A couple of people have suggested that my Ferguson 3T18 is a rebadged Panasonic RX-5500 with a digital tuner. I can see that they are similar but surely not the same boombox??

i thought it was similar to a telefunken but i think its more similar to one of these

Universum Senator CTR-2312 M

Or a Zenith R99 Boombox

wow that box has many look alike, well at least part of it. 

Just like some women

On the back of the Ferguson 3T18 it says 'Thorn Consumer Electronics LTD'. Is this likely to be the designer/manufacturer of this boombox or does anyone think that Thorn contracted out the job to another company?

That one really does look similar.

i have been after one of those universums for a while now..i just keep missing out on one..must admit they look tidy

Don't give up looking for one. I got mine from Germany for just £35 in November so they do come up at reasonable prices from time to time. The bass is a bit light but the sound is really sweet.

That makes sense. The Ferguson 3T18 says made in Japan on the back so I guess it could have been made by Panasonic. I did try to get a service manual for the Ferguson 3T18 but failed, I wonder if the service manual for the Panasonic RX-5500 or Universum would be useful if I could get hold of one?

Soulmusic this Conic box of mine shares the same layout and very same tuner dial as a toshiba,so it seems Nicks theory is correct about the rebadging etc

Do you have Panasonic 5500?

If yes, open them both and compare - they are totally different radios.

Some small similarities means nothing, what about differences?

How could you explain different size and proportions of the Universum's cabinet, absence of the headphones socket and tuner dial control on the front, less quantity of the tape mode keys, totally different mold of the back of the cabinet, placement of the inputs and outputs?

Antenna and carrying handle are different also, etc, etc.

If it would be "rebadged" Panasonic 5500, then all of those details would be same, and in the same places.

They look similar, but not the same, only from the first sight.

Panasonic is a Rolls Royce of the radio, but Universum is Geely.

 Yes, that looks very similar too.

geely? i would still buy a universum a ferguson and the zenith,they look well made obviously not on a par with a panasonic and they definately look the part..

its not always about the high end units imo

Yes, you're right Bison - it's not always about top units.
I love some of the simple and underrated radios also.

I'll tell you more - I do not like M-90 and conion, even they are sought after.

I just wanted to say that Ferguson and it's clones have nothing to do with Panasonic RX-5500.

I agree with:  I love some of the simple and underrated radios also.

I'll tell you more - I do not like M-90 and conion, even they are sought after.

 Let me add that I prefer Mono over Stereo - Cause I have yet to hear a Concert in stereo - so why do I need stereo equipment?

I would not say that the Ferguson is a simple unit, I have not seen inside or even heard a Panasonic RX-5500 but the Ferguson 3T18 is a very good boombox. The tape transport is also very well built with a proper metal flywheel and good quality cogs (not your typical cheapo boombox). Here are some pics of the inside, perhaps someone here who knows a lot about boombox's can tell what company made this Boombox if it was not Ferguson or Thorn?

what are the brand name of some of the IC chips inside this unit - that would help identify just who really put this collection of parts together to become this boombox

There seems to be only a few chips in there, 2 Dolby IC's (S NE646B 8033), one 8 pin chip (2903H JRC 0853) and one 16 pin chip (I cannot make out what is printed on this one). I don't know if that is any help?

I've just zoomed in on that unknown 16 pin chip, I think it reads (BA1320 007) but i'm not 100% sure because the numbers are very faint.

How many ears do you have?

How many Mouth's does One ( 1 ) person Have to speak/sing with?

all the fergys i remember from 1979 to 82ish were japanese or korean badged machines

which is why they are still working today!

i love that 3T18 machine, really nice & same condition as my 3T17 pretty much mint

the 3t18,the only ferguson ive never had,but always fancied.looks superb with its red led digital tuner.bet it sounds nice,and just look at all that tech built into it-i wouldnt put it past jvc to have had a hand in building it,as the 3t13 is simply an rc 656,and ferguson did a 3t04 in the seventies that was a rebadged jvc rc 717

It sounds as good as it looks very clean sound and crisp treble from those tweeters (chrome and metal tapes work best, not great with ferric pre-recorded tapes, FM radio is fab and a CD plugged into the aux is excellent too) but it is a little bass shy.

ah, i do like the bass,but when it looks as good as this one does im sure it would outweigh the lack of bass for me

Comparing below to above IMG_2279 side by Realistic SCR-6 Zenith R-99 Boombox

It is powerful enough for bass, the speakers really move if you crank it up, unfortunately the unit is not deep enough to reproduce lots of bass .

I have always  loved the Ferguson 3T18 and would like to aquire  one  someday. Delighted  to  see the Salora; it looks great! 

