Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
OK. So I collect and hoard everything I guess.
Took out all of my stereo boomboxes which I’ve gathered over the years. One is original from when I was 11 years old, another one was purchased in the 90s. The rest were all thrift store and garage sale finds.
And I’ve never actually pulled them all out to do a bench test on them. It was more of a future project, and that project happened this weekend.
Out of the eight here:
Two had significant corrosion in the battery compartment, simply use vinegar and sandpaper.
Five had non-functioning tape decks due to bad belts. The other three were in various belt condition states, some were wobbly sounding.
Five of them really had speed out of whack and needed adjustment to make them close to perfect.
All of them needed deoxit on the controls volume knobs, sliders, and push buttons.
All needed detailed cleaning with Q-tips and paper towel towels. And some polishing with Armor All.
All had rubber restore applied to the pinch rollers, and I also cleaned the capstains and heads.
The head azimuth was significantly off on two (high frequencies were fluctuating or not clean), the others sounded fine, so I left them alone.
After cleaning, they were played for at least an hour with a cassette, and then some radio while I was working on others.
Now I’m going to put them back in a consolidated part of my basement and perhaps I’ll go into detail on one or more of these in future videos.
OK. So I collect and hoard everything I guess.
Took out all of my stereo boomboxes which I’ve gathered over the years. One is original from when I was 11 years old, another one was purchased in the 90s. The rest were all thrift store and garage sale finds.
And I’ve never actually pulled them all out to do a bench test on them. It was more of a future project, and that project happened this weekend.
Out of the eight here:
Two had significant corrosion in the battery compartment, simply use vinegar and sandpaper.
Five had non-functioning tape decks due to bad belts. The other three were in various belt condition states, some were wobbly sounding.
Five of them really had speed out of whack and needed adjustment to make them close to perfect.
All of them needed deoxit on the controls volume knobs, sliders, and push buttons.
All needed detailed cleaning with Q-tips and paper towel towels. And some polishing with Armor All.
All had rubber restore applied to the pinch rollers, and I also cleaned the capstains and heads.
The head azimuth was significantly off on two (high frequencies were fluctuating or not clean), the others sounded fine, so I left them alone.
After cleaning, they were played for at least an hour with a cassette, and then some radio while I was working on others.
Now I’m going to put them back in a consolidated part of my basement and perhaps I’ll go into detail on one or more of these in future videos.
