Editor’s Choice: The Amazing We Are Rewind Blaster (GB-001)

Hot on the heels of vinyl, we are starting to see the cassette tape making a bit of a comeback, and like all things analog, it might not make any sense to a lot of people.

That’s precisely why it’s cool.

The mixtape is a rite of passage that many people were cheated out of; it was and still is the ultimate love letter. So next time you pop by your local record store, take a look at the cassette wall; chances are it’s grown a bit.

The We Are Rewind guys designed their first “walkman” style cassette player to the highest standards a few years ago, and it’s been the dominating player for true tape heads since its inception. Why stop there, though? The boombox is just as much a part of tape culture as the portable player, maybe even more so.

This was the machine that made hip hop portable, rocked small block parties, and sat beside many a breakdance circle. The Blaster Curtis feels like it was designed around a moment. Friends over, drinks sweating, someone digging through a stack of tapes, and suddenly this thing becomes the gravitational center of the room.

We Are Rewind Blaster Curtis GB-001 is not nostalgia bait like some of the other cheap boomboxes out there. It is a fully realized system that bridges analog ritual with modern convenience in a way that actually makes sense for the hefty price tag.

I’ve been digging out old DJ mixtapes and scouring record stores for what I can find before things get crazy, and this machine has become a centerpiece in our home. So here is how it stacks up, and why I’ve given it an Editor’s Choice Award.

Design & Build Quality

We Are Rewind is passionate about quality, from the materials to the mechanisms; it can’t just be good, it needs to be the best. When you pull the Blaster out of the box, you know it’s legit. It’s smooth to the touch, made from premium materials, and has a bit of heft.

Dense, premium construction, zero fluff, and a slick black finish that feels like a boutique HiFi product. The proportions hit that 80s DNA without getting crazy, and there is no radio on board, which is a hit-or-miss depending on who you talk to. Still, everything is refined, and everything is a modern iteration of this classic machine. Clean lines, quality knobs, balanced layout, and a bit of refinement compared to the silver shiny super stacks of yore.

The real show-stealer is the Volume Unit [VU] meters, at least for me, because I’m nerdy like that. Backlit with that sweet yellow glow, analog, real. They pull you into the interface in a way screens never will. You end up watching levels dance, it’s proper old school.

Sound Quality: Genre by Genre

I was expecting this to sound good, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this good. The 104W, four-speaker setup is not just loud. It is expressive, punchy beyond its size, and brings remarkable clarity to some of my old DJ mixtapes.

The We Are Rewind team nailed the sound. Two woofers deliver satisfying low end, with a port in the back to help push the bass a bit deeper; two tweeters deliver sparkling clarity, and the tuning feels perfect for analog cassettes, and also sounds great when you stream audio through it via BT or Aux.

I dug out as many tapes as I could find in different genres, and here is how it stacked up.

Hip-Hop & Electronic

I’ve got a decent number of DJ mixes from the 90s rave scene ranging from rare groove, to trip hop to house music.

So I was excited to hear if these cassettes held up. These genres are where the Curtis flexes hardest. Kick drums land properly, sub-bass has presence without turning into a blur, and hi-hats cut cleanly. Old-school tapes especially hit different here. There is grit, but it is controlled grit if that makes sense with the unavoidable slight hiss you hear from the format.

Rock / Folk

I had some old Van Halen and Cat Stevens cassettes, and while they had seen many plays, they still sounded decent on the Curtis, and maybe it was the machine that was helping the cassettes sound better. Guitars, bass, and drums sounded decent without getting brittle, but this really depended on what I was listening to. Some albums were just produced better, and the tape was in better condition, but overall the genre held up quite well on this machine.

The true stereo orientation really helps these types of recordings and makes them feel full and satisfying even at high volumes, which is quite a feat for such a small machine.

Jazz, Soul & Funk

I really only had old rare groove mix tapes from the 90s, recorded from very old records, so the crispy, hissy, crackly sound is in full effect, and that’s part of the charm. The warmth shines here, despite all the noise artifacts; it’s still really enjoyable to listen to and part of the experience. Bass lines feel rich and full, horns carry body, and percussion like snare drums hit right.

