MacDonald Instruments 06-33-63

The 06-33-63 was a beautiful mid-sized boombox from MacDonald Instruments, with very shiny trim and lots of features. Seriously, this thing is PACKED with knobs, switches, inputs, and outputs. The LED meters can be set to measure 4 different things: Watts, VU levels, or tuning strength and battery! Judging from its styling, we think it was manufactured sometime between 1979-1982. It was made in Taiwan, but to a higher standard than most Taiwanese boxes. The potentiometers, transformer, and AC input are mounted to sturdy zinc-plated steel brackets. The brushed aluminum trim plate surrounding the knobs and switches is clear-coated, and it's the best-looking plate I've ever seen on a boombox. The designers were probably trying to imitate the Panasonic RX-5500, but it doesn't share any parts with that box. Its amplifier consists of a pair of Thomson TBA810AP chips, and the speakers (6 inch woofers and 1.5 inch tweeters) are unbranded.

There were several other versions of this radio, including the JCPenney 681-3950, the Sound 4010, the Otaki 4010, and the Pulser II CTPR-2800R which was sold by Canadian Tire.