I bought one of these in Gibraltar in 1977 to take on board HMS Ark Royal. It travelled the world with me. Great piece of kit for the era. I would have another one today in a heartbeat. From memory, duty free, it was about £80 back then.
Wow! I got waves of nostalgia watching this. My Dad bought one of these in the mid to late 70s specifically for me and my brother (I was about 9 and my brother, 7, at the time). We absolutely loved this thing. We carted it all over and played it to death - mostly records. It was the coolest gift I remember getting as a kid. Me and my brother used the mics to record us singing along with the device as I remember. Also, we used it for 'spy' recording my Dad when he was drunk, which was most weekends. We'd play the recordings back to him to embarrass him of course. Thanks so much for reminding me. Loves x
@Anno Kitsune Jim's sentence makes sense to me. The English language is fluid and idiomatic. So, the word 'character', yes, can mean a constructed personage say in a novel or a film. But also, in an informal and idiomatic sense, does infer a bit of a fun/wild/notable person. Hope that sorta explains why Jim's sentence is perfectly coherent. Also, I'm not sure 'everybody is a character' in the strictest sense. Being as 'character' does imply a person playing a fictional part. But hey, perhaps there is truth in that too. Cheers.
My Brother had an Akai cassette system in a case, with the speakers attached as the lid in this format. He was in the Merchant Navy and was away at sea all around the World, often months at a time. The sound quality was actually impressive.
Restored one of these for a customer of mine. He still uses it regularly and it does everything he needs it to. The components may be pretty low end but its very robust, and has plenty of life left in it.
I do hope this continues. I was rather irritated when the 8-bit guy reported that viewers were commenting that they were getting weary of his videos about Petscii Robots, and I think there were also comments to him about too many Amiga videos as well. It is my feeling that you should produce content that you enjoy producing, and if people don't enjoy watching it, they can simply move on to something else.
I watch _The 8-Bit Guy_ for similar reasons to why I watch _Techmoan,_ they both are passionate about what they're presenting and it's something that interests me as well. I'm subscribed to both, in it for the long haul; I don't post nasty comments and drop my subscription if either one has a video or two I don't care much about. Some people are just way too demanding! 🙄
I like the 8 bit guy a lot but the petscii bit is a bit disingenuous. People don't like feeling like he's constantly trying to sell them stuff. Nobody bats an eye when it's included on a test. But that's not rly the issues people have with the 8bit guy, that's like, bottom of the list of criticisms lol. I do like him and watch all his stuff but I don't think you've framed this fairly.
You continue to be one of the most fun channels I enjoy. I'm always surprised how you find all the devices and make them a fun journey on your channel. .... a long time fan - m.
Fascinating 'case' study Matt. Back in the day my dad bought various Sanyo electronic equipment based on the 'value for money' philosophy. They were distinctly 2nd class, they were no Sony, Technics or Panasonic. Everytime dad - Mr VFM - brought one home, despite my initial disappointment as a teenager of the 70s and 80s, I over came this feeling based on the 'beggars can't be choosers' philosophy, better a Sanyo than none at all. Excellent video, wishing you the best of health Matt.
Sanyo may have had a "poor man's" reputation with some people, but I always thought they had top-end quality, just like many others did, who know their stuff! Sanyo was rugged and long lasting as hell, and actually the picture of their video equipment was just as good as Sony or Panasonic, and I still have a ca. 1980 mini stereo system that runs circles around modern gear with its sound. They went down hill in the 2000s (their flat panel TVs were not the same like their indestructible tube TVs) for sure and are gone now, but vintage Sanyo from the 70s and 80s has survived the years far better than most pieces from Sony or even Marantz, which I have always experienced as more prone to repairs than especially Technics/National/Panasonic aka Matsushita. Interestingly enough, Matsushita (the Technics parent) and Sanyo were both founded by two Japanese engineers of the same family ties! Sanyo also made components and parts for Matsushita dn many other companies. Their monolithic amp chips powered many stereos, and because they have to be wired in a certain way, the amp stages of many receivers, amplifiers, and TVs were identical across different brands and sounded almost the same, like it or not! Sanyo was founded by Toshio Iue (1902-1969), brother-in-law of Konosuke Matsushita (founder of Matsushita/Panasonic) and also a former Matsushita employee. Iue lent an unused Matsushita plant in 1947 and used it to make bicycle generator lamps, and Sanyo was born.
Still long lasting, at least as of the 2000s! We got an LCD TV in 2006 that is still used at least weekly. It may only have one HDMI input but hey, at least it isn't a smart tv ready to become obsolete
When sanyo finally went 'bust' it was bought by Matsushita. Also sanyo previously bought the Fisher brand and used their name as an upmarket alternative to 'plain old Sanyo' !
I'm sorry, but I never got the idea that Sanyo was inferior to the other well known brands back then. Every Sanyo product we used were well designed and well made.
It seems like the engineers/designers at Japanese electronics companies of this period had a lot of freedom to innovate. So many interesting devices came out - it's like they were throwing everything at the market and seeing what would stick.
Most Japanese tech companies were run by engineers and not by managers or finance people, so that is why this innovation was so abundant during this time.
@@BLY99 Or managers who were enthusiasts. The only reason the Walkman got made was that Sony founder Masaru Ibuka wanted to listen to his choice of music on airliners.
I am from Serbia and we had similar models to this made by Ei-Nis. Електронска индустрија Ниш (ЕИ Ниш), Electronics Industry Nish, Nish being the town-location of the main factory and office. I had two, one was almost exactly like this one and another red colored plastic cased that was just a turntable. These were cheap so many people could afford one and was great for mobility or just to save space. These were often targeted at kids and teens so they could easy assemble and store these away when not used. I used this to record an audio presentation for school and later for work too. It was sort of like a portable mini 'radio studio' where you could record things on the go with adding sounds or music in the background and use it to playback if needed since they were quite loud, oddly enough considering they were small compared to actual big sound systems. They lacked bass but some people modified the monitor speaker cases and managed to give it more bass frequencies, a kick if you will. It was great for what it was and I liked it. It was a useful tool and even as a toy I guess since even kids got a kick out of it, recording their own 'radio gigs' and get inspired by it. On OP topic too I will just say that back in a day there was room for innovation and improvement. Today we peeked at what can be done with materials we have and it is all made in some place somewhere in China with random brands slapped onto it. Not many things been made outside of this bubble and almost not much even needed. Also we came to the point where if people want something good, they can actually make it themselves. Might sound impossible to some but once this being a hobby today it became a norm... Especially here in Serbia, if we want something we make it ourselves, rarely I go out of my comfort zone and buy something new anymore unless it's a part from China that I need for my project :D
@@MrDuncl That is exactly my point, Ibuka was an engineer and Sony was until recently always run by engineers who worked their way up from the bottom through Sony.
Marvellous video as per usual although I would make the observation that it’s not just tech hidden in a case that’s appealing to mine and Matt’s generation: it’s tech that’s hidden in *ANYTHING* that seamlessly gets revealed that I find compelling. Drawers, desks, etc, they all become inviting pieces of design when one conceals tech within them! Thank once again Matt. Sanyo is one of my favourite companies - we had a Sanyo ‘tower’ system in the Wooden cabinet and it was bulletbroof - I was using the amp component with a separate CD player as late as 2008 (it was bought from Agrii electrics, Birkenhead in 1984. 😎
Yes, motorised doors, cabinets that flipped over, buttons under desks that when pressed opened panels on the wall with stuff behind - pretty much all my 70s TV was just watching people press buttons or opening cases to reveal gadgets containing more flashing multicoloured buttons.
