Crown CSC-850
The CSC850 was a very popular ghettoblaster from Crown. It was sold in 1981, available in silver or gray. It was very popular in Germany and England. It's got huge metal knobs, big meters, 20cm woofers, and thick chrome rings. Its dimensions are 59x36x16 cm. Crown says its output power is 2 x 3.2 watts minimum, from 100 to 20,000 Hz. Maximum power is approximately 2 x 5 watts, according to the specifications of the amplifier chip (Panasonic AN7145M). It's a great-sounding box, one of my favorites for overall sound quality.. It has nice bass, clear highs, and a warm, detailed sound. The Wide setting is nice too. This is a great box to use indoors. When outdoors however, it will get beaten by a JVC M70.
It is one of the only boomboxes without a handle. Instead, it has U-shaped chrome loops for a shoulder strap. In my opinion this was a bad design decision, because more than half of the Crown 850's I've seen had stress cracks in the plastic under the chrome loops. So I don't recommend carrying this radio with a shoulder strap for long walks, because it places diagonal forces on the loops, which could lead to stress cracks over time. This radio must be protected very well during shipping, to prevent anything from hitting the chrome loops.
Common problems:
- Scratchy controls, especially Function and Stereo Mode.
- Cracked plastic under the chrome shoulder-strap loops.
- Loud static noise when powered on, lasting 20-30 seconds. Maybe bad capacitors?
- Damaged clear-coat on the aluminum top plate. And to remove this plate, you must take apart the entire radio and use a heat gun to loosen the glue under that plate.
Be aware, there are two different versions of this model. One is called the CSC-850F, and the other is called the CSC-850L. I think the "L" means luxury, ha ha. It has more features than the "F". For example, it has real metal knobs. Look at the picture below. The knob on the right has a real metal skin. The knob on the left is a plastic knob from the "F" model.
The metal knobs are so much nicer. They have a texture that makes them easy to grip.
Another difference is that the "L" model has a tape-type switch. See the toggle-switch on the left? The "F" does not have that.
Also, the L model has an AFC button. The F model does not.