The Clown’s Handbag
A review of two ‘Amazon Basics’ Boomboxes. Things go about as well as you’d expect.
In my last update I mentioned I’d need to make some simple videos in an attempt to catch up. This is another one of those. The handy thing with review videos is that if something goes wrong, it still forms part of the review. Whereas If I’m making a video where I’m attempting to repair something and then that goes wrong - well I’ve got to try and fix it.
Hopefully I’ll have something more intriguing to show you next time. It’ll probably be a few days late though due to me being away from home for most of the next week.
Oh, I ended up unlisting the Pac-Man short video as it just caused confusion. If anything similar crops up again in the future I'll just post it here on Patreon as an extra.
Take care.
Comments (76)
Just watching the film Breakin and wondered what their boombox was. It's one of these, looks quite a beast. The Helix HX-4635 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haKApvt7-vY
That's huge! Who'd find the space for it? Really neat though. I saw this one recently (https://youtu.be/IwsepELI1AI) and I've never seen anything like it before - a double-deck cassette mechanism?
Another volume of Mat-on-Tat! Yah! Ugh! The clown radio is particularly cheap and nasty looking, and I don't mean garish. I noted instantly how crude the buttons were. Play is not even flush with the other buttons. Stuff like that makes me sad for some reason. The biggest shocker is that for not that much more money one could pick up that gorgeous Panasonic you recommended! I think black model displays "NO" as variety of existential honesty, as in "No. Just NO."
Also, I found that Sony boombox the Sony CFDS70 at my local Walmart for $49.99 and it has normal speed, proper azimuth, and undetectable wow and flutter (to the ear, I have not tested it with a w&f meter). Very impressed with that one.
The wife was disturbed by the sound of the black one, said it sounded like an alien.
How can anyone make something sound so bad? Is there a worst tape player in the world competition we don't know about? The newer the players, the worse the are. Small speakers these days are very capable - Amazon Echo sounds more than adequate for what it is and its size.
The Echo is a great wiretapping device too.
Clown's handbag is up there with "mugs eyeful" as a phrase to describe something.
It definitely has a ring to it. I'm pretty sure from now on I'll be thinking of similar modern day 'boomboxes' as clown's handbags.
The demon-haunted stereo test cassette
My favourite part is the bit where Mat is surprised that the "boom box" that has been playing at the wrong speed for over 30 mins gives a unusual reading on the wow scale. 🤣😂🤣 Was the you recorder wow/flutter setup benchmarked with the clown "boom box" too? 🤡
Legit horse laughed at the way that "boombox" played that stereo testing cassette
Great job Mat. Laughed out loud several times. :) Although at some point I was reminded of the old Simpsons meme - “stop, stop, he’s already dead…”
Treating bass like a precious material since 2021 :)
When my last remaining working cassette player gave up the ghost I bought a Panasonic RX-D50A to make sure I still had something capable of playing cassettes in the house. Glad I picked it up now since it's been discontinued.
At 14:20 the 3Khz tone isn't rly muted just a bit lower volume, it still pierces my brain from the background :P
You’ll live.
As always, thanks for showing ! Btw: very interesting 4,5 stars rating for these things🙈
Yes I’ve come to conclusion that no one should ever pay any attention to the ‘review’ scores on Amazon when they’re good…only when they’re bad.
Well, it's the cheap thing you place in the kitchen or dining room to have some background noise when having breakfast. I would still hunt the local flea market for some el cheapo "boombox" i can get for under an European tenner if i would want such a noise maker. And sometimes, at least here in Germany, you have those factory second sellers at flea markets and you can get a brand new one with damaged carton for 15€. Reminds me, next week my second vaccination is trough the 14 day period, time to go to a flea market again! <3
You'd probably find better quality items being taken to the tip.
I wouldn't pay £35 for the pair of those things! I bet you could buy a bluetooth speaker for £35 that would be far better. JBL or something. Or LIDL even!
For the quality of sound you'll get out of those things, you can get a Bluetooth speaker for less stateside. If you're an audiophile, you'll stab your ears with Q-Tips using those things. And if you're not an audiophile, a $10 Bluetooth speaker from Ollie's will typically be "good enough."