@@Techmoan if you like lots of flashing multicolor square buttons with dials and levers and little screens in awesome looking desks you should have a look at videomixers they used for tv broadcasts. The thing a director would sit at i think behind loads of little screens with camera feeds. From the 70s or so onward. That's secret lair spaceship launching buttons heaven lol. Having that rise out of a cabinet just before you destroy the world while laughing uncontrolably has to be a puppet sketch! Make it happen please.
Just as an addendum to this note: one of my favourite series is Columbo. The episodes from the 70s often featured high end houses with high end tech in them, indeed, often HIFIs or photographic devices- a good mini series would be “the tech of Colombo”, featuring the various devices found in specific episodes. Oftentimes the villains would be tech wizards and would use some element of their skills with tech to try and pull off the “perfect crime”. Of course Lt C would foil their dastardly plans with a flourish!
My Dad has this! and I've listened to it all my childhood. We call it the three-in-one in our house for the record player, tape recorder and the radio that it has. And the great thing, it still works after all those years of service! Wow, so good to see this!
I like that it takes batteries. One thing I wish the Sony reel to reel cases had. Also a lot smaller than the Sony reel to reel cases. I look forward to more!
The batteries were both a feature and a bug. BITD they were not exactly long lasting. 6 were pricey, AKA expensive especially as a regular power source. The other aspect was the extra weight. A power cord was much lighter and regardless of where to put it (I would have stuffed it in the battery compartment) was the better option most of the time due to the consistency of power draw. Batteries were not renowned back then for their reliability. Some would last up to 2 days. IIRC alkaline were either just appearing or about to to and were the New More Expensive option That Really Lasts and Lasts(TM).
Yeah batteries are great. You can literally lug this to a picnic in a park somewhere, setup your stereo speakers and listen to records instead of the birds, and generally be a nuisance to everyone around you.
The speaker connections via hinges wasn't exclusive to Sony or unknown to Sanyo in the early 1970s. In 1972, my parents bought a Sanyo stereo radio cassette recorder. The main part looks just like a typical mono radio cassette unit, and the right speaker is either attached by hinges (both mechanically and electrically), or can be placed further away and connected via a cable. BTW, we still have it, and many original recordings made with it, including conversations between my dad an I when I was about a month or two old in 1974.😊
I did enjoy the sign off pun at the end. And it's also interesting to see such "ordinary" bits of gear from back in the day rather than high end stuff. Hope this becomes a regular feature on the channel!
I love the design that went into audio products of the 1970's. Even when they no longer work, they're wonderful to look at. I miss shortwave soooo much.
Shortwave is still quite busy, but typically best after dark when the signals are more likely bounce off the ionosphere instead of being absorbed by it. I'm always amazed at how far away those signals reach me on my radio even with its dinky little antenna, though I can't get much while indoors. Too much electronic crap in our homes these days day that throw off noise. A lot of them are on single sideband, which I doubt that radio does, so there is that too. But there is still a lot of standard AM shortwave stations out there. I really like that setup. I actually have never seen one of those before, but it really is a fantastic rig.
Anything built into a briefcase like this just ups its cool factor tenfold. Looking forward to seeing what else comes of this series in the future, and thanks for showing this device off!
Very nice. I loved things in suitcases 😊 a cousin had a SHARP mini computer (calculator) with a cassette recorder and a mini thermal printer… it was very sleek and impressive.
This was the ONE piece of technology I wanted so badly as a kid. Around 1973 I visited Harrods with my mum and they had one sat on a glittery altar lit with spotlights. Also in the HiFi department was a Roberts radio covered in real fur! Not very PC in 2023 but back then a lot of Harrods customers swanned around covered in dead animals.
Ohh my goodness! I had forgotten all about owning one of these in the 70s & early 80s until I stumbled onto this vod! Thank you so much for reminding me of happy simpler times!
My grandfather was one of the top mechanical engineers for Westinghouse, they sent him all over the world. Yugoslavia, Spain, Philippines, India, and Saudi Arabia to name a few. During one of those trips to Europe in the 70's he bought a Sanyo G2620 suitcase stereo. It had a turntable, cassette player/recorder, AM/FM Stereo, SW tuner, including speakers that folded on to the case. When they brought it back to the U.S. I had an opportunity to play around with it in the early 80's (about 80-81) when I was 10 years old and was fascinated with the SW band especially (because of this I have too many SW receivers to count! Emoji), but the tone arm had already been broken off and I don't remember if the cassette even worked anymore, didn't matter all I wanted to do was listen to SW. I have fond memories of this stereo, but unfortunately it has disappeared in the nearly 40 years since.
Brilliant! My sister had one new, it was in the boot of her Triumph Spitfire when involved in an accident on her way to college and one of the speakers was badly damaged. As a pre teen ,into such exiting devices as music machines, I wrote to Sanyo who were able to supply a new plastic case for me to transfer over the internals and all was good. The car was less fortunate
The proprietary power connector pinout is something I've run into over the years. Before things got (mostly) standardized on ones like the IEC connectors, there were so many variations. I'd seen where Belden would actually sell a grey rounded three-pin connector cord that was reversed polarity, just because one or two manufacturers had decided to wire up their equipment different from the majority. It's similar to the ridiculous variation of connectors used for cell phones and things like laptop computer chargers, or DC power supplies where you never known the polarity of the coaxial ("barrel") plug.
You have left out the modern variations in Electric Vehicle recharging plugs. I had an external car charging point installed at my house and got a Nissan Leaf electric car. I got home to find that the car charging plug at the house had a plug that didn't fit the car. On investigation I found that I had a VW charging plug on the house charger and it was incompatible with the Nissan car socket. It is as if you get a petrol car which will only take the petrol pump nozzle at a Shell station and you can't fill up at Esso. The other daft thing is that the house external charger only runs from a B16 (16 Amp) breaker in your fuse box, so you can't take more electricity from it than you can from a regular 13 Amp socket inside the house. As an aside, after 2 years and 8000 miles the Nissan Leaf needed a new £5000 battery. It wasn't covered under the 5 year warranty because I had plugged it in to recharge it when it was already 80% charged. This invalidates the warranty - but they don't tell you that when you buy it. Never again.
@@gasgas2689 Oh that's interesting that the on-board computer was able to keep track of your charging events, but unable to automatically block needless recharging until the voltage drops below a certain point. Sorry you had to suffer through this and Thanks for the warning.!!!
@@gasgas2689 I feel like if combustion powered cars had been invented in our current business climate, there would be exclusive gas deals between automakers and station operators and you would need a special nozzle or an expensive nozzle adapter.
