The beat switch is for tweaking the AC bias frequency slightly for times when harmonics of the bias oscillator interfere with AM radio stations. If you're trying to record your favourite station but get an annoying whine but only when you're recording - try a different position of the 'beat' switch. I got through all my life not knowing this but it was @vwestlife's video that told me a while back. Cheers Dave!
At 18:01 there is a "soft touch" door opening mechanism. Usually filled with silicone damping fluid, which has probably migrated out. The "beat cut" switch changes the frequency of the bias oscillator to minimize a beat frequency when recording from AM radio stations (particularly weak ones). Thanks Dave!
I believe the little compartment with the small gear for the eject mechanism is intended to contain some grease that slows down the opening of the compartment, effectively providing the soft eject you were looking for.
Yep, seen that in other tape door mechs too, I had one of the "RoboCop" style dual tape deck boxes from the 90s, and the loaders had a plastic gear inside a housing packed with grease.
This teardown reminds me of all the old electronics that I used to tear down as a child in the mid nineties (some without parents' permission)! All those SIL ICs, old school AM frontends etc. The reason for getting into EE is due to the fascinating insides of this type of gear. Thanks Dave!
It's simply not worth looking into a boombox from 1983 and especially 85 and newer. It's all integrated and low end. The models from the late 70s and very early 80s are the only boomboxes worth getting or even looking inside.
They often used a little toothed gear that was suspended in some sort of viscous, grease-like substance to impede the door as it opened, giving the effect of a soft eject. Over time, the grease would dry-out or leak away, and the function would be lost.
I have approx 50 boomboxes so I know what is inside but great show to see all of the design inside. The good thing about "Made inJapan" is that you know it is easy to open and made very service friendly. I have a few Sharp devices and still going strong, also the 90s versions. Sony, JVC, Sanyo, Silver, Panasonic, all made in Japan. But I also have some Philips devices and that is a real different story. They made very nice units but man problem is always the same: Cheese gears. Use of flimsy connectors or not a connector at all, a spagetti of wires. I think the model you showed is really nice piece, you can see the effort they put into it. Simple, but build quality wise very good. Your unit can run for decades after decades.
In Christchurch, New Zealand in the mid 70's to late 80's we knew these as ghetto-blasters. Boombox still sounds very strange to me today all these years later!
In Sweden they were often called "bergsprängare", the Swedish word for rock blaster (the profession), which for once works pretty well when translated to English. The term seems to have been coined by Hitachi marketing but caught on and was then used for just any system with just a passing resemblance of a Boombox.
Great idea with the trace fill on the top, you can see the circuit without taking out the board. We called it cassetophone. And the VHS machines were just "video".
I bought my mother a GF7200 (smaller model with similar styling) in the early 80s, to use in her kitchen. When she passed away in 2011 it was still there, being used every day, and working like new. FM radio worked so poorly in her North London kitchen that I added an FM aerial socket when it was new, and used a large aerial in the loft, that also fed the Hi-Fi in the lounge. That was the only time the case ever needed to be opened. It wasn't cheap, but it was great value for money.
@@309electronics5I wonder what was cost of 10 d-cells then and how those kids earned the cash to buy them. I admit that at the age of 15 I had a similar-sized JVC but never even tried battery power, too expensive. Today, alkaline d-cells in my country start at around 1 US dollar apiece, all the way to almost 5 dollars for the fancy brands.
Great teardown. Take that, @Techmoan! :) We had a few domestic made models of "radiomagnetofon" (radio cassette recorder) here in Poland-not-Portland, and the common name was "jamnik" (dachshund) and later on, boombox. "Ghetto blaster" would never pick up given up the tragic memories of WWII and Holocaust, still fresh among anyone over 40 back then.
Год назад+1
We call it 'jezevcik' (dachshund) in Czech too. But not sure if it is just for those dual (side by side) cassette player.
In Spain those were call "loros", parrots. Because some people used to carry them on their shoulders (like a parrot) very loud, while walking on the street, on the beach... Like a walkman but with the capacity of disturbing everybody 1km around.
16:48 Panasonic made a VCR that could switch to the audio line input while recording TV so you could record your TV concert with Hi-Fi stereo sound from the FM radio simulcast.
