Unboxing a NEW 25-Year-Old Stereo! Sharp CD-BA200 from 2000
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Date: 2025-09-01
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Comments and reviews: 20
Trekkie4
Oh my. I got the similar model CD-BA1500 around the same time, think it was December 2002 if I'm not mistaking. It was a Xmas gift from mom, and it served me for years and years before it developed issues with the tape deck & disc changer. Being a tech guy, I took it apart & repaired almost everything.
Happy to say that even though I moved on with component system HiFi, I still have that Sharp system in my kitchen today. I lost mom back in 2024 so now (among other things) serves me as a reminder of her and I wouldn't give or sell this thing for anything.
Not that I would want or need to, it sounds pretty darn amazing, even by modern standards.
Edit
Watching the video, it is perfectly normal for Tape 1 not to rewind or fast forward. It was strictly a playback only mechanism, to save on parts. Unlike tape 2 which had all the features. Unfortunately, both decks share the same motor, thus wow & flutter can get very high, depending on the tape.
Edit2
Yes, the take up reel on both decks have some sort of motion sensor, and will stop the mech if it detects that the tape isn't moving. Again, perfectly normal behaviour.
Edit3
Actually CD changer does have a small belt, but it is only used to eject the turntable assembly and to rotate it, in order to change the CD. Not sure why CD isn't working, but I suppose you could fiddle with the pots and see if you can focus (or increase) the laser beam. Otherwise just replace the whole thing. I mean the pickup, not the whole CD turntable assembly.
A word of caution, replacing CD belt can get tricky, and requires that you disassemble pretty much the entire CD component. Including the tray, turntable & plastic clamp.
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Oh my. I got the similar model CD-BA1500 around the same time, think it was December 2002 if I'm not mistaking. It was a Xmas gift from mom, and it served me for years and years before it developed issues with the tape deck & disc changer. Being a tech guy, I took it apart & repaired almost everything.
Happy to say that even though I moved on with component system HiFi, I still have that Sharp system in my kitchen today. I lost mom back in 2024 so now (among other things) serves me as a reminder of her and I wouldn't give or sell this thing for anything.
Not that I would want or need to, it sounds pretty darn amazing, even by modern standards.
Edit
Watching the video, it is perfectly normal for Tape 1 not to rewind or fast forward. It was strictly a playback only mechanism, to save on parts. Unlike tape 2 which had all the features. Unfortunately, both decks share the same motor, thus wow & flutter can get very high, depending on the tape.
Edit2
Yes, the take up reel on both decks have some sort of motion sensor, and will stop the mech if it detects that the tape isn't moving. Again, perfectly normal behaviour.
Edit3
Actually CD changer does have a small belt, but it is only used to eject the turntable assembly and to rotate it, in order to change the CD. Not sure why CD isn't working, but I suppose you could fiddle with the pots and see if you can focus (or increase) the laser beam. Otherwise just replace the whole thing. I mean the pickup, not the whole CD turntable assembly.
A word of caution, replacing CD belt can get tricky, and requires that you disassemble pretty much the entire CD component. Including the tray, turntable & plastic clamp.
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lazygamereviews
You can use your smartphone camera to test whether the laser diode is working at all. If the laser is working, you should see a purple or white glow from the laser lens on your smartphone display. Without a camera, looking directly from the side, you should see a very small red glowing dot. Just don't look directly at it from above! If the laser itself is working, there is probably something wrong with the focus. The laser unit usually has several trimmers for fine adjustments. The intensity should also be adjustable. With a bit of luck, the trimmers will be found either on the laser unit or on its control board and may even be labeled. It is possible that the resistance values of the trimmers have changed over time due to moisture or corrosion.
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You can use your smartphone camera to test whether the laser diode is working at all. If the laser is working, you should see a purple or white glow from the laser lens on your smartphone display. Without a camera, looking directly from the side, you should see a very small red glowing dot. Just don't look directly at it from above! If the laser itself is working, there is probably something wrong with the focus. The laser unit usually has several trimmers for fine adjustments. The intensity should also be adjustable. With a bit of luck, the trimmers will be found either on the laser unit or on its control board and may even be labeled. It is possible that the resistance values of the trimmers have changed over time due to moisture or corrosion.