@@gasgas2689 yeah ChaDeMo and the Leaf’s battery management sucks. Everything else uses the other connector though, so it’s not just VW. And everything else uses liquid cooled batteries which, not only don’t die just from filling them up, but can also just be set to maintain a certain percentage most of the time and they in fact recommended you do so. Which means you can plug it in whenever you like and the car will choose if it needs to charge. The Leaf was just sadly the worst choice you could’ve made, versus an eGolf or something with a similar range which would’ve worked much better all round. There needs to be better awareness about this, though, and imo all the older Leafs should just be taken apart again to use the batteries for stationary installations.
@Gas Gas I left out a lot of other examples, probably too numerous to mention! As for the EV charging issues you described, it makes no sense but it's partly due to the industry setting its own standards, by attrition, like USB-C charging finally gradually becoming a more "standard" standard. Your battery replacement cost? 🙄🤦♂️
Yes, continue the series. This item reminds me of a record player/cassette recorder combo my mother had. She use that Bell & Howell unit to record records she got from the library. Much nicer than being yelled at to be quiet while she recorded with the portable microphone pushed against the family stereo system. Thank you for your contact, you are appreciated.
Enjoyable video. At 7:15 you comment that not having the speaker wires able to stay attached to the stereo so you could play it immediately on opening the case. Of course, that's a valid point, but I remember back when these things came out. We didn't mind the process of having to set up the stereo. It added to the 'secret agent' feel. I never owned this, but I imagine I would have loved opening the case, detaching the speakers, etc., all the while humming the theme to James Bond. "Dum, dum-dum-dum dum, dum dum dum..."
Until the mid 1970s it was also thought there was no point in having a stereo system unless the speakers were widely separated. That was why more normal radio cassette recorders stayed mono.
Motorola, Zenith, RCA and Magnavox used the hinges to connect the speakers in their fold-out record players since the late 1950’s and all throughout the 60’s. You could also use the cord to separate them.
I may be 46 but apparently I am a child because I don’t care that this isn’t a high end unit. I just think that it’s pretty freaking cool and I love this new series! Can’t wait for the next one!
Wow blast from the past, I had one of these in 1974 when I was in the Royal Navy doing my electrical training at HMS Collingwood in Fareham Hants. It was ideal to let me listen to and when I had finished I could pack it up and lock it away in my locker. I remember listening to David Bowie Alladin Sane and loving my first listen to true stereo seperation.
I am genuinely low key excited for rest of this mini series because while low end, this was still neatly packaged into the case form and now I am waiting to see what will 1-up this next time on tech moan cazezee.
You might try listening for shortwave or AM stations at night. Due to the various properties of the atmosphere the signals often come in a lot stronger.
They do indeed, I'm on the north coast of Spain and managed to listen to Arsenal v Sporting Lisbon on BBC 5-Live on MW - it's one way to get round their online geo-block!
Interesting things in cases...LOL. I love the British dry sense of humor. On the UK Top Gear series, they'd start the open of the show with something like, "Tonight, James buckles a seatbelt." Thanks for another great video. That is a really neat system. Just finding a good radio tuner these days is difficult.
Only some capstan drive recorders are worth talking about. He already has some videos made on this channel. many are rim drive, too basic and used for dictation purposes.
I miss industrial design from the late 70s early 80s. You can see so much effort and expertise. This was someone's masterpiece. Imagine utilizing today's speaker acoustic technology to design those speakers.
Videos like this about kinda odd retrotech are definitely my favourite, even if it used to be common. It's just something I'd never see today but which definitely has a certain style to it.
I'm only 0:54 into the video, and I'm already seeing something interesting. Living in the USA I've always liked seeing receivers with Shortwave bands (SW) on them, and seeing what we call the "AM" band referred to as MW, or Medium Wave. It's something different. Another example is my Grundig G2 Reporter, which allows selecting different FM band frequency ranges to support different regions of the world. Enough tidbits and anecdotes, I need to get back to the video!
There were some comedy sketches at the time of FM being new, and cheaper receivers doing only FM and AM/MW, with people thinking AM meant radio for the morning because they were unfamiliar with needing to select a modulation type at all.
My first Walkman type of cassette recorder/player was a Sanyo. It also had a good FM radio built in. It worked very well, lasted a long time on 2 AA Batteries. I still have it & it works.
I’ve watched and learned from your channel for a good few years now, Matt. I’ve seen stuff I’ve never seen before, I’ve seen stuff I remember , but couldn’t afford. Then I finally see something we actually had! When we got married, my wife had one of there’s and a little b&w Sony tv, quite a modern space age shape, but that was it for audio visual. It would have played our Genesis, ELTON JOHN, Moody Blues , Black Sabbath etc that we had in our combined record collection. Then as the mortgage got more manageable, we bought a trio based hifi with SOLAVOX speakers- this was 1978. Sadly, I think the Sanyo was boot faired for about £5…..
It must have been brilliant listening to all those great artists that you mentioned as they were putting out those amazing albums! And I guess that's the real historical value of lower end kit, people could afford it, so they could then buy Sabbath Bloody Sabbath or A Trick of the Tail en masse and play 'em - ordinary folk with regular kit put these artists on the map, not the audiophiles!
Mat, your reviews of other cassette decks and record players go into so much detail. I realise this is about ITIC, but a detailed review of these would be amazing. I think the community would glady accecpt a follow up video on wow and flutter, stylus weight, battery life, and speed accuracy. All this said with the kindest compliments to everything you do.
He's explained in the past that there's no point in doing wow & flutter and speed accuracy tests on old equipment, because the age of the machine is a confounding variable: with 50 year old equipment, the performance is just going to come down to how much wear and tear that individual piece has has accumulated. It doesn't really give any useful information. He does those kinds of tests with *new* equipment so people get an idea of whether it's worth buying for themselves, and what kind of performance they can expect if they do.
In the 80's my Dad worked as an insurance salesman. He was issued with a brief case that when opened, a projector screen un rolled and a small projector behind it played a promotional film to show prospective clients. I wonder if you have come across these devices? As always, thanks for the years of great content. You have even saved me wasting money buy helping me make an informed choice on some devices. Keep them coming Sir!
The idea to route power through the hinges is older than this device for sure. My 1963 GE T-1000D does exactly that - no wires until you remove the "wing speakers" from the hinges to extend them for a broader stereo sound field. When attached to the main unit, no wires are needed, which just looks so clean. Nice job there General Electric!
If you don't mind altering the device, you could always affix a modern AC cord adapter. Or if not, you could attach a DC power supply to the battery terminals. Great video and I'm looking forward to future ITIC videos!
It should not be too difficult to fashion a replacement plug if you're handy with a soldering gun, epoxy etc. Then you would not have to molest the player.
It may be kind of junky, but cheap "does what it sets out to do adequately enough" stuff from the 70s is much better than the same products of the 2020s. Just think how much cooler those crap Crosley briefcase players would be if they had all of this extra stuff on them as well (not that they would do any of it particularly well except for the FM tuner lol).
In todays money it cost about £900 (according to the Bank of England inflation calculator). You would expect a well made product for that. In the opposite direction for the price of a Crosley you would have been lucky to get a pocket MW only radio back in 1973.
