New improved AudioCrazy STEREO cassette boombox!

These cheap little cassette boomboxes have had very poor sound quality and cassette playback performance, until now! AudioCrazy upgraded their version (the AC-RC89BT) with stereo audio and a higher-quality cassette tape mechanism and motor, and the improvement is significant. It's now a viable option for people who want a simple, inexpensive way to play cassettes with good audio quality (at least when using headphones or external speakers).

Time flow:
0:00 Riptunes model overview
1:49 New AudioCrazy model overview
3:47 Radio tuner
5:13 Bluetooth, USB & SD card
6:39 Cassette tape
7:28 Slugbug - "Computers Again"
8:49 Speed and wow & flutter test
10:10 Cassette recording test
11:56 Cassette mechanisms
13:52 Speakers
14:34 Conclusion

#cassette #tape #boombox

[TheOriginalCollectorA]

This is actually pretty cool! Nice to see that they went from a mono-only deck with questionable components to something that actually sounds quite good! For a started deck, if it was still like the older model, then someone might just think that they all sound bad. However, now that they can playback in stereo, alongside with the decent wow and flutter, this is nice to see! You can't expect too much out of something like this, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

[MassimoTava]

I can only imagine the joy of the person or team responsible for this product watching your video, even with the few criticisms.

[DjDestinyChicago]

I love seeing cassettes making a comeback, even if it’s a small comeback.

[BubbaBigDude]

I'm glad to see actual STEREO units being made again, now if they would give it better bass speakers and fix the recording level it would be great.

[Markimark]

Even though I don’t recommend these cheap brand boomboxes, I’m glad they’re finally making something good enough for decent cassette playback! Especially we want to be able to buy brand new boomboxes that actually work!

[hughjanus]

I never thought I'd see the day... Whoever this CSG company is must be breathing a sigh of relief that sticking with these mechs is finally paying off.

[chrisnunya]

I'm so glad things are starting to improve in the world of cassettes! And I'd be happy to see your review on that mono deck! 👍🏻

[zarathustra]

All LPs produced since 1979 (at least in the UK) have been mastered from a digital source - a digital "cutting delay" was inserted into the mastering chain at this time.

[RoadTripAu]

I found a Brooklyn branded unit at a company called Supercheap Autos here in Australia. It was essentially the same model as the second Aldi unit critiqued by Techmoan a year or two back.
While it is still a mono unit I found it wasn't completely terrible, and had no problems with wow and flutter, in fact I found it was very good. I checked the speed with a frequency counter and it was within what I considered to be acceptable range, although I don't have a calibrated tape. Recording was OK but being mono it was nothing to shout about, but for AUD49.00 I have no complaints with it.

Perhaps some of the manufacturers are listening to youtubers like Techmoan and VWestlife and making these improvements.

[TechBaffle]

I quite like the design of it - combines retro styling with a modern colour scheme. If they did it in black with either teal or red accents that would be cool. Nice that it plays tapes in stereo. In Aldi, they started selling the 'Techmoan' version for Father's Day. This model looks like it would be kinder to your dad's cassettes! I wonder whether you can upgrade the speakers (even at only 3W there's some pretty good options). Perhaps the circuit board restricts how deep the speakers can be.

[batterieman]

4:57 Billy Joels "Only the good die young" blending into Gerry Raffertys "Right down the line", can't get any better than that!

[jerryspann]

Another thought just crossed my mind. Today JBL manufactures some decent sounding Bluetooth speakers with plenty of bass. Other companies make decent digital tune radios and compact disc players. With this cassette mech, now it is possible to combine some of the better equipment together into one decent boombox that people like you and Techmoan would not be disappointed with.

[Sierra]

Very nice to see a big improvement in the cassette mechanism. I’d like to see the other one reviewed too please.

[MagnumXL]

This is exciting! I'm really happy to hear that these manufacturers are paying attention to feedback. For $45, it's quite impressive. If only they could increase the recording level a bit....

[UltraNuggz]

Thanks for the in-depth review... Regarding the speaker magnet aspect, they are actually an upgrade, moving from weak/large/heavy ferrite magnet to neodymium which applies a higher magnetic field to voicecoil at a much smaller advantage. With the speakers in an open cabinet like that with massive air leaks, the drivers front and rear waves cancel... Providing a 'bass' knob is futile. Huge thanks again for your efforts.

[rc]

You always show/demonstrate some very interesting electronic equipment! Connecting that boombox to some powered/active speakers could've giving you a better sound experience, would've been nice if you did that. Keep up the "fun" video's!

[VintageElectronicsChannel]

That's pretty impressive for such a cheap and nasty boombox. The wow and flutter really surprised me. I didn't even catch the similarity between the boombox featured on Techmoan with the Riptunes until I watched your video. Nice video!

[tvfromvcr]

I quite like the "piano-white" finish 😉 What a shame the speakers are below average. It otherwise seems like a decent modern-day cassette player (for the price)!

[thetechgenie]

Glad they are improved which means they listen to feedback.

Now hopefully they make a AC biased version of it.

[JEEPSTR]

Glad to see improvements. Would be awesome to see a pitch control dial added.