Hello I am new here, joined specificly because I like these monsters.

Out of curiousity, what is the loudest? does anyone know of some decibel charts for them?

I am shopping for a new one, to replace my work radio a dewalt DC012

I work in a welding shop, and have found that if I tweak my mp3s audio gain towards 120 decibels,,I can here them but yes I get clipping (some heavy metal is okay though)

So with 2 welders burning, and ear-plugs and my hood down,,I want very loud,,,and the ability to fit in a locker would be nice,,alot of the guys use stereo recievers and large speakers but this gets cumbersome,,,

Any opinions welcome!

hi welcome

it's all down to how much you are willing to spend?

if it was me i would invest in a sharp gf-9494 as you can pick one up for reasonable money and they put out a good sound

you could try and pick up somthing from the sony fh range, very loud and as its a 3 piece you may have more luck getting it in a locker.

Off topic

Hey Lee, welcome back

the loudest is my wife, tell me to turn it down

I agree, the Sony FH would be the most effective bang for the buck. 

The only vintage 1-piece boombox that would come close to being loud enough, while still small enough to fit inside a locker, is the JVC M70.  But then you're talking $250-400, while you could get a Sony FH for half that price and get much more bass.

If you must have a 1-piece, I would recommend a modern unit like the Altec Lansing.

hmm that jvc M70,

WOW, actually that looks nice,, has the line in,,(could hook ipod blackberry or laptop up)

70 Watt? compared to a Kaboom which was 52 and the new ones are like 45?

this could be the highest wattage personal stereo I have seen? thanks for this info,,,right into my alley,,, and found a couple on ebay tween 600-80 I suspect some know what is there and some do not,,,

very cool stereo,,(I like loud and features,,)

70 watts?  Uh, no, it's probably more like 15W per channel.  The model name means nothing, nor does the wattage rating on the back of the box.

And I'm glad you mentioned the Kaboom, it is more powerful than the M70, and will crush any other 1-piece boombox in bass.  But it's possible that the M70 might have louder mids & highs.

Thanks, I need to read more about this,,there seems to be no clear charts on wattage or decibel ratings?

It not just about how many watts, it also about speaker efficiency or sensitivity, Voltage sensitivity rating based on SPL. For example 85db is (very inefficient) up to 105dB (very efficient). Also that power input varies according to impedance. 2.83V into an 8 ohm load equates to 1w of input power, but the power input will be different into any other impedance. So take a guess which one going to be louder? 

You also have to look at design of the box encloser, is speaker damper in anyway to reduce vibration? Reason why some of the smaller higher end Japan built Sony's, even thur small packs a punch and put bigger boxes to shame.

Plus on the amplifier, notice most boxes rate at peak power and not true RMS rating and not at the whole frequency spectrum, then you have to look at transformer they use and various other parts. Reason why I don't really like boomboxes, they are made for the go not serious listening, you need to get a good HiFi setup for that.

A modern unit like the Altec Lansing, or JVC Kaboom, would be louder in that respect and sound better. Marketing specs mean nothing.

Your best bet is to get a class T amp, small but effective, you can find them on eBay, the good ones have a DAC built in, so if you have to use a  computer and line level input, for ipod or other sources and can output 50-75 watts or so and have built in transformer and are audiophile grade, so can go very high without clipping. Plus you can find them around $250 bucks and will fit in a locker. Only problem is you need speakers.

If you have to get a box, go with a JVC kaboom or a Sony FH series, the JVC M90 is loud, but to collectable and expensive, for a shop as it will get abuse, but if you don't care, go with it.

agree with retrodos....the m70 true power is only 7.5wp/c and the m90 9w p/c

the fh series although very loud...is far to big an heavy imho....the kaboom is another winner...not the new type though...anyway good luck on whateaver you decide