Best Beach Boombox - Panasonic RX-C45 vs. RX-C52
Vložit
- čas přidán 5. 08. 2024
- We’re taking two 1980s boom boxes to the beach! A new vacation, but old school cassette technology. These Panasonic boomboxes were both part of the "Platinum Plus Series" offered in the early 1980s. They are nicer than a typical boombox of the era, due to their small size, soft-touch controls, auxiliary inputs, and detachable speakers.
While they might sound louder than an average Bluetooth speaker, a 1980s boom box full of batteries is very heavy! After spending a day at the beach with these two stereo systems, our conclusion is the RX-C45 offers a superior user experience. This is due to its more intuitive arrangement of controls. The RX-C52 uses very small similar sliders for treble, bass, balance, and volume. The RX-C45 has a large volume control that is different from the others. (I'd prefer a volume knob, but of these 2 options the RX-C45 wins). Also, in my opinion the style of the RX-C45 just looks better. It is a slightly taller boom box, the darker gray still looks new after 38 years and doesn't exhibit the faded yellowing effect like I can see in RX-C52.
I don't expect much reliability from a 38-year-old used portable stereo. (Using this as we did would be like someone from the 1980s using 1940s technology....) However, I would recommend the RX-C45 over the RX-C52 due to its potential for greater reliability. From looking at pictures online, I see the 45 uses more internal wired connections than the 52. Also, it uses standard speaker wire instead of plugs (which won't short as easily when flexed).
A couple of interesting things not mentioned in the video were- (1) The erase head on the RX-C45 does not move into place during play mode. I can't see a wire going to it, which might mean it's magnetic. (2) The RX-C52 has a timer rec/play switch just like a component deck, so it can start playing or recording when power is applied. (3) The 52 has Dolby B NR and the 45 does not. (4) The 52 has the smaller-style headphone jack while the 45 has a larger one. (5) Overall the model 52 has a nicer cassette mechanism, but for casual listening at the beach with waves and people in the background I can't hear a difference in audio quality.
0:00 Intro
0:30 A 1980s radio on the beach in 2021
1:20 With great power comes great weight
1:35 Features - Mic Mixing and Repeat
2:18 The RX-C45 is cheaper but better
3:01 It's hot we need some H20 (Hall and Oates)
4:03 They're Def! They're Run DMC!
4:38 Common Features
5:30 The Repair Section
6:40 Short in the connector
7:04 Radio Tuning Indicator
7:50 Conclusion
#Boombox #Destin #1980s
Thanks for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, please feel free to check out other videos on our channel, and subscribe to be notified of future postings. - Věda a technologie
Love seeing these 80's boomboxes. I am 77
and have a collection of older shortwave
receivers, mainly Grundig, modern ones
like Sangean and Tecsun, and older 80's
boomboxes, such Panasonic Platinum ones,
and more modern ones such as the GPO Brooklyn, plus my amateur radio equipment,
being a ham for 60 years now. Ray W2CH.
My wife is KC2NKU, Marylyn.
Thanks for watching! You should share a video of your radio and ham radio collection on CZcams, it's very easy to do....
I had the RX-C45 back in the day, I really enjoyed the performance it offered for it's size, very loud clean sound.... thanks for the video, can't help but smile 😁 thinking about those days.
You're welcome glad you enjoyed the video!
I had the RX-C45, it was awesome! I took it everywhere and to all the parties. It even survived being flung out the back of a pickup when we were driving on the beach in Amelia Island, FL, when a friend thought it would be funny to jump a sand dune with his pickup. I almost flew out the back too, as we had the back Tailgate down and was sitting on it. Thank God my buddy Mike, and the 2 female twins he and I were talking with (wink) were able to hold on to me. 1986, we sat in the back in those days.
Cool story... back in the 80s when it was no problem riding around in the back of a pickup... Thanks for watching and commenting!
Bought my RX-C45 back in 1984. It was expensive, around $150.00. Still works great. Sounds MUCH better than the battery powered blue tooth speakers. One of it's outstanding features is the "line in" inputs, allowing you to plug in a MP3 player. Of course, you either have to deal with 8 (very heavy) D cells or have an electrical plug handy.
Yes, Panasonic made some good sounding radios... And all of the manufacturers who added those line inputs on portable radios had no way of knowing they were "future proofing" their gear for the 21st century. Thanks for watching and commenting on the video!
Thanks and was wondering what these cost new back in 1984. They seem to have been a big seller and many were sold bc I see many of them on CZcams and for sale on eBay. They now actually cost almost the same as when they were new and some asking about $150. with the tape no longer working. Well, that also is bc of the added shipping cost.
Glad these have held up and the one in the video is completely working and I don’t believe it was ever serviced.
Had a C45 in college. Have had two more since. Such a great machine. Still sounds good to me!
glad to see your getting your son involved in these cool retro boomers.. Panasonic made some real winners in the 80's and some in the 90's never owned the C45 or C52.. but did own the C50 and C60.. 2 mighty minis.. and the beast the C100.. you want to talk heavy.. the C100 was rock solid.. but you had to be a weight lifter to carry down the street.. cool vid!