I bought one of these in Jersey CI in 1978 , mine was slightly different to yours, mine had a little adapter which you plugged in and it allowed the fm tuner to become a stereo receiver and played the stereo through the Headphones. Looking back at it, it was a very basic unit but as I traveled from Jersey to Isle of Man quite often it allowed me to take it with me on the flights without any effort. Love you channel and always look forward to more. I also had a very unusual unit which used to allow me to listen to Airband through my radio. It had to sit next to my normal am radio. John
Very nice! I’m sure 1970s low end components are still miles ahead of the garbage being put out of a certain country today. The fact that the unit still functions is a testament to this.
Not using the hinges as speaker connections is a bit of a bummer - I have an old tube-powered portable record player from the 60s that uses its hinges in this way, so it wasn't a new idea when the Sanyo came out.
Thanks for the awesome retro-tech video! I still remember Sanyo commercials in the USA, a singing blond haired woman in an elegant white long dress singing "That's life, San-Yoooo". I doubt anyone posted that but I think I'll look.
'The Case Files' was another potential option...but I went for a more 'Comedians in cars getting coffee', 'Snakes on a plane' type of thing, so you know exactly what you're getting.
I'm always amazed at how well my Yamaha CR-2020 brings in FM stations compared to the modern Onkyo AVR sitting right next to it. Goes to show how important FM was back in the 70's and 80's for music listening.
I had one of these in the early 70s. It went to and from boarding school with me for years and never missed a beat. It was a great device for the time. I wish I still had it for nostalgia sake.
The power plug is a typical "pins on pcb" type common in the 70's. when looking for a replacement keep 3 things in mind: Pid diameter, pin spacing and plug shape. (Often the plug can be shaved to fit). Plug polarity wasn't a thing in the 70's. Old TV's, radios, and coffee makers had these kind of plugs
thanks for posting this , my dad had one. he bought it back from japan it was the G2195NK/H with the 8 track. i got it given to me after my dad bought a new hifi , i used it well in the 1980's . which i still had it.
I was an 80s kid and I very much appreciate tech hidden in briefcases too. :) It wasn't just James Bond. All the other 60s and 70s spy shows were still around, such as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Oh, interesting: Wikipedia lists _U.N.C.L.E._ as the first, with "nearly a dozen imitators" by 1966. Any show with one-off or top secret tech might also hide it in a briefcase -- I think there was a briefcase remote control for KITT in Knight Rider. And we can't forget Thunderbirds with the mansion's tech hidden away until the right button was pressed. I've always wanted a house like that. ;)
Wow. This was my first stereo!!! Bought duty free on a family holiday to Fiji in 1976 when I was 15. Stereo gear was crazy expensive in New Zealand back in the 1970s. Thanks heaps for this. 😊
I enjoy seeing the lower end stuff most of us had back in the day. All you see on youtube is the high end audiophile stuff we all drooled over but could never touch when new. I know most low end stuff hit the garbage bin decades ago, which is why it is even more cool to see it today. I had a Realistic Clarinette 102 in my tween years, it was what I could afford, and it introduced me to a life-long love of music. It was decent for cheap crap and I kind of miss it.
Even if it's mostly low end I love it, strong early James Bond vibes 😊. This kind of gadgets were very popular in Spain in the late 60's and early 70's, although most of the time they were just a record player with attached speakers and perhaps a tuner, no cassette, mic input, etc.
I saw the picture for this video and recognised the case. I had one of these for years as a kid, My dad brought it back from Saudi Arabia (easy to carry back on the plane in those days, Might be a bit more difficult today. We had this in the lounge until a separates system took its place and it migrated to my room. Your right about them being constantly set up, I even mounted the speakers on wall my with homemade brackets and made a clear perspex cover at school for the main part to keep the dust off (propped up to play LP's). Happy days.😊
I am from Serbia and we had similar models to this made by Ei-Nis. Електронска индустрија Ниш (ЕИ Ниш), Electronics Industry Nish, Nish being the town-location of the main factory and office. I had two, one was almost exactly like this one and another red colored plastic cased that was just a turntable. These were cheap so many people could afford one and was great for mobility or just to save space. These were often targeted at kids and teens so they could easy assemble and store these away when not used. I used this to record an audio presentation for school and later for work too. It was sort of like a portable mini 'radio studio' where you could record things on the go with adding sounds or music in the background and use it to playback if needed since they were quite loud, oddly enough considering they were small compared to actual big sound systems. They lacked bass but some people modified the monitor speaker cases and managed to give it more bass frequencies, a kick if you will. It was great for what it was and I liked it. It was a useful tool and even as a toy I guess since even kids got a kick out of it, recording their own 'radio gigs' and get inspired by it.
This is a cool series. Looking forward to more
waiting for the HK MP5K briefcase episode
Hopefully that the Crosley Cruiser will be the grand final!
agree, although this particular case is closed, we r looking forward for another investigations, some cold cases just have to be reopened ))
Can't wait for the companion series: Interesting Cases in Things!
gonna be a great day when we get part 2 and more
I bought one of these in Gibraltar in 1977 to take on board HMS Ark Royal. It travelled the world with me. Great piece of kit for the era. I would have another one today in a heartbeat. From memory, duty free, it was about £80 back then.
Ark Royal was decommissioned in 1979, so you must have served as her last crew.
How did the turntable fare when at sea?
@@explorer806 I think that would somewhat depend on the weather.
Wow! I got waves of nostalgia watching this. My Dad bought one of these in the mid to late 70s specifically for me and my brother (I was about 9 and my brother, 7, at the time). We absolutely loved this thing. We carted it all over and played it to death - mostly records. It was the coolest gift I remember getting as a kid. Me and my brother used the mics to record us singing along with the device as I remember. Also, we used it for 'spy' recording my Dad when he was drunk, which was most weekends. We'd play the recordings back to him to embarrass him of course. Thanks so much for reminding me. Loves x
Lol. You Dad seemed like a character.
@@jimcullen2211 Sure was. Still is 🤣
@Anno Kitsune Jim's sentence makes sense to me. The English language is fluid and idiomatic. So, the word 'character', yes, can mean a constructed personage say in a novel or a film. But also, in an informal and idiomatic sense, does infer a bit of a fun/wild/notable person. Hope that sorta explains why Jim's sentence is perfectly coherent. Also, I'm not sure 'everybody is a character' in the strictest sense. Being as 'character' does imply a person playing a fictional part. But hey, perhaps there is truth in that too. Cheers.
@@trevorjones8969 thanks. I'm glad you know what I meant.
@@jimcullen2211 You're most welcome, Jim :)
My Brother had an Akai cassette system in a case, with the speakers attached as the lid in this format. He was in the Merchant Navy and was away at sea all around the World, often months at a time. The sound quality was actually impressive.
Restored one of these for a customer of mine. He still uses it regularly and it does everything he needs it to. The components may be pretty low end but its very robust, and has plenty of life left in it.
I do hope this continues. I was rather irritated when the 8-bit guy reported that viewers were commenting that they were getting weary of his videos about Petscii Robots, and I think there were also comments to him about too many Amiga videos as well. It is my feeling that you should produce content that you enjoy producing, and if people don't enjoy watching it, they can simply move on to something else.
I watch _The 8-Bit Guy_ for similar reasons to why I watch _Techmoan,_ they both are passionate about what they're presenting and it's something that interests me as well.
