After receiving my first Lasonic, a TRC 931, I was happy with the bass but very dissappointed with the overall sound especially when compared to some of the big boys in the boombox world. Then I hear whispers of the 920 which is supposed to have better quality and superior sound to it's bigger brother. I must say I was shocked when I first heard Chris's 920. It was a little beat up but that sucker has nice sound. I had to get one! Now that I have had some time with it next step was a side by side challenge with the standard bearere for excellence in the midsize boombox class, the M70.
My testing process is very simple, put them to the test the way I use them, indoors and outdoors with the type of music I listen to, jazz, hip-hop, electric funk, and r&b. I started indoors in my boom-room. I have a sweet spot in the corner where the music bounces off perfectly to enhance the sound.
I played tracks from Notorious BIG, Sade, Public Enemy, and Eric Benet to round things out.
Looking at these two radios from afar I actually thought the M70 was bigger but to my surprise they are the same width, height, and length. The M70's front design gives it the appearance of being larger. The M70 definitely feels a little heavier and it take 10 batteries to the 920's 8.
INDOORS: The 920 has a very interesting sound signature. The highs and lows are very pronounced and come on quite strong from notch 1. It has a very sensitive aux input so it gets loud early in the volume range and starts to get really distorted around notch 7 so it's useable volume ends around 6. The 920 handles all genre's of music very well with crisp highs that come through loud and clear and can be overpowering at times and hard hitting deep bass. The tuner is decent but struggles with some weaker stations. The cassette player is quite simple with no music search or any other bells or whistles but has excellent sound. The inputs are highly sensitive so the volume on the input device should be about half volume. Overall I was very impressed with the indoor sound of the 920.
The M70 is all class and delivers the music very smoothly throughout the volume range. The M70 is very consistent in the way it delivers music. It is as smooth at volume notch 2 as it is at notch 9 and it gets better as it gets louder. Where the 920 shines with sharp treble and hard hitting bass the M70 shines by not overpowering you with anything but delivering a warm balanced sound. The M70 has a wonderful tuner that pulls in stations with ease. The cassette player is bullet proof and loaded with music search, manual record levels, and metal tape capabilities. The inputs are not very sensitive and the volume on the input device must be around 3/4 volume.
INDOORS VERDICT: This was a very tough test. There are songs that I prefer to hear on the 920 because of it's ability to handle hard hitting bass and the treble just screams. On hard hitting hip-hop tracks the 920 shines. On tracks with more balanced music and instrumentals the M70 shines. It's sound is so well balanced and warm on jazz tracks and anything instrumental. For this reason I have to give a tie for indoor listen because both boomboxes are very strong depending on the type of music you want to listen to.
OUTDOORS: This part was about pure cranking ability at the edge of distortion. The 920 as I said before pounds very hard but it's downfall outdoors is it starts to distort heavily around notch 6-7. This is where the M70 starts to warm up. The M70 cranks out loud and clear with very little distortion up to notch 9. When testing these two outdoors side by side at there max volume but low distortion level the M70 is loud enough to completely drown out the 920. The M70 is an absolute beast outdoors.
OUTDOOR VERDICT: M70.
Final thoughts...I was completely surprised by this boombox that I had not given much thought about before the West Coast Meet. I never thought the M70 would get this type of challenge from a Lasonic. This boombox should be on every collectors list. The M70 wins the all around head to head challenge but let's remember this, back in the 80's this Lasonic was less than half the cost of an M70 so the Lasonic would definitely be my best bang for the buck winner.
My testing process is very simple, put them to the test the way I use them, indoors and outdoors with the type of music I listen to, jazz, hip-hop, electric funk, and r&b. I started indoors in my boom-room. I have a sweet spot in the corner where the music bounces off perfectly to enhance the sound.
I played tracks from Notorious BIG, Sade, Public Enemy, and Eric Benet to round things out.
Looking at these two radios from afar I actually thought the M70 was bigger but to my surprise they are the same width, height, and length. The M70's front design gives it the appearance of being larger. The M70 definitely feels a little heavier and it take 10 batteries to the 920's 8.
INDOORS: The 920 has a very interesting sound signature. The highs and lows are very pronounced and come on quite strong from notch 1. It has a very sensitive aux input so it gets loud early in the volume range and starts to get really distorted around notch 7 so it's useable volume ends around 6. The 920 handles all genre's of music very well with crisp highs that come through loud and clear and can be overpowering at times and hard hitting deep bass. The tuner is decent but struggles with some weaker stations. The cassette player is quite simple with no music search or any other bells or whistles but has excellent sound. The inputs are highly sensitive so the volume on the input device should be about half volume. Overall I was very impressed with the indoor sound of the 920.
The M70 is all class and delivers the music very smoothly throughout the volume range. The M70 is very consistent in the way it delivers music. It is as smooth at volume notch 2 as it is at notch 9 and it gets better as it gets louder. Where the 920 shines with sharp treble and hard hitting bass the M70 shines by not overpowering you with anything but delivering a warm balanced sound. The M70 has a wonderful tuner that pulls in stations with ease. The cassette player is bullet proof and loaded with music search, manual record levels, and metal tape capabilities. The inputs are not very sensitive and the volume on the input device must be around 3/4 volume.
INDOORS VERDICT: This was a very tough test. There are songs that I prefer to hear on the 920 because of it's ability to handle hard hitting bass and the treble just screams. On hard hitting hip-hop tracks the 920 shines. On tracks with more balanced music and instrumentals the M70 shines. It's sound is so well balanced and warm on jazz tracks and anything instrumental. For this reason I have to give a tie for indoor listen because both boomboxes are very strong depending on the type of music you want to listen to.
OUTDOORS: This part was about pure cranking ability at the edge of distortion. The 920 as I said before pounds very hard but it's downfall outdoors is it starts to distort heavily around notch 6-7. This is where the M70 starts to warm up. The M70 cranks out loud and clear with very little distortion up to notch 9. When testing these two outdoors side by side at there max volume but low distortion level the M70 is loud enough to completely drown out the 920. The M70 is an absolute beast outdoors.
OUTDOOR VERDICT: M70.
Final thoughts...I was completely surprised by this boombox that I had not given much thought about before the West Coast Meet. I never thought the M70 would get this type of challenge from a Lasonic. This boombox should be on every collectors list. The M70 wins the all around head to head challenge but let's remember this, back in the 80's this Lasonic was less than half the cost of an M70 so the Lasonic would definitely be my best bang for the buck winner.
