Phonoland

I spotted this a few days ago and thought I'd pass it along to those who may be interested.

Boombox Museum -- http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/boombox/

Actually, the site provides a nice, and relatively comprehensive history and analysis of the Boombox. I remember that my first deluxe boombox was this GE Silver Signature model --



The cost was $149.00 in 1982, or about $350.00 in today's money. If I remember right, I got it on sale.

It had a fantastic sound and jacks for external speakers and turntable, a Dolby switch, high performance stereo microphones, and the ability to play the new "metal" tapes just coming on the scene.

Unfortunately, after about six years, the left speaker gave out, and after two shop visits, the "Authorized GE Repair Facility" gave up trying to fix it, so I gave it to a friend.

I still miss it!

I have that exact model sitting in my living room right now. It belongs to friend and I promised to take a look at the tape portion to see why it didn't work. That was at least five years ago and still haven't gotten around to check it out. Oh well, maybe one day. --BB


Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

I also like the older boxes because they had two mics to record in Stereo. It was great for taping my choir rehearsals and a few concerts (I also toted a big Roberts 770X reel-to-reel and a pair of mikes as backup). The later boxes that came out only had one mic centered in the top of the unit but I believe they had a pair of external mic jacks for stereo. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

I've got a pristine Panasonic "Platnum Series" boombox made in 1980, and original cost back THEN was $429.95

Hello,

I think what started these large radio's off was the Grundig Yachtboy, I still have two of these sadly one in bits.

Regards
Alan Hood
ami-man

Aiwa made what was probably the first really hifi boombox in the early 80's. It was around $279 discounted if I remember correctly. The thing was HUGE! I sold them new. Absolutely nothing could touch it sound-wise. Yamaha also made a very good sounding one but had a terrible tape mechanism slightly after. We hooked it up to a set of Klipschhorns one day. Sold every one (Yamaha blasters, not Klipschorns) that we had in stock in 3 hours.