I'm subscribed to both, in it for the long haul; I don't post nasty comments and drop my subscription if either one has a video or two I don't care much about. Some people are just way too demanding! 🙄
@@WinterInTheForest Forget Saturday morning cartoons, we got Saturday morning sexism right here
@@WinterInTheForest 😂
@@mrb692 He has the guts to put that joke out there knowing he's going to take damage. He gets a thumbs up for that.
I like the 8 bit guy a lot but the petscii bit is a bit disingenuous. People don't like feeling like he's constantly trying to sell them stuff. Nobody bats an eye when it's included on a test. But that's not rly the issues people have with the 8bit guy, that's like, bottom of the list of criticisms lol. I do like him and watch all his stuff but I don't think you've framed this fairly.
You continue to be one of the most fun channels I enjoy. I'm always surprised how you find all the devices and make them a fun journey on your channel.
.... a long time fan - m.
Fascinating 'case' study Matt. Back in the day my dad bought various Sanyo electronic equipment based on the 'value for money' philosophy. They were distinctly 2nd class, they were no Sony, Technics or Panasonic. Everytime dad - Mr VFM - brought one home, despite my initial disappointment as a teenager of the 70s and 80s, I over came this feeling based on the 'beggars can't be choosers' philosophy, better a Sanyo than none at all. Excellent video, wishing you the best of health Matt.
Can attest to the value proposition of Sanyo as a brand in that era. I, too, was of the 'beggars and choosers' brigade.
Sanyo may have had a "poor man's" reputation with some people, but I always thought they had top-end quality, just like many others did, who know their stuff! Sanyo was rugged and long lasting as hell, and actually the picture of their video equipment was just as good as Sony or Panasonic, and I still have a ca. 1980 mini stereo system that runs circles around modern gear with its sound. They went down hill in the 2000s (their flat panel TVs were not the same like their indestructible tube TVs) for sure and are gone now, but vintage Sanyo from the 70s and 80s has survived the years far better than most pieces from Sony or even Marantz, which I have always experienced as more prone to repairs than especially Technics/National/Panasonic aka Matsushita. Interestingly enough, Matsushita (the Technics parent) and Sanyo were both founded by two Japanese engineers of the same family ties! Sanyo also made components and parts for Matsushita dn many other companies. Their monolithic amp chips powered many stereos, and because they have to be wired in a certain way, the amp stages of many receivers, amplifiers, and TVs were identical across different brands and sounded almost the same, like it or not!
Sanyo was founded by Toshio Iue (1902-1969), brother-in-law of Konosuke Matsushita (founder of Matsushita/Panasonic) and also a former Matsushita employee. Iue lent an unused Matsushita plant in 1947 and used it to make bicycle generator lamps, and Sanyo was born.
Still long lasting, at least as of the 2000s! We got an LCD TV in 2006 that is still used at least weekly. It may only have one HDMI input but hey, at least it isn't a smart tv ready to become obsolete
When sanyo finally went 'bust' it was bought by Matsushita.
Also sanyo previously bought the Fisher brand and used their name as an upmarket alternative to 'plain old Sanyo' !
I'm sorry, but I never got the idea that Sanyo was inferior to the other well known brands back then. Every Sanyo product we used were well designed and well made.
It seems like the engineers/designers at Japanese electronics companies of this period had a lot of freedom to innovate. So many interesting devices came out - it's like they were throwing everything at the market and seeing what would stick.
Most Japanese tech companies were run by engineers and not by managers or finance people, so that is why this innovation was so abundant during this time.
@@BLY99 Or managers who were enthusiasts. The only reason the Walkman got made was that Sony founder Masaru Ibuka wanted to listen to his choice of music on airliners.
I am from Serbia and we had similar models to this made by Ei-Nis.
Електронска индустрија Ниш (ЕИ Ниш), Electronics Industry Nish, Nish being the town-location of the main factory and office.
I had two, one was almost exactly like this one and another red colored plastic cased that was just a turntable. These were cheap so many people could afford one and was great for mobility or just to save space.
These were often targeted at kids and teens so they could easy assemble and store these away when not used.
I used this to record an audio presentation for school and later for work too. It was sort of like a portable mini 'radio studio' where you could record things on the go with adding sounds or music in the background and use it to playback if needed since they were quite loud, oddly enough considering they were small compared to actual big sound systems.
They lacked bass but some people modified the monitor speaker cases and managed to give it more bass frequencies, a kick if you will. It was great for what it was and I liked it.
It was a useful tool and even as a toy I guess since even kids got a kick out of it, recording their own 'radio gigs' and get inspired by it.
On OP topic too I will just say that back in a day there was room for innovation and improvement. Today we peeked at what can be done with materials we have and it is all made in some place somewhere in China with random brands slapped onto it. Not many things been made outside of this bubble and almost not much even needed.
Also we came to the point where if people want something good, they can actually make it themselves. Might sound impossible to some but once this being a hobby today it became a norm... Especially here in Serbia, if we want something we make it ourselves, rarely I go out of my comfort zone and buy something new anymore unless it's a part from China that I need for my project :D
@@MrDuncl That is exactly my point, Ibuka was an engineer and Sony was until recently always run by engineers who worked their way up from the bottom through Sony.
@@MrDuncl
Morita saw a teenager listening to music on headphones via a portable stereo. That was the inspiration for the Walkman.
Marvellous video as per usual although I would make the observation that it’s not just tech hidden in a case that’s appealing to mine and Matt’s generation: it’s tech that’s hidden in *ANYTHING* that seamlessly gets revealed that I find compelling. Drawers, desks, etc, they all become inviting pieces of design when one conceals tech within them!
Thank once again Matt. Sanyo is one of my favourite companies - we had a Sanyo ‘tower’ system in the Wooden cabinet and it was bulletbroof - I was using the amp component with a separate CD player as late as 2008 (it was bought from Agrii electrics, Birkenhead in 1984. 😎
Yes, motorised doors, cabinets that flipped over, buttons under desks that when pressed opened panels on the wall with stuff behind - pretty much all my 70s TV was just watching people press buttons or opening cases to reveal gadgets containing more flashing multicoloured buttons.
Things that are other things are my favorite types of things! My kitchen is full of cooking implements that look like animals, cactus, etc.
@@Techmoan if you like lots of flashing multicolor square buttons with dials and levers and little screens in awesome looking desks you should have a look at videomixers they used for tv broadcasts. The thing a director would sit at i think behind loads of little screens with camera feeds. From the 70s or so onward.
That's secret lair spaceship launching buttons heaven lol.
Having that rise out of a cabinet just before you destroy the world while laughing uncontrolably has to be a puppet sketch!
Make it happen please.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 this👆! Would love to see the puppets go full megalomania and act out this scenario!!
Just as an addendum to this note: one of my favourite series is Columbo. The episodes from the 70s often featured high end houses with high end tech in them, indeed, often HIFIs or photographic devices- a good mini series would be “the tech of Colombo”, featuring the various devices found in specific episodes. Oftentimes the villains would be tech wizards and would use some element of their skills with tech to try and pull off the “perfect crime”. Of course Lt C would foil their dastardly plans with a flourish!
My Dad has this! and I've listened to it all my childhood. We call it the three-in-one in our house for the record player, tape recorder and the radio that it has. And the great thing, it still works after all those years of service! Wow, so good to see this!
