SEARS SR-2100 VINTAGE GHETTO BLASTER


This is not a true evaluation, plus the product was not intended to produce light, so my standard review format will not be used here.
This web page was opened on 04-06-08, and was last updated 05-14-08.



Although this is not an LED product, I've published reviews & informational web pages for other non-LED, non-laser, and non-light products on this website. So adding a section to this website about vintage ghetto blasters was pretty much inevitable. However I did perform a spectrographic analysis of one of the LEDs from its tuning/VU meter, so this is at least slightly germane to the general theme of this website.

*** VERY IMPORTANT!!! ***
These web pages are about machines I actually *HAVE* at this very moment (early-April 2008), not machines I once had but no longer do (those which were broken, sold, or lost over the years; like my beloved Sharp GF-4545 - R.I.P. (Rest In Pieces), a large Lasonic, a Marantz Gold Series, a Sony or two, a GE or two, and several other JVC models).

I'm not certain exactly where or when I obtained this particular jam box, nor is there a date of manufacturer (or even a year of manufacture) anywhere on it that I can find. I interfaced it with my desktop pee-cee for audio output (using the Line in receptacles for audio input); the sound produced was of significantly higher quality than the sound produced by my computer speakers in the mid- to late-1990s.

Just because it was sold by Sears does not mean that this wasn't a nice ghetto blaster - quite the contrary actually.
It has soft-touch buttons to operate its cassette transport, and has a "loudness" switch that boosts bass response.

Unlike most other ghetto blasters, the speaker output receptacles are female RCA jacks, not female 1/4" phone jacks.

The Sears SR-2100 boasted some features rivalling expensive home stereos at the time...let's do a little recap from memory (and by looking at the unit itself) here:
I also own the following JVC (and one Aiwa and one Panasonic) ghetto blasters; they may or may not be added to this website in the future: The RC-550 from 1982 is a large monaural machine boasting a 3-way speaker system with a 10" woofer.
The RC-656 from ~1983 is a rather plain, midsized ghetto blaster ("plain", as boomboxes from this time period go)
The RC-838 is a large machine from 1978; it boasts the "biphonic system" which has binaural ("stereo wide") sound.
The RC-M70 was the largest and most powerful machine sold in 1982.
The RC-M80 is a large machine from 1982; it's selling points are a soft-touch cassette transport and a digital tuner.
The Aiwa CS600 has a very nice sound; it has a bass boost circuit like many of the JVC units above.
The Sears SR-2100 is a mid-sized machine with rather nice sound and a bass boost circuit.



How this machine would often be carried.
This photograph was taken on the afternoon of 04-03-08.



The front of the machine.
Look at those buttons, lever switches, and rotary pots (knobs)!!!
Note that one of the switches is broken and one of the knobs is missing.
The unit still functions properly despite these faults.



The machine's back, showing the I/O receptacles.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of one of the red LEDs in its tuning/VU meter.
Plot is so low because the rectangular LEDs are already diffused and
the LEDs themselves are inset ~0.8" behind the tuning dial window.



Here's a closing shot of this ghetto blaster. :-)


UPDATE: 05-14-08
I'll be moving again sometime in June 2008, and the new place will have no storage.
Rather than letting this wonderful pre-loved machine end up in the dustbin (garbage can), I made a post on the Stereo2Go fora, offering it free for pickup along with most other ghetto blasters on this website. Therefore, that dreadful "" icon will now appear next to its listings on this website.


An excellent place to go find out & learn about vintage ghetto blasters is the Boombox Museum.









Do you manufacture or sell an LED flashlight, task light, utility light, or module of some kind? Want to see it tested by a real person, under real working conditions? Do you then want to see how your light did? If you have a sample available for this type of real-world, real-time testing, please contact me at ledmuseum@gmail.com.

Please visit this web page for contact information.

Unsolicited flashlights appearing in the mail are welcome, and it will automatically be assumed that you sent it in order to have it tested and evaluated for this site.
Be sure to include contact info or your company website's URL so visitors here will know where to purchase your product.


WHITE 5500-6500K InGaN+phosphor 
ULTRAVIOLET 370-390nm GaN 
BLUE 430nm GaN+SiC
BLUE 450 and 473nm InGaN
BLUE Silicon Carbide
TURQUOISE 495-505nm InGaN
GREEN 525nm InGaN 
YELLOW-GREEN 555-575mn GaAsP & related
YELLOW 585-595nm
AMBER 595-605nm
ORANGE 605-620nm
ORANGISH-RED 620-635nm
RED 640-700nm
INFRARED 700-1300nm
True RGB Full Color LED
Spider (Pirrahna) LEDs
SMD LEDs
True violet (400-418nm) LEDs
Agilent Barracuda & Prometheus LEDs
Oddball & Miscellaneous LEDs
Programmable RGB LED modules / fixtures
Where to buy these LEDs 
Links to other LED-related websites
The World's First Virtual LED Museum
The Punishment Zone - Where Flashlights Go to Die
Legal horse puckey, etc.
RETURN TO OPENING/MAIN PAGE
LEDSaurus (on-site LED Mini Mart)



This page is a frame from a website.
If you arrived on this page through an outside link,you can get the "full meal deal" by clicking here.