REVIEW: ION Street Rocker ‘Retro-Style Boombox' - Boom or Bust?

The ION Street Rocker has the retro looks down - but does it have the performance to match?
Spoiler Alert:
No, no it doesn't. Almost any mid-range boombox from the 1980s would wipe the floor with it.
00:00 Intro
02:08 First Impressions
03:43 Tape
04:30 Radio
05:22 Bluetooth
06:10 Wall power
06:53 MP3s
07:28 Tape to MP3
08:07 Specs
08:34 Aux in
08:45 Wow & Flutter Test
09:08 Auto Stop or not?
09:38 Tape Tests
12:52 Opening it up
14:08 Wrap up
18:17 Credits
FAQs
Q) Why are there comments from a week ago when this video has just gone live today?
A) Patrons usually have early access to videos. I'll show the first version of a video on Patreon and often the feedback I get results in a video going through further revisions to improve it. e.g. Fix audio issues, clarify points, add extra footage or cut extraneous things out. The video that goes live on youtube is the final version.
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---------Outro Music----------
Over Time - Vibe Tracks • Over Time - Vibe Track...
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ThatSFXGuy - • Six Million Dollar man...

[@wal]

With today's inexpensive amplifiers based on the TPA chips and decent inexpensive speakers, it's amazing to me why someone hasn't released a good sounding $100 boombox. I mean, we have the high end models such as the Diamondboxx, but they are designed for BT or aux input only. It should be a sin to make a boombox without some big, lighted VU meters and a spectrum analyzer. Half of the fun is watching the needles jump and those lights flash!

[@mitduschzentrale]

Yes very true. I'm surprised even none of the good brands known for great boomboxes did not jump the retro train. I'd even prefer a fake tape mechanism to a crappy one as long as the thing looks and sounds good.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I agree. Radio isn't a dead medium, and adding bluetooth, wifi, and mp3/wav/flac etc. capability along with cassette makes for a great universal boombox. Lithium ion batteries are a vast improvement over d-cell also. Of course connecting it to an ac adaptor would be usually possible.

[@web1bastler]

It would be nice to also add some noise reduction with dolby "compatibility". Shouldn't be too hard. Just slap a cheapo dsp in there and program in some filters and compressors. I bet that you could make a relatively decent tape deck based on the tanashin, adequate audio circuitry and some bodged together "NR" code for under 200€

[@silverpairaducks]

With cassette?

[@silverpairaducks]

@@bghoody5665 calling partexpress later?

[@indiegun]

ION should advertise the cassette recording function as adding "our stunning Live at Niagara Falls effect".

[@Jason-Scott]

ION should advertise the cassette recording business closed.

[@russellharris5072]

There is a UK legal term for this kind of product:- "Goods not of merchantable quality."

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

Like half the stuff from Argos back in the day

[@russellharris5072]

@@80s_Boombox_Collector Like a lot of stuff elsewhere as well......................

[@mattnik]

Didn't you guys invent the saying "not fit for purpose"??

[@supersexyspacemonkey1977]

"Not so goods"

[@russellharris5072]

@@mattnik Probably,but I'm not sure that's a legal term...................

[@samuelschwager]

If it's advertised as "retro" the quality is usually bad...

[@JeffDeWitt]

Usually, but not always. I've got one of the original retro GE wooden radios from the 80's. It looks like a cathedral radio and is actually a very good radio. I got it new and still use it pretty much every day. Only thing I've had to do with it is replace the dial light. (with an LED). kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJPOeHuLiNWaiLc

[@UrOpinionsSucc]

I have a Lasonic TRC-975 boombox! With stereo heads in them and auto reverse!

[@UrOpinionsSucc]

@Tan Jenner that's true, but why couldn't they just get an old good quality boombox and use the parts from it? Then add a little noise reduction tech in it.

[@JerryMilton]

@@UrOpinionsSucc Lasonic is not QUALITY, in fact it is just CRAP with flashing lights that was sold at flea markets. Jumbo plastic.

[@UrOpinionsSucc]

@@JerryMilton well i never had any issues with my model..

[@aussie8114]

Wireless tweeter technology.

[@Ascania]

TTT - Tweeterless tweeter technology(R)

[@paulstubbs2778]

Yeah, like no voice coil..... a slight omission

[@aussie8114]

Paul Stubbs The new ones don’t need a voice coil. They use sonic emissive technology. SEM

[@jimmiesmith5811]

The tweeters are fake

[@paulstubbs7678]

@@aussie8114 yeah I know, there are many non-voicecoil ways to make a tweeter, I was just following the 'wire' theme.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Does anyone really make good boomboxes these days.. at all? Anyway, we don't tire from anything, just keep churning these videos out. :)

[@AlexTechYT]

Nobody does, It's impossible to find one thats at lest half- decent

[@dwindeyer]

Gotta go used to get a decent radio/casette/cd boombox these days. Although there are some bluetooth boombox-style units that sound OK.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

This seems like an untapped market; Millennials want boomboxes as much as previous generations.

[@reinardharmse4375]

Other than maybe the JBL Boombox, I doubt it...