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joelandjake
Here in the Philippines, those stereos were a status symbol in the late 90s to early 2000s. Usually, fathers would buy one of these big things with their pay from working overseas and take them home whenever they would have the chance to reunite with their families once a year or half a year. Hence, they were called as one of the Essences of Saudi (Katas ng Saudi in our local tongue, as these dads usually worked for construction contractors in Saudi Arabia, with the other so-called essences being new clothes, foreign food, etc.
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Here in the Philippines, those stereos were a status symbol in the late 90s to early 2000s. Usually, fathers would buy one of these big things with their pay from working overseas and take them home whenever they would have the chance to reunite with their families once a year or half a year. Hence, they were called as one of the Essences of Saudi (Katas ng Saudi in our local tongue, as these dads usually worked for construction contractors in Saudi Arabia, with the other so-called essences being new clothes, foreign food, etc.
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Deathwish682
I was only 5 years old in 2000, but my older brother had this stereo. I remember him carrying a binder full of CDs to and from the car every day, and my Mom's constant if you want to play it that loud do it in your car not my house and also me sneaking into his room when he was gone to play my PS1 games in it and listen to the soundtracks. He took it with him when he moved out and it lived in his garage for years as a garage radio, pretty sure it's still there and likely still operable, I know it was as of about 5 years ago.
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I was only 5 years old in 2000, but my older brother had this stereo. I remember him carrying a binder full of CDs to and from the car every day, and my Mom's constant if you want to play it that loud do it in your car not my house and also me sneaking into his room when he was gone to play my PS1 games in it and listen to the soundtracks. He took it with him when he moved out and it lived in his garage for years as a garage radio, pretty sure it's still there and likely still operable, I know it was as of about 5 years ago.
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carmatic
i miss having fancy displays on the speaker system. i remember my friends at school used to have a system like this, by this point we were listening to mp3's so it was hooked up to his laptop. it had a built in spectrum analyzer display
by this point most of us were listening to MP3 music, so the sound system was hooked up to a laptop playing music via Winamp. we'd look at the tiny spectrum analyzer on the Winamp window, and try to match the spectrum analyzer on the sound system by adjusting the Windows audio output volume
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i miss having fancy displays on the speaker system. i remember my friends at school used to have a system like this, by this point we were listening to mp3's so it was hooked up to his laptop. it had a built in spectrum analyzer display
by this point most of us were listening to MP3 music, so the sound system was hooked up to a laptop playing music via Winamp. we'd look at the tiny spectrum analyzer on the Winamp window, and try to match the spectrum analyzer on the sound system by adjusting the Windows audio output volume
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Skvalpenotta
In the late 90s, when I was a kid, my grandmother bought herself a huge monstrosity like this with a 5-disc changer and lots of speakers. I have never seen an old lady be so giddy over new tech. She was very proud too, because she had gone to the store and picked it out herself. Having the disc changer and remote was her favorite thing about it. She had it until she just passed a few years ago, and it still worked perfectly. I wish I asked for the player when we cleaned out her house, but I had no space for it.
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In the late 90s, when I was a kid, my grandmother bought herself a huge monstrosity like this with a 5-disc changer and lots of speakers. I have never seen an old lady be so giddy over new tech. She was very proud too, because she had gone to the store and picked it out herself. Having the disc changer and remote was her favorite thing about it. She had it until she just passed a few years ago, and it still worked perfectly. I wish I asked for the player when we cleaned out her house, but I had no space for it.
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Mac84
Oh man, awesome video. This brought me back to the early 2000's. shopping at the Sony Outlet store and bringing home a CD boombox. Although your system beats it in every way, the feeling of having your own personal sound system was indescribably liberating and cool. I hope you can sort out the playback issues. It's good you held onto that parts machine, that'll give you some practice of getting into the CD area if you need to swap components. I'll certainly be looking forward to another video on it. enjoy it!
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Oh man, awesome video. This brought me back to the early 2000's. shopping at the Sony Outlet store and bringing home a CD boombox. Although your system beats it in every way, the feeling of having your own personal sound system was indescribably liberating and cool. I hope you can sort out the playback issues. It's good you held onto that parts machine, that'll give you some practice of getting into the CD area if you need to swap components. I'll certainly be looking forward to another video on it. enjoy it!