It was nice of them to print the frequency response on both speakers to prevent neck strain (perhaps exacerbated by holding it above one's head for extended periods)
I'm guessing it's purely fictional anyway. There isn't even a crossover! haha ... ahem.. Now, because this is an engineering crowd: "Weellll actually..." piezo tweeters measure like a capacitor, which is effectively a first-order high-pass filter, so _technically_ you don't need a crossover. Particularly if the natural treble roll-off of the mid/woof is at the same frequency and slope as the bass roll-off of the piezo. But, I'm guessing these two drivers don't have perfect and complementary roll-off characteristics, phase, and sensitivity. Nahhh, just wire them in parallel, the piezo won't be too bothered by the LF energy, and that's close enough for rock and roll. Whaddaya want from a pair of speakers in a plastic box, anyway? ;-D
The GF-7600 tape mechanism (11:20) is virtually the same type used in several Sharp models (notably the more popular GF-700 from 1981/82) but with some differences. I mention this because of the take-up idler at the top right and the winding clutch gears in the middle.
Odds are most manufacturers didn't even test the response, they just sourced whatever generic speakers they could find. Also there's a difference between what the amp can output and what the tape mechanism was capable of reproducing (most boombox decks were cheap crap except for the higher-end models)
One guy carrying the boom box, one guy had a rolled up 36” square of linoleum, a clean t-shirt and a bottle of mop n glo. Hoodies, warm up pants, and a pocket full of cassette tapes cues up to your favorite song. Our neighborhood break dance crew and working on cars with dad is what kept me out of trouble.
I used to buy these by the hundreds at Brashs ACT, to sell for Christmas. They flew out the door, very reliable and rarely came back. Some Sharp models came in different colors. AM stereo was "big" in 1985 ...
I've never heard of AM stereo before until this video. Guess it was not so popular in densely populated countries where FM was king and AM was already a relic of the past in the 80s. I don't even recall ever listening to an AM station other than testing whether it worked to begin with.
There are still AM Stereo stations in the US today, but rare. Check out shango066 who made some video's about it, like this one: ruclips.net/video/I1HIF0toZO8/видео.html
This era of boom boxes were really well made. Who ever designed most of them took a lot of pride in their work because some of them were very intricate. The sound quality was usually quite high too. We can't make things like this today. Over time the quality fell through the floor and by the late 90's era the build quality was low and most of them suffered from high noise, hum and distortion. Something that just isn't an issue with any of the units from the 80's.
And the ones built a couple years before this were even better quality. Many were built like tanks. The golden era was 1978-1982. Sadly, quality went downhill after that, due to increased competition, and the rise of the walkman.
Yes! I still have my Sony SRF A200 AM Stereo / FM Stereo portable.Great little radio, but monstorously tight inside to fix. Still listen to it every night. Still 1 AM stereo station broadcasting in QLD.
Wow, mechanics with servo-assisted movements, and at that time a recorder like that was practically junk for us. Instead, having it today is like getting a space saw.
I had a few of these growing up over the years we used to call them ghetto blasters recently. One of them had resurfaced, and we were our some with some friends. Morgan behold my friend and I said wow that’s a real Guetta Blaster from the 80s. We haven’t seen one of those in years and all of a sudden one of the ladies that was with us. Her feelings were hurt and she snapped. We don’t call it that anymore well I’m sorry about everybody’s feelings but you’re taking away memories and good times so my feelings are equally hurt too. It will be a ghetto blaster to me forever plain and simple.
Soldermask with identification was because these were hand assembled, so the little old ladies that put them together could see where the wires went, and then did not get it wrong.
I recall as kids we used "boombox." We used "ghetto blaster" more in a negative context if someone had a poor-quality boombox... or worse when adults used it to complain about the noise. I grew up in the middle of the USA - the terminology may have differed in other parts.
Just gotta love at 9:56 the explanation of the additional board and connection to prevent pinched wires, which clearly was very effective and resulted in the wires being pinched anyway, and just as badly, but in a more predictable place for ease of troubleshooting??
I was able to replace belts on one, some were actually totally melted away. Now I can play that famous Peter Gabriel song on cassette from the movie.... Shock the Monkey. LOL Good luck finding this one anywhere. I think collectors have gotten them all. I need a slider switch for the volume though. Have some chrome ones on there from another model for now.
Oh man that is a classic. Never had one myself but I remember being jealous when I saw a friend who did have one. I did have a dual deck stereo though but it was a more basic one. I guess it could still quality as a boom box. Later on had one that could play CDs too. Makes me feel old to realize that this is vintage tech now. :P
My dad had one of these when I was little. I took it apart and couldn't get it back together. He was extremely upset, but now he realizes that I was just getting an early start on my career. I still remember digging my fingernail into the waxy glue on the ferrite rod, figuring out how that multi-gang switch worked, and being mystified by what that multi-tuner cap unit was.
Dave! I just started a job at a new shop doing industrial automation and control work. The problem is nobody has heard of the EV blog! I know you are as surprised as I am. I have your premium digital multimeter and my trusty old fluke 26 mark three in my toolbox. Please produce vinyl Dieker details of the EEV blog logo stat. So I can purchase one from your website about 12 inches wide and 4 inches high in white or black. I would love to display it on my box to raise awareness of your awesome RUclips channel.
