Thrift Store Stereo: Philips AZ4000 MP3-CD Sound Machine Boom Box

I just hooked up our latest thrift store find. It's a Philips AZ4000 Sound Machine.  It's an interesting boom box from the 2001-2002 timeframe.  My wife was drawn to it and we bought it at a local Goodwill store for only $16.91.

 It has an electronically tuned FM stereo receiver and according to Amazon.com, the product also has the following:

• 20-track CD programming, repeat and shuffle play; firmware upgradeable
• 3-band equalizer and Ultrabass 2 bass boost enhance and customize system sound quality
• 2-way speakers with 4-inch woofers, dome tweeters, and bass-reflex cabinets
• Runs on 6 D batteries (not included) or AC power (cord supplied) 

Of course, this is a vintage boombox from 15 years ago.

Philips AZ4000 Dimensions

The unit itself has low and deep dimensions.  It stands about six-inches tall and is about 12-inches deep.  It's fairly heavy and the few available Amazon reviews characterized it as a bulky for a portable boombox. This unit is cosmetically challenged with some melted spots on the left-hand side of the unit.  (I think a previous owner may have set a hot curling iron or something on top of the little boom box.)

Philips Sound Quality

The sound quality is actually, truly, outstanding.  The unit got 4.5 stars our of 5 from Amazon reviewers back in the day.  It has 4 front-facing speakers and two rear-facing bass ports.  You can adjust the bass and the trouble by hitting the bass/treble button and adjusting the volume knob.  The changes you dial in show on the digital display.  Ultra Bass is activated by pushing the button.

The CD player is a top-loaded unit and should be able to read MP3 files from home made CDs.

The Philips AZ4000 CD Player

The Philips AZ4000 Digital Display

Philips AZ4000 Drawbacks

I found the controls to be intuitive and easy to use.  Apparently, the Philips AZ4000 supports a remote control of some sort.  However, this thrift store unit didn't have a remote.  Fortunately, we don't seem to be missing any of the essential controls.  The worst feature of this unit is the lack of an auxiliary input.  While it does have an earphone jack, this vintage portable stereo precedes the Smartphone era and there is no way to hook up devices to this old school boom box.  That's too bad because the speakers are great.

Philips AZ4000 Headphone Jack

With great quality sound, this $17 thrift store special Philips AZ4000 Sound Machine might be a great affordable alternative to an expensive Bose Wave Radio.  For under $20, you can't go too wrong.

Thrift Store Find: iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo

This little Bookshelf Stereo was made by iLive. They make affordable consumer electronics. Typically, you'll find mini stereos and boomboxes that cost less than $100. In the first store, this little stereo was selling for $30.

iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo

It looks like the stereo real deal with a subwoofer and a pair of 4-ohm speakers. The drawback is that this unit was made for an old school iPod. While that socket might have been convenient at one time, it makes the unit look a bit dated now. More modern devices will have to use a Y-connector cable.

iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo (front)

The speakers on this unit were pristine.  I'm sure that it has lots of life left in it as a bedrooom stereo in the right home.  It's a compact and sleek looking unit.

iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo Speaker (grill removed)

I suspect that strength of this little stereo unit lies around the back.  It does have an auxiliary input (Aux Input) and it also has be inputs and outputs needed to be hooked into a video system.  While this truly isn't an audiophile system by any stretch of the imagination, it just might suffice in the average persons bedroom or office.

iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo (Back)

There are plenty of small, inexpensive, bedroom systems on the market from companies like iLive or GPX.

Of course, many of these little low cost units have their issues. For example while this iLive unit looked good to me, some mini stereos have fake speaker units built in. You'll find that a tweeter or a mid-range driver is actually a non-functional piece of plastic included for "cosmetic" reasons. If you experience that kind of disappointment, a name-brand unit with a great reputation starts to make real sense.  Names like Onkyo, Sony, and Yamaha may be more expensive, but they are also more trusted by consumers.

Sony APM-990 - Vintage Monster Speakers from Sony

Here are some pictures of a huge pair of speakers that I encountered in a thrift store recently. They were Sony APM-990 Speakers. Apparently, these vintage speakers were known for having square woofers.

I haven't found much information online about these monsters. But, according to the label, these vintage floorstanders were 220 Watt speakers designed for 8 ohms of impedance.  One of the thrift store workers hooked them up to whatever stereo receiver was available on the shelf and they had enough power to boom big sound throughout a fairly large retail store.

It's amazing that such brawny speakers can be obtained for about $40.  This pair seemed to be pristine.  Even the particle board cabinets didn't have any obvious chips.

The music pumped from these monsters wasn't from a genre I particularly like and the volume was cranked way to high.  I can't really say I got a good feel for the sound quality of the Sony APM-990 speaker system.  Does an Accurate Pistonic Motion create better sound?  I'll never know and our new apartment doesn't offer the space to find out.  (Plus, our new downstairs neighbor seems nice!)

Are these the greatest speakers of the 1980s?  Probably not.  Of course, the audiophiles over on Audiokarma.org seem to think they are crap.  But, with $40 and an old Van Halen CD, you probably can't go wrong.