I was not expecting School Drugs to crop up in a Techmoan video. Lovely stuff!
Right! I know from Bandcamp. Another wide-ranging interest x-over.
I like that it takes batteries. One thing I wish the Sony reel to reel cases had. Also a lot smaller than the Sony reel to reel cases. I look forward to more!
The batteries were both a feature and a bug. BITD they were not exactly long lasting. 6 were pricey, AKA expensive especially as a regular power source. The other aspect was the extra weight. A power cord was much lighter and regardless of where to put it (I would have stuffed it in the battery compartment) was the better option most of the time due to the consistency of power draw. Batteries were not renowned back then for their reliability. Some would last up to 2 days. IIRC alkaline were either just appearing or about to to and were the New More Expensive option That Really Lasts and Lasts(TM).
Yeah batteries are great. You can literally lug this to a picnic in a park somewhere, setup your stereo speakers and listen to records instead of the birds, and generally be a nuisance to everyone around you.
I'm more impressed that it ONLY takes 6 D cells ;) I recall having a boombox style radio cassette that took I think 12? D cells...
Have you seen how much current a proper reel to reel uses? The batteries would wiegh a ton and be flat in about 30 seconds. 🤣
The speaker connections via hinges wasn't exclusive to Sony or unknown to Sanyo in the early 1970s. In 1972, my parents bought a Sanyo stereo radio cassette recorder. The main part looks just like a typical mono radio cassette unit, and the right speaker is either attached by hinges (both mechanically and electrically), or can be placed further away and connected via a cable. BTW, we still have it, and many original recordings made with it, including conversations between my dad an I when I was about a month or two old in 1974.😊
I still have a Sanyo speaker from the 70's that has the hinges connected. I use it for testing audio devices, but not for a long time.
I did enjoy the sign off pun at the end. And it's also interesting to see such "ordinary" bits of gear from back in the day rather than high end stuff. Hope this becomes a regular feature on the channel!
I love the design that went into audio products of the 1970's. Even when they no longer work, they're wonderful to look at. I miss shortwave soooo much.
Shortwave is still quite busy, but typically best after dark when the signals are more likely bounce off the ionosphere instead of being absorbed by it. I'm always amazed at how far away those signals reach me on my radio even with its dinky little antenna, though I can't get much while indoors. Too much electronic crap in our homes these days day that throw off noise. A lot of them are on single sideband, which I doubt that radio does, so there is that too. But there is still a lot of standard AM shortwave stations out there.
I really like that setup. I actually have never seen one of those before, but it really is a fantastic rig.
Thank you for the excellent background info. I always wondered why I could get better BBC world service reception after the sun had gone down!
It is low-end only compared to the systems from the same era. In comparison with todays junk it's mostly high-end. Great video as always.
So True!
Anything built into a briefcase like this just ups its cool factor tenfold. Looking forward to seeing what else comes of this series in the future, and thanks for showing this device off!
Love it. I agree that tech in a case instantly gets cool points. Thanks!
"Case closed..." 😄👍
Well in that case
Very nice. I loved things in suitcases 😊 a cousin had a SHARP mini computer (calculator) with a cassette recorder and a mini thermal printer… it was very sleek and impressive.
This was the ONE piece of technology I wanted so badly as a kid. Around 1973 I visited Harrods with my mum and they had one sat on a glittery altar lit with spotlights. Also in the HiFi department was a Roberts radio covered in real fur! Not very PC in 2023 but back then a lot of Harrods customers swanned around covered in dead animals.
There’s probably quite a few customers in Harrods who *STILL* like to swan around in real fur!!
Ohh my goodness! I had forgotten all about owning one of these in the 70s & early 80s until I stumbled onto this vod! Thank you so much for reminding me of happy simpler times!
My grandfather was one of the top mechanical engineers for Westinghouse, they sent him all over the world. Yugoslavia, Spain, Philippines, India, and Saudi Arabia to name a few. During one of those trips to Europe in the 70's he bought a Sanyo G2620 suitcase stereo. It had a turntable, cassette player/recorder, AM/FM Stereo, SW tuner, including speakers that folded on to the case. When they brought it back to the U.S. I had an opportunity to play around with it in the early 80's (about 80-81) when I was 10 years old and was fascinated with the SW band especially (because of this I have too many SW receivers to count! Emoji), but the tone arm had already been broken off and I don't remember if the cassette even worked anymore, didn't matter all I wanted to do was listen to SW. I have fond memories of this stereo, but unfortunately it has disappeared in the nearly 40 years since.
Love the new "format" .. do more like this... we know you love it !
"This case is now closed." The perfect sign-off for this series. Thanks Matt.
Brilliant! My sister had one new, it was in the boot of her Triumph Spitfire when involved in an accident on her way to college and one of the speakers was badly damaged. As a pre teen ,into such exiting devices as music machines, I wrote to Sanyo who were able to supply a new plastic case for me to transfer over the internals and all was good. The car was less fortunate
The proprietary power connector pinout is something I've run into over the years. Before things got (mostly) standardized on ones like the IEC connectors, there were so many variations. I'd seen where Belden would actually sell a grey rounded three-pin connector cord that was reversed polarity, just because one or two manufacturers had decided to wire up their equipment different from the majority.
It's similar to the ridiculous variation of connectors used for cell phones and things like laptop computer chargers, or DC power supplies where you never known the polarity of the coaxial ("barrel") plug.
You have left out the modern variations in Electric Vehicle recharging plugs. I had an external car charging point installed at my house and got a Nissan Leaf electric car. I got home to find that the car charging plug at the house had a plug that didn't fit the car. On investigation I found that I had a VW charging plug on the house charger and it was incompatible with the Nissan car socket. It is as if you get a petrol car which will only take the petrol pump nozzle at a Shell station and you can't fill up at Esso. The other daft thing is that the house external charger only runs from a B16 (16 Amp) breaker in your fuse box, so you can't take more electricity from it than you can from a regular 13 Amp socket inside the house.
As an aside, after 2 years and 8000 miles the Nissan Leaf needed a new £5000 battery. It wasn't covered under the 5 year warranty because I had plugged it in to recharge it when it was already 80% charged. This invalidates the warranty - but they don't tell you that when you buy it. Never again.
@@gasgas2689 Oh that's interesting that the on-board computer was able to keep track of your charging events, but unable to automatically block needless recharging until the voltage drops below a certain point. Sorry you had to suffer through this and Thanks for the warning.!!!
@@gasgas2689 I feel like if combustion powered cars had been invented in our current business climate, there would be exclusive gas deals between automakers and station operators and you would need a special nozzle or an expensive nozzle adapter.
@@gasgas2689 yeah ChaDeMo and the Leaf’s battery management sucks. Everything else uses the other connector though, so it’s not just VW.
And everything else uses liquid cooled batteries which, not only don’t die just from filling them up, but can also just be set to maintain a certain percentage most of the time and they in fact recommended you do so. Which means you can plug it in whenever you like and the car will choose if it needs to charge.
The Leaf was just sadly the worst choice you could’ve made, versus an eGolf or something with a similar range which would’ve worked much better all round. There needs to be better awareness about this, though, and imo all the older Leafs should just be taken apart again to use the batteries for stationary installations.
