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You're viewing Page Three of our Golden Age section of the Boombox Museum. Click
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Dean from Boston is an avid ghetto blaster collector and provided us with this
picture of a Magnavox D8443 aka the "Spatial Stereo Power Player." This was probably
the most ambitious release of Maganavox ever, featuring 5 Speakers, 3 Amps, SW tuning,
Mic, Line In/Out via RCA jacks and a "Stereo" control which goes from Mono to Spatial.
The system is quite large: 13" high, nearly 2 feet in length. Dean's quite talented
in obtaining his boomboxes for free: "I had to make a pickup at a Postal warehouse,
some package or something. I went to a caged-in room in the back and saw a Sanyo M9935K
behind the clerk that I had to give my yellow slip to. He told me that it belonged to
some guy who used to work there. I didn't say anything more than, 'I'm kinda into those
old radios,' before he walks over, unplugs it and hands it over." Thanks Dean!
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Chucko, one of our faithful listeners in St. Louis is quite pleased with shortwave
reception of this Sears boombox grabbed from Ebay for a few bucks. Amazing that this
system is in such immaculate shape! Sears was a strong seller of audio equipment
througout the 70s and 80s as were most catalog showroom outfits.
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Early 80s Aiwa portable offering multi-band radio coverage, and dated looks.
We're intrigued by the illuminated position indicator on the frequency display.
It's red until you hit a station--when you center on a station's frequency, it
turns green!! Very unusual feature not offered on any other boombox.
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Yet another mid-80s JVC ghettoblaster with multi-band reception. Reception was
plentiful on this one, as it offered
AM, FM, and four shortwave bands! David from Ontario writes that the LED array
above the cassette was for its "Multi Music Search" feature. Sadly, his passed away in
1993 after 10 years of faithful service.
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Sanyo could really manufacture some really nice portables--this M7900 is covered
in chrome and silver and AMSS music search, tuning and fine tuning, balance control and
the ever-popular soft-eject cassette.
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Again, Barry Gordy's The Last Dragon graces us with another portable--
this one suffers a sad fate. One facet of the mid-80s that we
fail to recall is that when youths felt the need to breakdance, they would drop
a radio and start doing it regardless of time or place, like in this movie theater.
The dance session is cut short as one angry moviegoer applied some street justice,
ending the life of this helpless boombox.
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Say hello to Radio Shack's top-of-the-line ghettoblaster in 1983, the SCR-6.
This one had audible cue-review, Dolby noise reduction, a 6 watt amplifier, twin
LED meters, a "Stereo Wide" system for improved sound.
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Another Pansonic model with the Ambient Sound feature, the RX-5080. This one
also features a two-color LED meter.
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This giant Helix was grabbed at a New York City flea market--you wouldn't
believe the attention it drew! Surely an indication that the beasts have reached
mainstream acceptance. We're not sure where Helix is today, but their effort to
outdo the big audio names back in the '80s by building 'em larger and louder did not
go unmissed.
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Probably one of the rarest boomboxes out there, this Casio surfaced briefly in
1985. It was their second effort to create a crossover musical intstrument/entertainment
system, preceeded by their KX-101 a year earlier. This one has a simple look but
don't be fooled! The keyboard is feature-packed with percussion options and instrument
selection. The radio is a three-bander, tuning AM, FM and shortwave. The system is
light, compact and very portable. Imagine our happiness when we grabbed this one as
"new old stock" at a local electronics shop, brand new in the box.
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St. Louis' Chucko strikes again with this unusual Electro Brand. At first glance
it appears to be one of the popular "Ranger" style shortwave radios, but a closer
look will find the stereo speakers, shoulder strap and side-loading cassette drive. Pretty exotic,
but we haven't even mentioned the band coverage on this baby: Ten, that's right, ten
bands of coverage! Check the pic
showing AM, FM, CB, PSB, Air, Ham, Weather and shortwave tuning. Much like the Casio
and their hybrid systems, we presume Electro Brand was trying cross over, targeting
radio freaks and general stereo enthusiasts with this one. Great find, Chucko!
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