[@dwindeyer]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Millennials are content with the vast array of adequate quality Bluetooth speakers. I'm not seeing the untapped market.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

14:08 I think it's good that you bought, demonstrated and dismantled it even though you knew ION products would be garbage. Not everyone knows this and you might've stopped some poor sucker from spending his/her money on one.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

To be fair, the Ion Spectraboom sounded pretty damn good for the money. But it was only bluetooth.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

@@80s_Boombox_Collector I respectfully disagree. Yes it was cheap to begin with but there were almost no highs and the low end sounded pretty muffled. At the very least it would be a decent radio to just have around the house.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

@@Kylefassbinderful You talking about this Ion, or the one I mentioned?

[@coolelectronics1759]

not all, I had a mixing station and it was a tank. Was my first one. It depends what appliance/audio equipment you are buying from them and what price range you are spending but yea a lot of there stuff is trash.

[@DuckAlertBeats]

Mad how tech evolves then devolves. Never would have anticipated that, took these things for granted back in the day

[@RayRayP2001]

Man we sure did, too bad Panasonic can't make a modern rx-dt75 with added features (Bluetooth USB and SD card) on top of what they did in 1992. that would be awesome.

[@sdrape4964]

Man, Ion! The only thing I've heard with more hiss is a group of snakes at a Carrot Top comedy show!

[@6581punk]

Never put dolby on snakes, you can't hear them coming.

[@elogy890]

Nice hiss.

[@bradchervel5202]

@@elogy890 A Steve fan!

[@hireahitCA]

I just watched the Hit Clips episode, this thing sounds like heaven. It’s all a matter of perspective.

[@CosminNeagu]

It's a Type 1 tape. It will always have hiss.

[@uphilliceskater]

It's always helpful to know what to avoid buying, and why.

[@Musicradio77Network]

Me too. I saw it when I was in Florida last month at Best Buy, and I have to avoid it, so I only have a barebones cassette player which is a Superscope Storyteller for playing music and Bluetooth using a Bluetooth cassette adapter.

[@tynewlin]

I could've taken one look at the box and it would be out of the question, regardless the price tag. Just don't buy cheap electronics. You'll be happier if you wait and save for something nicer. I still can't imagine why people buy cheap electronics from Dollar General and the like. You have to know it's going to be crap.

[@uphilliceskater]

@@tynewlin I'm talking in general.

[@patprop74]

Do yourself a favor and stay away from anything from Ion lol

[@achu-7941]

what a waste of electronics, it's just depressing at this point

[@musicmanstudiosstandwithuk1734]

It is a waste. But believe it or not I had it worse. I got this for Christmas in 2019 and the first thing I did was put a rare prince cassette tape into it. And it ate it up! Badly! Evan worse it belonged to my dad when he was a kid! Literally after that, we sent it back to its creator and we were never able to fix that cassette.. but in the end I think it was probably the fact that the cassette was old so maybe it was the cassettes fault. Who knows...

[@gavincurtis]

Globalism is the process of mining rare earth metals and transferring them to landfills.

[@tdcattech]

"That's just like a slap in the face"...loved the delivery of that line. LOL!

[@JacGoudsmit]

Buying any audio gear to use it for the way we used it in the 1980s and 1990s is a complete waste of time nowadays. If you want a nice system with decent speakers, a mechanism that doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart, a cassette recorder that takes itself seriously enough to have an erase head, full balance, bass and treble control, and a noise level that doesn't overpower the neighbor's pick-up truck idling on his driveway, you really need to buy vintage equipment.

[@edd2771]

Or you could purchase, record and play music digitally on modern equipment.

[@SINTD_666]

Obscure Dictionary What relevance does your video have to this content? Nothing, no relevance at all. Put it somewhere where it counts if you really care. What you’ve done is just like going to vote, showing your ballot card to everyone in that room and then putting it in the bin. Probably 6 people will see your video as a result of this comment. Some of them will have no idea where Wales is, most of the rest wont care.

[@Kalvinjj]

@@edd2771 Yeah well, if just playing the music was the goal, pretty much everyone nowadays already has the gear for that (at least a phone). The whole point is getting the retro deal together, and if that's the case those modern retro things really disappoint, better going real old ones indeed, just the price might be a hurdle if you check online, the good ones might be well known to be good after all, and no one is making them anymore.

[@Azlehria]

@@edd2771 There's a vast body of musical recordings that simply _don't exist_ in digital formats with quality comparable to the parent vinyl or tape media, or even at all. Lost or destroyed masters, one-off releases, niche artists . . . - the reasons are endless. For others, it may be the nostalgic feeling of listening to music from earlier in life _the same way_ that they listened to it back then. Or perhaps as a sort of meditation - I find the feeling of selecting a vinyl LP, laying it on the turntable, and placing the tonearm to be quite soothing. Certainly in most cases I could simply queue up the same album in e.g. Winamp, or perhaps on Amazon Music, but - it's like going to McDonald's for a burger vs frying up a frozen patty at home: the quality may be similar but the _experience_ is quite different.