Makes you wonder why they go through all that trouble to make something so poor but I guess there is an audience for this type of stuff. Love the LL Cool J reference 🎤
ngl this is possibly the most depressing Techmoan episode I've ever seen.
"This is now your future." Frightening!
I wonder what we have to do to get it back to the way things were... If it's all just consumer economics, as cheap as possible, then I'm afraid we'll have no choice on what to buy again!
“Craptacular” — The Simpsons (of course I mean the products, not the video).
Sorry for the (presumably) daft question, but what is (or was) the Pacman video? Did I miss a Patreon update? Or was I just drunk again and missed it that way?
Since you are here and it's now unlisted: https://youtu.be/WqbzDfMAT5A .. I hope ok to share the link?
There's a local woman, "Boombox Betty" we call her. She sells C-cells by the seashore. I'll see myself out... ...BTW, she has a battery farm! I'm going, I'm going!
AAA jokes.
Who remembers the song by Bow Wow Wow, "C90, C90, C90 Go!"?
I didn't - I've just viewed the 'original' on YouTube and it's a bit of a mess. However I appreciate the joke better now after hearing it.
The boom box reviews are always a little less interesting than the videos where you get to take something clever apart but I think the review videos have a charm of their own. Some people generally want to buy something new off the shelf rather than buy something 40 years old that was top shelf back then so this brings content to those people as well to help them make informed decisions.
When you buy 2nd hand if the item has a fault most people can't fix it unfortunately.
I'm not sure why the Pacman video was confusing. I thought it was an interesting observation. A coincidental (or perhaps not so coincidental) overlap between two different pop culture icons.
Perhaps I'll talk about it next update. It's incredibly easy to confuse an audience nowadays.
Can you try comparing these Amazon Basics boomboxes against the Sony boombox US / UK? I have a theory they'll have similar cassette mechanisms, and possibly the same manufacturer. If not, it'll be fun to compare their wow and flutter, and maybe direct feed sound quality. What music was on the CD? A new sponsored artist or the YouTube Audio Library?
I don’t think I’ll be returning to these for more testing - they’re off to a charity shop when I return from my break. All the music was from the youtube audio library.
I miss my old boombox. I had a Panasonic model back in my day, used to work as a night crew and cashier. Tunes were important part of sanity as was coffee. Breaking down the grocery truck or other deliveries could be made palatable by music. The clownish hand bag would of gotten my tires slashed and the tiny one wouldn’t been loud enough. And this is what they call progress? 😞
I'd guess that the clown one is aimed at nursery schools or anywhere with young kids. A bonus is that it reduces the likelyhood of theft.
DIY solution (without CD) is to get a good Bluetooth speaker with 3.5mm in, and a cheap old Walkman with built-in radio. Change the belt, clean the head, and boom! (box).
What a God awful colour scheme! Even a clown wouldn't be seen dead with it!
The headphone jack is the deal breaker. The only way to use these type things is with headphones or earbuds or amplified speakers. But if that is your desire, there are a lot smaller devices that perform the same functions even better. No boom, no buy...
I have never bought anything from Amazon. I did see on the news how they send a large amount of working goods to landfill. If I did buy anything, I would probably have a label made with the name Knackered- Michi on the front. Then give it to someone I didn't like. Thanks for the review Mat.
"Knackered- Michi" <- I love it. A truly inside joke.
As the song goes "Send in the clowns, Don't bother, they're here"! Shockingly bad effort from Amazon but I'm not really surprised, still disappointed though. Shame that the last Boombox King has left the building. Pleased I caught your Pacman video by chance before it too left the building. It may have been short and sweet but I enjoyed it. Never saw much of the six million dollar man but the robot in your clip reminded me of the films WestWorld and possibly even more it's sequel Future World and the sad Clark character.
Clown's Purse (or maybe even better, Clown's Handbag) should become a meme now. For instance, someone insults a friend, telling them: "Oh, you made a regular clown's purse of that last job!" Or, "Your car looks like a Clown's Handbag!" Then again, maybe that's not such a great idea, since this post now looks like a dog's breakfast.
