Audiophiles anyone?

SuperDave wrote:Nothing fancy here but I do listen to music on my computer.

The $75 bucks I spent on my Logitech 5 speaker + sub woofer computer sound was the best money I ever spent on computer equipment. That was 5 or 6 years ago, maybe longer.

I listen to 'pandora' with a old Altec Lansing computer speaker system w/ large subwoofer, doesn't sound bad but not as good as 'normal' stereos.

Thanks for the info, Jacob.

The only picture of the advert:

In the mean time, the Wollensak is sold, or is not advertised anymore. But there is another 8 track player coming this way from the UK. It's one of the new ones advertised on eBay.

Lieven

Yes it is, Looks quiet the same as your Soundesign.

Lieven

Years ago one of my pals had a couple 'Gentlemen' turn his work shop over and rob him.

The next time I went over to see him he had a pick axe handle with wrist strap
hanging next to the door with the legend VERY GRAPHIC EQUALISER next to it.

  

John Goddard wrote:Years ago one of my pals had a couple 'Gentlemen' turn his work shop over and rob him.

The next time I went over to see him he had a pick axe handle with wrist strap
hanging next to the door with the legend VERY GRAPHIC EQUALISER next to it.

  

yes... a "Big Papi style" whack to the kneecap, would surely make a "would be" robber think about changing careers...  

Jacob. I have an old "Automatic-Radio" 12Vdc 8-track deck that was in my Grandfather's 27' travel-trailer when I was a kid. He towed that big trailer with a 1965 Merc. Monterey/Marauder 390 V8... that also had an under-dash AR player.

The 12Vdc stand-alone deck that I still have.. is rugged and heavy. It has an all-steel chassis and separate knobs for Vol., Bass, Treble and Balance. I have to wonder if it still works!

Roddie

It's here!!!

In the beginning of this week, I jumped over to Belgium to say hello to my family. I brought back with me my 8 track cartridges. I found them in a 70's vynil case with lock! I also found the converter I had to play cassettes on an 8 track player.









I tried the 8 track player yesterday. The speed doesn't seem tho be very steady. First, it changed over track very well automatically, but later he stopped doing that and remained on the same track until I changed it manually. What could cause all this?

Lieven

Jacob,

This one has got a battery and its own motor.

I think it's with every tape now that it doesn't change over. I'll do some more testing during the WE. Thanks for the tips.

Lieven

Yes, it does switch over manually with the button.

On some cartridges it changes over ok and on some it doesn't. But the sound is not the best. I think the speed varies a lot and I know Jimmy smoked a lot but on this player he's got defifitely serious stomach problems. Also, electronic music like Jean Michel Jarre's "Oxygène" has a constant irregular vibrato and is too slow: no good at all.

So I bought another 8 track player. Found one nearby. It's a VOXSON SONAR 8.



It's Italian built and weights as lead compared to the Taiwanese player. The seller advertised it wasn't tested so I could expect some problems. And yes, I plugged it into the mains and put a cartridge in. I was suddenly surrounded by no sound. No motor humming, no track lights, no track change over. This looked like a power supply problem. I checked supply cable and fuse, all were ok. Then I found loose wires on the tension selector. After soldering, it was again as good as new.

Cables were then connected to the amp, and, boy, what a difference in sound!! Vibrato gone, changes track automatically every time, better sound all round.

Now, at the back, it has the following:



And on the bottom there's this:



What would all that be?

Lieven

Jacob would know for sure Lieven.. but I would have to assume that both; the level and azimuth adjustments are directly related to the tape head. If the player sounds good to you, then neither need to be touched. That machine looks to have been a higher quality commercial unit.

I haven't been following this thread closely.. but do you have a tape-head demagnetizer? They're as rare as tape machines are nowadays.. but if you don't have one, and happen to see one somewhere... grab it. The better ones are a "wand" that plugs into your AC mains. You use it after several hours of "play/record time" on any of your tape machines (reel, cassette or 8-track)

WARNING: move ALL of your tape cartridges/reels out of the immediate area when using a demagnetizer, to avoid erasing whatever is recorded on them.  

I have one that I bought at Radio shack 20-30 years ago (Radio Shack/Realistic Cat. No. 44-207). Here's some photos and instructions for it's use.

Thanks Roddie, I've never seen one of those demagnetizers. I'll see what Jacob says about the adjustments.