Many of us collectors have audio equipment hidden everywhere.A few of my things have ended up secretly stored at work.One of these is an amazing sounding Panasonic SA-AK17 shelf system I found at Goodwill.I had been wanting to add a shelf system to my collection when I found this one in like new condition.Not having a suitable place for it at home,it has been sitting on a storage rack deep within a container room at work.Due to the fact that it has a unique power cord (figure 8 shaped socket on the main unit) and doesn't run on batteries,I don't have to worry about any unauthorized use,if coworkers can even find the thing!Anyway,Recently I finally I decided to set it up and see what it could do.


Wow,this unit will certainly be getting alot of use!When set to the "Clear" EQ setting it has as good (if polite) highs as any boombox I own.Also there's as much or more bass than from any blaster I've heard.Stereo imaging and detail are better also.Of course most of us who appreciate boomboxes don't put the highest priority on sound quality.In fact,anyone who has read my posts knows i am a fan of some of the harsher sounding boomers of the '80s.Actually though depending on my mood and the music sometimes I like higher fidelity and sometimes I don't.



That's a lot of power and you can hear it from the volume output!It's been mentioned here that one of these types of systems could not possibly ever run off batteries.However I find my self more and more as time goes by removing the battery covers from my boxes as they nearly always seem to rattle when bass and volume are pushed.This makes battery use impractical especially for bigger boomers.Though battery use is essential for a unit to be defined as a boombox,this got me to reconsider how useful this feature is for larger bassy boxes anyway?


It was really nice to see proper RCA aux. jacks on this model.Most of the ones I've seen either have a mini jack for this or no inputs at all.As I collect portable (or semi-portable) devices I am decreasingly interested in anything without inputs.

The biggest problem I have with systems like these is the styling.I feel it would be really great if some manufacturers would produce these things with attachable speakers and old school boombox styling.Perhaps a one piece could be cleverly designed with acoustically isolated sub-enclosures for the speakers also.Sure it wouldn't technically be a boombox but the lack of battery capability wouldn't be missed,at least not by me.While I continue to hope for this to happen,I will be looking for the bigger version of this model with 3 drivers per speaker.Of course I'll be looking at my local thrifty.These cost several hundred dollars new and I can't afford a collection that way.My Pana SA-AK17 cost me only $28.00.

Pretty cool fella!

My family have had a couple similar to that, from the same product line.

An all black one, very similar spec and looks but minus the spherical speaker cover design.
And the most recent one about 10 years ago, except it was silver and around 140W.


They used to go very fecking loud without any distortion. I swear it once gave a chap at a party a nose bleed when he got too close during Another Night - Real McCoy.

The eq circle thing had an effect, which was nice. After the novelty of ******* about with it wore off it used to stay on clear also.

The tape decks ejected with a satisfying clunk click.

It had a nice little VU light show. Looked good in the dark. Just a pity in daylight they looked like Johnny Five got in a fight with a B-2 bomber.


Took a little while to change CDs. But nice at parties with 5 CDs on Random. Kinda makes a noise like an old jukebox between songs as it changes CD. Unfortunately the CD tray was the thing that failed first on both. Nobody ever bothered their arses to repair them, so I think they eventually got skipped.


Couldn't argue with $28. I think we paid 150-200 quid which I think was pretty good compared to the competition at the time.

Jovie that's a cool looking stereo. I can certainly understand how you have to hide things, in fact I think a lot of us probably have that little trick down. It amazes me sometimes what people will donate to Goodwill, probably because they just don't want to be bothered with trying to sell or even give it away.