[@edd2771]

@@Azlehria The initial comment and my response to it was in the context of buying or recreating a boom box with cassette capability for today’s use. It’s simply my opinion that the need for this type of portable music playing is well and truly obsolete. As for your argument that there is a need for it, there is no master tape that has ever existed and has since been lost that is available only on cassette but not on vinyl or other form of tape or file. As for nostalgia, Vinyl and analogue absolutely has its place. I have an extensive vinyl collection that I run through a quality system. There is a need for that. A cassette boom box engineered to high standards? I think not. Nostalgia for vinyl flourishes because it has actual merits vs digital modes. Cassette nostalgia does not flourish because it has no merits. Pair your phone to some quality battery powered Bluetooth speakers and rock on.

[@ZGryphon]

It's funny how times change. When I was a kid, "made in Japan" was still a punch line to the old-timers (although no longer even vaguely deserved by that point), and nowadays we're all achingly nostalgic for the halcyon days when they made stuff in Japan.

[@dgirllamius____x]

What do you mean Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan 😂

[@AurumUsagi]

I miss Made in Japan. Nowadays, pretty much everything is made in China, and not everything the Chinese make is as high quality as Japan made products.

[@RonaldoTalison]

@Dick Buttkiss I did already lol. Got it now.

[@macdaniel6029]

Made in Japan was a quality seal at least since the 70s. If you wanted high class equipment you had the choice between Made in Germany or Made in Japan. Sometimes Made in the USA, but thats rare. Today everything is Made in China and it usually means it is cheap crap. DON´T SUPPORT CHINA. Buy vintage!

[@Puremindgames]

American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan!

[@terencejay8845]

The retail price is usually around 10x the price of the 'factory-gate' costs, so they've made this for less than $10.

[@fixman88]

I'd love to see the Bill of Materials for that thing.

[@djgaryowens]

As bad as a Crossley turntable.

[@nyetmnyet]

That's generally pretty true. When I worked at BestBuy the employee pricing was typically 10% above cost so stuff like this would be insanely cheap. Even the Harmon Kardon speakers would come way down. For example, when the Onyx Speaker came out, it was about 300-400 dollars but the employee pricing was about 90 dollars. Cheaper stuff like the Insignia brand items would drop down to pennies on the dollar.

[@hughbetcha436]

The communists made China into a giant sweatshop!

[@rzpogi]

One could buy this at that price usually at alibaba and banggood. I see this also here in the Philippines for about P750-1000 ($15-20).

[@genxor]

It's sad that even the lowest quality tape players I had as a kid seem like Nakamichi decks compared to these new things

[@fixman88]

THIS.

[@RealEpikCartfrenYT]

actually these low end decks are good because they have been simplified to the point where there's not really much that can go wrong, and they are super common, so replacing them is very easy and anyone can do it, often for under $10. These mechanisms are better than you think.

[@MichaelYates]

What a great was to start a Saturday morning the 3 t's , tea, toast and Techmoan, Thank You Sir

[@ryanmalin]

Waking up eating breakfast as well. Love to start my weekend with a Techmoan video!

[@tomypreach]

I couldnt agree more.

[@TheErador]

Ditto!

[@macdaniel6029]

Tea for breakfast? Urgh. I´ll enjoy my toast and coffee :)

[@branchleader73]

@@ryanmalin The ONLY way to start the weekend!

[@UHF43]

Everytime Techmoan reviews a new "boombox", I'm happier that I keep my Sanyos alive.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

WORD

[@jGuedeszero100]

@@80s_Boombox_Collector you here again

[@kmsprinzeugen1304]

Haha same, I have a Sanyo C30 from 1985 and it's much better than other junk from today.

[@fender1000100]

@@kmsprinzeugen1304 Yes but what everyone keeps forgetting is PRICE. To truly replicate a 1980s boombox. Especially the great ones like the JVCs would cost 4 figures. I bought my Hitachi TRK 8020E In 1980 for £249.00. Adjusted for inflation. That's around £940.00 in todays money. Now you tell me whose ready to drop 4 figures for a BOOMBOX today. Not many. And that's the problem. Everybody wants the oldschool. But few are ready to pay for it. So they get these cheap copies which dont measure up.

[@TiagoCNeves]

@@kmsprinzeugen1304 I have a Sanyo M9709K, by the date of the capacitors it must be 1987, it was practically thrown away, but even though it's a little over 30 years old it still works, except the fm doesn't tune anything (I suspect it's AM/FM CI, it's a TA7640AP) and the tape mechanism my younger brother messed up. The way is to buy the IC and instead of the tape try to adapt one of those Chinese usb/bluetooth boards.

