good evening gents, must confess, I'm a complete newb to the forum, but have been interested in boxes for a while, but picking a cheap one up in the uk has been difficult.

however, I now have myself a lovely Crown 950 and I was wondering if anyone could give me any general tips on upgrading speakers, amps, or any other components.

any of you guys developed any kind of improved battery setup over a standard set of D's?

all tips appreciated, especially UK specific suppliers of stuff I might need.

photos coming soon I hope.

Hi there, you've found the right place if you like boomboxes!

A Crown CSC-950's a great first box. I only seemed to find small cheap quality boxes when I started collecting, but after two years I've finally managed to get my hands on some big ones!

What type of different battery setup was you looking for, some kind of rechargeable battery pack? Hopefully someone can help you with your battery question and locate good replacement speakers for your Crown.

Welcome to the forum, E_Ghost.

it would also be really nice if someone could direct me towards a service manual for my 950, the more info I can get on the internals of this baby the better.

Welcome E_Ghost, I'm sure you'll find some good 950 info here. As for the batteries you could get Ni-MH "D" cells, they are expensive though. Ebay usually has a full set in the $60 to $100 range with charger. If you are planning on using them a lot that will work well. Don't let the lower voltage discourage you since Ni-MH hold there voltage almost the entire charge where Alkalines drop voltage continuously as they discharge.

jwith batteries the higher the mah the longer theyll last.

i just bhad a quick look there on ebay, these are expensinve but 9000mah is pretty insane, theyre might be higher im not sure, i havnt time for a longer search. normal D's are like 2500mah

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-X-STRENGTH-D-CELL-RECHARGEABLE-...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

that doesnt go to say itll do what it says on the tine, youd have to research it more yourself. i played with the idea of li-po and li-ion 11.1v batteries, but not knowing if my house is gonna burn down dissuaded me.

if a box is rated at 12v dc, which yours probably is, itll operate no hassles in +/- 1 or 2 volts, though id stay below 13.5 volts to be safe. youd swear i knew what i was talking about... haha, well so ive read anyway...

nice to meet you.

Welcome E_Ghost.

Welcome aboard E.G.!

I am working on integrating new amps into both my TRC-931 boomboxes using the AMP3-PS kits available from http://www.41khz.com. I'll make sure to post here to explain how it goes.

I would also reiterate buying rechargeables, but not on Ebay. I bought 10 Tenergy NiMH 9000mAh D cells for my TRC-931 about 3 years ago. Got them from http://www.all-battery.com for $58.99 and their fast charger for $29.99. They are fantastic! Not only do they last forever, but they deliver more juice than your standard D cell, too.

They're up to 10000mAh capacity now, and I would definitely recommend them.