Amazon.com: Customer reviews: GPO Brooklyn 1980S-Style Portable Boombox - CD Player, Cassette Player, FM Radio, USB, Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

This is absolutely the best deal on the Internet for a boombox!

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2020

First of all, let me start by saying that I am from that era where having a huge “boom box” was as normal as having an iPhone is today. So I was literally blow away as I was unboxing this unit. I’ve brought other radios on Amazon that were advertised as being a “boom box”, but found myself deeply disappointed when the package arrived. I knew from the mere size of the package that it was not what I was expecting. When I unboxed the item, it was so cheaply made that it appeared to be toy like. Needless to say, I would immediately return it.
This GPO Brooklyn 1980s- Style Portable Boombox took me back to the days! I honestly had to sit there for a minute with this huge smile on my face because I was overwhelmed by the size, the aesthetics and it’s overall presents of this unit. What’s crazy is I’ve actually wondered in the past why it was so difficult to find an “old school boom box” with today’s technology and I finally found one that “hands down” that meets the mark.
I’ve spent a lot of money on Amazon, just like anyone else who uses Amazon as their primary source to shop, but this is for me one of those purchases that I personally couldn’t be happier with. That’s a pretty strong statement, but it’s true.
However, when your getting all this great technology in a portable unit there’s going to be some compromise somewhere. In this case, The volume wasn’t as loud as I was expecting, but it’s definitely decent. It really sounds great! You definitely won’t be disappointed enough to send it back because overall with all it’s great features it’s the best “boombox” on the market right now. And trust me, I’ve done my research.
Lastly, I have to say, they really have absolutely excellent customer service. Those guys are awesome! I had an issue with the power cord and contacted customer service. They took care of it expeditiously. So if you’re looking for a boombox I promise you will not be disappointed with this unit. There’s no other “boombox” on the market right now that I found that not only simulates the “boombox” from the 80s, like this one, but is also at such a decent price. I would have actually paid more. I would definitely recommend this item to anyone and give it five stars! For the price, it’s a steal!

78 people found this helpful

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JOE P.

Please read my review thank you awesome boombox

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2020

Verified Purchase

I love the Boombox amazing sound build quality is good not cheap at all the knobs have a little play in it so that's a good thing because they will not break going to order another one for my son if you're reading this review I own four turntables m5g 1210 I own reel-to-reel tape recorders professional stuff I've been a professional recording studio artists and record vinyl DJ since I was 12 years old and now I am 50 years old so not sure why it has some bad reviews on this beautiful Brooklyn boombox those people have ear damaged from going to nightclubs concerts I was smart enough to always wear wear earplugs when I used to go to the nightclubs live concerts so some people will say it's not loud at all but to me it's loud enough and you never want to put too loud because it will cause clipping meaning you're pushing your speakers too hard I know when I DJ live concerts I never pushed my speakers too hard I go for the clear professional sound that's what you want when you are listening to music and one more thing some say battery life is not that good common-sense just leave it plugged in the power cord and you don't have to worry about the battery life going dead

11 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Low Quality, had to return next day.

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

Sorry boys and girls but if you're seeing a negative trend in the reviews, there’s a reason. This unit is literally manufactured only as a facade. The entire body and construction of this boom box, aside from dials and speaker face that are directly on the front, are of extremely brittle, low quality plastic. This is a show-piece and even at that it fails. The knob configuration for volume, tuning, setting selection, etc is completely incoherent. What appears to seems some sort a faux “output level” display is just a plastic sticker thing that blinks (mine wasn’t even on when I unboxed it, it was sticking to the speaker upside down). The carrying handle seemed robust enough, but I’m sure it has to be as this thing weighed a ton. There is no storage in the back at all for the charger apparatus that comes with the boom box. The re-chargeable battery is one of the super low-quality kinds that looks like the ones in RC cars from the 90s that runout of power in like 15 minutes. Didn’t try any tapes or cds out of fear that this sub-par radio would either eat them or chew them up. Overall max volume was barely on par with modern small potable Bluetooth speakers. The tuning knob was clunky and imprecise. If this was going to be your working in the garage and washing the car radio, it’d be a very lousy experience. Money was no object in my hunt for a great boom box, but this is an absolute joke. For this price I expected something far superior that what I received. I am going to continue my hunt for a high quality retro boom box.

