Boombox

A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through an amplifier and two or more integrated loudspeakers. A boombox is a device typically capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music (usually cassettes or CDs usually at a high volume). Many models are also capable of recording onto cassette tapes from radio and other sources. In the 1990s, some boomboxes were available with minidisc recorders and players. Designed for portability, boomboxes can be powered by batteries as well as by line current. The boombox was introduced to the American market during the late 1970s. The desire for louder and heavier bass led to bigger and heavier boxes; by the 1980s, some boomboxes had reached the size of a suitcase. Some larger boomboxes even contained vertically mounted record turntables. Most boomboxes were battery-operated, leading to extremely heavy, bulky boxes.

The boombox quickly became associated with urban society in the United States, particularly African American and Hispanic youth. The wide use of boomboxes in urban communities led to the boombox being coined a "ghetto blaster". Some cities petitioned for the banning of boomboxes from public places, and over time, they became less acceptable on city streets. The boombox became closely linked to American hip hop culture and was instrumental in the rise of hip hop music.

History

The first boombox was developed by the inventor of the audio compact cassette, Philips of the Netherlands. Their first 'Radiorecorder' was released in 1966. The Philips innovation was the first time that radio broadcasts could be recorded onto cassette tapes without the cables or microphones that previous stand-alone cassette tape recorders required. Recordings of radio were still subject to interferences from automobiles and other vehicles nearby with the same frequency, limiting their overall quality. Although the sound quality of early cassette tape recordings was poor, improvements in technology and the introduction of stereo recording, chromium tapes, and Dolby noise reduction made hifi quality devices possible. Several European electronics brands, such as Grundig, also introduced similar devices.

Boomboxes were soon also developed in Japan in the early 1970s and soon became popular there due to their compact size and impressive sound quality. The Japanese brands rapidly took over a large portion of the European boombox market and were often the first Japanese consumer electronics brands that a European household might purchase. The Japanese innovated by creating different sizes, form factors, and technology, introducing such advances as stereo boomboxes, removable speakers, built-in TV receivers, and built-in CD players.

The boombox became popular in America during the late 1970s, with most then being produced by Panasonic, Sony, General Electric, and Marantz. It was immediately noticed by the urban adolescent community and soon developed a mass market, especially in large metropolitan centers such as New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.

The earliest known boombox with integrated portable television was released in the early 1980s.

The earlier models were a hybrid that combined the booming sound of large in-home stereo systems and the portability of small portable cassette players; they were typically small, black or silver, heavy, and capable of producing high volumes. The effective AM/FM tuner, standard in all early boomboxes, was the most popular feature of the early boombox up until the incorporation of input and output jacks into the boxes, which allowed for the coupling of devices such as microphones,
turntables, and CD players.

The development of audio jacks brought the boombox to the height of its popularity, and as its popularity rose, so did the level of innovation in the features included in the box. Consumers enjoyed the portability and sound quality of boomboxes, but one of the most important features, especially to the youth market, was the bass. The desire for louder and heavier bass led to bigger and heavier boxes.

Regardless of the increasing weight and size, the devices continued to become larger to accommodate the increased bass output; newer boombox models had heavy metal casings to handle the vibrations from the bass.

Design

A boombox, in its most basic form, is composed of two or more loudspeakers, an amplifier, a radio tuner, and a cassette and/or CD player component, all housed in a single plastic or metal case with a handle for portability. Most units can be powered by AC or DC cables in addition to batteries.

As boomboxes grew in popularity, they also became more complex in design and functionality. By the mid 1980s, many boomboxes included separate high and low frequency speakers and a second tape deck to allow the boombox to record both from the radio and from other pre-recorded cassettes. Equalizers, balance adjusters, Dolby noise reduction, and LED sound gauges were other later additions.David L. Morton Jr., ''Sound recording: The Life Story of a Technology'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004) 169.

In the mid 1980s, the boombox began to become a status symbol; the popularity among young urbanites caused increasing demand for extravagant boxes. The growing popularity of the compact disc (CD) in the late 1980s led to the introduction of the CD player in standard boombox design. During the 1990s, boombox manufacturers began designing smaller, more compact boomboxes, which were often made out of plastic instead of metal as their counterparts from the previous decade had been.

The rectangular, angular, chrome aesthetic of many 1980s models was frequently replaced with black plastic in the 1990s, and modern designs are typically characterized by a rounded, curved appearance instead of sharp angles. However, the designs of the older models are a source of much interest among boombox enthusiasts and collectors, who frequently seek the larger feature-packed models that represented the cutting edge of portable music technology in their day. Today most boomboxes have replaced the cassette player with iPod docks to access MP3 technology, and some even come equipped with integrated or removable satellite radio tuners.

Boombox designs vary greatly in size. Larger, more powerful units may require 10 or more size- D batteries, may measure more than in width, and can weigh more than . Some take a 12-volt sealed lead-acid battery, or can be a portable enclosure for a car audio head unit.

Audio quality and feature sets vary widely, with high-end models providing features and sound comparable to some home stereo systems. Most models offer volume, tone and balance (left/right) controls.

Most brands were manufactured in Japan by consumer electronics companies such as Aiwa, Sanyo, Hitachi, JVC,