Philips D8714

From the year 1981 comes this beautiful, classy-looking ghettoblaster / radiorecorder from Philips. Nicknamed the Elephant because of its unusual shape. So much chrome and metal trim! Big, bright LED meters that dance to the music! It's just so pimp! It is similar to the Philips D8814, but with an analog tuner instead of digital. The tuner needle is cool, because it has an LED that changes from red to green when it locks onto Stereo. However, I have owned two of these Philips, and they both had difficulty locking onto stereo, so if you want to buy one, ask the seller to verify that it works.

It measures 528mm wide, 295mm high (with the handle down), and 154mm deep. It weighs 6.4kg (14.0 lbs), not including batteries. It takes eight D-cell batteries, and has a voltage selector for 110 or 220 volts. It has two TDA1011 amplifier chips, just like the Philips D8614 and many other Philips models. According to the service manual, it produces 3.7 to 4.5 watts per channel, depending what kind of power supply is used. The Philips catalog says it has 10 watts per channel, but that was calculated using a more liberal methodology for advertising purposes. Philips also says it has 7-inch woofers and 2-inch tweeters, but those "tweeters" are just whizzer cones built into the woofers. The sound quality is good, but not as good as the top-tier midsize boxes like the JVC M70 and Aiwa TPR-955.