I was working on the design of the Hitachi boomboxes back in early 90s to mid 90s. Current collection of mine is only the CX-W700 and AX-6.

I hope you guys would share your collection by posting photos and experiences.

I seriously missed the CX-200 / CX-250 and many more ...  

welcome H_designer,

interesting, do you have any pics of your collection? 

 would be nice to see them.

My only Hitachi at the moment, a TRK-7011E

sounds like a dream job you had,

welcome to the forum

Hello guys, thanks a lot for the warm welcome. You are right bison, it was a very interesting job indeed. I worked on the overall construction, aesthetic, safety, reliability, sound, ergonomic as well as the mechanism of the products.

I will soon upload the pics of my collection here, thanks dritip for the suggestion.

And I have to say also the Samsnite's TRK is a very nice model. 

hi there,that is a great story,i've had a few hitachi 3ds over the years and lots of TRKs,there is a certain member on here,that when he reads that you were a designer,you will be his hero..

the member is isolator42,i think he has every hitachi 3d ever made,i think there might be one model he has'nt got,but he has all the rest

oh i forgot to mention,my fave hitachi's are the TRK9300,TRK 9900 and TRK W1E,nice boxes

you may be the only real boombox designer --

ever on this site -

perhaps 100s of us have enjoyed the results of your work -

cool

Wow! very cool job! I have always wondered which company came up first with the classic stereo boombox design, and which was the first model.. (im thinking of the classic jvc m70 look). Does anyone know?

Hello guys, I managed to snap few pics here. It was not up my expectation without a good SLR. But I am certainly very happy to share with you some of my sweet memories.

AX-6. A classic Miro Component design in the era of 90s. Firmware driven full logic control and direct access feature allow desired function within a press of any button.

CX-W700. A wonderful effort from the Hitachi top gun engineers in 1990. It rised the bar of the performance of the boombox equipped with a powerful sub woofer. It also integrated with a superb sounding CD player. The sub woofer was named as 3D ASW (acoustic super woofer). It was nicely styled by the Industrial Designer with a LED to light up the badge.

 Hi Beanie, TRK always refers to radio cassette recorder. Whereas W means double cassette and E is for Europe. I guess TRK-W1E must be the very first double cassette model developed by Hitachi. It should be traced back in early 80s .... This is a real classic!!!!

Thanks!
This is a very good question. I am eager to know answer as well.

But Beanie's TRK-W1E could be the first ever double cassette boombox made by Hitachi.

And I could still recalled at the time I was in middle school. Only Hitachi and Sharp made double cassette. 

Thanks for the very warm welcome.

It was a lonely job that you would burn a lot of night oil.

I hope we share our experiences here with the boombox, especially the Hitachi Models that already walked into history.

Just another small story to tell. CX-200 was appeared in a movie: Mission Impossible I.

The secret agent stored the gun in the boombox during a fight in a euro train. 

welcome to the site mate

here is a couple of my favourite hitachi's

Hi, what is the model no of the unit at the bottom?

This could be the flagship model that made in Japan at the Hitachi Tokai Works.

I like the look. The speaker design looks like a 3-way system.

what country were you in when working for hitachi? do you have knowledge of the 70's an 80's models,

sorry but all of us here are dying to know,  

I was in Singapore in the 90s. The factory was started in 1972 as a satellite production centre supporting Tokai Works for boomboxes. It became the main production site since the 80s till September 2001. The localization of the R&D was also started in the 80s. 

I guess the TRK-3D series kicked in between mid 80 and mid 90s. And it was further enhanced with the development of 3D ASW in early 90s. 

In my opinion, better 3D models were developed between end 80s and mid 90s. Many of you should be familiar with TRK-3D7, TRK-3D75, TRK-3D30, TRK-3D35, TRK-3D40, TRK-3D45 TRK-3D8, TRK-3D80, TRK-3D88, TRK-3D50, TRK-3D52 (3D ASW), TRK-3D95 (3D ASW) ..... (I have grouped those models (with colours) that belong to the same category in terms of market strategy. And you can trace also how the newer models being named from time to time.)    

Since 90s, Hitachi emphasized the integration of CD player. And therefore they have created the CX series. Models such as CX-W700/750, CX-W500, CX-200/250 and CX-950 were developed.

There were some other very special models that I would like discuss as well in the future. 

Certainly, I could be "too young"  to talk about the original series of TRKs in the 70s. 

What I was told the boombox origin was Tokai Works. And subsequently the operation was moved to Toyogawa Works and finally Yokohama Works. TRK covers a very wide range of products from Mini Components to portable units.

We would require many other members to join our discussion to make this topic an interesting and educational one.   

Defo....why dont you start right at the beginning when you first started working for hitachi upto the present day.........

it's a trk-8600 and yes it's a three way speaker system,it's the model i had as a kid

yes the TRK-8600 SEEMS to be the most ambitious model they produced. if they would have used 8" speakers oh boy!

yes that's the only let down about the box

Yeah, I was still flying kite in the paddy field during those golden years of TRKs.

