Clairtone 7979
A very large and attractive boombox, this Clairtone does not have the glitz and flashy looks of its bigger brother, the 7980 (also known as the Conion C-100). However, what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in sound quality, and it also has higher-end features. Plus, unlike the 7890, the 7979 is more rare, because few of them are known to exist in the USA. In Canada it might be more plentiful since Clairtone was a Canadian brand. Anyway, it was made in Japan and is about the same size as a JVC RC-M90. It measures 651mm wide, 350mm tall, and 148mm deep. It has 20cm (8 inch) woofers and 5cm tweeters. The amplifier consists of a pair of Toshiba TA7222AP chips. Sound is tremendous, as it has plenty of power to back up its large size. It takes ten D-cells plus one AA for the clock.
The instruction manual and schematic can be purchased HERE
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This model has FM station presets. However, unlike modern presets that operate digitally, this one is analog. It has separate tuner circuitry thst forces you to set each preset as if it were a separate band, tuned indepedantly using a small knob located at the top. This same type of system was used in many Grundig models.
The meters are exeptionally attractive, with a yellowish, almost LCD'ish look to them. They can switch from VU function to Battery/Tune function via space-age (for its time) capacitive touch technology. When you touch the tuning knob, the meters switch from the VU function to allow you to fine tune the tuner. As soon as you release the knob, the meters return to VU function. We believe this feature only works when powered by AC, as the earth ground is required for proper operation of the capacitive touch circuitry. This technology, along with the FM presets, is also shared with the Wilco CRS-1047 and the Palladium 494-550, so we believe they were probably made in the same factory.
The deck is a soft touch servo-controlled deck which is a nice upgrade from the more archaic piano or car-stereo style depress keys of the 7980 model. Although it does not have the spinning simulated deck operation LEDs found on the 7980, it does have it's own unique running LED indicators, which instead of spinning in a circle, does the same thing but in linear fashion. In other words, the LEDs flash from left to right during playback, fast left to right during FF, and fast right to left during RW.