A question for the European/German collectors since I do believe it was only sold in Germany. Who was/were the manufacturers of Universum boxes in general? Thanks.

Ah yes, new to the forums.

hi and welcome mate found this a bit of info http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=universum+boombox&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFIQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stereo2go.com%2FdisplayForumTopic%2Fcontent%2F193392314112005147&ei=6PhIT5IPxMHyA5jJmI8K&usg=AFQjCNH5kcZElag-RBgB2XcCtn8MAEwyuA 

Thanks. I wouldn't have registered and asked if Google had been so kind with me

Have to correct myself. That thread doesn't actually give away who the original manufacturer was. For that specific model discussed over there I'd guess it was Telefunken. But could also be they already bought some of their products in Taiwan/Japan and just labeled them.  I'd think that different Universum models also were produced by different manufacturers. Hard to track down without any specific model number and year of make. I browsed a couple german websites the past days since I thought they were abundant over there but couldn't find what I was looking for. Thanks anyways.

So, my research has led me to identify that Radio Shack sold many of the same boxes under the Realistic brand name as did Quelle with their Universum branding.

I identified my childhood Universum box to be identical with the Realistic SCR-9.

http://www.stereo80s.com/bbx.cfm?id=1244

Does anyone know about the original manufacturer? Or just some generic Hong Kong, China, Tawain outlet?

Then, I remember my aunti to have an almost identical Universum radio/cassette recorder unit as mine with the difference of volume knobs instead of sliders and a different FM Stereo LED. Speaker grills where a bit different, too.

It looked pretty much like this Electric brand box which is not far off from the Realistic SCR-9 similar to what I remember comparing my model to my aunt's one at the age of 12 or so.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180830051407?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

So, I take it same manufacturers?

Now, these boxes weren't the greatest but for their price they offered decent quality and were pretty rugged.

If anyone who owns or owned them could chime in with their experience/knowledge, I'd appreciate it.

Universums were marketed and sold by the German department store "Quelle".   As to who they were manufactured by, I don't know.  Probably different for each box.

Taky by mě zajímalo,kde vyráběli boxy Universum.

Indeed, as did Radio Shack, Sears, etc.

Just trying to find out if it was a no name manufacturer. Many of them look like Panasonics but then boxes looked alike in many ways.....

I own an 8800, a 16000, and a HiFi 1000, and none of them are built with as much quality as a Panasonic.  But they sound very good.