16 people found this helpful

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Aaron

Great Boombox! Heavy and durable!

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

I have been procrastinating writing this review. If I was into Youtube I'd post a video of my review to give more details on it. Since I don't here goes. NOTE: I think it matters that this opinion I'm giving out my history is relevant. I am over 50yrs old and was brought up in the 80's analog music that was available and I still play cassettes more than I do the faulty digital compressed music they have today. Analog is the only way to hear music in my opinion. I have experienced what it's like to play and own really, REALLY good cassettes, players and recorders. I own several dual Technics Cassette players for my receiver which I think is still the BEST recording devices to record my music in my little studio. Still have several Sony yellow sports walkmans that work! So I am comparing this 'Boombox' with what was available in the past that is still in working condition. I bought this box because of the look and that the belts were brand NEW. It seems to have a stereo recording and playing heads. The sound is Great as you can adjust the sound with the Treble and Bass knobs. (cheaply made but work) I also enjoy the in and out features it has on the left side of the box. I use my condenser microphone going into it and then I export it from the Line Out to my recorder tape deck and the sound is Great! Does the job. Mine came in a box and the right antenna holder plastic was broken... not a big thing to me. Now the not so nice things... It seems the company across the ocean didn't have anyone from the 80's 'Teach' them before making this. They don't know and understand the following things fully. A 'Tape Counter' is not a timer to tell you how long you have been in the 'Tape' function on the boombox. The use of a tape counter is so you can (while it ONLY works after pressing the PLAY button) visually see where you are on the tape. Example: if you find a song on a cassette you like and want to go back to it during editing or playing reasons you can reset the counter and any time after you are playing the tape you can rewind back to that same point on the tape. This boombox does NOT do this. I have NO idea what they were thinking when they added this feature. I have modded mine with a simple strip of scotch tape that I have covered with a black marker to cover this ridiculous window. Total example of failure. There is no reason to have this when playing tapes. The Visual levels is also not needed. Any visual graphic app on any marketplace that can hear sound can work better as I have my old 4 inch phone attached to this box and it looks sooo much better. I turn this feature OFF obviously. I have noticed that the volume knob goes up in volume if I put any small pressure to the sides of it. Should it do this? I don't think so. Another thing I don't understand is that why oh why couldn't they have added a STEREO light in the radio tuner display?? I have tried to tune to any FM stations and I have no idea if it's in Stereo. Doesn't sound like I can get any stations in stereo. I bought this for the Cassette deck and the CD player, Bluetooth, input/output features and USB editing features are Great! I can 'tip my hat' to GPO for these all working. This is why I bought it. It is worth the $$ IF the other features would be working correctly but for what it's worth it's not worth the hard earned money I make. The good features I use every day all work but is far from being Perfect. GPO needs an 80's 'advisor' before they try to create anything that matches something from the past. Oh and about the rechargeable battery??... this was a BIG plus for me!! I LOVE the fact that you do NOT have to take the HUGE bulky D size batteries from the old Boomboxes. My fix is to charge it up good over night when I got it and then simply unplug it and I'll plug it back in when I know I'll be going portable like on the beach. But for now it is always plugged in. One final note is about the 'toy' feeling and looking plastic cassette keys. The cassette deck is not an Auto-Reverse which can be a plus on this technology but at the end of a tape when it has the Auto-Stop can wake your relative out of a coma! It is so loud! It's not a simple -click- but a BANG!! The sound is as loud as a bullet going out of a pistol! I modded it by adding 2 white 1 sided pads to the top of the play and record keys. It has lowered the DB's slightly to a relative accepting level. Summarize is that it's a good box. Heavy and durable which Rocks! If they need any 80's 'Advice' on audio or video technology - let me know! My VCR's are still working too. Live LONG ANALOG Physical Media!! Love it!

