Hi Guys,
I've always wanted to get into Sanyo boomboxes to rekindle the relationship I had with this brand in my teenage years. Unfortunately, I've been very unlucky with almost every Sanyo I touch dying in my arms with failed tuners, amps, etc. A few members might remember a M9994K I parted out due to various issues including a failed volume pot. I then bought a 9998K that worked for a few days before it lost the left channel and then both channels. Finally, it wouldn't even power up!!
I then got lucky with a nice Sanyo M4500K but really wanted a Sanyo with more bass so the search continued.
I've been desperately trying to find a really nice 9994K.....no luck so far. So what's the next best era correct Sanyo model in the line up?.......That's right, the Sanyo M9990K! I spotted one on Ebay that wasn't getting a lot of attention. The listing described it as in 'Very Good Working Condition' but minus an antenna. I ended up winning the auction for $84 but the seller ended up giving a partial refund of $30 due to some condition issues so for $54, it worked out a nice deal.
The seller did a really nice job on the packaging and thus it arrived in one piece.
Photos are of the unit as received. It still needs a good clean and smells slightly of tobacco.
View attachment 368
Although the deck does FFWD, RWD, PLAY, Pause and Record OK, the belts are worn and cracked so will need work. The clock does work on tape mode but when you select the radio, the clock screen fades out. Any ideas on a fix? The clock battery backup terminals have acid damage and even after a clean up, the problem persists. The volume/treble and bass pots were a little scratchy but have cleared up nicely with a little use.
Luckily the main batteries terminals are perfect and work fine on 8 D cells.
View attachment 369
But.... the 4 band tuner works perfectly on all bands with a strong FM Stereo performance all with no antenna! The sound quality of this unit is just fantastic! It's nice and loud and doesn't distort until your up above 3/4 volume!
Now let me do a little comparison.......This particular 9990K sounds beefier and stronger than my very nice Sharp 9292!! I know what you saying, your 9292 must be sick but I've compared my 9292 with Scotty's healthy 9292 and both sounded very similar.
So this 9990K is my one piece box champion to date.
View attachment 370
View attachment 371
I've heard here that the 9990K had nice bass and clear highs and now I'm a believer. It's hard to believe the 9990K only has 3.5 watts per channel.
I thoroughly recommend the Sanyo 9990K if you want a really well built 70s box that's compact, efficient and packs some nice bass!!
Now the search continues for it's big brother, a fully operational (and cheap) 9994K ......
James....
P.S. Anybody got a 9990 antenna for sale??
I've always wanted to get into Sanyo boomboxes to rekindle the relationship I had with this brand in my teenage years. Unfortunately, I've been very unlucky with almost every Sanyo I touch dying in my arms with failed tuners, amps, etc. A few members might remember a M9994K I parted out due to various issues including a failed volume pot. I then bought a 9998K that worked for a few days before it lost the left channel and then both channels. Finally, it wouldn't even power up!!
I then got lucky with a nice Sanyo M4500K but really wanted a Sanyo with more bass so the search continued.
I've been desperately trying to find a really nice 9994K.....no luck so far. So what's the next best era correct Sanyo model in the line up?.......That's right, the Sanyo M9990K! I spotted one on Ebay that wasn't getting a lot of attention. The listing described it as in 'Very Good Working Condition' but minus an antenna. I ended up winning the auction for $84 but the seller ended up giving a partial refund of $30 due to some condition issues so for $54, it worked out a nice deal.

The seller did a really nice job on the packaging and thus it arrived in one piece.
Photos are of the unit as received. It still needs a good clean and smells slightly of tobacco.
View attachment 368
Although the deck does FFWD, RWD, PLAY, Pause and Record OK, the belts are worn and cracked so will need work. The clock does work on tape mode but when you select the radio, the clock screen fades out. Any ideas on a fix? The clock battery backup terminals have acid damage and even after a clean up, the problem persists. The volume/treble and bass pots were a little scratchy but have cleared up nicely with a little use.
Luckily the main batteries terminals are perfect and work fine on 8 D cells.
View attachment 369
But.... the 4 band tuner works perfectly on all bands with a strong FM Stereo performance all with no antenna! The sound quality of this unit is just fantastic! It's nice and loud and doesn't distort until your up above 3/4 volume!
Now let me do a little comparison.......This particular 9990K sounds beefier and stronger than my very nice Sharp 9292!! I know what you saying, your 9292 must be sick but I've compared my 9292 with Scotty's healthy 9292 and both sounded very similar.
So this 9990K is my one piece box champion to date.

View attachment 370
View attachment 371
I've heard here that the 9990K had nice bass and clear highs and now I'm a believer. It's hard to believe the 9990K only has 3.5 watts per channel.
I thoroughly recommend the Sanyo 9990K if you want a really well built 70s box that's compact, efficient and packs some nice bass!!
Now the search continues for it's big brother, a fully operational (and cheap) 9994K ......

James....

P.S. Anybody got a 9990 antenna for sale??