Hi Dave, I have a Sanyo BOOM BOX when running on 10xD batteries you won't even play a 90 cassette if you go over the volume position where the BAT MAX link is. The cassette drawer has a friction brake for slow tilting, just a little silicone vaseline and the cassette opens slowly. Nice day 🙂 Tom
It would be interesting to do a teardown on an early 1960s/late 1950s transistor radio--some used steel chassis with sockets for the individual transistors. All hand-wired, of course. There was a huge distrust of printed circuit technology early on.
Diode with wire hoop, 'heatsink', the diode is maybe a ref voltage or one of them fangled capacitor diodes things in tuners, but guessing as its on the tape deck board its maybe to do with setting a bias voltage for the recording circuitry.
I have GF700H that my dad bought in 1985, teared it few times to fix some problems with belts, but now it is almost just a decoration. All music is digital and a have another stereo. Still looks eye candy.
I had one with detachable speakers when I was little! I'm only 23 so it was already old when I got it but I totally loved it! I still have it somewhere in a closet in the house I grew up in, but one day I forgot I left it outside. It got rained on and now one side doesn't work anymore unfortunately. I should really get some electonics cleaner and have a go at fixing it. Unfortunately when one side stopped working, I, being the stupid destructive 11 year old I was, destroyed the speakers. I could probably design some new better ones and 3D print them though so I can use it again like when I was little.
Battery life was pretty good, that 35W power use is a peak rating, but with normal volume current consumption would have been around 0.5A, depending on mode, with tape being the highest. So with 2Ah NiCd cells around 4 hours, and if you were on radio only around 8 hours of use, though you could easily get 2 days even with flat cells, provided the volume was low. High volume with flat batteries you got motorboating.
I have the Sharp GF-6060, got one when I was a teenager and used it to play music and load programs onto my ZX Spectrum. Years later I bought another one.....just because!
Over here in Germany they were called ghettoblasters and they occupy a special place in my heart. I'm still using a CROWN 950 for outdoor listening or just to marvel at as a showpiece with all it's chrome ornaments. Beats any modern bluetooth loudspeaker both in style and sound.
Talking of iconic tape machines, I own a Realistic CTR-68. No? Not heard of it? Most people haven't. It's the one used by Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. The one in the film has the name "Realistic" scratched off.
I bet Run-DMC sounds much better on these, I guess there's modern versions with Bluetooth? I was born after this era, but always loved the aesthetics of these old boomboxes in all their square glory.
I didn't have an 80's boombox, but I was able to have a Sony front loader CD boombox with 'megabass'. It wasn't very loud or bassy from I remember when running from D batteries or even from wall power. Kids today have it so easy with a JBL pvc pipe speaker with super high quality tweeters and some bass drivers with passive radiators...also with a rechargeable lithium based battery.
The ultimate 'simulcast' was listening to Roy and HG call the state of origin, those overseas or younger than 30 will not understand the cultural significance of this.
The promotional material is typoically shot earlier. They may change the movie for some reason. In the 1976 version of King Kong the promotional material had jet fighters in the final scene. In the movie they had helicopters. In some promotional material they had both they were attempting a smooth transition.
That thing is absolutely not consuming 35 watts. As your on screen note shows, AM stereo started in the early 80s. There are still at least 2 AM stereo stations in the US. KYET Cactus Country 1170 AM is in Arizona and there's another one in Michigan WION. There are probably more, but I am unfamiliar with them. WION was gracious enough to put its AM stereo feed, as received by an AM stereo receiver on the internet. AM stereo sounds absolutely great. In some ways, it's better than FM stereo. YT user Shango066 has an interview with WION's sound engineer on his channel explaining how the system works.
I'm sure it's actually regional variants of the same Sharp boombox. Boomboxes intended for Asia often do have Short Wave on them. Here in the UK the Sharp GF-7600E (E for Europe) version, it has Long Wave(LW) on it. but only has one SW band covering 6-18MHz. The Japan variant would have FM coverage down to 76MHz.
Really nice construction setting this apart from the no-name rubbish that also existed at the time. This can't have been exactly cheap. A shame that we don't get a good idea of how this sounds trying to avoid copyright issues, a well recorded tape with RUclips library tracks would help.
I think the point was, it was just really common to tart it up to look like more than it is. You can only justify 5, but you want it to _look_ like 10, because ultimately it doesn't matter but 10 (fake ones) look way more impressive than only 5 (real ones.) Same reason for the fake tweeters, and the text labels everywhere that made a completely ordinary function seem like something worth bragging about merely by adding the word "System" to the end. (E.g., "Radial Tuning System" next to a round tuning dial.)