Recently I bought on eBay the "boombox" I had as a child (Sony CFS-201L). I wanted to know how good or bad it is. The belt had melted but after replacing that it works fine and sounds pretty good for what it is. I was also surprised how many radio stations it picked up, even on the shortwave band. The price including the new belt: 25€. Compared to the boomboxes in this video a great deal.
I had a Sony CFS 1200 when I was 14 (long gone now) and I purchased a CFS B15 on eBay a year ago. It was in original box with very little use. I was shocked that the cassette belt was still intact, and it sounds excellent; especially when I line out to my bookshelf speakers. Too bad the good quality is going out the window these days. I wonder why the manufacturers even bother with cassette function if they can't make it sound decent.
And to think that the old RCA tape cartridge players were "no larger than a woman's vanity case..." and now they're making them the size of a clown's purse. Yes I had to dig up that video you did years ago of the RCA cassette and listen to the demo tape with June Foray and the random dude voice artist.
Mat, that tape player is possessed. Please get a priest ASAP.
Nah, purposely make it play slow forever or leave it broken. Then It'll need a headphone jack output modification. It'll make a sweet Vaporwave boombox.
I guess this was doomed from the beginning .... CLOWNS are always hideous btw ;) Nice episode as always!
The clown handbag was hilarious. As was the reference to C90 cassettes. Please do more of the short videos, even if just for patreon supporters. We've all been here for a while, we know where you're coming from. Ha ha, clown handbag.
The black device's cassette mech started off sounding like Mr. and Mrs. Creature From The Black Lagoon, underwater. I enjoy your reactions when demonstrating on tape vs. voiceover. Oh, and the blank tape punishment works somewhat, apparently. ;-)
What's worse though, playing too slow or playing too fast?
So depressing. I noticed I can still order the Panasonic XD55 from amazon. But one thing that worries me, and maybe you can tell me, does it have any sort of delay? That's what makes most of these modern boomboxes unusable for me. It seems they've all integrated these bluetooth systems into them, and they tend to process and buffer the audio even if it is coming in over an analog source. Which then makes them totally unusable for video games or playing a musical keyboard through them.
I hadn’t noticed any delay - it really is an old school design. I’ll do a bit of testing and see if I can spot anything.
Well, it did say it would only play C90s (at the right speed)... 😉
Available for about 36 Euros here at amazon Germany. But honestly: You get cheaper ones that can do more in the supermarket at the corner.
How sad the ending. I suppose for ~$150 nowadays the best bet is picking up a reconditioned AIWA portable or Sony walkman and plug it into a portable speaker?
The most difficult part of this is finding someone/anyone who is capable of doing a proper reconditioning job. I’ve yet to find one - and the components in many of these old things are getting more and more out of spec now.
More crap destined for the landfill
Good point. TM, what do you do with all the rubbish that goes through your workshop?
R.I.P. Quality...
The tuning knob reminded me of transistor radios from my childhood. AM, of course. But thinking of those, and other stuff that was around then, a lot of it did sound awful. I carried my PlayTape player everywhere, and the sound was terrible, but I got to choose my music. The difference is that these things were mostly marketed to kids.
Alas this seems to be the same tat I keep finding everywhere. The missus after years of having to watch your videos when I put you on (she now likes them btw) has decided to get a proper stereo that she had in the 90's which is a half decent Technics system... So that's a saving grace
A nice short video. The black "boombox" made me laugh with the speed :). Also I liked the pacman video. Maybe you will make some "shorts" once in a while. Enjoy the week end.
You must be unfriended with your money, to buy such crap machines! :-)
The smiley indicates that you shouldn't take the comment to literally.
Being back pacman! Perfect fodder for the ‘shorts’ YouTube feature?
No thanks. If you want short videos there's Tik Tok. I wish YouTubers would stop trying to turn YouTube into Tik Tok. I hate Tik Tok and vertical videos. Put them both in Room 101. Rant over.
shame about the pacman video; the ending was gold
Speaking of gold, someone had commented on the video "why the **** are you watching the Six Million Dollar Man?" and Mat's response "Olympics" had me ROFL. I wanted to reply "Gold" but I held back. 😅