[@HGSolberg]

Regarding the VU meters: Since the reading depends on the setting of the volume knob, they show the speaker signal, rather than the signal to or from the cassette head, obviously, and you never have any use for that information. So even if you record a tape from a line in signal, where you can adjust the levels from the other device, the VU meters won't be of any help. Because, since they show the speaker signal, rather than the recording signal, there's no way you can know if the recording level is at 0 dB, +1dB or -1dB by looking at these meters. Also, when you played the test tape, it seems as if both the right and left LED VU meters are connected to the right channel, because they both lit up when the tape said "right", and they both stayed dark when the tape said "left." The scale goes from -20dB to 0dB, so they would have been of little help for adjusting recording levels anyway. It looked like the analogue VU meters show each right and left channel though. One last thing, you want the right and left VU meters to be located close to each other, side by side, because, when you make a recording, you want to compare the right and left channel level, so that you can adjust the recording balance accordingly. And you want horizontal LED VU meters to be stacked on top of each other, for easy comparison. So just by looking at the picture of this thing, one can conclude that this is not a very well thought out design.

[@gavincurtis]

When the noise floor is actually the ceiling in your design.

[@mrb692]

Bet you wouldn’t even pay a buck for this POS

[@Mizai]

can i have a dollar

[@sideoutside]

I think you mean the other way?

[@BertGrink]

AS always, an enjoyable presentation. I'll be honest, i did NOT expect much from that ION machine, so it wasn't really too disappointing to hear it in action.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

For the price, you can't expect anything more, honestly

[@1646Alex]

I very rarely comment but I just wanted to say that I think all of your videos are really great! I also appreciate that your version of cheap is actually my version of cheap.

[@MuseTubeix]

In my experience, Ion's never exactly been the pinnacle of quality. For the price, they underwhelm every time.

[@kirkmooneyham]

I have a similar model sold here in the USA as the ION Boombox Deluxe. Not much different than that one, other than having a rechargeable battery inside. I received it as a gift, and it was very thoughtful of the person who bought it for me. The one thing in its favor is that it seems to go loud, so I have used it in the garage while working.

[@TheTalkWatcher]

Looks like garbage. I would rather comb thrift stores and garage sales for something from the 80's or 90's.

[@TheHitmanAgent]

Me too, buddy. Unfortunately, a lot of people have very low standards in this category

[@johanbruijnooge6818]

Sounds like garbage too.

[@cjc363636]

I was thinking the same thing. One may have to re-belt some drives, but a thrift store / yard sale boom box for 10 dollars would be a better gamble than 100 dollars for just awful junk like this thing. Looking forward to Techmoan's video(s) on some truly classic boombox models!

[@filanfyretracker]

ive heard that search is getting harder. not just due to time goes by but also as more people become aware there is an active market for the good stuff from the 80s era boomboxes, the people who have them are shifting to Ebay.

[@ionymous6733]

but Bluetooth in the 80's and 90's was really bad. lol

[@Sega90s]

The level of clipping/distortion out of this is astonishing. When will manufacturers realize louder is not always better.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

Mechanical parts cost more than digital ones, so.....Not gonna get a good quality tape deck for that price.

[@MichaelBeeny]

The main reason there is so much record hiss is not only the use of a magnet erase head, but to make things even more crappy and cheap they use DC bias on record. On a good player you would use an AC bias of about 40/100 Khz the same as the erase head would have used. The fake tweeter is, and was, very common on cheap stuff.

[@collectibleasmr]

Ion Technicians: How much hiss do you want on the tape record function? Ion: Yes.

[@marioh6220]

Oh stop with that stupid joke, it's repeated over and over that it's already boring

[@xilnes7166]

ION,,,' not much but like a snake when its angry'

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

@@marioh6220 Relax holmes

[@floydsghost]

You miss the golden opportunity to say "Yessssssssssssssss"

[@xilnes7166]

@@floydsghost Thts cz he copy-paste the jokes... yesssssssssssss 'd hv been so perfect right...

[@Trance88]

I saw a bunch of these at Best buy at the beginning of the year. I was considering getting one, but I know now for sure, it would've been a waste of money. No one makes a truly retro boombox with the same quality as brand name ones from the early to mid 80's. This boombox would be several hundred dollars if not a couple thousand if it were made of all precision, high, quality components.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

WORD

[@sting64az]

I bought the ION deluxe boombox for half price sale 2 years ago to use as a bedroom player... It serves it's needs and works quite well... The sound is not much different than my still in use Montgomery Wards cassette/8 track boom box... At least the ION I can play a Bluetooth device and record any source to USB flash drive while listening... Maybe not the greatest build but I like it...

[@sasukekuroyami8641]

Outstanding video Techmoan always telling it how it is.

[@timgiebel]

Great video as always, glad you tell it like it is! Really looking forward to your videos on some classic boomboxes.

[@Beddez1]

Every day I check the channel for Matt's uploads. And no uploads is a day wasted, back into bed then and wait for an other day. And when there's an upload it's a feast - three days long - by my own. Thnx for a sublime vid!

[@madmox2000]

Thanks for the video, Mat. I agree, that it's time to pause the search for a decent modern "retro" boombox. They just don't exist. Looking forward to seeing your upcoming vintage Boombox videos with great anticipation. Maybe, someday, someone will manufacture a new tape mechanism that is worthy. One can only hope. For now, lets stick with the classics. Cheers, Dave

[@or2kr]

It seems that it is much wiser to pick up a Bluetooth box with aux input and just connect a trusty old Walkman to play tapes on the go

[@iNerdier]

Probably smaller, lighter and with better battery life to boot.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

Or better yet, get a real vintage box from the 80s, with a tape deck that would embarrass this piece of shit.

