What Do You Hate Most About A Boombox?

[blah blah]

I HATE sloppy internal wiring and lack of wiring clips to make dismantling easier.
I am working on a lasonic TPR926 and it is so cramped and everything needs to be de-soldered!

 

[mellymelsr]

I hate dull, single color boomboxes with no chrome accents. the boomboxes of the early and mid 80's had class and style. The solid gray and black boxes of the early 90's are just plain ugly....that's why I customize mine ...I also hate that my favorite boxes weren't offered in a variety of colors, you have black or silver and the occasional limited edition gold....thankfully I can cure that with a splash of paint...

 

[Master Z]

I dislike broken boxes, but on the other hand I enjoy fixing and messing around with them.
And boxes that get no use doesnt sit well with me either.

Other than that I like everything about em'. Just trying to flip it and keep it positive.

 

[Kavinsky1983]

I can´t stand silver finished boxes, they are build for the streets, so they should be all black, PVC only.

I mean, they look used to fast., expecially the corners.

 

[Eddy]

Short battery life

 

[Radio raheem]

While were on it what boxes do you guys dislike i dislike any box with tape controls on top eg m70 sharp 9191 9292 9494 9696 ewwwwwww grrrrrrrrrrr

 

[floyd]

i like boxes with the controls on the top ,

thing i hate ,
no line in
funky stupid power plug jack designs
big speaker look with small ass speakers
fake tweeters
cheap feeling controls
stupid sounding names ,nobody wants to carry a box called the cecil no matter how cool it looks
i know theres more i just can't think of them right now .

 

[jaetee]

While were on it what boxes do you guys dislike i dislike any box with tape controls on top eg m70 sharp 9191 9292 9494 9696 ewwwwwww grrrrrrrrrrr

Yea, yea.... we all know how much you like the M90.... Personally, I think having controls on top is a good use of space and looks pretty cool, too. Boxes that are completely flat on the top (like the M90 or most Panasonics) actually seemed kind of strange to me. But, at least they are good for staking them on top of each other.

Having controls on the top was easier to FF and REW or stop and flip tape when actually walking around and carrying your box. I got to the point on my GF-9292 I could do all of those controls by feel, and even change the volume without ever lifting up the box or looking at it.

Nowadays they call it ergonomics.

The M70 has, arguably, one of the best boombox tape decks in it of all time. Seems a terrible shame to dislike it for such a trivial reason. Then again, there are boxes out there that I don't like for stupid reasons, too... for example, I also disliked handles that extend all the way to the outside of a box.

That said, I do like my RX-5150 (flat on top and handle that extends all they way). S2G and this site have opened my mind considerably...

 

[Old school Scott]

I hate Grails.
Huge rare well made boxes.
With their slow opening cassette doors, and strong wattage.
Light up tuning dials,
and don't even get me started on those creepy VU meters.

Cheers OSS


Ofcourse I am joking.

 

[jaetee]

What I more than anything about boomboxes, is that Nakamichi never made one!!!!

Can you imagine a "Dragon-to-go"!!!????

 

[ViennaSound]

Short battery life

That was one of my next dislikes

-gsbadbmr

And leaked batteries inside a box.... :annoyed:

 

[skippy1969]

1. Slider type volume controls.
2. Dual volume controls " like a separate knob or slider for each speaker"
3. No line in......
4. Shortwave boomboxes with no fine tuner.......
5. Hardwired units ,like older Aiwa's..... They suck to work on.
6. Rube Goldberg type complex full logic controlled cassette decks.

 

[Gluecifer]

My main peeves are:

Upside down decks with controls on top - I can never get my head around the tape direction on these, and it means you can't stack them on top of eachother, all controls to the front please. Of course the main exception to this rule is the RISING 20/20.

Overly complicated deck mechanisms - Ones that own me royally when I try to rebelt them.

Speaker grils that hide the speakers rather than accentuate them.

And the final one is that there aren't a hell of a lot of the big classic Lasonic, Techsonic, Prosonic and all those other KILLER brands in my country as they were never domestically released... meaning big freight charges from the u.s to .au for a lot of the radios still on my neeeeds list.



Rock On.

 

[MONOLITHIC]

Especially for a large single piece like a GF 777, it would seem like a full size handle would make it a bit easier to carry (though someone could argue that the small handle makes for optimal balance while carrying...)

Yeah, that'll make a GF-777 somewhat easier to carry... until it breaks. That box is way TOO heavy for a long handle. I could see half of those being sold on eBay with severely bowed or completely broken handles - especially from previous owners who liked to hold the handle at one particular end. I could only recommend a full size handle for that box if the entire handle were made of metal.

 

[2steppa]

1. Slider type volume controls.
2. Dual volume controls " like a separate knob or slider for each speaker"

Don't mind sliders so much but dual rotary are a real nuisance.

Cassette doors which are big dust and dirt traps between the window layers and can't be easily separated to clean.

High geared tuners - half a turn whizzes the pointer half way down the scale! (Crown/Unisef notably).

 

[eldorado]

i dont hate nothing.

i love them !!!

muah

 

[MONOLITHIC]

While were on it what boxes do you guys dislike i dislike any box with tape controls on top eg m70 sharp 9191 9292 9494 9696 ewwwwwww grrrrrrrrrrr

My main peeves are:

Upside down decks with controls on top - I can never get my head around the tape direction on these, and it means you can't stack them on top of eachother, all controls to the front please. Of course the main exception to this rule is the RISING 20/20.

For obvious reasons, I think mini boxes are an exception also.

Personally, I'd rather have all the controls on the front of the box where I can see and access them easily without having to stand up or tip the box over to see exactly which switch, knob or button I'm fiddling with. Don't get me wrong, those boxes by Sharp, Hitachi, Crown, JVC, etc. have still got killer looks and all that, but... Still, that hasn't stopped me from buying boxes with controls on the top. My placement options are HIGHLY limited tho...

 

[Old school Scott]

i dont hate nothing.

i love them !!!

muah

Yeh, mostly I'm with El on this one.
Hate is a strong word.
I love pretty ladies and pretty Radios

Cheers OSS

 

[MasterBlaster84]

i dont hate nothing.

i love them !!!

muah

Yeh, mostly I'm with El on this one.
Hate is a strong word.
I love pretty ladies and pretty Radios

Cheers OSS

I have to agree with you wise collectors, I like them all it's just I like some much less than others. Where the controls are on a box doesn't bother me at all, I like having the variety.

 

[SINISTER]

lack of a rca line in.
i mean considering the prices of these things when new and lets face it they were not cheap all boomboxes should have had a line in.
personally i think it is great mystery how in the hell someone as panasonic got aways with selling the 680 and 690 with no line in.
the kabooms lack of rca inputs. good on them for putting a guitar jack on some of them but hey what about a good line in.

next up
buttons replacing pots and sliders.

foam speaker surrounds.
if you are going to make it that hard to get the freaking grills of the nmad god thing why not use cloth surrounds or butyl.
i mean sure they most likely werent thinking anyone would care in thirty years but ........

Bill all kabooms have line in it's in the guize of a little headphone socket on the back

yes i know it has a eighth inch line in and i am not a fan of eigth inch line ins on anything.

well wouldnt walks look funny with 1/4 headphone jacks