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MrSirViking
I am looking forward to watching the repair video. One of the reasons i also like Techmoan is that he says he is not a repair guy and yet he still tries and its interesting to watch. :) But yeah i remember these stereos from when i was same age as you in 2000. I remember one where if you pressed a button combination it could turn the screen into a slot machine when it was turned off. And so it just had a simple slot machine game on there, but still very fun and wild when you where a kid.
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I am looking forward to watching the repair video. One of the reasons i also like Techmoan is that he says he is not a repair guy and yet he still tries and its interesting to watch. :) But yeah i remember these stereos from when i was same age as you in 2000. I remember one where if you pressed a button combination it could turn the screen into a slot machine when it was turned off. And so it just had a simple slot machine game on there, but still very fun and wild when you where a kid.
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stacyswirl
I had the Philips w00x system you showed at 4: 30, it was so incredibly awesome and I so wish I hadn't gotten rid of it. It had a dedicated game input (just an auxiliary that plugged into the front and had its own dedicated volume knob) that I used to hook my computer into it. Your video made me want to try to find one on ebay or whatever to buy. Granted, the cds might not work or whatever, but truthfully I would just want it for the looks and the sound, love that ridiculous Y2K style.
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I had the Philips w00x system you showed at 4: 30, it was so incredibly awesome and I so wish I hadn't gotten rid of it. It had a dedicated game input (just an auxiliary that plugged into the front and had its own dedicated volume knob) that I used to hook my computer into it. Your video made me want to try to find one on ebay or whatever to buy. Granted, the cds might not work or whatever, but truthfully I would just want it for the looks and the sound, love that ridiculous Y2K style.
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r0x0r-p4t
I'm about your age Clint, and I was also into the same types of systems as you (though I ended up getting more into headphones and MiniDisc.
There's just something about a setup like these that oozes comfort; in the mid to late 2000's my setup was a 32 Sony Wega CRT that could do SCART, S-Video and 1080i (Halo looked excellent on it with the additional XBOX S-Video kit, and it was connected to a Sony MHC-W55 stereo; spent many many hours gaming on that set-up.
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I'm about your age Clint, and I was also into the same types of systems as you (though I ended up getting more into headphones and MiniDisc.
There's just something about a setup like these that oozes comfort; in the mid to late 2000's my setup was a 32 Sony Wega CRT that could do SCART, S-Video and 1080i (Halo looked excellent on it with the additional XBOX S-Video kit, and it was connected to a Sony MHC-W55 stereo; spent many many hours gaming on that set-up.
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andrewl9472
I have a very similar one to the Panasonic at 5: 13, just a bit lower in the range. It still works overall, although the CD player skips and I can’t figure out why. I then bought a bigger Sony system a few years later, much like the next one shown, although probably a bit newer, that still works and gets used occasionally.
I love the over the top styling of these things and the VFDs and the absurd number of drivers they often had.
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I have a very similar one to the Panasonic at 5: 13, just a bit lower in the range. It still works overall, although the CD player skips and I can’t figure out why. I then bought a bigger Sony system a few years later, much like the next one shown, although probably a bit newer, that still works and gets used occasionally.
I love the over the top styling of these things and the VFDs and the absurd number of drivers they often had.
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DESTRUCTO1617
Had a smaller sharp system in the 2000s. I believe the model was xlmp2. Used it to about 2014. CD player stopped reading discs (must be a sharp thing. The tape player would start chewing tapes if the tape was near the beginning (thinking back a new pinch roller probably would of solved that. Then some of the buttons stopped working. Eventually threw it in the bin but kept the speakers as spares.
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Had a smaller sharp system in the 2000s. I believe the model was xlmp2. Used it to about 2014. CD player stopped reading discs (must be a sharp thing. The tape player would start chewing tapes if the tape was near the beginning (thinking back a new pinch roller probably would of solved that. Then some of the buttons stopped working. Eventually threw it in the bin but kept the speakers as spares.