You are such a lucky boy/man! At your age, I had only my mono Sanyo box with a broken cassette door.

Would you like to upload a video for our pleasure?

You seem to know lots about TRKs .... I like the construction and details of those boxes.

If you like deep bass, worth looking at models with 3D ASW!  

picked up my first 3d hitachi today a 3d30 for pennys at the carboot,

i have a few 80s trks the 8080e being my favourite.

my son already has his eye on the 3d30

hey thats a good sign bison, start them at an early age so they keep the dream alive.

lol,maybe hes wants to upgrade,hes had a sharp wq276 mini in his room ever since i got it and uses the radio on it constantly

Welcome to the forum H Designer! Designing boomboxes and speakers were "the" dream job of mine since I was a teen in the early eighties. I no longer have the original drawings in my possession, but this site brought back that passion and I began designing again when I joined the forum about ten years ago. It's really great to have an actual designer on board and I would love to see some of your designs. I have a few designs posted in the Future boombox section of this forum.

hey kool,we have 2 great designers on this site,all we need now is you 2 to get your heads together and come up with some good sketches,then all we need is some companies,or maybe an oil tycoon with a few billion in the bank lol..maybe take on and compete against lasonic lol ?

I am very familiar with 3D40 ... you know the reason right? . Both models are very similar.

just "won" a TRK 8190 on ebay
I want to kill the sod who bid me up from 5 pounds though

Thanks retro, I will check out your design in this forum! Amazing to know that this site has been around for the last ten years. You could check out models like CX-200, AX-6, 3D40, MS-W570, MS-W620 ...

I got to find time to generate new sketches ...   

Who knows a tycoon may engage us to prototype his or her very own boombox!

That's possible from the aspects of desgin and engineering.  

Congratulation!
Alert me if would see a CX-200. Please don't kill those who bid up the price. lol.

H_designer, I can see you & I are going to be good friends 
As mentioned earlier by Beanie Man, I'm the resident Hitachi 3D freak, & you are manna from heaven for the likes of me!

The CX-200 is comparitively rare for a 3D, I think - it was one of the last ones I found.

Mine is currently fully working & my 4 year old son has it in his room - the CD player & tape deck getting daily use, over twenty years on:

I got it from s2g member Radio Raheem, who himself got it in truly shocking condition from a dump. Here's the story:
index.php?board_oid=193392314111653483&content_oid=193392314112105015
It could use a new centre woofer (couldn't quite get all the dirt out!), so I'm on the lookout for another CX-200 as well... or another 3D52 as I think it has the same speakers.

Your involvement in the Hitachi 3Ds interests me greatly.

I have pretty much every model you mentioned, so I own quite a bit of your work   

I've owned a 3D7 from new, so I have a soft spot for the '1st generation' 3Ds: 3D2, 3D7, 3D8, 3D9 & the enormous CX-W800.

That said I think the ASWs are the best for sound quality. I have a Demo CD for the CX-W700:

..& the boomer to match, of course 

If I might pick you brains?  I have a couple of questions for you:

- Can you confirm that in Hitachi 3D names, suffixing a 5 or 50 meant a digital tuner? (such as 3D45 = a 3D40 with a digital tuner & CX-W750 = CX-W700 with a digital tuner)

- Who are/were Lo-D? Were they a Japan only brand for Hitachi?

- My Hitachi 3D with a CD & ASW is the CX-W700 (similar to the 3D90, but with a CD), but what is the CX-W950?

My 3D collection is up to 19, but I'm still missing:

- CX-CD5 Japan only (I think) 3D5 with a CD player. Never seen one, just pics on the web. Rarer than rocking horse poo, it seems.

  - CX-W300 (never even seen a pic, but it's on some lists online)

  - CX-W400 (only ever seen a pic)

  - CX-450 (seen once on eBay, & missed it! Only want it if it definitely has an extra woofer in there somewhere)

My search continues... 

My 'qualifying rules': it must be Hitachi, a portable (take batteries), have at least one extra amplified woofer.

...one other thing: You mention the CX-250. A CX-200 with a digital tuner? Oh, yes please 

Thanks for the kind words on my CX-200 restoration. It's not perfect, but you saw how it started out...!
I do have a soft spot for this boomer. I like the fact that although features were left out - perhaps for price (no second deck, no 5 band EQ, no surround or flashing lights), the features it does have get the job done well (full auto stop on the deck, bass & treble controls. Fit for purpose & all that 
I'll keep an eye out for a CX-200 for you. I still regularly watch eBay for any Hitachi 3Ds, in case any of the rare ones I don't have come up for sale.

