Bumpboxx has been in the party speaker business for over a decade, with a number of models styled like 'ghetto blasters' that you can carry on your shoulder all old-school like. Its latest product is a proper throwback boombox, complete with cassette decks and a CD player – along with thoughtful features that make it easy to live with.
The BB-777 is dripping in retro 80s style, from the classic shape to the metallic buttons and knobs to the loud typographic decals. For those of us who grew up with boomboxes making a racket around the neighborhood, it's sure to be a trip at first sight.
Unlike most of Bumpboxx's other offerings, this isn't just a speaker disguised as a boombox. It's got two cassette decks for playback and recording, as well as a CD player that can handle regular discs as well as MP3s and lossless FLAC files. So it's the real deal, and then some.
What's less apparent from its design is that the BB-777 can also digitize your old music collection. It can record audio from tapes, CDs, and even AM and FM radio, and send it to your computer as WAV files via a USB port. That allows you to preserve your beloved records for way longer than the physical media might last.
And if you're feeling romantic about the good ol' days, you'll be happy to know this supports cassette-to-cassette recording so you can can actually make your own mixtapes.
On top of that, the BB-777 has a built-in microphone, as well as dual mic inputs for when you want to capture your voice to and record it to tape – whether that's MCing or creating samples.
Rounding it off is Bluetooth for streaming tunes to its speakers wirelessly from your phone or tablet, a USB input to play MP3s and other digital files, a 3.5-mm aux input, and AM/FM/FM-ST/SW radio. You can control it all on the boombox itself, or use the included wireless remote. And if you plan to go real hard at your next block party, you can pair a second BB-777 wirelessly for full stereo playback.
The boombox features a powerful 270-W six-speaker system (2 x 6.25-inch coaxials, 2 x 6.25-inch super woofers, and 2 horn tweeters), a fan-cooled amplifier, and a 97.6-Wh battery that promises up to 15 hours of play time. Bumpboxx notes the battery is TSA-approved so you shouldn't have trouble carrying it on flights, and you can swap out the pack for a fresh one to keep the party going.
You'll find knobs to control master volume, bass, treble, balance, mic volume, and mic echo. All of the BB-777's functions appear on a 4.5-inch LCD display. It also comes with a shoulder strap. All in all, it weighs a hefty 28 lb (12.7 kg), and measures 29.61 x 6.51 x 15 in (75.2 x 16.5 x 38.1 cm).
That's a whole lot more than just looking the part – and it doesn't exactly come cheap. The 777 is set to retail at US$1,049, but Bumpboxx is crowdfunding it on Kickstarter at a discount of $649. That's more than what you'd pay for JBL's PartyBox Stage 320 ($549), but you're getting a lot more character and the additional digitization features for what you're paying.
All crowdfunding campaigns carry an element of risk, so you'll want to keep that in mind if you choose to back this campaign. For what it's worth, California-based Bumpboxx has been manufacturing and selling speakers and other gadgets for years, and its products are well liked on Amazon.
If all goes to plan, the first batch of orders are slated to ship worldwide in June; delivery costs will vary by region, coming in at $49 for the continental USA, and $69 elsewhere.
Find the BB-777 on Kickstarter.
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