I'm about to buy a Sarp GF9000 the seller seems to think it is a grail , who out there would agree with that , i don't think it is , however i could be wrong .If someone could please share their opinion

Cheers phil

It's a nice box...not that good sounding....I would pay £130 max for a good one...but they sure do look nice in the flesh....good luck with whateaver you decide phil

More personal grail rather than "one of the grails" i.e. the likes of the conion c100, m90, 777, 5350, big ben etc.

I'd rate it on par with the 9696 personally...lesser sound but bolder more unique looks.  The 9000 was a one off for sharp whereas the 9696 is part of the larger 9x9x series.

Scott

Hey thanks for the info , $250 Aussie dollars i'm hoping for that's around 130 pounds in your money i guess.

What they said

I always thought the build quality of this box was a bit off par.  Poor bass due to the requirement of rear vents because the cabinet was too flappy.

but its a mean looker for sure

to me is a grail, pretty good size nice design not too loud but loud enough with nice bass  depending on the kind of music you play on it.

"Grail" is meaningless in my opinion.  Some people say it's based on how loud or good-sounding it is, but then why are the disco machines grails?   Other people say it's based on how good-looking a box is, but then why is an M70 a grail?  LOL

"Personal grail" = correct

"Grail" = incorrect

If the GF9000 is the best looking box in the world in YOUR opinion, then you should buy it,  no matter what it sounds like.  Besides, there is no boombox that sounds as good as a home hifi system, so who cares.

If your question is, is the 9000 rare and sought-after, the answer is yes.

By the way.........I bet it still sounds better than a 9191

it's gotta be worth £200 plus just for the looks and the ultra cool vu display, probs one of the nicest vu displays ever made

I agree with Reli on this. The whole grail thing bugs me a little, if you believe everything you read there must be 100 boxes classed as grails.

Imo there should be 4/5 boxes max which should be universally thought of as the top of the boombox tree thus these are the grails. Trouble is everybodys thoughts of the 4/5 boxes will be differant so round and round we go lol.

A personal grail for whatever reason makes more sense.

Also agree with SFG, the 9000 has the meanest vu's ever. I also think it has good sound, goes pretty loud, looks great, nice weight and size. One of the best allrounders.

Hahaha 

The word grail to me is an over used term anyway , who decides what is and what isn't a grail ?. The first time i ever heard the turn connected with a boombox  it was for the C100 F because of the sheer size and looks of the box and the fact that people saw film clips and ads of dudes walking around with them on their shoulders.

The "grail "term i think was really created on how popular and sort after a  certain box was to collect. and the C100F, M90, and GF777 are boxes most collector's want.

I agree that it appears the term grail is becoming more of personal choice these days

I'de say,if you get the GF9000 and you'r not keen on the sound,get a pair of lasonic 931 woofers and try them in there,see what they sound like,aslong as they'r 4ohm they should sound nice,bet it will improve the sound enormously,i wish lasonic sold parts here in uk,i would order a few pairs of bass from them,you can still buy woofers,either try their website or call them up and ask..

i agree with bm....i have a moded 9000 with different drivers and it now beats most of my grails for sound and i have some top hitters!....i think the 9000 is a must for anyones  collection due to its size,looks and them ultra cool vu's

difference between 9000 and gf 535 gf? I have a gf 535 gf 9000 butnot the two pieces seem very similar. why is there this difference?

gf and 535 gf 9000 or a better model?

different markets

535 jap

9000 EU

i agree...change those awful drivers and your onto a winner...had some m90 drivers in one once

Oh, all right is a Japanese word 535 gf 
fin gf 9000 is the English version.

Mr Vu,i have a GF535,i had it shipped from japan to uk,the 535 is lots nicer than the 9000,and has more features like pitch control for the cassette deck,beautifull looking box..

Guess i have lost that one lad

were you happy with the sound radio raheem?

sounded way better driptip....my only regret was selling it as the owner diddn't keep it over night

Yes the GF-9000 looks very nice indeed, but NOBODY seems to be mentioning the fact that a box with this much presence visually - has NO line-in!! It has phono-in, but what use is that if you want to connect it to your PC or MP3 player? It just distorts terribly! Not implementing a proper line-in on this model was a huge mistake in my opinion, when virtually ALL other manufacturers let you plug whatever you wanted into their larger high-end boxes. This lack of a line-in feature is common with Sharp boomboxes, and is why I never use my GF-9000. I often connect a box to my laptop and play music from YouTube all night. I can't do that with the GF-9000. Plus, the fantastic VU meter only works for cassette, not radio!! The box is such a let down.

Wonder if my jap version has line in.....what nick said or an fm transmitter can be had for peanuts luke

It seems the Phono-in or Line-in options were specific to the markets they were sold. The options could be seen different in the same model sold at different parts of the world. So it must be the Marketing to be blamed.

Actually, Phono-in has additional circuitry to amplify the signal.  If you can get hold of the schematic, it could be bypassed on the circuit board. 

For the makers, it was cheaper to provide the Line-in than the Phono-in! This must be at a time when Record Players were being phased out and people wanted to record LPs on to cassettes.

Luckily some of my boxes have both Line-in and Phono-in, some with a switch for the same socket and some with dedicated sockets.

GF-9000Z has "line in" (unlike E and H versions).

Yes, a while ago I did look into how I could convert phono-in to line-in, and found out about these attenuators. I've been meaning to get one off eBay, but there's a little bit of me keeps saying "yeah, but I shouldn't have to buy something to add to the box, so I can connect my MP3, when other boxes have proper line-in anyway. I'll just use a different box." Now though, I'm definitely going to get one, as it seems Simon and others are using them. I'll get one too. Thanks for the "push".

Ah but all the cheap FM Transmitters are crap, I've read about them. They make them within certain regulations on how powerful they can be, and that's weak! You can get good, powerful ones but they're expensive.

I bought 3 of the FM transmitters before finding one that actually works at all. Very disappointing. They all have to be so close to the aerial that it's pointless.

There are some boxes that have phono level inputs that are either more or less sensitive though. I am thinking of the Telefunken HIFI Studio 1M in particular. You have to use an attenuator but then the signal is too low and you have to turn up the volume a hell of a lot. For these situations; an FM transmitter (if it works) actually works better.

Would not dare to recommend one though but 'Gear4' was worst and 'Belkin' nearly does it.

I also jumped on the FM transmitter bandwagon a few years ago, I bought a Belkin Tunecast II from Currys. I tried it with 3 or 4 different boxes and found it to be horribly underpowered, with the boombox's tuner intermittently finding the transmitter's signal, and losing it. All the while, that hissing sound in the background that you get when you haven't tuned into a station properly, or have the antenna pointing the wrong way. And I had to turn the volume past half way to even hear quiet music. For that reason, I wouldn't recommend the cheap FM transmitters either.

wow! what drivers are those you put in? Are they 4ohms?

Blame MrMcBlaster for the thread revival Claret Badger.