.
he said here take this one too.
this one is really old its from the 1970s. i dont think it even works we havent used it in years and we are going to throw it out anyways.

ok.


its not perfect but you know its really close.
there is a couple dings on the chrome trim a scuff here and there,but its pretty straight and complete.
the atenna is there it gets excllent reception on all the bands.
sounds really really really nice.
not super bassy,but it is really clear and well hmmm nice sounding. the analog delay works.
i mean it could have been a m90 or a m70,but i have absolutely no dissapointments here.
this is a superb boombox and you would do yourself well to find one in a collection.
essentially i got both these boomers for free.
i mean it is probably the coolest find of my boombox collecting days.
i always get stuff for really cheap but both these boomers were totally unexpected additions.
i am blessed. i truly am lucky with somethings.
sorry about the rushed pictures.
i wanted to let you guys see them asap.
hope you enjoyed the suspense.

Wow, pretty epic trade for a Sony CD box. Congratulations. For the uninitiated, what model is that JVC? Thanks for the edge-of-your seat thread.

Well worth the trade from my point of view bill, congrats!

Congratulations, Bill!

ok thanks alot for the rush/rush bill !!

and very glad that i managed to live just long enough to view and to appreciate your good fortune

the viking looks like a beautiful design --

and i think ?? i do know about the JVC --
it looks like my 575 ( your is a little bigger)-
and the sound quality has made it a 'personal fav'

my solemn advice that you keep BOTH boxes --
PLUS your girl

ok so the jvc is a m50.
i have just finished sitting with these two boxes for the last hour and a bit.

the prosonic is very loud and it is very cool looking.
i am impressed at its sound based on the fact this was for sure a lower quality boomer back in the day.
it looks awesome. it gets fairly loud well really loud before it starts to crap out.
i do not like the stereo wide function on this boombox. it imparts to much distortion to the signal and well it just isnt very musically pleasing.tuner is decent enough. shortwave reception is poor to fair.
this is nice boombox overall to add to the collection. it shows that even the second rung players could put out a pretty nice product for a smaller price than the big guys to keep consumers happy.
this box overall tho sounds great.
i think its a really cool looking.

now as for the m50 jvc.
anyone who was going to throw this aways would have to be just crazy.

for its size i would say this is very very loud boombox.
it isnt super bass heavy,but it has a very good representation of the bass and absolutely does thump.
not quite in the range of a m70 but it is very close. i ran the m50 almost all the way up to full volume and it sounded great. even listening to some bassy tracks it didnt cop out and was very solid sounding.
the biophonic feature is good. it is based on a bucket brigade chip and it must have been a decent chip beacause it is warm and lush sounding.
i am not totally enthralled with the whole stereo wide thing at louder volumes. i find it does muddy things up on certain tracks when it is loud,but at lower volume it is pretty nice.

the tuner on the m50 is really super for a boombox. it got clear and loud reception off the whip with no trouble at all. i pushed in the shortwave 2 switch knowing i would pick up some traffic on the meter if the short wave was any good.
was it good?
you better believe it,not as good as my old grundig ,but every bit as good if not better than some of my newer grundigs.
absolutely better shortwave reception than any other boombox in the room. even the sanyo m9998k that is pretty good.

the littler jvc really seems to be built well.
when i sat it on my lap and let her rip i did not feel anything overly loose or in need of tightening. it it still super solid after all of her years in the wharehouse.

so side by side(i know ira i shouldnt do this)
the jvc is a far far better made product,it is more mature in its execution.
it is much more refined in its sound and a better radio.
this being said the prosonic aka viking has its merits.
it is a fun radio and it does have a lot of garish glizt. the big chrome speaker trim.
it just looks really cool. and it does sound really good. listening to heart and zztop through it sounded really great.

so i have a feeling the jvc is going to become one the faves i have no doubt about it as it is really a impressive big sound in a fairly small package. its nowhere near as loud as a m90,but it is really loud and it does have something about its sound that reminds it of its two bigger brothers.

the m80 i own sounds nothing like it. the two couldnt really be more different sounding.
i mean the m80 sounds like a news hounds box and the m50 sounds like it was geared towards someone who wanted to listen to music at a picnic or a beach. that could just be my own wacked imagination imparting things into it but that is my take.
the prosonic is a boombox i could imagine getting many kids kicked out of school for blaring def leppard.
so yeah they are both really great.
interesting to see two boxes a few years apart and from different ends of the market.

and ira
a girl that brings home two fantastic boomboxes then cooks me up a t-bone steak dinner is a keeper for sure.
twenty years and counting.

quote:

Originally posted by xyc0n:
Wow, pretty epic trade for a Sony CD box. Congratulations. For the uninitiated, what model is that JVC? Thanks for the edge-of-your seat thread.

its a m50 and it is fantastic
yes the sony cd box i got for super cheap. it was clean and i made sure it was all good to go.
i am very smitten with the way the whole deal went down.
my collecting days are nearing their end,but i am pleased with the recent additions.
i really only want one really big one piece and then i am done.

