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.

Philips AZ4000 Sound Machine

 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 AZ4000 Sound Machine (top view)

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.

A Modern Philips Boombox

You can still get Philips Boomboxes today in 2025. This one has an FM Radio, Bluetooth, and CD Player that can also handle MP3s on CD-R and CD-RW CDs.  You can find this nice little Philips boombox (below) on Amazon.

A modern Philips Boombox

Big Ass Fisher DS-151 Speakers from the Thrift Store

Big ass speakers are one fun thing about shopping for home audio gear at the thrift store.   You can find some really big speakers that are wildly impractical by today's standards.  

Fisher DS-151 Speakers

For example, last week I saw these Fisher DS-151 speakers at Goodwill.  The cabinets were quite large.  Notice the TV and mini-stereo speakers in the picture above.  The speakers appeared to be in good shape.  However, they weren't as powerful as their size might indicate.  They are three way 50 watt speakers with 8 ohms of impedance.

Some Fisher speakers are reputed to sound really good--especially with classical music.  But, since these are really old speakers, I'll bet they will need to be restored.  For example, they may need to be refoamed.  But, they both looked pretty good.  SOmeone will find a treasure!

Fisher DS-151 Speakers Uncovered

Goodwill Stereo Finds Go Fast: A Quick Dance with a Marantz

On Tuesday last week, I visited a brand new Goodwill on my lunch hour.  They had hust celebrated their grand opening.  The stereo section was chock full of interesting finds.

The coolest was a Marantz SR7000 AV Surround Receiver for $89.  I took a quick look at it.  If someone was willing to take a gamble, they might have found themselves a great deal.  The Marantz SR7000 is a 5.1-channel system putting out 100 watts per channel.  If you are the person who took a chance and bought the Marantz, here is the user manual for a Marantz SR7000.    For my low budget, I think $40 is about the most I will pay for a receiver.  In fact, I'd rather pay $30 or less.  I've just had too much bad luck with partially functioning gear.

Marantz SR7000 AV Surround Receiver

The Goodwill also had a cute pair of Advent bookshelf speakers for $25. However, I didn't have any extra cash.  (There is a reason that this is the "Dirt Cheap Audio Blog.")  I think if I was going to go for some bookshelf speakers I might try these instead:

When I popped back in on Thursday, the little Advent speakers were gone and someone was really looking closely at the Marantz receiver.  When it comes to Goodwill finds, if you snooze you lose.