Mini Stereos and Cool Car Compo Ads

Did you see my Blaupunkt 8mm, it was cheap and cool looking but I have no way to power it up yet.
https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/show-your-newest-vintage-electronic-entry.8010/page-17

 

I've been looking for these tiny JVC Systems, just wide enough for a CD, which is just enough for a cassette. These still go for next to nothing and they can be pretty hefty. At 66,800 Yen, they also weren't cheap.

 

Denon 1995, I think Denon was really doing good with the mini-systems around this time. AIWA was more for youths and budget buyers while Denon seemed to be for professionals. Denon went to horizontal tape transports which makes the units look a little more small.

 

Onkyo 1998, this isn't bad looking. Onkyo was still building quality equipment, I'd love to get a few of these systems in a room and sound test them. This one looks to have an MD player and ditched the cassette deck.

 

Even Nakamichi got into it with some high-art designs

 

My local vintage shop has one of these, I love the computer look versions with the square membrane keys, the turntable is a slider on the bottom.
1986




Doing some pricing, 1986 was a volatile year for the yen, at the low point this system would have been around $1300 USD (without CD)

 

I used to think the horizontal "AIWA" Keypads were goofy looking, now I wish I had a few. That AIWA looks great in bronze, one of those full stacks came up for sale around here a couple years ago, he wanted $1000 USD, not sure what happened to it.

The Denon I got sounds great and came with the original receipt, costing around $2000 USD in 1992. I just need to get a larger spot to photograph my mini-stereo collection and get that thread kicking again.

 

TEAC from 2000 with Tannoy Speakers. With the 2000 exchange rate, the upper left would have been $2500.00 USD back then.

 

Now were seeing what these little guys can really do, 340 watts (P.M.P.O)! Big watts in a small box. The UX-D88 has a nice looking tape deck and look at the price of the MD player, almost as much as the whole system. Without knowing the year I'd gues these were around $500 USD for the top models.

 

1980, not really mini, I call these slim-line and they are hard to find, I've got a few different pieces from different manufacturers but I don't think I have a matching stack.

 

JVC UX-5
One of the beautiful little JVC Micro Component Systems from the 90's, the UX-5, I've started grabbing these and similar models if I see them. Usually for a few dollars you're getting a tiny powerhouse that retailed for approximately $650.00 USD. They Yen to Dollar in 1994 was almost even if you dropped the last two digits. Personally I can't see these going for more than say $250.00 USD but I might be wrong. Mine is labeled "UX-5A," I'm not sure what the A is for, maybe the region it was sold but mine looks identical except I didn't get speakers with it.

The staging below looks dumb but there is a CD player on the top right unit and maybe the space below is for CD storage? I would have lifted both and had CD/cassette storage underneath. I don't think they had PHONO in but they do have AUX, you'll have to get a phono pre-amp to use with a record player.

Right now I'd consider some of these to be the best value in audio but they do have some entry-level you might want to avoid.

 

I know some of these companies couldn't use their JDM Names so they used new names for bigger export markets. Then the export market became much larger so they changed the corporate name to reflect that. It's interesting reading some of the JDM Discussions on it.

Here's it's little brother from 1990, there's a pretty long thread on Tapeheads about these little guys. I did check ebay last night and they've gotten on the radar and are going for more money these days but if you can find one for a fist-full of dollars they are worth it. Make sure you get the remote, even with a million tiny buttons they do make using them easier.

 

Nice review! They pretty much took the best part of boomboxes and stuffed it in these boxes, too bad none had a handle and battery pack.

I'm with you on the speakers, none of my small systems have a "big" sound unless you connect big speakers. The closest is a Denon D-200 I recently got, but the Denon Speakers are more like real bookshelf speakers and not plastic boxes.