[@drjase]

Hi Matt, looking forward to your reviews of classic boom boxes. I really love your videos and wish you'd do them more frequently! (I know they take a while to create & edit etc...)

[@lastpokemon]

always pleasure to see your reviews

[@krissib]

Fake tweeters, hiss and hum on tape recordings and top quality 128 mp3 recording, who wouldn’t want one??

[@deathbydeviceable]

Could always just mod it if you like to tinker. Thats the only reason I'd buy it, but I don't have a use for a boom box much less than a fake cheap one

[@kenmore01]

Imagine how loud that hiss would be if it had real tweeters!

[@MetalheadAndNerd]

Isn't LoFi a very hip music style?

[@LasseGreiner]

Everything has been said already but not by myself: Good video, thanks for saving me the money as I would have fallen for the price and the looks of the device. Also, keep it up to speak your mind and reveal fakes as you find them. Not defending ION, this was not uncommon in the 80s, as I owned a boom box with false speakers myself.

[@tubetype9958]

BACK AT IT TECHMOAN WITH THE BOOMBOXES! My favorite videos of your channel!

[@oc2phish07]

Very informative video as always Matt. I just have this sad image in mind of parents (or others) buying this as a Christmas present for their kids and everyone being SO disappointed on Christmas Day. Companies like this just should not be allowed to exist.

[@fortherecord1569]

Clever marketing. It's not advertised to have tweeters. "Dual full range speakers" isn't technically a lie. It has two speakers. If you ask the company, they'd say "it's merely for retro design aesthetics. We're sorry if you thought they were tweeters" ... Did I say clever marketing? I meant SHADY!!!

[@MoultrieGeek]

Good catch, the marketing hype is strong in this one.

[@ericpaul4575]

The fake tweeters had holes in them making them bass balancing ports.

[@tynewlin]

@@ericpaul4575 Yeah, but I'm sure this thing is full of air leaks everywhere 😆

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

Fake tweeters have existed for decades. Especially in the mid 80s when companies realized that most people cared more about size and looks than quality.

[@TheVinylGuru]

Couldnt agree more, babe. Ps - love your channel

[@kurtstyer993]

You may have overpaid on a few terrible boom boxes, but your dedication to demonstrating how terrible they really are has been entertaining and informative. I doubt I would've ever considered any of these products, but it's nice to know that I shouldn't. Thank you for your efforts.

[@Zarkovision]

If you want a usable boombox, go to a boot-market, spend a tenner for something from the 1980s made by a real brand like Grundig or Sony. Even if you have to spent further 50 Pound for an expert fixing the tape-deck it's still cheaper and much better than those crap from China.

[@RealEpikCartfrenYT]

That's actually a trap. Not every $10 "high end deluxe" find from the 1980s on a flea market will work right. I bought a stereo from 1985 (Forgot the brand, might have been a Technics). It had this weird tape mech I've never seen before. There were lots of gears and it had auto reverse. One gear snapped and I couldn't fix it. Waste of $20 and 2 days of troubleshooting and searching for the identical mech. I threw the entire thing away because it made me so upset.

[@redsyrup1138]

Great order for things. Show us the worst before the best! Looking forward to the next video. :D

[@MichaelYates]

Looks not to dissimilar to the Sharp GF8080, though that was 10 times better than this unit and still towards bottom of their range. Of course made in Japan

[@tooshort4892]

Shucks..... I was hoping this unit would be promising as I love the retro style boombox. Thank you very much for this review. Have watched several of your videos and today I am now a subscriber 👍

[@PeterCamberwick]

See if you can still pick up a Panasonic RX-D55. Mr Moan did a great review of it. :)

[@organiccold]

My Sharp GF-555 that my uncle gave me when i was 12 still works, after a big service to the tape mechanism and still soinds amazing.

[@mankysalad350]

Ah new Techmoan, what a great way to start the weekend! Thanks

[@buffaloditka]

Thanks for providing us with the “buyer beware” warning with this video. Nobody can come close to making a good cassette player anymore and have a price point attractive enough to make it be worthwhile (without having to go to eBay and undertake a possible restoration) and still have it be worthwhile.

[@Dave64track]

That sounds like a good idea most retro devices will sound much better that this

[@dave1135]

10:23 steve1989MREinfo; "mmm, nice hiss..."

[@broadsword6650]

[opens up boombox] Steve: “Ugh! Look at that thing!”

[@thedungeondelver]

Let's get this out and hit play. _Nice._

[@fixman88]

*gigglefits*

[@michaelweems679]

Nice hiss only applies to 50+ year old MRE food. Even Steve would be disappointed in this travesty.

[@bactanite]

I really like this video. It's the really, really bad reviews that are the most fun to listen to. Subscribed.

[@watch76]

Excellent review and advice!

