Kickin' It Old School With Vintage Boomboxes
The 1980s were an exciting time in music with punk rock and hip-hop sharing the same rebellious attitude. This new sound came out of 1980s "ghetto blasters," street slang for huge radio/tape players that could be carried on your shoulder. Even though technology has marched on, they're still an empowering symbol of free expression, and you'll find retro boomboxes for sale on eBay.
What were some of the most well-known boombox brands?
Here are some of the most well-known boom box brands of various prices that you can find on eBay in rough order of most-to-least popular:
- Lasonic - Had "street cred"
- Panasonic - Noted for its long-time durability
- JVC - Frequent trendsetter and innovator
- Sharp - Popular in the upscale market
- Toshiba - Aggressive market campaign to youth
- Sanyo - Established, mature company
- Sony - Economical and practical
Some niche markets favored General Electric and Pioneer, the latter being especially popular with musicians. However, for a truly authentic experience, there were store-brand boomboxes from Radio Shack and Montgomery Ward, some of which are sought after today for their sheer rarity alone.
What features are available in an old-school boombox?
The boom box radios of the 1980s were shaped by a competitive, evolving market. Every model came with an AM/FM radio and a cassette tape deck, but the features only started there. Dual tape decks were common, allowing the creation of mixtapes from deck A to deck B. Eight-track tapes were phasing out by the 1980s, but some of the oldest models still supported them. Flashier boombox models came with a turntable, folding out from the body of the unit.
Unusual reception options like a shortwave radio or an actual embedded TV were not unheard of. Failing that, some units came with a built-in lighting set to emulate disco lighting, for that "party in a box" effect. Late in the decade, CD boombox players arrived, but early models tended to skip. Additionally, smaller, portable personal CD players had taken over the market, so they weren't needed on a boombox.
Which parts should you check when buying a vintage boombox?
The number-one thing on used boomboxes to fail are the belts used to drive the tape deck. Be sure those are in order or easy to replace. The next most common sign of wear is on the interface, with complex sliders, switches, and dials tending to malfunction. The speakers themselves, of course, should be intact, but those were built for bass-pounding abuse.