Collecting TV Boomboxes

[Lasonic TRC-920]

I'm not sure why I am collecting TV Boomboxes
There is no more broadcast TV
But for some reason, I like them

I still have the first "Portable" battery powered TV my parents had. 4 inch black and white. They let me take it to school when I was in 4th or 5th grade. It was a HUGE deal. Just the novelty of being able to "Carry" a television set, WHILE watching it. IT WAS ON BATTERIES MAN!

I still have my Radio Shack pocket TV with 1 inch color screen (smallest color screen ever, to that point) and it's successor the 1.5. They always showed pictures of people at sporting event's using them??? Isn't the point of going to a LIVE game to watch it LIVE! Plus, you ain't watching no football on that thing. You certainly can't see the scores or stats. It was color, but had like 40 pixels I think I paid $99.99.
I also have a Sony Mega Watchman.

But now I have 4 boombox TV's including this new addition that I got from our own THAFUZZ. Thanks Bro!
(of course full patented Boomboxery Pro packaging )

When I was a kid, these were an outright luxury item. I never knew anyone with one, they were always out of my price range, always that one step beyond, just pure 1980's excess and at 18.8 lbs without batteries, you needed Jazzersize and leg warmers to carry it.

In Los Angeles, we had 7 channels!
2,4,5,7,9,11,13. What the hell were we watching?
I mean, who walk's around watching TV on a boombox?

Well, somebody did, they sold lots of them and many manufacturers made them, including the big boys JVC and Sanyo!

This Emerson XLC-556A fit's solidly in the Mid Sized box range and is as solid as a cinder block.



Size comparo...



As far as Emerson's go, this was clearly their flag ship. The build quality seems little better than everything else I have seen and currently own. It's got a good solid deck and keys. Twin tuners are smooth and precise. Sound quality is medium / good.

I'm happy with it. Not sure how much carrying around I will do with it, with this door knob sticking out off the back of it.


Truth be told, the fact that this is SO un-carryable BECAUSE of that nob probably saved it's life. Sitting on a shelf somewhere for 25-30 years.

It's in really good condition, but needs a deoxit'ing (say that 3 times fast!)
I have had it open, but into order to get the face off, the tube will have to come loose. I have already learned how to power down the tube and done it twice. I've been meaning to learn, got others to work on! So, now I know.

Deck works, FM works, Line In works, switches need cleaning. Antenna and holder are in tacked. TV powers up. Speaker cables are perfect. Sliders are dirty, one channel cuts out, tone slider has some mono spots. No real big deal.

Fits in nicely...



Here's a 2", 3", 4" & 5"

 

[SLO]

Congrats Chris! I used to drool over those TV boomboxes as a kid, but could never afford one back then. A TV boombox hasn't made its way to my collection just yet, but I wouldn't mind one at all.

A friend of mine just picked up that exact same Emerson model you scored, a few weeks ago. I think ELDIRTYDINO and I have recruited another addict Lol. He's in the game now, and boy, he is in for one helluva ride! Here's a pic of his Emerson.

View attachment 17705

Nice collection of classic TV's you got there Chris, very nice

 

[Mystic Traveller]

Nice pics.

IMO, VICTOR M-8000 is one of the best TV boxes.
Would love to score one but those are rare and expensive these days.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Congrats Chris! I used to drool over those TV boomboxes as a kid, but could never afford one back then. A TV boombox hasn't made its way to my collection just yet, but I wouldn't mind one at all.

A friend of mine just picked up that exact same Emerson model you scored, a few weeks ago. I think ELDIRTYDINO and I have recruited another addict Lol. He's in the game now, and boy, he is in for one helluva ride! Here's a pic of his Emerson.

2015-04-16 23.57.38.jpg

Nice collection of classic TV's you got there Chris, very nice

Hey That looks pretty good in silver!

Yeah your buddy has no idea the quicksand he has stepped into!

Nice pics.

IMO, VICTOR M-8000 is one of the best TV boxes.
Would love to score one but those are rare and expensive these days.

Far and away the greatest TV Boombox ever made, these don't come up often, even from Japan and they go for big money when they do.

Looks like the control panel of a rocket ship!

 

[nikonfoo]

yes im also scared to take the first step
I can see this could be addictive
I was looking at the Sanyo T4100

 

[Reli]

^ Stereo "Stranger"

Those crazy Japanese with their Engrish

 

[Reli]

Far and away the greatest TV Boombox ever made, these don't come up often, even from Japan and they go for big money when they do.

Looks like the control panel of a rocket ship!

Ha, I actually have one of those now! I'll bring it with me next time I'm down there.