[@worldcomicsreview354]

There's always some "retro" thing like these on sale in Don Quijote in Japan, they look alright from a distance, but up close they're always cheap plastic that doesn't fit together properly.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

@@haweater1555 I'm betting they purchased the rights to an existing mold, along with backstock of the knobs and switches.

[@TheGreatAtario]

This thing looks spookily similar to a boombox I had back in 1981 or so, so it was trippy to see it dealing with SD cards and bluetooth and other modernity

[@SenileOtaku]

I like the idea some other reply had, if finding one of the vintage units with a decent transport mechanism and building in newer amps and the BT/USB/SD functionality.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

I'm betting they purchased the rights to an existing mold from the 80s, along with old stock of the knobs and switches. Otherwise it would have been too expensive to tool up a bold from scratch, including all the knobs, chrome plating them, etc.

[@Rick_Todd]

Very Much Looking Forward To Seeing Those Classic Boom Box's.

[@grahamrich3368]

Your channel is great! Many thanks!

[@fmphotooffice5513]

What does a slow-motion video look like when you drop it from a bridge as it hits the street below, I wonder?

[@lidbass]

If it’s Ion even that will be disappointing I imagine...

[@SenileOtaku]

It probably doesn't have enough mass to make a decent breakup on impact. Now, if you wrapped it in det-cord...

[@broadsword6650]

“Unpleasant at any volume.” :-D

[@TheMahermano]

Hello from Buenos Aires, Argentina. How lucky that I never threw away my old JVC stereo radio cassetts recorders. I have more than 10, RC656 W, RC828 JW, RC838 L, RC838 JW, M60, M70, M80, I swear I will never get rid of them, thanks Steve for opening our eyes .. !!! Always waching you

[@StormadoMan]

Looking forward to seeing the holy grails of boom boxes!

[@Charlesb88]

This reminds me of cheap boomboxes they used to sell at flea markets (similar to car boot sales) in the 1990's arecountriesflea

[@davidwayneprins]

Not really surprised the Ion brand, even a higher priced unit, fell short. Co-worker has a PartyBox speaker from them and it sounds like crap.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

The Ion Spectraboom sounded pretty damn good for the price. But it was only bluetooth (and an AM/FM tuner that didn't pull in shit).

[@andymouse]

Cant wait to see the ones you feel are good...cheers.

[@scwaty180]

I almost thought I was laying on the beach listening to the waves come in with that hiss at the end of the song, lol. Picked up a really nice Bluetooth boom box about 4 months ago. The Bumpboxx Flare 8 is definitely a great purchase

[@crispy_otter]

Oh dear...at least the cheap and cheerful 80's boomboxes would have a couple of nasty piezo sounders to act as tweeters!

[@CommodoreFan64]

Yep, even cheap GE branded boom boxes back in the 80's did not lie about their specs, and where at least 1/2 decent for what they where.

[@Vynncent]

Even ones with piezo tweeters sound a lot better than this. I've got a Sony CFS-1045 that just absolutely outperforms this

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

1978 to 1982 were the best built models

[@CzornyLisek]

@@CommodoreFan64 I mean this one didn't lie either. It says that it have 2 full range speakers.

[@RAMChYLD]

I guess Medium Wave or AM is dead in some countries. In Malaysia there has been no AM transmission in years. Although at night you can get stations from Cambodia and Indonesia. But the local stations have long shut down, and even when they were broadcast they were just a retransmission of what is available on FM.

[@fixman88]

Oddly in the US a lot of stations are simulcast on AM and FM (and where I live in central Minnesota AM, FM and HD Radio!)

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

AM is mostly conservative old white men talk shows

[@sideoutside]

@@80s_Boombox_Collector Fm is mostly wanna be gangster auto tuned mud race nonsense. I'll stick with my mp3s.

[@jorgepais2876]

AM is almost dead here in Portugal. Public radio and even our catholic network only keep them broadcasting the same content as FM in very low power - I live 5 km away from what was once a 135 kW transmitter and now I barely hear someting from it - only to maintain the frequency.

[@outbackchillin5628]

ooooh teaser at the end ! .. waiting to see what classic boom box you show .. and remember "you promissed" ! lol

[@Random_4400]

Congratulations on 1 Million subscribers!

[@andreasklindt7144]

Great video as always! Thank you, Techmoan! Unforgivable indeed, that they didn't put tweeters in it. They cost nothing and improve the sound quite descently on cheap machines. My favourite in this regard is the Panasonic RX-FS430 from arount 1991/92. It has great sound for a small limited boombox of that time, can record from the radio without extra hiss, and has two tweeters and a curcuitry that does not need dolby to make a half descent noise free sound reproduction from a cheap cassette mechanism. Even the wow and flutter is exceptable on it. Back in the day it was considered a relatively cheap boombox to be used in the kitchen, garagem office or by children - but still it sounds way better than ANY of the modern boomboxes. So it's possible! I think it is not so much a problem of the cassette mechanism itself (to a degree), but mostly of the circuitry and speakers. Fun story I had a few months ago: Usually here in the munich area in germany it is quite silent on the AM band nowadays, too. Only a handfull very very faint signals from other countries. One stormy night a few months ago I was playing around with the AM radio of the FS430 and I was stunned! The AM band was FULL of radio stations in that night! I received broadcasts from Spain to Moscow, from Rumania, even some arabic speaking stations. It was a great experience that somehow felt out of time... If the weather conditions are in favor of AM transmissions it can still be fun playing around with an old AM capable radio.