These days even if the hardware lasts they take down the app that is needed to use it and never release the code for user to make their own app.. My high quality Bluetooth portable amp is around 3 years old with a great battery.. Made in Korea wirh screws so I thought when needed i could replace the battery... Instead its now dead as it needs a custom app(like all such devices) which crashes on the new phones OS version and the company will not update it or release the data needed for an open source version.. So to use it i need a second old phone with an old OS..
It is easy to forget that the price of a high end boombox in the glory year of 1982-83 was one month of pay of someone on minimum wage. Most of us had to settle for a 3 + 3 Watt model; the GF9595 was a dream to all effects. Note, the JVC models were of better quality compared to Sharp ones. At the time, the quality of the switches - dozens of them - was highly critical on all boomboxes...
The earlier Sharps, like the GF-515, GF-666, GF-9696, and GF-777 were VERY good quality, as good as JVC. Sadly, everyone started cutting corners after about 1982.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
The beat switch is for tweaking the AC bias frequency slightly for times when harmonics of the bias oscillator interfere with AM radio stations. If you're trying to record your favourite station but get an annoying whine but only when you're recording - try a different position of the 'beat' switch. I got through all my life not knowing this but it was @vwestlife's video that told me a while back. Cheers Dave!
Dork! Hehe
Thanks. Never had one that had this switch.
A trap for young players.
@@EEVblog i think it goes back to superhet receiver days, who are you, release the real Dave Jones!
Amazing how many people get that one wrong....
14:10 that switch is to select between record & play. Parts of the circuitry were switched over to share componnets
At 18:01 there is a "soft touch" door opening mechanism. Usually filled with silicone damping fluid, which has probably migrated out. The "beat cut" switch changes the frequency of the bias oscillator to minimize a beat frequency when recording from AM radio stations (particularly weak ones). Thanks Dave!
I believe the little compartment with the small gear for the eject mechanism is intended to contain some grease that slows down the opening of the compartment, effectively providing the soft eject you were looking for.
Yep, seen that in other tape door mechs too, I had one of the "RoboCop" style dual tape deck boxes from the 90s, and the loaders had a plastic gear inside a housing packed with grease.
That slow smooth opening looked so fascinating after oldstyle ones from 70s, just like some door of aliens spacecraft from scifi movie!
It's actually called dampening grease and it is available in a bunch of different viscosities.
at 6:49 there is a plastic spacer for the tuning knob that fell on the floor not sure if you noticed it or not. Cool BoomBox By the way.
Thanks, found it.
This teardown reminds me of all the old electronics that I used to tear down as a child in the mid nineties (some without parents' permission)! All those SIL ICs, old school AM frontends etc. The reason for getting into EE is due to the fascinating insides of this type of gear. Thanks Dave!
It's simply not worth looking into a boombox from 1983 and especially 85 and newer. It's all integrated and low end.
The models from the late 70s and very early 80s are the only boomboxes worth getting or even looking inside.
The tape door does have a slow eject gear. I bet it just needs some love
Really? Must be completely rooted.
@@EEVblog that's what she said?
They often used a little toothed gear that was suspended in some sort of viscous, grease-like substance to impede the door as it opened, giving the effect of a soft eject. Over time, the grease would dry-out or leak away, and the function would be lost.
@@Oldgamingfart it's called silicone dampening fluid.
@@mornax That's the one!
I have approx 50 boomboxes so I know what is inside but great show to see all of the design inside. The good thing about "Made inJapan" is that you know it is easy to open and made very service friendly. I have a few Sharp devices and still going strong, also the 90s versions. Sony, JVC, Sanyo, Silver, Panasonic, all made in Japan. But I also have some Philips devices and that is a real different story. They made very nice units but man problem is always the same: Cheese gears. Use of flimsy connectors or not a connector at all, a spagetti of wires.
I think the model you showed is really nice piece, you can see the effort they put into it. Simple, but build quality wise very good. Your unit can run for decades after decades.
No one does enthusiasm in electronics like Dave!
In Christchurch, New Zealand in the mid 70's to late 80's we knew these as ghetto-blasters. Boombox still sounds very strange to me today all these years later!
Same in Canada. Anyone over 40 still calls these ghetto blasters. Used to even say that in the stores.
In Sweden they were often called "bergsprängare", the Swedish word for rock blaster (the profession), which for once works pretty well when translated to English.
The term seems to have been coined by Hitachi marketing but caught on and was then used for just any system with just a passing resemblance of a Boombox.
3D Super Woofer, surely?
Great idea with the trace fill on the top, you can see the circuit without taking out the board. We called it cassetophone. And the VHS machines were just "video".