 

[eli]

I can imagine that a box with a TV was a lifesaver to someone on a boring job midnight shift---?

 

[Mystic Traveller]

I once scored in Japan Sharp 5P-R3U in great cosmetics, for cheap.

Only because I was a sort of driven by the idea to rip out the TV tube
and install a media player instead but plans then changed.

That was mine:

 

[blu_fuz]

I wouldn't be against having one with a LCD/tablet mod. I always wanted a TV box, not sure why.

 

[Mystic Traveller]

I wouldn't be against having one with a LCD/tablet mod. I always wanted a TV box, not sure why.

Yep, I was going to build in namely a cheap 6" Android tablet so that I could install various players there,
with visual effects, spectrum analyzers, that kind of stuff..
Original black-and-white TV tube was useless to me though it still worked.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Ha, I actually have one of those now! I'll bring it with me next time I'm down there.

Cool would love to see/hear one

I can imagine that a box with a TV was a lifesaver to someone on a boring job midnight shift---?

Yeah, probably

I once scored in Japan Sharp 5P-R3U in great cosmetics, for cheap.

Only because I was a sort of driven by the idea to rip out the TV tube
and install a media player instead but plans then changed.

That was mine:

Sharp 5P-R3U.jpg

Sharp 5P-R3U_1.jpg

Sharp 5P-R3U_2.jpg

Sharp 5P-R3U_3.jpg

Sharp 5P-R3U_6.jpg

That is sweet!

Yep, I was going to build in namely a cheap 6" Android tablet so that I could install various players there,
with visual effects, spectrum analyzers, that kind of stuff..
Original black-and-white TV tube was useless to me though it still worked.

Yep, would be cool to build

 

[floyd]

i had one of those but it was not powering on so the ole sledge hammer took its toll on her , i still have the speakers if i find em i'll send em' to you then you can add them on and have quadraphonic tv sound lol. that was a heavy box i will say and half way cool looking , i was gonna fix it up but said **** it .

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

i had one of those but it was not powering on so the ole sledge hammer took its toll on her , i still have the speakers if i find em i'll send em' to you then you can add them on and have quadraphonic tv sound lol. that was a heavy box i will say and half way cool looking , i was gonna fix it up but said fark it .

Save those speakers...I could build a monster!

 

[floyd]

will do man , soon as i find em' you got em'.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

will do man , soon as i find em' you got em'.

Cool, because this little beast doesn't weigh enough

 

[Superduper]

Like Chris, I also have amassed a collection of TV boxes. Never bothered to discuss them, figuring most of the guys would just laugh. I had plans to convert all of them to LCD so that at the very minimum, I could watch music videos on them. Listening to songs is one thing, but watching the performer sing them another thing entirely. I've no desire to listen to thriller. But I could sit through and watch the whole thing. Once converted, they could be sort of like an MTV box. The only quesiton is will I run out of time before I complete all these projects? Probably. Sooo many projects, so little time.

 

[Reli]

I would rather keep the TV screen, as it reminds me of my youth. Plus you could always hook it up to a VCR, DVD, or anything else.

 

[Superduper]

I would rather keep the TV screen, as it reminds me of my youth. Plus you could always hook it up to a VCR, DVD, or anything else.

True but then that defeats the whole thing about boomboxes, which is an all-in-one machine. Having to tether all sorts of stuff together is a buzzkill. In fact, that's probably why I don't even do external mp3 thing much since I hate the dangling cord but the blutooth conversion might be the saving grace of some of these older boxes. Once converted, they will have been granted new life while still retaining 100% portability.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Like Chris, I also have amassed a collection of TV boxes. Never bothered to discuss them, figuring most of the guys would just laugh. I had plans to convert all of them to LCD so that at the very minimum, I could watch music videos on them. Listening to songs is one thing, but watching the performer sing them another thing entirely. I've no desire to listen to thriller. But I could sit through and watch the whole thing. Once converted, they could be sort of like an MTV box. The only quesiton is will I run out of time before I complete all these projects? Probably. Sooo many projects, so little time.

I'm right there with you Norm. I never thought anyone really cared about the TV boomboxes other than the Big JVC and Sony, because...well, they are BIG! So I don't bring them up much.

I'm also with Reli, I like the tube TV, (I just like things stock for what ever reason).

What I would love to do, more than anything and the reason I have been collecting them is to find a low power TV broadcaster. Some TV repairman test equipment that has enough power to fill my boom room so ALL my TV's can be playing at the same time.

And like you Norm...WIRELESS!

I have searched for equipment, but most stuff is expensive. I farked it up, I found something that would have worked on eBay for on $35 and I didn't buy it and haven't seen anything like it since.

Hopefully one day...