[@StanleyEricson]

8:21 I'm sure it actually does support all those types _for_ _playback._ All players* can play back all formulations to some extent. Type II and IV will have the wrong bias and type IV might be too loud, but they'll all play. Type II and III can also be recorded by most type I decks, again with the wrong bias. *With the exception of that other boombox you reviewed that has sensors to reject metal tapes. Block those holes and I'll bet one would play though.

[@hadireg]

how could've I missed this episode!! 😊 nice free piece of testing music there! good taste Matt!! 👍 and btw, Thanks for contributing on the ppl's knowledge about quality, of those manufacturer will give up scamming if consumers are more aware.

[@LizardWizard_]

Thanks for the video!

[@Snowbird815-1]

Does anyone else miss the muppet-like sketches at the end? :(

[@ericpode6095]

I was thinking that. He's missed a few opportunities with some of his recent reviews!

[@cashnelson2306]

Not even a little bit

[@enricosanchez894]

He probably got a nasty letter from Jim Henson Jr.

[@johngarland6782]

Another great video Mat, I’m looking for a high quality cassette player, and after seeing your videos for what’s currently on the market, I think I’ll go for something older but of much higher quality, made when people cared how good cassettes sounded! Looking forward to seeing the units that are worth buying!

[@rahb1]

The difference is more than amply demonstrated by the comparison with the Sony cassette machine. This unit does NOT even live up to quoted specs. In Australia, we could take them to court for false advertising and flat out lying!

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Look at some of those old Marantz or JVC models.

[@zanizone3617]

As Techmoan himself noted, the downside of buying old models, is that even new old stock stuff deteriorates, just because of the passing of time. Good luck with your search anyway!

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

@Rob C I bet! Naks are the best out there. I'm restoring a Teac A450.

[@Turnbull50]

Thanks an enjoyable video with a few surprises

[@ironmaiden5658]

Love ya videos mate.... They're all good.

[@baccas66]

For those of us old enough to remember boom boxes, we were spoilt by our friends in Japan. Panasonic, Sony, Sharp, JVC, Toshiba... Now if you want that elusive Made In Japan logo, you pay a very high price.

[@olik136]

I still want to have a Lasonic TRC-975... last I have seen on ebay was 1000€... 750€ for a non-working one.....

[@MoultrieGeek]

I'm old enough (66) to remember when "Made in Japan" was an insult, only for public opinion to do a complete 180 by the end of the 70's. When Honda released the first Accord in 1976 it sent shock waves through the US car industry. Not only was it a complete game changer, the Accord changed US perceptions of what "Made in Japan" really meant: outstanding engineering, fanatical attention to detail and superior build quality.

[@lutello3012]

@@MoultrieGeek insirt Back to The Future III reference here

[@stevesstuff1450]

Yeah.... those Panasonic, Sony, and Sharp boomboxes back in the very early 80s were pretty amazing! The likes of the Panasonics shared many components/assemblies from their Technics HiFi cassette decks, and could sound really pretty bloody good! :-)

[@ukkev7056]

Apart from Sony's ZX-3, ZX-5 and ZX-7, I've always seen Sony's boomboxes as inferior when compared to the competition.

[@mauanderuk]

That is some fine looking landfill! Ion should be ashamed of themselves.

[@jut20five]

So looking forward to a classic boom box review Sir Moan of Techshire !

[@Recordology]

Made by Leotec - LT-BT305ARUF. Leotec makes almost all the modern boomboxes for a variety of resellers such as Ion, Crosley & Victrola.

[@theposguy1435]

Bad boom box, great video. Thanks Mat

[@andybaker2456]

The fake tweeters are annoying, I hate it when a piece of hifi equipment is pretending to be something it's not! I used to feel the same way about Amstrad "stack" systems that were just one single unit with black lines at various points to make it look like stacked separates. Thankfully I never actually owned one, and I used to feel sorry for those who were taken in by their cheap and cheerful qualities! I'm sure "Lord Sugar" didn't mind though. 😊

[@tynewlin]

A Hi-Fi with fake tweeters and other intentionally misleading design elements is no Hi-Fi at all. More like a Hi-Fail. I hate that crap.

[@jerryspann8713]

What about the ones with the fake equalizers? It looks like a dual 7 band eq, but when you try to adjust it all 7 sliders move at the same time. One for bass and the other for terrible.

[@regulatormachine2788]

10:25 when the tape plays i thought YES, that's exactly what my cheap tape player sounded like when i was a teenager 25 years ago! how authentic!

[@bewareofthedawwg8765]

Looking forward to the vintage boomboxes!