I bought my mother a GF7200 (smaller model with similar styling) in the early 80s, to use in her kitchen. When she passed away in 2011 it was still there, being used every day, and working like new. FM radio worked so poorly in her North London kitchen that I added an FM aerial socket when it was new, and used a large aerial in the loft, that also fed the Hi-Fi in the lounge. That was the only time the case ever needed to be opened. It wasn't cheap, but it was great value for money.
Kids nowdays couldn't lift this over their head with the 10 D batteries, much less hold it there for a whole song.
You mean the 10 year olds? I can easily hold it above my head with the D cell batteries, hence i even have a old radio from grandpa
Lmao, too much soy in the Starbucks
@@309electronics5I wonder what was cost of 10 d-cells then and how those kids earned the cash to buy them. I admit that at the age of 15 I had a similar-sized JVC but never even tried battery power, too expensive. Today, alkaline d-cells in my country start at around 1 US dollar apiece, all the way to almost 5 dollars for the fancy brands.
Great teardown. Take that, @Techmoan! :)
We had a few domestic made models of "radiomagnetofon" (radio cassette recorder) here in Poland-not-Portland, and the common name was "jamnik" (dachshund) and later on, boombox. "Ghetto blaster" would never pick up given up the tragic memories of WWII and Holocaust, still fresh among anyone over 40 back then.
We call it 'jezevcik' (dachshund) in Czech too. But not sure if it is just for those dual (side by side) cassette player.
@ I think it's for the long ones, i.e. stereo, probably dual too.
Actually, many Germans and Russians still call them ghettoblasters, especially on Ebay
In Spain those were call "loros", parrots. Because some people used to carry them on their shoulders (like a parrot) very loud, while walking on the street, on the beach...
Like a walkman but with the capacity of disturbing everybody 1km around.
Parrot, I like that. It makes sense.
hahaha
16:48 Panasonic made a VCR that could switch to the audio line input while recording TV so you could record your TV concert with Hi-Fi stereo sound from the FM radio simulcast.
17:50 - NO crossover! ALL the low frequencies were sent to tho those poor tweeters!
Pizeo tweeters did not need crossovers in most cases.
It was nice of them to print the frequency response on both speakers to prevent neck strain (perhaps exacerbated by holding it above one's head for extended periods)
But no numbers!
I'm guessing it's purely fictional anyway. There isn't even a crossover! haha
... ahem.. Now, because this is an engineering crowd:
"Weellll actually..." piezo tweeters measure like a capacitor, which is effectively a first-order high-pass filter, so _technically_ you don't need a crossover. Particularly if the natural treble roll-off of the mid/woof is at the same frequency and slope as the bass roll-off of the piezo.
But, I'm guessing these two drivers don't have perfect and complementary roll-off characteristics, phase, and sensitivity. Nahhh, just wire them in parallel, the piezo won't be too bothered by the LF energy, and that's close enough for rock and roll. Whaddaya want from a pair of speakers in a plastic box, anyway? ;-D
@@nickwallette6201 Those of us who collect boomboxes know it's pretty rare to find a piezo tweeter that still works and produces any audible sound.
The GF-7600 tape mechanism (11:20) is virtually the same type used in several Sharp models (notably the more popular GF-700 from 1981/82) but with some differences. I mention this because of the take-up idler at the top right and the winding clutch gears in the middle.
9:48 Years ago, a fellow electronics engineer told me that MELF stood for Metal Ended Little Fucker. I believed that for years. 😂
I'd love a second-channel video where you actually test the speaker frequency response and compare it to the graphic.
Odds are most manufacturers didn't even test the response, they just sourced whatever generic speakers they could find. Also there's a difference between what the amp can output and what the tape mechanism was capable of reproducing (most boombox decks were cheap crap except for the higher-end models)
One guy carrying the boom box, one guy had a rolled up 36” square of linoleum, a clean t-shirt and a bottle of mop n glo. Hoodies, warm up pants, and a pocket full of cassette tapes cues up to your favorite song. Our neighborhood break dance crew and working on cars with dad is what kept me out of trouble.
I used to buy these by the hundreds at Brashs ACT, to sell for Christmas.
They flew out the door, very reliable and rarely came back.
Some Sharp models came in different colors.
AM stereo was "big" in 1985 ...
I've never heard of AM stereo before until this video. Guess it was not so popular in densely populated countries where FM was king and AM was already a relic of the past in the 80s. I don't even recall ever listening to an AM station other than testing whether it worked to begin with.