Most probably it was initally sold in the Northern Europe, my best guess is Finland. 

hope youre well sebi can understand what your saying Soul music,its all about the cabinet depth isnt itstill,not all boxes need to be bass monstersthat salora is a dead ringer for the old fergie

None of these boxes have any Panasonic in them.  They are AKA's of the General Electric 3-5286. 

I thought GE were American. The Ferguson says made in Japan on the back 

Yes, GE the company is American, as was Marantz, but all their stuff was made in Asia, just like almost everyone else.  I cannot think of any purely American-made radios, except for old tube radios of WWII and earlier.

Lovely classy looking box for one I have never heard of

Salora brand isn't rare in Europe, especially in Finland since it's the Finnish one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salora_(Finnish_company)

https://www.google.ru/search?q...&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

It's still a multimedia related brand over here. Don't know if it's only trading or manufacturing. they sell a lot of their stuff in warehouses.

http://www.salora.nl/

That Solora is the spitting image of the Ferguson and some of the others are also very similar. I wonder who really was behind all these boombox's and if there is anyway of finding out. Obviously not worth contacting Ferguson because they are no longer around. But if Solara (or even General Electric) still exist I wonder if anyone there knows who made these? 

That is also almost identical. Except the LED's are different and it lacks the digital frequency display.

Here is a different picture of this GE General Electric 3-5286 boombox

Still the exact same box, just with an additional digital display.  Easy to add.

I have the Panasonic RX5500, it is bigger and uses a totally different chassis than any of these boxes.  Better built and better sounding as well.

Even if they do exist I don't think that any valuable info could be squeezed out from such unofficial contact.

Some time ago this hobby enthusiasts from my forum wanted to get some info from one of the Japanese giants like Matsushita or Sharp, don't remember which and it doesn't matter actually.

The response was simply zero, nothing. In XXI century terms Boombox era, its golden age, ended up a long ago and nobody cares there those days.

Or, else, it was fun for clerks to hear that some crazy middle age guys wanted to know

how many GF-9292s were produced in 81-81?

Or, for instance, why one of the last Sharp beauties, WF-939, were never ever officially sold in Japan itself?

What? When? 30 years ago? We ever made those tape boxes?? Oh, man, you must be shaiting us. 

Did you consult a shrink already? 

But anyway it doesn't hurt to try, maybe someone will have more luck. 

Yeah I know it's a long shot. I did have a look at the circuit board when I had it open to see if the manufacturer had put any identifying marks on it. But I could not see anything obvious, and anyway if they did i'm suspect it would be a code that would mean nothing to me.

Why to jump to conclusions

Friend of mine, my co-worker, has bought WF-939Z for 39.000 yens, back in 1989 in Yokohama, bought it 'officially' (by your words) at the electronics store, not at the black market. 

First hand information.

My pal in hobby has just made good point re this:

Yokohama is one the biggest sea ports in Japan.

Probably your pal bought 939 in the duty free shop and the Sharp wasn't intended for the internal Japanese use but for export only.

My pal once saw a boxed Panasonic RF5410 which was sold in a japanese tax free, "not for use in Japan".

If possible could you ask your friend whether his WF-939 has 100V setting?

If not, that's definetely not for the domestic Japanese market.

i would guess it's a multivoltage 120/220/240V but I a kind of doubt it has 100V.

Yes, Yokohama is a sea port city, so what?

Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, etc, are port cities as well, as the most of the biggest japanese cities. So it doesn't make any difference.

His WF-939 is not for the domestic japanese market, so what? It was bought in Japan. So you can't say that WF-939's  "were never ever officially sold in Japan itself".

Under this I meant only that 939s were never intended for the domestic market, that's all.

They couldn't go buy it, for example, in the Tokyo electronics heaven, Akihabara.

Duty Frees are different matter.

BTW, was 939 sold in the US/Canada in 80s? Was it "Z"?

I have WF-940H, but that's the model mainly for Europe.

Who told you that BS?

I do not understand why you do jump to conclusions again.

According to your posts -- you never been in Akihabara, but you're trying to sell your suppositions as facts.

For your information, Akihabara had and still has all kind of stores. Yes, the most of the stores at Akihabara targeted to the local japanese buyer,  but there are tax-free shops also, and some of the big stores in Akihabara sell export versions of the goodies also.

Again, I am talking only about domestic market only, as I said I didn't mean tax frees at all.

Okay, let's put it that way: they could buy 939 in Duty frees but to my knowledge Sharp never produced this model for Japan itself.

Five mins ago you said: They couldn't go buy it, for example, in the Tokyo electronics heaven, Akihabara.

Now you're trying to change the focus again.

I see, you know what demagogy is.

I don't wanna play these games, really.