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Are there ANY Hitachis that sound good?

reli - 2010-01-02 11:12

I've heard several comments on here that Hitachi 1-pieces don't sound all that great.......Poor bass or something. Are there ANY that sound good? If so, which ones? And how good is good? Maybe they aren't M70-caliber, but how about compared to a GF9090 or RX5500?

3.db - 2010-01-02 11:28

Used to have one of those weird looking four speaker rigs with all of the controls on top ( along with everything else tape decks tuner ect.) that wasn't half bad. I can't remember the model number, sorry. That was a lot of years ago.

Off topic I know, but I can't help but ask. What's that killer Marantz VU meter on?

reli - 2010-01-02 12:44

quote:
Originally posted by +3 dB:

Off topic I know, but I can't help but ask. What's that killer Marantz VU meter on?

Marantz 5220 Smile
What about yours?

chancenellie - 2010-01-02 13:50

not really a Hitachi fan (sorry iso) but the 3d88 is a very nice sounding box imho.plenty of bass ! not as good as your higher end stuff but a very respectable box for the price you can pick em up Nod Yes

3.db - 2010-01-02 22:00

quote:
Originally posted by Reli:
Marantz 5220 Smile
What about yours?


Wow and old slide-in deck. Very cool.

Mine's an ancient top load Panasonic RS-275US cassette deck that looks like this one:

2steppa - 2010-01-03 12:31

I agree with RA on the 8290...

'Decent' 'Clean' but not enthralling sound, and pretty gutless in the volume department, distort very easily with only small amounts of bass boost applied. Nice looker though, quite an array of features and a great 'starter' box for a collection.

bogdan - 2010-01-04 11:04

The trk 8200 sounds good(balanced nice sound, without a loudness control on- the feature that helps many bbx-es to seem better than they realy are but it is a very usefull feature for a boomer,imho)and the power level I can compare to the gf9595(I've made tests with them toghether),if you Reli know the gf 9595(I guess it's comparable to the gf9090 at least Big Grin ),and comparable to the rx5500(it also hasn't loudness control) in sound quality,(the trk 8200 is a little bit louder).

reli - 2010-01-05 08:55

quote:
Originally posted by bogdan:
The trk 8200 sounds good(balanced nice sound, without a loudness control on- the feature that helps many bbx-es to seem better than they realy are but it is a very usefull feature for a boomer,imho)and the power level I can compare to the gf9595(I've made tests with them toghether),if you Reli know the gf 9595(I guess it's comparable to the gf9090 at least Big Grin ),and comparable to the rx5500(it also hasn't loudness control) in sound quality,(the trk 8200 is a little bit louder).


Never heard a GF9595. But I do have an RX5500, and I haven't heard any other midsize boxes than can beat it in terms of clarity and accurate mids.

bogdan - 2010-01-05 11:05

quote:
Never heard a GF9595. But I do have an RX5500, and I haven't heard any other midsize boxes than can beat it in terms of clarity and accurate mids.

I Agree
The gf9595 and the trk8200 have approximate the same level of output power(they are the same in loudness) but the gf9595 is a litle bit better in the quality of sound.

reli - 2010-01-05 14:34

What about the 8180?

cassettekid - 2010-01-05 14:47

quote:
Originally posted by Reli:
What about the 8080?

I have one on the way - should be here by next week sometime

superduper - 2010-01-06 01:15

All the Hitachi's that I owned sounded suprisingly good, especially given that they can generally be procured on the cheap. The 8080/8180 might be exceptions to cheap (price) since those are nice lookers and comparatively rarer. I think someone said they don't have good power output. I don't know about that -- the ones I had, including the TRK-8080 and TRK-8290 are both pretty loud boxes and sound is good too. If I want bass, I crank up the kaboom. After you've heard one, everything else just falls way short.

andyboombox - 2010-01-07 03:26

the only hitachis ive got are a 8290,and that sounds fairly bassy, depending on where you set it up (accoustics)but there are much better-this machine looks a whole lot better than it sounds;a 9100 that looks mean, sounds better than the 8290 but has an almost muffled sound quality to it;and an 8020 thats just average.i did have a 3d8e too but that was too later 80s for me-but it sounded fantastic.on the subject of hitachis, anyone know what an 8600 sounds like????????

isolator42 - 2010-01-07 10:03

no, fair play, hitachi's weren't up there with the likes of Awia & JVC.
Like Philips/Magnavox, they were more "value for money"
I've always liked an underdog Smile

To answer the original question, the bigger 3Ds sound pretty good (recommend a 3D8 or a 3D80/88), & if you like deep bass but are not worried about volume so much the ASW 3Ds are good: 3D95, etc.
All the early , "classic" look 1 pc boomers do suffer from a lack of bass. I have the TRK8200 & it's crying out for an extra bass someting-or-other...

2steppa - 2010-01-08 06:13

I would maintain that my 8290 has poorer bass and overall volume 'clout' than other good boxes in the same class. Power output is about 3w per channel RMS IIRC. My Pioneer 353 which is the same power has FAR superior quality of sound and bass performance. If I want bass I crank up my Pioneer S910's on the NAD amp. Roll Eyes

retro.addict - 2010-01-08 08:44

quote:
Originally posted by andy v:
on the subject of hitachis, anyone know what an 8600 sounds like????????
My TRK-8600 sound really good, but the loudness button has to be on for it to sound good. It has fairly good bass and clear treble, but it's strong point is the volume, it can crank to astonishing levels.

jt - 2010-01-08 12:54

quote:
Originally posted by Stormin Normin:
All the Hitachi's that I owned sounded suprisingly good, especially given that they can generally be procured on the cheap. The 8080/8180 might be exceptions to cheap (price) since those are nice lookers and comparatively rarer. I think someone said they don't have good power output. I don't know about that -- the ones I had, including the TRK-8080 and TRK-8290 are both pretty loud boxes and sound is good too. If I want bass, I crank up the kaboom. After you've heard one, everything else just falls way short.


I owned a TRK-8180 for a while, which is now in Oldskool's hands... I would have to agree with Stormin' Norman on this one.

On a letter grade scale for sound quality in a midsize box, I would give the 8180 a B-minus. The M70 gets an A becuause it can go very loud quite cleanly, and the Sanyo M9990 gets an A because it sounds so detailed and refined. M-70 is the loudest of the three I mentioned, by far.