@stragulus yes I agree. I'm in uk and never heard of am stereo. Guess our decent fm has been around with good Reception since the 60s
There are still AM Stereo stations in the US today, but rare. Check out shango066 who made some video's about it, like this one: ruclips.net/video/I1HIF0toZO8/видео.html
13:29 - Wow! Jones is amazingly on pitch here! Who knew he could sing?!
Thanks for the wonderful trip down memory lane to a more simple, and I must say, better time!
This era of boom boxes were really well made. Who ever designed most of them took a lot of pride in their work because some of them were very intricate. The sound quality was usually quite high too. We can't make things like this today. Over time the quality fell through the floor and by the late 90's era the build quality was low and most of them suffered from high noise, hum and distortion. Something that just isn't an issue with any of the units from the 80's.
And the ones built a couple years before this were even better quality. Many were built like tanks. The golden era was 1978-1982. Sadly, quality went downhill after that, due to increased competition, and the rise of the walkman.
AM stereo started Feb 1, 1985 here in Oz (Sydney). Nicely preserved example there but only remember AM stereo car radios, not boom boxes.
Yes! I still have my Sony SRF A200 AM Stereo / FM Stereo portable.Great little radio, but monstorously tight inside to fix. Still listen to it every night. Still 1 AM stereo station broadcasting in QLD.
My father did repair work for many of the brands of the time, and my dad liked quality of sharp the best.
The 5 band equalizer with its special filter chip with gyrators is very interesting
Wow, mechanics with servo-assisted movements, and at that time a recorder like that was practically junk for us. Instead, having it today is like getting a space saw.
I had a few of these growing up over the years we used to call them ghetto blasters recently. One of them had resurfaced, and we were our some with some friends. Morgan behold my friend and I said wow that’s a real Guetta Blaster from the 80s. We haven’t seen one of those in years and all of a sudden one of the ladies that was with us. Her feelings were hurt and she snapped. We don’t call it that anymore well I’m sorry about everybody’s feelings but you’re taking away memories and good times so my feelings are equally hurt too. It will be a ghetto blaster to me forever plain and simple.
these commie dems have ruined my country.. the hell with them and there feelings
We called them ghetto blasters too. I know why it's offensive and I don't care, everyone's offended by everything nowadays.
Don't try to play Dire Straits Money For Nothing, the triggering will be unbearable.
@@EEVblogWhy not? "The Chicks were free!"
Huge fan of these teardowns, absolutely terrific!
Soldermask with identification was because these were hand assembled, so the little old ladies that put them together could see where the wires went, and then did not get it wrong.
Whoa. That boombox had everything. I would love to have something like that to use on my PC's line out
18:45 you pinched that poor wire again 😢
I recall as kids we used "boombox." We used "ghetto blaster" more in a negative context if someone had a poor-quality boombox... or worse when adults used it to complain about the noise. I grew up in the middle of the USA - the terminology may have differed in other parts.
I think it probably did. As a kid in the UK I always used "ghetto blaster".
@@Silanda Germans and Russians use that word too. But I thought you Brits would call them "Brixton briefcases"
Just gotta love at 9:56 the explanation of the additional board and connection to prevent pinched wires, which clearly was very effective and resulted in the wires being pinched anyway, and just as badly, but in a more predictable place for ease of troubleshooting??
It was rather ironic. But it's the thought that counts.
My father bought Sharp boombox with dual deck we called Tape Recorder and I forget the model in 1983. Sounds amazing for 12 y.o. boy.
I wonder how accurate that frequency response curve is, maybe you could check it!
I have the Sanyo M9923. The *actual* boombox from the helicopter scene in Predator, where Little Richard "Long Tall Sally" is played
Still got my Panasonic 1 from the 90s, worked hard as teenager to save for it.
Mine was the slightly smaller Sharp GF8080. Removed the batteries and fed from a stabilised mains PSU for a few more watts.
Yes most boomboxes made more power on AC than they did on batteries
Yep, putting some caps in parallel with the diodes in the linear power supply helps keep noise off the mains.
Not only Ghetto Blaster, or Boombox, but also Brixton Briefcase
When I was at Uni in Atlantic Canada, they were called ghetto blasters. Here in Bermuda, we just called them boxes.
I was able to replace belts on one, some were actually totally melted away. Now I can play that famous Peter Gabriel song on cassette from the movie.... Shock the Monkey. LOL Good luck finding this one anywhere. I think collectors have gotten them all. I need a slider switch for the volume though. Have some chrome ones on there from another model for now.
Oh man that is a classic. Never had one myself but I remember being jealous when I saw a friend who did have one. I did have a dual deck stereo though but it was a more basic one. I guess it could still quality as a boom box. Later on had one that could play CDs too. Makes me feel old to realize that this is vintage tech now. :P
My dad had one of these when I was little. I took it apart and couldn't get it back together. He was extremely upset, but now he realizes that I was just getting an early start on my career. I still remember digging my fingernail into the waxy glue on the ferrite rod, figuring out how that multi-gang switch worked, and being mystified by what that multi-tuner cap unit was.
