I'm getting back into boomboxes after seeing a friend's beautifully restored Eaton Viking. I grew up with cheapos myself, and used to drool over the cool hifi shop gear. So I've been picking up interesting boxes at good prices when I see them, in various states of disrepair.
I fix electronics as a hobby, and am looking forward to getting these back in action. Something I like to do to old audio gear is to completely recap it with long-life, high-temp capacitors. I enjoy the process and it makes things feel like they're "mine". I picked up a free Marantz MR235 from a recycling pile years ago and that's all it took to get it working again. And I have old turntables, preamps, and tube audio gear that's all been lovingly restored, even when it's just a humble old piece.
Anyways, the pictures below are all "before" shots taken by sellers. I'll return with after shots, although it will be a while since I live in Brazil and am having these shipped to a friend in the US who has been kind enough to allow me to do so.
The first boomer I picked up was a Magnavox D8443 which is a slick design but I've read about its audio quality issues, which is what led me to look at a couple of others. I'll still give it the attention it deserves though. The deck sounds like it has the standard D8443 gear issues, but after finding Old school Scott's D8443 secret, I'm a little more hopeful for having a use for it.
The next one I scored was a surprise. I got it for $20 which shows that messaging sellers with lower offers can sometimes pay off. It's an Aiwa CS-600U that was obviously owned by a badass old schooler
Everything but the cassette deck works.
And finally, I decided to take on a more substantial project, a JVC RC-838JWII in need of some TLC. Thanks to Boomboxery's help, I've found a replacement antenna (thanks nikonfoo!), and I'm buying a strap from blu_fuzz. I also ordered the missing REC Level slider cap on eBay.
Update: I just scored a GE 3-5286A. Details below.
Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for where to go next. I would love to find an M70 or TRC-931, but the high prices on eBay are way out of my range for now, since the U$ exchange rate for my Rais is very low. One can dream though. And exactly one day later, I've found a TRC-931
I fix electronics as a hobby, and am looking forward to getting these back in action. Something I like to do to old audio gear is to completely recap it with long-life, high-temp capacitors. I enjoy the process and it makes things feel like they're "mine". I picked up a free Marantz MR235 from a recycling pile years ago and that's all it took to get it working again. And I have old turntables, preamps, and tube audio gear that's all been lovingly restored, even when it's just a humble old piece.
Anyways, the pictures below are all "before" shots taken by sellers. I'll return with after shots, although it will be a while since I live in Brazil and am having these shipped to a friend in the US who has been kind enough to allow me to do so.
The first boomer I picked up was a Magnavox D8443 which is a slick design but I've read about its audio quality issues, which is what led me to look at a couple of others. I'll still give it the attention it deserves though. The deck sounds like it has the standard D8443 gear issues, but after finding Old school Scott's D8443 secret, I'm a little more hopeful for having a use for it.
The next one I scored was a surprise. I got it for $20 which shows that messaging sellers with lower offers can sometimes pay off. It's an Aiwa CS-600U that was obviously owned by a badass old schooler
Everything but the cassette deck works.And finally, I decided to take on a more substantial project, a JVC RC-838JWII in need of some TLC. Thanks to Boomboxery's help, I've found a replacement antenna (thanks nikonfoo!), and I'm buying a strap from blu_fuzz. I also ordered the missing REC Level slider cap on eBay.
Update: I just scored a GE 3-5286A. Details below.
