BOOMBOX Resurgence
BOOMBOX Resurgence
It looks like we are slowly starting to experience a Boombox Resurgence or if you prefer Ghetto Blaster resurgence which I’m all for, the Stereos in the 80′s were great. I got my first box back on my 16th Birthday an Hitachi TRK-7620AU, I still have this box and use it from time to time when I want to play music on my iTouch LOUD!
You only have to check eBay to see that the old Boomboxes are still in great demand, companies are even making cheap boomboxes and even major brands are getting in on the resurgence by making things that look like boomboxes just like the Altec Lansing inMotion MIX iMT800 Portable Digital Boom Box for iPhone and iPod.
Even old time Boombox manufacturers like Lasonic are making new ones like this Lasonic i931X Ghetto Blaster with iPod/iPhone Dock, I want one of these but there are no importers of it in Australia.
Food manufacturers are jumping on the band wagon too, Kraft is running a promotion in Australia to have the chance to win 1 of 100 Lasonic i931X’s you need to buy their Macaroni and Cheese Easy Mac products to win it, now I am not a fan of Macaroni and Cheese but I bought some just to be in the draw.
There are web sites dedicated to Boomboxes with page after page of pictures and information on Boomboxes, two major ones are
A popular forum site dedicated to Boomboxes is Boomboxery.com, sites like this have all manner of information relating to Boomboxes like manuals, schematics, repair tips, reproduction labels and even custom built Boomboxes.
Check out these custom jobs
Boomboxes made from old suitcases
Finding Boomboxes for someone keen on them is rewarding, I found this one recently at a recycling centre, it was covered in all manner of grime, I spent over 2 hours cleaning it up and in the end it turned out great, the only problem I could find was the first tape drive was a little slow in operation but that could be fixed with a new drive belt.
Sharp QT90
All nice and clean
I’m also in the process of making a custom Boombox, I found a little Toshiba Boombox the same day I found the above Sharp but it was all beaten up, once the project is finished I’ll post it here.
I wish the major brands that made Boomboxes in the 80′s and that are still around today would make them again like Lasonic has, with the technology available today they would rock.
Rock On!
Aaron