Cleaned many a tuner cap with isopropyl alcohol, lol
Dave! I just started a job at a new shop doing industrial automation and control work. The problem is nobody has heard of the EV blog! I know you are as surprised as I am. I have your premium digital multimeter and my trusty old fluke 26 mark three in my toolbox. Please produce vinyl Dieker details of the EEV blog logo stat. So I can purchase one from your website about 12 inches wide and 4 inches high in white or black. I would love to display it on my box to raise awareness of your awesome RUclips channel.
Hi Dave, I have a Sanyo BOOM BOX when running on 10xD batteries you won't even play a 90 cassette if you go over the volume position where the BAT MAX link is. The cassette drawer has a friction brake for slow tilting, just a little silicone vaseline and the cassette opens slowly.
Nice day 🙂 Tom
It would be interesting to do a teardown on an early 1960s/late 1950s transistor radio--some used steel chassis with sockets for the individual transistors. All hand-wired, of course. There was a huge distrust of printed circuit technology early on.
Diode with wire hoop, 'heatsink', the diode is maybe a ref voltage or one of them fangled capacitor diodes things in tuners, but guessing as its on the tape deck board its maybe to do with setting a bias voltage for the recording circuitry.
If you are afraid of copyright strikes while demoing audio gear: Do as Techmoan does and prepare media with RUclips licenced music.
5:14 AM Stereo?! welp, a new rabbit hole for me.
I have GF700H that my dad bought in 1985, teared it few times to fix some problems with belts, but now it is almost just a decoration. All music is digital and a have another stereo. Still looks eye candy.
I had one with detachable speakers when I was little!
I'm only 23 so it was already old when I got it but I totally loved it! I still have it somewhere in a closet in the house I grew up in, but one day I forgot I left it outside. It got rained on and now one side doesn't work anymore unfortunately.
I should really get some electonics cleaner and have a go at fixing it.
Unfortunately when one side stopped working, I, being the stupid destructive 11 year old I was, destroyed the speakers. I could probably design some new better ones and 3D print them though so I can use it again like when I was little.
Almost didn't recognize it without all the banana stickers 😁
I used to buy so much D Cells in the late 80s, its unreal :D
06:45… the knob has to come off, that’s what she said. (C) 2023 EEVblog.
Battery life was pretty good, that 35W power use is a peak rating, but with normal volume current consumption would have been around 0.5A, depending on mode, with tape being the highest. So with 2Ah NiCd cells around 4 hours, and if you were on radio only around 8 hours of use, though you could easily get 2 days even with flat cells, provided the volume was low. High volume with flat batteries you got motorboating.
I can't see it ever using 35W. Maximum output to the speakers was only 10-12 watts on that model.
Great stuff, Sharp was top of the line in its day.
I have the Sharp GF-6060, got one when I was a teenager and used it to play music and load programs onto my ZX Spectrum. Years later I bought another one.....just because!
They were also called "BFR"s, for Big "Flipping" Radios.
@BarryRowlingsonBaz
i thought the middle word was different 😄
Would have expected a men at work tape
I've never heard that title before. It was called "Better off dead" here in Australia.
A fine example 👍
In london in the late 80’s the BBC transmitted digital stereo audio via NICAM. No need for simul-casts
Over here in Germany they were called ghettoblasters and they occupy a special place in my heart. I'm still using a CROWN 950 for outdoor listening or just to marvel at as a showpiece with all it's chrome ornaments. Beats any modern bluetooth loudspeaker both in style and sound.
Just a bit of casual racism in Germany.
Here in the UK they were called Brixton briefcases.
@@claptonpond9451 Lovely name that is. Sounds like some witty cockney slang.
I love how the frequency response charts have no axis labels
Obviously, the vertical axis is amplitude, and the horizontal axis is life goals. :-)
Talking of iconic tape machines, I own a Realistic CTR-68. No? Not heard of it? Most people haven't. It's the one used by Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. The one in the film has the name "Realistic" scratched off.
In Sweden we called it "Bergsprängare" = mountain blaster.
I bet Run-DMC sounds much better on these, I guess there's modern versions with Bluetooth? I was born after this era, but always loved the aesthetics of these old boomboxes in all their square glory.
Those were the days!!!
Man I wonder if kids still get to tear apart VCRs these days
I remember that boom box... My brother had one.
I didn't have an 80's boombox, but I was able to have a Sony front loader CD boombox with 'megabass'. It wasn't very loud or bassy from I remember when running from D batteries or even from wall power.
