Boombox Bonanza 5: Conion C-124F Repair

I repair this low end Conion Boombox

[@ruialexandre6197]

What I like about these machines is that they are a kind of time capsule. You slip an 80s tape in it and there it is - this is how 80s pop music was meant to sound in a low end tape recorder in 1984. I've bought a white one for 20 euros, want to bring it back closer to its former (relative) "glory".

[@StevesElectronicRepairShop]

I grew up with them, so appreciate the visual and sound aesthetic of those times. I find it a bit amusing that retrowave artists add some wow and static effects to their new tracks these days. I fixed a valve radio for a friend who listens to some American old time rural radio show that is broadcast here with his wife, and I thought that is the only authentic way to listen to that sort of thing. Its not the same in perfect FM Stereo.

[@herby4215]

Looks like a Toshiba model

[@jasejj]

I don't think these had anything to do with Onkyo the hifi manufacturer, Conion were a low-end Japanese outfit, I think they eventually became Miyakoshi, who are still around - same company as made cheap Crown/Unisef branded audio gear and a load of store-brand electronics. I have a bit if a soft spot for this crappy stuff from Japan, they had a certain tacky charm to them. These were always the brands that tried to trade on the "made in Japan" reputation but in the process devalued it. The tape mech is a standard early 1980s Tanashin, the same one as they put in Commodore, Atari and Amstrad data recorders. Pretty reliable for the most part, although not as good as the Sanyo/Chiba ones that were also common. The noise sounds like the flywheel scraping against the mech - happens quite a lot on the datasettes.

[@StevesElectronicRepairShop]

Yes looks like a separate company to Onkyo. Even the kitsch stuff like this is old enough to be cool now