75 people found this helpful

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NS Donny

Received great customer service, and that makes all of the difference

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2021

Verified Purchase

I'm no audiophile, and I'd argue if you are an audiophile, you probably aren't in the market for a boombox. Being GenX I have very fond memories of these sound systems and the GPO certainly looks the part. I bought this for my teenage son, whose audio experience to date has been bluetooth headphones and a tablet or phone. He loved the retro factor but it immediately took on the same role as the exercise bike my wife bought me a year ago. It looks great, and that's pretty much it. I don't use the bike. The boy doesn't use the boombox. So I took it for myself. My kids have never seen a cassette deck. I went to play them some Whitesnake, and nothing, no lights, no sound. Boy had left it unplugged and unused for weeks. I asked him to get the AC adapter, and he looked at me like I was speaking Latin. After he figured out what I was asking, his answer was very clear. He lost it.

Here is the happy customer part. So at this point, due to my sons misplacing the power cord; (we looked for hours, no dice.) I reached out to GPO and explained that MY boombox was now effectively a big, silver, brick. I asked if they could refer me to an alternative AC adapter, or if I could obtain a replacement from them. One week later I received a package, and lo and behold, a new adapter from GPO. No cost for the replacement, no cost for shipping. I'm very happy. Happy with GPO. Happy with MY boombox. Happy with the sound. Still not so happy with my son. Or, my children's lack of appreciation for Whitesnakes, "Slow and Easy". Big fan of the GPO Brooklyn.

37 people found this helpful

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Zephyr

I love this thing!

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

I shopped extensively for a boom box similar to the ones I grew up with. It had to have a tape player and either turbo bass or EQ. The GPO Brooklyn offered the most options, had a tape player and EQ, and I watched a pretty good review of it on YouTube. I decided to take a chance on it.

Although the price was an issue (I saved up tips from work to buy it, so it’s not like I’m rich), now that I purchased the item, I’m not at all surprised about the cost. It’s worth it. The manufacturer really did the memory of classic boom boxes a solid. The sound is great - the stereo honestly gives the fabulous throaty retro sound we grew up with in the 80’s and 90’s. Love the chunky buttons! The machine is very heavy but seems to be well built. It’s not meant for carrying but makes a great center piece to gatherings and transports easily. Battery works great. All of the features were tested and have been extensively used since purchase, with no issues. Also the fact that it survived Amazon’s seriously pathetic job of packing it in a shipping box for transport (sending the product in a WAY oversized shipping box with only a single piece of brown paper as packing material? I mean, come on, Amazon!) I was honestly surprised it worked at all and didn’t arrive in a hundred pieces. Definitely solid.

So - five stars for the product. I absolutely love it. One star to Amazon for crappy packing for shipping.

If you’re on the fence about buying a boom box for your GenX retro flashback music needs, look no further than the Brooklyn. It’s a time machine. All I had to do was pop in a cassette and suddenly it was 1987 all over again.

12 people found this helpful

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Preston

Cheap Chinese Boombox

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2023

Verified Purchase

The cheap cassette mechanism stopped working a few months after purchase. The CD player soon followed. Not bad if you just want to use Bluetooth or Auxiliary. Speakers are subpar… not much low end or volume. Save your money and buy a vintage Japanese made box from the early 80s on Ebay and have it refurbished by a professional.

One person found this helpful

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ClK Family

Its Ok

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024

Verified Purchase

I tried disregarding the reviews and was happy at first when I got but overtime i started to notice little things like all of my CD-R even ones i just burned like never been played no scratches acting weird

just today I tried to play my Ice Cube CD barely any scratches wouldn't play past Track 3 like it was skipping on other CDs that were just about new like my SZA Ctrl

also certain tapes i had wouldn't play so that was something

Overall this boombox looks great and sounds great but is very cheaply made any CD with the smallest amount of scratch it won't play

Compare that to my old boombox thats from 2010 thats old that can play all of these fine its not worth it GPO has potential they got the presentation and sound down pact now they just gotta not cut corner make there stuff like the CD/Cassette player cheap

Overall skip this get another boombox

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