@Gas Gas I left out a lot of other examples, probably too numerous to mention!
As for the EV charging issues you described, it makes no sense but it's partly due to the industry setting its own standards, by attrition, like USB-C charging finally gradually becoming a more "standard" standard.
Your battery replacement cost? 🙄🤦♂️
Looking forward to the rest of these Mat, I think it's going to be a good series. I like the "case closed" line at the end!
Yes, continue the series. This item reminds me of a record player/cassette recorder combo my mother had. She use that Bell & Howell unit to record records she got from the library. Much nicer than being yelled at to be quiet while she recorded with the portable microphone pushed against the family stereo system. Thank you for your contact, you are appreciated.
first hand me down phono i got from my gramps. i loved it to bits. thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Enjoyable video. At 7:15 you comment that not having the speaker wires able to stay attached to the stereo so you could play it immediately on opening the case. Of course, that's a valid point, but I remember back when these things came out. We didn't mind the process of having to set up the stereo. It added to the 'secret agent' feel. I never owned this, but I imagine I would have loved opening the case, detaching the speakers, etc., all the while humming the theme to James Bond. "Dum, dum-dum-dum dum, dum dum dum..."
Yeah, the secret assembly instructions.
Until the mid 1970s it was also thought there was no point in having a stereo system unless the speakers were widely separated. That was why more normal radio cassette recorders stayed mono.
Motorola, Zenith, RCA and Magnavox used the hinges to connect the speakers in their fold-out record players since the late 1950’s and all throughout the 60’s. You could also use the cord to separate them.
I may be 46 but apparently I am a child because I don’t care that this isn’t a high end unit. I just think that it’s pretty freaking cool and I love this new series! Can’t wait for the next one!
Wow blast from the past, I had one of these in 1974 when I was in the Royal Navy doing my electrical training at HMS Collingwood in Fareham Hants. It was ideal to let me listen to and when I had finished I could pack it up and lock it away in my locker. I remember listening to David Bowie Alladin Sane and loving my first listen to true stereo seperation.
I am genuinely low key excited for rest of this mini series because while low end, this was still neatly packaged into the case form and now I am waiting to see what will 1-up this next time on tech moan cazezee.
Not even low-key for me, I can’t flippin’ wait, this is _exactly_ the kind of stuff I crave from Mat
You might try listening for shortwave or AM stations at night. Due to the various properties of the atmosphere the signals often come in a lot stronger.
They do indeed, I'm on the north coast of Spain and managed to listen to Arsenal v Sporting Lisbon on BBC 5-Live on MW - it's one way to get round their online geo-block!
Would have never imagined Techmoan would turn me on to a punk band yet here we are 🤷♂️
Interesting things in cases...LOL. I love the British dry sense of humor.
On the UK Top Gear series, they'd start the open of the show with something like, "Tonight, James buckles a seatbelt."
Thanks for another great video. That is a really neat system. Just finding a good radio tuner these days is difficult.
I hope to see some reel to reel recorders in this series. Many of those were "portable" too.
As in 'luggable'.
Only some capstan drive recorders are worth talking about. He already has some videos made on this channel. many are rim drive, too basic and used for dictation purposes.
Hope this is a long series, and that we get shots of all of the different briefcases lined up one by one on a shelf!
I miss industrial design from the late 70s early 80s. You can see so much effort and expertise. This was someone's masterpiece.
Imagine utilizing today's speaker acoustic technology to design those speakers.
Videos like this about kinda odd retrotech are definitely my favourite, even if it used to be common. It's just something I'd never see today but which definitely has a certain style to it.
I'm only 0:54 into the video, and I'm already seeing something interesting. Living in the USA I've always liked seeing receivers with Shortwave bands (SW) on them, and seeing what we call the "AM" band referred to as MW, or Medium Wave. It's something different.
Another example is my Grundig G2 Reporter, which allows selecting different FM band frequency ranges to support different regions of the world.
Enough tidbits and anecdotes, I need to get back to the video!
There were some comedy sketches at the time of FM being new, and cheaper receivers doing only FM and AM/MW, with people thinking AM meant radio for the morning because they were unfamiliar with needing to select a modulation type at all.
My first Walkman type of cassette recorder/player was a Sanyo. It also had a good FM radio built in. It worked very well, lasted a long time on 2 AA Batteries. I still have it & it works.
Best way to open the weekend is with a new techmoan video
I’ve watched and learned from your channel for a good few years now, Matt. I’ve seen stuff I’ve never seen before, I’ve seen stuff I remember , but couldn’t afford. Then I finally see something we actually had! When we got married, my wife had one of there’s and a little b&w Sony tv, quite a modern space age shape, but that was it for audio visual. It would have played our Genesis, ELTON JOHN, Moody Blues , Black Sabbath etc that we had in our combined record collection. Then as the mortgage got more manageable, we bought a trio based hifi with SOLAVOX speakers- this was 1978. Sadly, I think the Sanyo was boot faired for about £5…..
It must have been brilliant listening to all those great artists that you mentioned as they were putting out those amazing albums! And I guess that's the real historical value of lower end kit, people could afford it, so they could then buy Sabbath Bloody Sabbath or A Trick of the Tail en masse and play 'em - ordinary folk with regular kit put these artists on the map, not the audiophiles!
Be great for youngsters who are interested in collecting vinyl.
Mat, your reviews of other cassette decks and record players go into so much detail. I realise this is about ITIC, but a detailed review of these would be amazing. I think the community would glady accecpt a follow up video on wow and flutter, stylus weight, battery life, and speed accuracy. All this said with the kindest compliments to everything you do.
Yes, I agree with your view.
He's explained in the past that there's no point in doing wow & flutter and speed accuracy tests on old equipment, because the age of the machine is a confounding variable: with 50 year old equipment, the performance is just going to come down to how much wear and tear that individual piece has has accumulated. It doesn't really give any useful information. He does those kinds of tests with *new* equipment so people get an idea of whether it's worth buying for themselves, and what kind of performance they can expect if they do.
Good point.
In the 80's my Dad worked as an insurance salesman. He was issued with a brief case that when opened, a projector screen un rolled and a small projector behind it played a promotional film to show prospective clients. I wonder if you have come across these devices? As always, thanks for the years of great content. You have even saved me wasting money buy helping me make an informed choice on some devices. Keep them coming Sir!
The idea to route power through the hinges is older than this device for sure. My 1963 GE T-1000D does exactly that - no wires until you remove the "wing speakers" from the hinges to extend them for a broader stereo sound field. When attached to the main unit, no wires are needed, which just looks so clean. Nice job there General Electric!
If you don't mind altering the device, you could always affix a modern AC cord adapter. Or if not, you could attach a DC power supply to the battery terminals.
Great video and I'm looking forward to future ITIC videos!
It should not be too difficult to fashion a replacement plug if you're handy with a soldering gun, epoxy etc. Then you would not have to molest the player.
It may be kind of junky, but cheap "does what it sets out to do adequately enough" stuff from the 70s is much better than the same products of the 2020s. Just think how much cooler those crap Crosley briefcase players would be if they had all of this extra stuff on them as well (not that they would do any of it particularly well except for the FM tuner lol).
