When I lived I Guam back in 1983 I traded a friend some stereo equipment for a PC-55 . First time I saw this boombox I was overwelmed with the features and quality . The problem was the boombox I got had blown tweeters , so I went down to "Marianas Electronics" and ordered two new replacement tweeters . I remember they took about a week to arrive . The new tweeters cost me 16 dollars for the pair . They were real easy to install just took the face plate off ( two screws ) then removed the blown tweeter ( also two screws ) . Unpluged the bad tweets and pluged in the new ones . 30 years later I was working on my pc-55 (JW) and noticed the tweets were soldered in ( No plugs ) , Hmm ? So I checked out my other pc-55s ( Canadian ) and ( US ) models and they were also soldered in . Then checked out my PC-550 , and again they were soldered in . It quite clear to now that there is a difference . Then the other day I was playing with the tuner and noticed another huge difference . The tuning needle on my first PC-55 had the same red light in middle that changed to green when you were tuned in but my first one also had red lighted arrows that would point in the direction you need to tune to get a better signal . These were on either side if center light . Now I am really starting to wonder . I always thought that my first one sounded much better than the one I have now but I was figured I was just probably remembering it better than it was , but now after seeing some clear differences I am starting to wonder if it did sound better . After all , many of you have noticed that the PC-55 sounds better than the PC-550 . The next big question is what was the model I had in Guam ? It would not be a Canadian model , don't think itwas a U.S. model either . It did have the voltage select switch on the back . I think it is just weird .  So my big question after this long speech is , Has anyone else had the model that I am refering too or do all your boxes share the same features and my current ones ?

I have had about 10 of these all sounded the same apart from the 550 55...due to better speakers....problem is things do sound better when were younger...(fact) and then you have to add the possibility of failing caps etc etc......i remember i used a 55 about 7 yrs ago in sombodys garden and i loved it.....now i never use em...im always dissapointed by the sound.....but again i have moved bla bla,,,the place i have now is diabolical for sound....worst place i have ever been...

Brick. I have to agree with RR on this one. I know many people swear that the 55 and 550 sound diffferent, IMHO they don't. They are identical in almost every way. That said...no two boxes are the same.

the 55 and 550 were made on the same assembly line but being a mechanism, every unit is prone to flucuations (ie wow and flutter speed differences, assembly errors, clean solder joints,and magnetization of heads).

To truley discern between the 2 boxes you must have a calibrated control (oscilloscope, frequency test tape etc). Most people who swear there is a difference probably test it with two different tapes and of different artists. It wouldn't make sense from a manufacturing standpoint to have identical boxes with different internal workings unless they truly wanted to make an upscale/ downscale model for cost. These units would then have to pass each countries UL, CSA etc. testing for each model. A very expensive procedure .

As far as the tuner dial goes, I've never seen a tuner you describe on a 55. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist though and I freely admit I may be mistaken here, but I know one of my grails has that feature and was out at the same time as the 55. The Pioneer SK-95. Red arrows left and right, green in the center! A thing of beauty...never mind it's LEDS

haha excuse me for pulling you up brutus i diddnt explaine propperly in my first post...my bad,,,i may be wrong in doing so i havnt read all your post my friend,,,,the 550 and pc55 are different(fact) one sounds better than the other.....due to different speakers in both....they have different part numbers and if you look closley you will see the 550 has a chrome dust cap where the 55 has a more clouded spray paint one.....apologies for pulling you up here...i probbly dont even need to

your m90 doctor speaks the truth

Please explaine your post my friend....yes i am thicker than the offspring of a village idiot today lol hope you have had a good day dell

meaning post /thread is full of win reno its a compliment not a slating just a bit of fun

right off to nottingham now to pick up 680

i knew it was fun dell....yea im not normally posative like this....you will love the 680 lad

I never ague with my doctor but I'm stumped Reno

(Hey M90 doctor...I'll PM you with an update on my M90)

Back to the 55/ 550 speakers. I looked through the 55's manual and compared it with my 550 manual. The speakers are identical .

6 ohm

75-17,000Hz

90db/W/m

output and input range 35/20 respectively.

Even the part number is identical. PC-B55. Perhaps JVC just chose to change the dust cap from matte finish to chrome?

Both are High Ceramic cones and mounted to the same braketing ring part #

Doctor....I need the cure!

Look ,  there is a difference in the speakers . Anyone who has owned and or worked on these boxes knows they are different . Differnet magnet different voice coil and even look different . The pc-55 has deeper base also and you do not need special equipment to hear the difference . I have both speakers sitting in front of me now and they are different . I an quite sure the owners manuals are the same but this does not change reality .

If you look close you can see voice coils are way different ( Pc55 has the much thicker coil ) You will also notice something I missed before but the cone is also shaped different on each .

Part # are in fact different

PC55 # HSA-1228OIE

PC550 # EAS-12P278S

I love it when I'm right

Fair enough Brick, I'll conceed it based on your info but I was going on the info I have. I think we need to dial it down a little!

Did we ever figure out what model had the arrows on the tuner dial?

The only thing I can figure is that model did not exist on this side of the world or it was a very early version that was changed later . I still don't understand why the tweeters are soldered in instead od standard clips . I would never been able to replace the tweeters easily , I was only 16 years old at the time .

Certainly possible.. was there a Victor version of this box made for the Asian market only perhaps? I've never seen one but the M90 has a Victor sister box with some VERY unique features...like a TV tuner..

just got back now reno got it on alls ok in good nick with operating instructions and remote gumtree £30 , the remote is massive ! not give it any beans yet not at half twelve anyway

Very interesting find Brick, I have the Victor version of the PC-55 and the only difference I can find, is the voltage.

Wow ! I would love to have that Victor .... The one I had was JVC for sure and I am not sure what version would have been sold in Guam .