[@NandR]

Man that Sony cassette player is amazing. I only grew up with cheap cassette decks. I just got used to it.

[@JerryMilton]

amazing? he even mentioned it had shortcomings. NOTHING put out in the last decade, hell the almost 3 decades is worth a crap boombox wise.

[@NandR]

Jerry Milton I said SONY. The cassette deck he used for reference. Not the other two.

[@benleydon]

Love the beard - it really suits you

[@BertGrink]

It really does, yes.

[@stephanemignot100]

The "ExplainingComputers" guy should do the same, shave your head and grow a beard man, you're bold! ^^

[@darrensmith6999]

Smashing! Video as always Thank you (: Encouraged by your exploits in repairing vintage equipment i have bought a vintage Sharp 1760E Radio Cassette player ( Non Working) in the hopes i can repair it. I got one just like it for my 15th birthday in 1981 and loved it though it has long since gone off to Radio Cassette heaven. Stay Well .

[@jhonwask]

I enjoy all of your videos.

[@3D_Blu-ray_Bunker]

Excellent review, as always, thanks. Those fake tweeters are a total disgrace and would put this manufacturer on a lifetime blacklist, not that that would in any way be relevant.

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

Fake tweeters go back decades.

[@AutPen38]

They seem to be like the "go faster stripes" on a Vauxhall Nova. All style, no substance.

[@AttilaTheHun333333]

Well, you won’t rock any streets with this thing. Maybe a small one way road.

[@kmc7355]

Or a wee culdesac 🤣

[@vermis8344]

A country lane.

[@tynewlin]

Throw it in a dumpster in some back alley and then it really kicks!

[@RJDA.Dakota]

Or maybe a pathway in the woods 🤣

[@jerryspann8713]

Just leave it in the street and let a car run over it.

[@TomReinerDE]

Can‘t wait for the classic ones!!!

[@JurisKankalis]

It's sad to see people not taking pride in their work. In other news - there are now more than a million subscribers here! Congrats with that. Another neatly made video.

[@adamdavies163]

Absolutely hate those cheap tape mech's, hated them back in the 80's as they were fitted to most of the cheap nasty kit back then. I always recognised them from the design of the take up hubs. Particularly dislike it when they couple two of them together in a twin deck arrangement and run both decks via two belts off the one motor, awful! The 'BSR' of tape mechanisms, the only crap derivatives that survive today. 🙂

[@80s_Boombox_Collector]

Also if you take it apart and look at the mechanism, the good stuff was made from heavy zinc-plated metal and the rest used cheap pot metal or even plastic.

[@RealEpikCartfrenYT]

actually, running two mechs on one motor is a good thing because both will run at the same speed when using high speed dubbing to copy tapes. I absolutely hate having seperate motors in twin tape bomboxes because one's always gonna be faster or slower than the other. Running them from one motor will also balance it, since the other mechanism's flywheel helps stabilize the speed a bit when only one mechanism is in use.

[@adamdavies163]

@@RealEpikCartfrenYT I agree to a point, but any (very slight IMO) improvement gained by speed locking the mech's to the same motor is completely lost by 'high speed dubbing' and the drop off at higher frequencies as you double the frequency range that you are trying to squeeze through the inevitably cheap tape transports, heads and amplifiers in these systems. I always thought that high speed dubbed tapes sounded awful even when recorded on better quality equipment. Also if, for example, you are playing a tape on one deck and then decided to rewind or fast forward on the other deck, then the additional load could potentially cause the 'playing' deck to drop in speed or lose stability, particularly if the winding tape hits the end and the mech slips on it's clutch assembly, again probably very slight, but there nevertheless.

[@RealEpikCartfrenYT]

@@adamdavies163 Motors used in such configurations have enough torque to run both mechanisms simultaneously even when one is fast forwarding or rewinding the tape. Speed changes are non existent. As for sound quality being bad when using high-speed dubbing, that's the clear disadvantage when running the motor at a faster speed. The reason high speed dubbing even exists, from what I can tell, is to minimize added wow and flutter when copying tapes. But yeah, I wouldn't use it either since the quality diminishes

[@turbo1431]

Yeah, this is about what I expected. Ion is not known for their quality here in the states.

[@ShotecMusic]

Any tape deck looks amazing with reel2reel cassette inside :)) I just need one! ... Amazing video!

[@watsoft70]

Still got my Sharp GF-575. It has lots of features, reasonable sound and always looked the part. Back in the day it was eventually hooked up to a pair of Matsui wedge shaped parcel shelf speakers (remember the type?) in the bedroom to give it a little more volume and bass.

[@roberthopwood3758]

It's a pity it doesn't have LW, you could demonstrate the glory of Test Match Special.

[@one2micreview846]

If I’d bought that.... it would be bouncing its way back faster than Bobby Vee’s Rubber Ball

[@EndUser2090]

I bought this boombox last year and did a review of it on KZbin. I did return it for the same reasons you point out.

[@FluxCondenser]

I hope the thumbs-downs (58 at this time) are for the boombox and not for Techmoan and the video. Another thorough, well-shot, informative and entertaining video. Well done.