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Despite common opinion, boomboxes can be traced back to a humble start in the
mid-70s, when the idea of a "personal" stereo experience was a bit of a novelty.
Panasonic, Sony, Marantz and GE were quick to debut this hybrid stereo--not quite
a home stere console, but more than a portable combination radio-cassette. The
models were small, heavy and black--sound quality and AM/FM tuning was quite good.
The pinnacle in functionality was an array of input and output jacks, so the stereo
could be integrated with other audio equipment, like microphones and turntables.
Obviously, these systems filled a niche, and when the '80s arrived, other companies
entered the portable stereo arena, while the trendsetters released more models.
And so began the "boombox boom."
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Marantz Superscope. Few style points, but great quality from
a leader in magnetic tape technology. AM/FM tuner, cassette
recorder, "stereo matrix" (wide effect) through its 2-way, 4
speaker system. There were one-speaker mono predecessors, but
this is the earliest we found to fit the configuration of what we
now know as the boombox. Sold for over $200 in 1976.
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Panasonic Portable FM/AM Stereo Cassette Recorder. Fluid
design improves slightly upon the Marantz, but an otherwise
insipid format. As you'll soon see, it wouldn't take long for
Panasonic to come into their own. The Japanese giant's first
offering featured 3 1/2" speakers, twin volume controls, mic
mixing, built-in stereo condenser mics and VU/battery meter.
Approx. $150 by 1977.
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1978 Sony CF-520. One of Sony's first boomboxes with most of
the same features of the above, but certainly improved
aesthetics. Arguably, Sony enlightened the industry with cool
styling causing the boombox trend to catch fire in the late 70s
and early 80s.
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Panasonic clearly dominated the boombox market around the
turn of the decade; quality and performance were the benchmark
for other companies to match. This is one of their earliest
models, the RQ-4040.
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This boombox weighed in at a whopping 12lbs, not including
batteries. Despite its weight, it was small when compared to
models released a few years later--less than one foot in height.
We notice that this was par for the course for the early systems,
very heavy and solid, in a not-so-large package. These radios
were durable, and we've had good luck finding them recently in
working condition.
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Panasonic's top of the heap in the late '70s was RX-5040.
This was one of the first systems that included an led meter for
signal & battery strength. A sure sign of quality was the
array of inputs and outputs included. This stereo was made for
true integration into a home stereo. For some reason, these
functions seemed to disappear as the years progressed.
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Conic wasn't exactly a symbol of electronics excellence, but
this multi-band is pretty neat. It may very well be the first
boombox featuring detachable speakers and it boasted AM/FM/SW/LW
reception. Sound quality probably wasn't too great with those 2
1/2" speakers, but who cares!
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We were just happy to find this 20+ year-old Sanyo M9980 "in
the wild" and in super shape. Notice the twin meters; the little
yellow button above on the left controls a light for them.
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Panasonic's RS-466S, a hip model from 1979. Boomboxes were
becoming mainstream at this point. Here's a shot from a 1979
deodorant commercial featuring the very same model to prove
it.
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GE was one of the few companies offering a solid portable
stereo cassette recorder for an affordable price. While is wasn't
particularly rich in features, it did have all the basics:
separate left & volume controls; stereo switch; "digital"
tape counter; signal strength/record level/battery meter; the
forgotten neon orange square to aid in marking tape
position.
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This is what could be had for $430 in 1979--the ultimate
portable recording stereo, the Sanyo M9998. Amazing looks and
features, and so ahead of its time. We all know Sanyo is very
good at pushing crummy consumer electronics to the masses, but
just look at what they're capable of...
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