Bring the beat back with Bumpboxx's mighty BB-777, a boombox for the 21st century

There was a time when size was everything. When it came to scale, functionality and power, the bigger the stereo the better. Academic papers have been written about the role of portable audio in urban culture (Landon Palmer’s ‘Do the Loud Thing: The Boombox and Urban Space in 1980s American Cinema’, for example), and the realignment of the soundscape via headphones, smartphone and small Bluetooth speakers has certainly stripped the bass out of the cityscape.

Bumpboxx wants to bring it back. And how. This is the company’s new BB-777, launched today. It’s not the first time that the boombox format has found new favour in the digital age – We Are Rewind’s self-consciously retro GB-001 also wants the spotlight, as do retro-tinged models from Philips and several upstart Chinese makers.

Step past the self-conscious imagery that accompanies the launch of the BB-777 and you’ll find a machine that goes all out to impress, from its size and weight to its technical specification. The BB-777 weighs in at an impressive 28 lbs (12kg).

Bumpboxx claims this is about ‘emphasising permanence over minimal portability,’ but it’s probably more about bragging rights than longevity concerns. The unit packs a 3-way, 6-driver set-up that puts out 270 watts of power and takes up the entire lower third of the front fascia. An interchangeable Li-On battery pack is intended for long sessions (up to 15 hours).

Aside from the physical dimensions and appearance, the unit is notable for its sheer number of formats and options. First up is the inclusion of dual cassette decks, the age-old mainstay for copying music and making mix tapes. Each deck on the BB-777 can record and do high-speed dubbing, once considered a small miracle of modern convenience.

There’s also a CD player, which offers support not just for traditional discs but for rewritable media, including any CD-R and CD-RW that might have been stacked with mp3 files in the distant past (a temporary replacement for the mixtape). It’s also apparently possible to record directly to USB from the cassette player, CD and radio, adding another layer of digital-analogue-digital complexity to the signal chain.

The radio offers AM, FM and Shortwave but no DAB, although there is the option to stream internet radio and streaming services into the BB-777 over Bluetooth. Throw in a pair of onboard microphones and wired microphone inputs and you have a hugely flexible machine capable of bridging generations with a considerable amount of volume.

The jumping off point for the player design are the mighty boomboxes built by Sharp in the early 80s, including the GF-767, GF-777, GF-909 and GF-919. Now commanding hefty prices on eBay, Sharp were at the cutting edge of the era’s portable audio and these players were the summit of the technology, as evidenced by their appearance in numerous contemporary hip-hop videos.

Over forty years on, this new player is a straightforward homage, right down to the physical controls, the shape of the dials, and the tuning guide. The addition of a 4.5” LCD display makes it easier to navigate the many audio options and the front speaker grilles are magnetically attached, should you prefer the naked look. The unit even has twin telescopic radio aerials.

Time will tell if the California-based Bumpboxx have also captured Sharp’s legendary build quality. According to Bumpboxx founder and CEO Rob Owens, ‘we didn’t want to make a retro speaker - We wanted to build the boombox we grew up with but engineered for today. Something powerful, reliable, and complete. The BB-777 is our way of proving that physical sound still matters.’

Owens set up Bumpboxx in 2016, pairing Bluetooth speaker technology with branded partnerships and robust units that took their inspiration from 1980s boombox culture. With the BB-777, the company wants to make what it calls ‘a definitive statement piece [that honours] the golden era of boombox design while meeting contemporary expectations.’

More information on the Bumpboxx BB-777 can be found on Kickstarter.com, Bumpboxx.com, @Bumpboxx