General Sound GS-290

This is the General Sound GS-290. It has the classic later 80’s styling with the black case, red and chrome accents and detachable speakers. It also has a “disco lite” display in the middle of the box that pulses with the beat of the music. I picked this one up at an estate sale and it is in good working condition with the exception of the cassette player which is a little slow.  The boombox was made in Korea and is a fairly large unit at 27 1/2″  long and 8 1/2″ high. It’s also not a perfectly rectangular box as it’s about 8″ deep at the bottom but slopes up to about 6 1/2″ at the top.

The GS-290 has push button volume which only requires a very light touch for adjustment. It also has a 5 band equalizer and single cassette player.  The tuning dial works for AM, FM, and three TV bands.

The “disco lite” display / level meter which is located just above the equalizer pulses to the beat of the music in both red and green LED lights.

Here you can see the 4 1/2″ black and white TV screen that is incorporated into the GS-290. Using just the standard built in antenna I could only pick up a couple stations but it definitely makes for a good conversation piece.

Overall the General Sound GS-290 is a good performing boombox though it does seem to lack a little in the bass department. It puts out 20 watts and is fairly loud. I haven’t seen many of these boxes so it’s seems to be fairly rare. I’m not sure what they’re worth but this one is going up for sale this week so we’ll find out soon enough.