He shoots !!!
He scores!!!!
I cant believe anyone would throw away a perfectly good M-50 . They are great little boxes.
Congrats Bill

bill -- i had not seen an m50 for a long time --and nobody --even with over 100 good boxes at the recent florida meet -- brought one --

i know you are 'anti-ebay' (very admirable) -

so let us ebay type members tell you that the m50 often sells for $$$ lots of hundreds !!
so - you owe that nice guy a t-bone and a ride home

as for your girl --well we can NEVER really make up for all they do for us --
so FORGET IT !!!!

i remember that the m50 was all-quality :
looks , built and sound -

but it had no balance control
which is not bad -- but not good either (if we like to balance our music)

anyhow -- thanks for this extra happy report.

quote:

Originally posted by transamguy1977:
He shoots !!!
He scores!!!!
I cant believe anyone would throw away a perfectly good M-50 . They are great little boxes.
Congrats Bill

thanks man. i dont get it either. i mean why would someone just chuck that into the bin.
not even give it aways to someone. well in the end they did give it to me and for that i am very happy.
for a smaller boombox it really sounds fantastic.

quote:

Originally posted by redbenjoe:
bill -- i had not seen an m50 for a long time --and nobody --even with over 100 good boxes at the recent florida meet -- brought one --

i know you are 'anti-ebay' (very admirable) -

so let us ebay type members tell you that the m50 often sells for $$$ lots of hundreds !!
so - you owe that nice guy a t-bone and a ride home

as for your girl --well we can NEVER really make up for all they do for us --
so FORGET IT !!!!

i remember that the m50 was all-quality :
looks , built and sound -

but it had no balance control
which is not bad -- but not good either (if we like to balance our music)

anyhow -- thanks for this extra happy report.

you are right ira. i am pretty anti ebay in fact i dont sell much stuff anymore.
i am going to wait a while till the economy picks up again before i consider getting rid of anything.
i mean i have some stuff that i could get quick cash for,but i am not too worried about money.
dont get me wrong i am not living rich,but i have gotten pretty good at living well on little cash.

now the balance knob missing from the m50 is ok with me. i seldomly pan anything differently from how it is recorded.
it is strange tho that it is not there.
one other thing i read is the m50 is only six watts per side. that is not possible imho.
why would i say that.
well if i take some of the boomboxes that i know are around that output it just has to be more.
perhaps they measured the wattage differently.
this sounds more like twenty watts total 10 pc.
i really am happy for these two virtually free boomboxes.
i have been thinking about how to give a little more to the guy who gave them to me.
i think i am going to give him some toys for his kids.
i think maybe a nice slot car set.

Dude the little lady sounds like a keeper for sure. Great story and it is sad to see people lose their jobs in this crazy economy. Good luck for your wifes job also. Nice boxes too.

thanks man.

Way to go Bill enjoy that M-50.

thanks man it sure is a nice boombox.
the other one is nice too but different class.

WOW Bill,nice deals. I love the M50,they are a great box.... Congrats!

thanks man.
i am really loving it i just hope i dont wear it out. i dont get it i mean they were gonna to chuck this one out.
the other one the viking it sounds pretty good and all that other stuff,but it sounds nowhere near as nice as the jvc. the jvc is really good.
i am still surprised with how loud this smaller boomer can go.
i poked my head around some older threads about the m50. some say it lacks bass but like my pioneer sk-95 i find the bass is honestly represented.in fact in respect to the bass the jvc pulls out ahead a bit.
so i am happy with my pressies yesterday.

a quick update.
today the wife had several people thank her for the new boombox and were super happy they got a boombox that works with their ipods now?????
ok so it really puzzles me.
people just do not value these old radios for the most part.
i mean the little sony egg i traded was not very exciting at all. it could go pretty loud but nothing special at all.

as of this monday and after spending several days with the m50. i would have to say it is the biggest sleeper boombox of all the ones i have.