mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
source: http://www.preservationsound.com/?paged=2&tag=vintage-hi-fi
We had one of these (stereo); similar if not identical to the one in the ad photo above. (second speaker was in the lift-off top cover).
Media sound enjoyment
Lp > r2r > cassette > cd > 8-track
Just one opinion
Ive seen plenty of pre recorded albums done at 3 3/4 On RTR tapes. Still better than the small cassette. I wonder if the big cassette would hold up at 7 1/2 IPS?Techmoan did a video about the RCA Sound Tape Cartridge:
It didn't die as quickly as people think -- it hung on in the educational market until the early '70s. And nor was it exactly "RTR quality". The sound tape cartridge used 3¾ IPS when most reel-to-reel tapes were still using 7½ IPS, so there was a noticeable degradation of audio quality.
I do still use mine. I was digging out parts yesterday for a project and listened to severel tapes. If I didn't have so many tapes I probably wouldn't have one though.
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Yup. A few in the 80's were nice decks. The 5020 and 5220 just look cool and for playback they do fine. I also had a 5220 and after changing the belts I gave it to my son.If Marantz made a full logic with those VU's, it'd be soooooo perfect!
You run into those tapes from time to time that really do sound great. To bad they all didn't. The only tapes I have that went bad are those that car decks munched. Keep your deck clean and demagnetized and those old tapes last a long time.The cassette format was strictly a connivence product. With sophisticated noise reduction the cassette format could provide acceptable sound for a fraction of the cost of R2R tape in a much smaller size, too. The quality could easily surpass mass produced LP if desired, though not always accomplished. Lps take infinitely more care to maintain top notch performance from day one. Cassettes not so much. But if your tape deck isn't well maintained you can easily destroy a tape in a fraction of a second. When Maxell was producing Cassette tapes the UD series shells and tape were guaranteed for life. I still have all my UD tapes with only a few having failed because of a compromised Ford cassette player in a Car. My Nakamichi decks still perform Quite well. Sure the tape path needs cleaning, O rings, belts and tires need to be cleaned and maintained and guides and heads eventually replaced. Everything mechanical eventually wears and becomes unserviceable. I still have 2 Nakamichi that I use to make CD's for friends and to make tapes to play in my Dodge Diesel pickup. I may have to bow to technology some day and install a new sound system. But till then its cassette for the Ram truck.
Amazon has lot's of them also e baySince the thread has strayed off topic anyway, I got this Sony EL-7 last year.
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It took me a while to get it operational but I finished making my first recording on it last week - mixed artists. Fidelity is superb. Too bad tapes aren't more commonly available and less expensive.