Sanyo also made great sounding boomboxes. I had the tip of the line in 1978 when i was a teen. That machine had shortwave, a dial light and a phono input - phono pre amp and 2 big detachable mics. Someone just listed one and sold in about a week and was first asking $3k bc it’s rare and one of the top vintage boomboxes.
Had the Panasonic RX-C45 when I was a kid. Had some friends with bigger more expensive boxes and speakers, but we all agreed mine sounded better. Don't have the box anymore but still use the speakers. Style and quality - great memory.
Yes, Panasonic did a nice job with the boom boxes I got to use in the 80s. Thanks for watching and commenting!
love how these things look
They just don't make em like that anymore
Used the rxc45 from circa 1985-2000. It served me & my family well. Now I'm trying to find one on ebay. Thanks for the video.
They show up on eBay a lot, but you have to watch for a deal. I got this one from shopgoodwill.com. Thank you for watching!
So cool ❤️
thanks for the protip at 06:42! I just saved an RX C50 by finding one of these connectors that was causing an intermittent volume control issue. separating the boards, spraying the connectors down with deoxit, and reseating everything fixed it!
Great - glad you got it working. Just Googled that, looks like it has some controls on top - it is interesting to see all the different variations of things Panasonic was trying.. Thanks for watching!
@@ACBMemphis i think i have the mini version of this i always took my sony sports boombox no issue if it gets sandy or wet then I have the RXC20 cause it fits in the car easily and has noise reduction to.
I recommend getting their RX-C100 and RX-C60; these boomboxes were like Sony's D6/D5/D3.
C45 does look a lot better
I owned the RX-C52 back in the days. Unfortunately, it broke, and I thought I could fix it. Needless to say, I couldn't, ha ha. I ended up throwing it away. I know. Why not just put it on the basement or have it fixed. Anyhow, I bought it in Germany for 600 Deutsch Mark. That was $1200 Dollars at the time!!! Thanks for posting!
Thanks for watching! The RX-C52 is definitely a little harder to find these days, but they still show up on eBay from time to time.
Sadly many great Japanese vintage audio got tossed out when something went wrong. I remember when my Sony Walkman 2 the button got stuck, I took it into smAony to have it repaired in San Francisco and never went back for and just bought another Walkman. I should have just held in to it bc now even the non working early Sony Walkmans are selling for hundreds of dollars. About 6 years ago, I found a Sony Walkman one that was not working and came with a Sony leather cover in mint condition. I paid $12. and really wanted to hold on to it and eventually put a new belt and have working. But I needed money and put on eBay and in 2 days it sold for about $240. not working. After that, I wish I had a whole warehouse full of them and they were like having gold bars that ppl. we’re dying to get their hands on.
Anyway, imagine all the great audio stuff that ended up in the trash bc no one wanted to get fixed and just rather spend the money on getting something brand new back then.
¡hello!.. ¿were you able to repair the movement of the dial in the rx-c52?, i have the same problem the white plastic has broken.
No unfortunately the remaining piece of the gear was missing. Thanks for watching!
@@ACBMemphis ¡an affectionate greeting!..
Do both of these have a line in? When I was a teen in 1978 I had a Sanyo M9994 that was I believe the top of the line and it had short wave stations and I was able to connect a turntable and it sounded like a high end stereo.
I just back back into collecting boomboxes and stocking with the smaller ones bc of lack of space. I was avoiding these boomboxes that had the detachable speakers bc I always felt they weren’t as well made. But I just listen to a few on CZcams, I was amazed by the sound and these are not as big as I thought they were.
Also, with these vintage boomboxes, I think buying the more simple ones like no auto reverse may to better to hold up and even to fix. I think there is another model that looks more like the RX C45 that I saw on eBay, but I can’t remember the model number, but it’s not the RX C52. I was trying to get the RX C35 and it looked fantastic and had 4 speaker for a smaller boombox, but the one that was priced about $110. sold and the other ones with shipping was going for about $175. and a little too much for me. You can get many non completely working vintage b boomboxes for cheap, but bc I wouldn’t know what I’m doing, I sought I can fix and most likely make it worst bc I won’t know what I’m doing. Lol!
Anyway, thanks for the comparison and looks like many of the C45 were sold and still many around. Wow! You got yours working for $10. and that’s like a cheap burrito.
Yes, both have a line input... Those Panasonic mini boomboxes with detachable speakers can sometimes be had for a lot less than "traditional single box" style and they sound great. Boom box is one of my saved searches on shopgoodwill, and the prices are very high. For example, last week I saw a Lloyds (cheap KMart brand) boom box that had an 8 track and dual cassette. I thought this would make an interesting video, so I bid $30 - and it ended up selling for $121. Unless you have major $$$ to spend, don't even try on the classics - there was a JVC RC-838JW back in February that sold for $427! Thanks for watching and commenting, and good luck on the collection.
El c_45 tenia 10 wats por canal
Please no on sand please respect it
Tenia buen sonido
El c_50 era automatico i se veia mui bien ..nose qe potencia tendria
Tenia buen sonido el c 45