Analog playback adds just enough saturation to make older recordings sound better than they are; you need to put aside any audiophile grievances, or you will just be annoyed the entire time. I truly loved listening to these genres on this machine, and it’s started me on a mission to dig up as much of this stuff as I can find.

Pop & Streaming Content

Pop, I didn’t have any cassettes, but I’m sure they sound just fine, as those recordings were typically very well produced and mastered for analog cassettes.

Streaming – yes, you can use your phone or any BT device to stream audio to the boombox. Switch to Bluetooth 5.4, and it holds its own as you would expect from a high-end self-powered BT speaker system. Clean stereo image, balanced tuning, and crystal clear quality. So when you feel like listening to music from any of your favorite streaming services, they have you covered. However, every time I approach this machine to use it, I automatically want to put a cassette in and push play: streaming kind of feels like I’m cheating on my cassette girlfriend.

Cassette Performance

This feature is the headline, and why you buy an expensive player like this, you have to love the format. The premium mechanism and adjustable motor keep playback stable and musical. Unlike many cheap players out there, this part is very important in both cassette players and boomboxes, and essential for quality playback. You get that slight tape compression and warmth, but without the warble and inconsistency that plagued older decks.

Features & Functionality of the We Are Rewind Blaster GB-001

Core Specs

• 104W output
• 4 HiFi speakers: 2 woofers, 2 tweeters
• Type I and Type II cassette playback and recording
• Adjustable motor for stable tape playback
• Bluetooth 5.4
• Rechargeable and replaceable battery
• Backlit VU meters
• Bass, treble, balance controls
• Microphone input
• Guitar amp functionality
• Wireless mic support for karaoke or live sessions

So this checks a lot of boxes that clearly define the value proposition of an almost $600 cassette player; it’s a whole lot more, and could even serve as a full music system for a smaller apartment.

The Tape Culture

Owning this thing almost guarantees you will start collecting tapes again. Whether you’re cruising garage sales or buying them brand new, there is pure joy to be had from the search. That’s what makes the whole culture fun, and a little less serious than the vinyl world, and a lot cheaper too.

Some great resources:

• Discogs – the gold standard for hunting rare and classic cassettes
• Bandcamp – where indie artists are quietly keeping tape culture alive
• Local record shops often have hidden cassette sections that feel like time capsules. These are starting to get more expensive as demand has risen, so be mindful of the going rate. Old Hip Hop cassettes in good shape can sell for $50-$80.
• Ebay / Garage Sales / Craigslist – People still dump cassettes in bulk, so you can often find some good stuff on the cheap, but this is starting to change as pickers start to get wise to the value.

And if you want to stay in the We Are Rewind ecosystem, they have been building out accessories and hardware that match the same design language:

• We Are Rewind WE-001 Cassette Player – a modern Walkman-style companion. I reviewed one HERE.
• Blank tapes and branded accessories that lean into the same neo-retro aesthetic

It turns into a hobby pretty quickly. You might soon find yourself bringing the Curtis over to your friend’s house for backyard get-togethers, tape trades, or just obsessing about your next tape purchase and how to organize them. Much like vinyl, this is not background audio. It is active listening, and by default, you need to pay attention.

Why You’d Buy It

You are not going to know why you want it, you need to listen to that little voice that says, “Oh, that’s dooooooope.” Trust your gut; if it calls to you, there is probably a reason for it, and it will give you endless hours of joy. At $579, it’s definitely a big purchase, so make sure that inner voice hasn’t been drinking when you hit the buy button. Overall, I’ve used this machine constantly, taking it from room to room, out on the patio, and just enjoying the format and my lost mix tapes again. We Are Rewind has delivered the boombox that everyone will be chasing for a while.

Final Thoughts

Most retro-inspired audio gear is a hard pass for me, but the Blaster Curtis hits a lot of different notes and fills a void that I’ve been missing. It commits, and it’s definitely not for posers; it is a commitment to the dopeness of being a tape head. If you don’t get that fundamental element, keep on streaming.

It sounds big, looks awesome, and brings back a kind of communal music interaction that has been missing for a while. Not forced nostalgia. Not tech for tech’s sake. Just a well-built machine that makes people want to press play together. Put it in a room, and it takes care of the rest.

For More info on We Are Rewind, visit their website HERE.