I got the demo CD from eBay.
It's all in English, so my best guess would be it was supplied to stores selling the then new ASW Hitachi 3Ds. Back then, in the UK, boomers were arranged on shelves in the store for customers to play with, many powered up, to try out properly. A Sales assistant could then use this CD to sell the benefits of ASW to potential customers.

That CX-W950 sounds incredible.
I'd love to see any pics if you have them?

Here's the pic I have of the CX-CD5 (branded Lo-D):

 Also i found this (Japanese) web page about it:

http://www.video-topaz.shop-si...CX-CD5%20shuuri.html

A remote? Now I *really* want a CX-250.
The only Remote 3D I have is the CX-W500. My other son used it for a while until Santa bought him a Lasonic i931

It's really interesting to share this info about the Hitachi 3Ds 

I'd love to see any other pics you have, scans of product literature, etc.

I've got some myself - just let me know if there's anything you want to see & I'll check if I have it 

Hi isolator42, this is the CD that I have mentioned. I am not sure if this is the one for Swedish market.

Here it is the CX-250. You can see the remote sensor is just in front of the Super Woofer. You are right that CX-200 is a no frills model but intended to perform well with all its features.

errrr .. By the way, I have wrongly described 3D52 as 3D82 on my previous post. My apologies. Another typo error I have made was "CX-W950". The correct model no is CX-950. A single cassette CD boombox.  I will try my best to find you a pic of this.

You are truely a Hitachi 3D fan. I am lucky to get to know you.

here are a bunch of HITACHIS, check it out.

LINK ERROR.2314111943671/page/1

Thanks driptip. You are simply the chief coordinator in this topic.

I found another site as well ... mainly TRKs I hope you guys will like it

http://www.stereo80s.com/mfg.cfm?id=3

I work with some Swedish people & they confirmed for me, that CD is Swedish. The text on the front reads: "Listen to our best boombox ever!"

A toyed-up CX200? Lovely. I really need a CX-250 in my 3D museum 

I did wonder what you meant about the 3D52 (which is more like a twin tape/no CD version of the CX-200).

The 3D82 is definitely an ASW model:

That stereo80s web site was set up by an ex- s2g member...

All this talk is finally encouraging me to finally take pics of my collection, which I have been threatening to do for years now.

My contribution on this topic has a list of the 3Ds that I own:

index.php?board_oid=193392314111653483&content_oid=193392314111889964

...just to find the time...

Hello my friend. Your Swedish friends must be cracking their head to understand how crazy of the boombox lovers like us . I am not surprise it was used for the Swedish market because Hitachi audio was the top selling brand in Sweden.

Now I recalled the pic I saw. Someone has turn around the CX-200 by removing the CD player (That was after my time). The look is really questionable. I would categorize this kind of product as the "grey" model.

3D82 is good sounding ... an original ASW.

Thanks. I am the father of CX-250 as well ... haha

Another very interesting encounter was to see CX-200 appeared in a movie (Mission Impossible I). I was nearly fall off the chair in the cinema before ..

I am no good in editing video. I am not sure if anyone could help to produce the short clip for sharing.

Yes it is Swedish. My mother tongue is Swedish. The funny bit is if you translate directly "bergsprängare" it would mean Mountain Blaster!

Btw, this is one helluva interesting thread!

Thanks for sharing. The CD contents "phantom of the opera". It has nicely demonstrated the strong mid bass of W700. 

The tracks on my demo CD are strictly europop & strangely, not the best demo of the ASW system. The bass/kick drum is of the type that can distort too easily at higher volumes.

Still, at more moderate volume, the sound is a match for the JVC Hyper-bass system on my PC-V2 - which was priced much higher than the CX-W700 (both have a similar set of features).

One of the big selling points of Hitachi 3Ds (in the UK at least) was that they had more bass & volume than comparibly *priced* boomboxes.

...nice of you to say 

Hitachi 3Ds had pretty good sales in UK. The company emphasized a lot on value engineering. JVC (and Sony as well) is usually at higher price among the Japanese brands.

Hitachi 3Ds did equally well in Scandinavia and West Germany. And therefore you can see the influence of consumer behavior on its design and value proposition.

welcome sir!! i only have one hitachi right now its a TRK-W224H i love it but i dont know how to use the line in lol

As far as I remember, Hitachi were the first to offer a boombox with decent BTL-amplified extra-bass system (the Super Woofer) with the TRK7620, aka 3D7.

I could be wrong here, of course...! 

They were certainly the only major manufacturer offering a range of boomers with that form (controls & doors on top, all speakers across the front).

There were several copycat 3Ds, mainly from lesser brands (usually rebadged, 'black box' stuff).

Hi Gilberto, you could use the line in with MP3 player for instance. But you have find a cable that fix with 3.5mm phone plug at one end and a pair of RCA plug at the other end.

You could be right. The 3Ds form factor and construction is unique. This is a company that holding strong to their form follows function approach. And this could be the reason also they were losing ground .... consumer tends to be attracted by freshy design.