Boombox

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Top: Cassette boombox
Bottom: CD and cassette boombox

A boombox is a

The first boombox was developed by the inventor of the audio compact cassette,

Boomboxes were soon also developed in Japan in the early 1970s and soon became popular there due to their compact size and impressive sound quality.^[5] The Japanese brands rapidly took over a large portion of the European boombox market and were often the first Japanese consumer electronics brands that a European household might purchase. The Japanese innovated by creating different sizes, form factors, and technology, introducing such advances as stereo boomboxes, removable speakers, and built-in CD players.

The boombox became popular in America during the late 1970s, with most then being produced by Panasonic, Sony, General Electric, and Marantz.^[3] It was immediately noticed by the urban adolescent community and soon developed a mass market, especially in large metropolitan centers such as New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.

The earlier models were a hybrid that combined the booming sound of large in-home

The development of audio jacks brought the boombox to the height of its popularity, and as its popularity rose, so did the level of innovation in the features included in the box. Consumers enjoyed the portability and sound quality of boomboxes, but one of the most important features, especially to the youth market, was the bass. The desire for louder and heavier bass led to bigger and heavier boxes.

Regardless of the increasing weight and size, the devices continued to become larger to accommodate the increased bass output; newer boombox models had heavy metal casings to handle the vibrations from the bass.^[3]

Design

A boombox, in its most basic form, is composed of two or more loudspeakers, an

As boomboxes grew in popularity, they also became more complex in design and functionality. By the mid 1980s, many boomboxes included separate high and low frequency speakers and a second tape deck to allow the boombox to record both from the radio and from other pre-recorded cassettes. Equalizers, balance adjusters, Dolby noise reduction, and LED sound gauges were other later additions.^[6]

In the mid 1980s, the boombox began to become a status symbol; the popularity among young urbanites caused increasing demand for extravagant boxes. The growing popularity of the compact disc (CD) in the late 1980s led to the introduction of the CD player in standard boombox design. During the 1990s, boombox manufacturers began designing smaller, more compact boomboxes, which were often made out of plastic instead of metal as their counterparts from the previous decade had been.^[2]

The rectangular, angular, chrome aesthetic of many 1980s models was frequently replaced with black plastic in the 1990s, and modern designs are typically characterized by a rounded, curved appearance instead of sharp angles. However, the designs of the older models are a source of much interest among boombox enthusiasts and collectors, who frequently seek the larger feature-packed models that represented the cutting edge of portable music technology in their day. Today most boomboxes have replaced the cassette player with iPod docks to access MP3 technology, and some even come equipped with integrated or removable satellite radio tuners.^[7]

Boombox designs vary greatly in size. Larger, more powerful units may require 10 or more size-

Audio quality and feature sets vary widely, with high-end models providing features and sound comparable to some home stereo systems. Most models offer volume, tone and balance (left/right) controls.

More sophisticated models may feature dual

Cultural significance

The boombox quickly became associated with urban society, particularly black and Hispanic youth. The wide use of boomboxes in urban communities led to the boombox being coined a "ghetto blaster", a nickname which was soon used as part of a backlash against the boombox and hip hop culture. The character Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's drama film Do the Right Thing (1989) personifies the connotations associated with "ghetto blasters" and is a prominent example of the boombox's use by urban youth in American media.^[8] Cities began banning boomboxes from public places, and they became less acceptable on city streets as time progressed.^[3]

The boombox became intrinsically linked to

Although many boomboxes had dual cassette decks and included dubbing, line, and radio recording capabilities, the rise of recordable CDs, the decline of audio cassette technology, and the popularity of high-density

Most modern boomboxes include a CD player compatible with

Starting in mid-2010, there are new lines of boomboxes that use Bluetooth technology known as Stereo Bluetooth, or A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile). They use the wireless Bluetooth technology to "stream" audio to the boombox from a compatible Bluetooth device, such as a mobile phone or Bluetooth MP3 player. An example of this is the JAMBOX,^[14] which is marketed as a "Smart Speaker" as it can also function as a speakerphone for voice calls in addition to being an audio playback device.

Another modern variant is a DVD player/boombox with a top-loading CD/

• AV receiver
• Portable media player
• Radio receiver
• Shelf stereo
• Vehicle audio

References

Further reading

• CBS Sunday Morning – Boomboxes: A REAL blast from the past
• New York Times Review – The Boombox Project
• Photographer
  ISBN 9781613128107), with a foreword by Spike Lee
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boomboxes.

• Boombox History
• Mentions of the boombox in songs, movies, television, film and print at the Boombox Museum, PocketCalculatorShow.com
• Huck Magazine Boombox Retrospective