Kids today have it so easy with a JBL pvc pipe speaker with super high quality tweeters and some bass drivers with passive radiators...also with a rechargeable lithium based battery.
But most dont know what stereo means - all though these "boomboxes" didnt do anything for sound quality either. Horrible..
The ultimate 'simulcast' was listening to Roy and HG call the state of origin, those overseas or younger than 30 will not understand the cultural significance of this.
I love the big chunky traces on the EQ board.
Any idea what the Z with stroke is about on one of the boards?
Saw that Z in the edit and was wondering the same thing.
Perhaps its a reference to the Z version and its corresponding tuner band?
The promotional material is typoically shot earlier. They may change the movie for some reason. In the 1976 version of King Kong the promotional material had jet fighters in the final scene. In the movie they had helicopters. In some promotional material they had both they were attempting a smooth transition.
That thing is absolutely not consuming 35 watts. As your on screen note shows, AM stereo started in the early 80s. There are still at least 2 AM stereo stations in the US. KYET Cactus Country 1170 AM is in Arizona and there's another one in Michigan WION. There are probably more, but I am unfamiliar with them. WION was gracious enough to put its AM stereo feed, as received by an AM stereo receiver on the internet.
AM stereo sounds absolutely great. In some ways, it's better than FM stereo. YT user Shango066 has an interview with WION's sound engineer on his channel explaining how the system works.
do you know the stories of "finale countdown"? it is very interesting
are they using a variable capacitor diode for fine tuning
looks like a pot on the bottom of the tuning control ??
had to check this out when the thumbnail was in my eyes.
Pedantic moment - US boomboxes did not have Short Wave receivers. So, technically that's not same boombox. Although it is very similar.
I'm sure it's actually regional variants of the same Sharp boombox. Boomboxes intended for Asia often do have Short Wave on them. Here in the UK the Sharp GF-7600E (E for Europe) version, it has Long Wave(LW) on it. but only has one SW band covering 6-18MHz. The Japan variant would have FM coverage down to 76MHz.
My dad had this unit as his shop radio.
Really nice construction setting this apart from the no-name rubbish that also existed at the time. This can't have been exactly cheap. A shame that we don't get a good idea of how this sounds trying to avoid copyright issues, a well recorded tape with RUclips library tracks would help.
Anybody noticed that the VU meter has only 5 red LEDs? They are just physically notched in the center to look like 2 tiny LEDs.
Pretty common then. Not like you need 10bits of resolution to know it's playing.
@@nobodynoone2500 Why notch it then?
@@Capturing-Memories To make them look like there were twice as many. Duh!
@@shazam6274 Wasn't that my original point, wasn't it? duuuuh!!!
I think the point was, it was just really common to tart it up to look like more than it is. You can only justify 5, but you want it to _look_ like 10, because ultimately it doesn't matter but 10 (fake ones) look way more impressive than only 5 (real ones.) Same reason for the fake tweeters, and the text labels everywhere that made a completely ordinary function seem like something worth bragging about merely by adding the word "System" to the end. (E.g., "Radial Tuning System" next to a round tuning dial.)
Built before planned obsolescence was a thing.
These days even if the hardware lasts they take down the app that is needed to use it and never release the code for user to make their own app..
My high quality Bluetooth portable amp is around 3 years old with a great battery..
Made in Korea wirh screws so I thought when needed i could replace the battery...
Instead its now dead as it needs a custom app(like all such devices) which crashes on the new phones OS version and the company will not update it or release the data needed for an open source version..
So to use it i need a second old phone with an old OS..
All the best stuff is made in Japan...
Also known as "ghetto blaster" in US/Canada. In fact I have still been caught by my kids using this term
"As always, thanks for watching!"
Awesome 80's! Love it!
This looks like a copy of the Toshiba RT-S782, which was quite a quality machine for its time
It is easy to forget that the price of a high end boombox in the glory year of 1982-83 was one month of pay of someone on minimum wage. Most of us had to settle for a 3 + 3 Watt model; the GF9595 was a dream to all effects. Note, the JVC models were of better quality compared to Sharp ones. At the time, the quality of the switches - dozens of them - was highly critical on all boomboxes...
The earlier Sharps, like the GF-515, GF-666, GF-9696, and GF-777 were VERY good quality, as good as JVC. Sadly, everyone started cutting corners after about 1982.
When is 8K video coming?
Dont sell the peizo tweeters short, they made a big difference for high frequencies.
In Denmark we called it a ghettoblaster back in the '80.
How long can you hold it above your head Dave?
Bonus points for anyone that remembers Molly talking about The Final Countdown playing during the closing days of Countdown.
how has it not hit Content ID?