In todays money it cost about £900 (according to the Bank of England inflation calculator). You would expect a well made product for that. In the opposite direction for the price of a Crosley you would have been lucky to get a pocket MW only radio back in 1973.
I bought one of these in Jersey CI in 1978 , mine was slightly different to yours, mine had a little adapter which you plugged in and it allowed the fm tuner to become a stereo receiver and played the stereo through the Headphones. Looking back at it, it was a very basic unit but as I traveled from Jersey to Isle of Man quite often it allowed me to take it with me on the flights without any effort. Love you channel and always look forward to more. I also had a very unusual unit which used to allow me to listen to Airband through my radio. It had to sit next to my normal am radio. John
Very nice! I’m sure 1970s low end components are still miles ahead of the garbage being put out of a certain country today. The fact that the unit still functions is a testament to this.
Most definitely!
This title reminds me a little bit of the 'Weird Stuff In A Can' series by Atomic Shrimp
ITIC, sounds like a series I will enjoy! Can't wait!
Enjoyed this! no tear down or belt replacements, just a no frills review, great stuff
Next up: H&K MP5K briefcase.
Not using the hinges as speaker connections is a bit of a bummer - I have an old tube-powered portable record player from the 60s that uses its hinges in this way, so it wasn't a new idea when the Sanyo came out.
Thanks for the awesome retro-tech video! I still remember Sanyo commercials in the USA, a singing blond haired woman in an elegant white long dress singing "That's life, San-Yoooo". I doubt anyone posted that but I think I'll look.
Kid of the 80s here, I can confirm that briefcase tech is still cool in my book!
Justincase
I had just thought of that as a suitable series title, before opening the comments. What do they about great minds...
'The Case Files' was another potential option...but I went for a more 'Comedians in cars getting coffee', 'Snakes on a plane' type of thing, so you know exactly what you're getting.
@@TechmoanSnakes in a case would result in a very short video.
That Star Trek clip hit me right in the nostalgia ❤. Looking forward to more Interesting Things in Cases.
Lots of things can show up in briefcase form! My first typewriter is a personal example. Looking forward to the series!
This is going to be a popular series :)
I'm always amazed at how well my Yamaha CR-2020 brings in FM stations compared to the modern Onkyo AVR sitting right next to it. Goes to show how important FM was back in the 70's and 80's for music listening.
FM was superior in terms of quality but was short range. Night and day when listening to music.
I had one of these in the early 70s. It went to and from boarding school with me for years and never missed a beat. It was a great device for the time. I wish I still had it for nostalgia sake.
The power plug is a typical "pins on pcb" type common in the 70's. when looking for a replacement keep 3 things in mind: Pid diameter, pin spacing and plug shape. (Often the plug can be shaved to fit). Plug polarity wasn't a thing in the 70's. Old TV's, radios, and coffee makers had these kind of plugs
thanks for posting this , my dad had one. he bought it back from japan it was the G2195NK/H with the 8 track. i got it given to me after my dad bought a new hifi , i used it well in the 1980's . which i still had it.
Pwoper mug's eyeful in that case. Definitely a quote I won't forget in a hurry. 😂
Great idea for a series, also perfect format, not to short and not to long. Cheers from Sweden! 🇸🇪
It indeed looks like something from the older Bond movies, I love it, thank you for showing it.
That been an awesome breifing of a breifcase by Agent Techmoan. Love that!
Those microphones bring back childhood memories. Great video quality piece of kit
Okay, this is the coolest old tech you’ve reviewed.
I was an 80s kid and I very much appreciate tech hidden in briefcases too. :) It wasn't just James Bond. All the other 60s and 70s spy shows were still around, such as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Oh, interesting: Wikipedia lists _U.N.C.L.E._ as the first, with "nearly a dozen imitators" by 1966. Any show with one-off or top secret tech might also hide it in a briefcase -- I think there was a briefcase remote control for KITT in Knight Rider. And we can't forget Thunderbirds with the mansion's tech hidden away until the right button was pressed. I've always wanted a house like that. ;)
I keep thinking you're going to run out of cool old tech I haven't seen, yet here we are with a briefcase series
Thx for this pleasant review of yester years audio tech; gave me a nice warm feeling 😊
Great job! Looking forward to seeing the other case items.
THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO SEE INTERESTING DEVICES IN CASES, I LIKE IT
Wow. This was my first stereo!!! Bought duty free on a family holiday to Fiji in 1976 when I was 15. Stereo gear was crazy expensive in New Zealand back in the 1970s. Thanks heaps for this. 😊
I enjoy seeing the lower end stuff most of us had back in the day. All you see on youtube is the high end audiophile stuff we all drooled over but could never touch when new. I know most low end stuff hit the garbage bin decades ago, which is why it is even more cool to see it today. I had a Realistic Clarinette 102 in my tween years, it was what I could afford, and it introduced me to a life-long love of music. It was decent for cheap crap and I kind of miss it.
Absolutely a great theme to continue. Go for it.
We need not worry, Techmoan Mat is on the case!
Great first episode for a series that sounds like a fantastic idea - I can't wait for the next one!!
This is the coolest looking thing you have reviewed so far. Amazing
Love the 60's/70's TV spy show intro!
Fantastic first episode!!! I can't wait for more ones to come out 😃
Even if it's mostly low end I love it, strong early James Bond vibes 😊. This kind of gadgets were very popular in Spain in the late 60's and early 70's, although most of the time they were just a record player with attached speakers and perhaps a tuner, no cassette, mic input, etc.
The upper cover doubling as a speaker completely blew my mind. What a concept!
Really liking the series concept.
Perfect for my early 1970s podcast about The Beatles and why I’ll never stop talking about them! 😂
Never I’d see one of these again. As a child this was our home stereo. What a blast from the past.
I’m amazed you found one it such good condition.
Thanks for posting our record!
I saw the picture for this video and recognised the case. I had one of these for years as a kid, My dad brought it back from Saudi Arabia (easy to carry back on the plane in those days, Might be a bit more difficult today. We had this in the lounge until a separates system took its place and it migrated to my room. Your right about them being constantly set up, I even mounted the speakers on wall my with homemade brackets and made a clear perspex cover at school for the main part to keep the dust off (propped up to play LP's). Happy days.😊
I absolutely love this series idea.
I am from Serbia and we had similar models to this made by Ei-Nis.
Електронска индустрија Ниш (ЕИ Ниш), Electronics Industry Nish, Nish being the town-location of the main factory and office.
I had two, one was almost exactly like this one and another red colored plastic cased that was just a turntable. These were cheap so many people could afford one and was great for mobility or just to save space.
These were often targeted at kids and teens so they could easy assemble and store these away when not used.
I used this to record an audio presentation for school and later for work too. It was sort of like a portable mini 'radio studio' where you could record things on the go with adding sounds or music in the background and use it to playback if needed since they were quite loud, oddly enough considering they were small compared to actual big sound systems.
They lacked bass but some people modified the monitor speaker cases and managed to give it more bass frequencies, a kick if you will. It was great for what it was and I liked it.
It was a useful tool and even as a toy I guess since even kids got a kick out of it, recording their own 'radio gigs' and get inspired by it.
That's one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time.