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lazygamereviews
my brother was given one for Christmas around that time, and he still has it
I used one of those for years with an RCA cable as an auxiliary device for my computer
These are things that are normal to me, and today they're a relic we look back on with nostalgia from a very different era than the one we live in now
This video brought back many memories
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my brother was given one for Christmas around that time, and he still has it
I used one of those for years with an RCA cable as an auxiliary device for my computer
These are things that are normal to me, and today they're a relic we look back on with nostalgia from a very different era than the one we live in now
This video brought back many memories
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lazygamereviews
I actually love my Sony all in one boom box I had in the 90's and tried to buy one off ebay. It arrived broken because the seller didn't pack it correctly. So my dad thrifted me a different all in one boom box. Thank God I never got rid of my CD collection. As a working Teen I would spend money on new CD's. Then I got alot online like most early 20's teens.
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I actually love my Sony all in one boom box I had in the 90's and tried to buy one off ebay. It arrived broken because the seller didn't pack it correctly. So my dad thrifted me a different all in one boom box. Thank God I never got rid of my CD collection. As a working Teen I would spend money on new CD's. Then I got alot online like most early 20's teens.
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gooslauve
I got a Panasonic SA-AK333 around the same time as this as a child, its fun to see pretty much all the same features on this including the Bass booster which was called H. Bass which I think meant hyper bass. I am still using that stereo as my computer speakers to this day and just about every LGR video I have watched has played through them, including this one!
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I got a Panasonic SA-AK333 around the same time as this as a child, its fun to see pretty much all the same features on this including the Bass booster which was called H. Bass which I think meant hyper bass. I am still using that stereo as my computer speakers to this day and just about every LGR video I have watched has played through them, including this one!
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stevethepocket
Oh wow, it actually had digital controls for the tape decks. I've never seen that outside of professional rack-mount models for sound systems. All the home stereos I've ever seen just have good-old-fashioned mechanical buttons, even the ones that came with remotes (which of course meant the remotes were useful for controlling the tape decks.
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Oh wow, it actually had digital controls for the tape decks. I've never seen that outside of professional rack-mount models for sound systems. All the home stereos I've ever seen just have good-old-fashioned mechanical buttons, even the ones that came with remotes (which of course meant the remotes were useful for controlling the tape decks.
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adamwest7953
In February 2002 I bought LG FFH-376 for about 187$.
In 2025, CD changer, CD player and pilot doesn’t work and on/off switch fell off, but I still use this LG stereo as a sound system connected to my 32 inch crt Panasonic TX-32PM11P Quintrix F. Magnificent equipment to watch old movies. Greetings to LGR from Europe.
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In February 2002 I bought LG FFH-376 for about 187$.
In 2025, CD changer, CD player and pilot doesn’t work and on/off switch fell off, but I still use this LG stereo as a sound system connected to my 32 inch crt Panasonic TX-32PM11P Quintrix F. Magnificent equipment to watch old movies. Greetings to LGR from Europe.
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Deraco1
oh man. This reminds me of my childhood stereo my sister and I got at christmas. This Philips FW-C30. I sold mine of years ago to someone that needed a tape player. Really wish I did not.
I remember opening up some of these cabinets for stereos during this era, and the tweeters you think worked, didn't. They were a facade
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oh man. This reminds me of my childhood stereo my sister and I got at christmas. This Philips FW-C30. I sold mine of years ago to someone that needed a tape player. Really wish I did not.
I remember opening up some of these cabinets for stereos during this era, and the tweeters you think worked, didn't. They were a facade
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krivickas
Ahhh love systems like this. Had Panasonic 5cd changer back ion the day. I cant imagine the feeling unboxing one of them now.
About the CD problem:
Maybe you tested with CDs burned with PC Mine system was hit and miss to read them. Later systems had no issues reading homemade CDs.
Thank you for nostalgic video!
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Ahhh love systems like this. Had Panasonic 5cd changer back ion the day. I cant imagine the feeling unboxing one of them now.
About the CD problem:
Maybe you tested with CDs burned with PC Mine system was hit and miss to read them. Later systems had no issues reading homemade CDs.
Thank you for nostalgic video!
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quietperson
I actually still have my Sanyo from around 1998 and it still works and I still have the remote to it. somewhere. It has the three disc changer and dual cassette decks. If I burned CDs it could only be MP3s and I think WAVs but no WMAs.
My system was smaller and not as fancy but I still love it.
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I actually still have my Sanyo from around 1998 and it still works and I still have the remote to it. somewhere. It has the three disc changer and dual cassette decks. If I burned CDs it could only be MP3s and I think WAVs but no WMAs.
My system was smaller and not as fancy but I still love it.
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