A Little Obsessed?

[Tigerpaw07]

I cant tell you why but I am obsessed with this vintage
Sony Stereo Music System HP-188 BSR Turntable no speakers. It is for sale on my local Craig's list. Doe anyone know anything about these?

 

[thomo57]

I can understand your attraction to it.
I love the look of it myself

 

[JoeESP9]

If that's what you want go for it. Personally, an all in one unit doesn't do it for me, never has never will.

 

[Ds2000]

I like that AMC speedometer looking tuning dial.

 

[Todd Dodds]

Neat. I can understand your fascination.

 

[maxhifi]

The volume knob looks like it means business! And old SONY stuff definitely has class... could do without that BSR though

 

[Katalyst]

Go look at it. Offer what you want to pay. If it is something you want and can get it, do it. No regrets later in life.

 

[OMGCat!]

If the price is right I'd probably pick it up. It seems like the perfect starter system to give to someone who doesn't have much room or isn't sure about getting into the hobby.

 

[HTWillie]

I'd try and get the sheep skin rug on the deal too.

 

[motorstereo]

I had one of those all in one Sony's a while back and they're finicky little buggers. If you do get it verify everything works first as they're not easy to work on and imo not worth the effort. There's more than likely a reason why speakers don't come with it.

 

[g..v]

IIRC, early 70s.

 

[Marine0811]

I just gave away a similar Sony unit, mine had a Garrard turntable on it

 

[audiojones]

Very cool, I like it! Looks to be in excellent condition too. Would look very nice displayed in a collection, too bad the speakers aren't with it. It's amazing that something can last this many years without being trashed, especially a unit like that which was aimed at the youth market and college dorm use. Sony, Fisher, Scott, KLH, Harman Kardon, Benjamin Miracord and a bunch of others made nice little systems like that with magnetic cartridges and decent little amp units. The sound quality of that little thing might surprise you. Probably dates back to around 1970 or thereabouts, before that Sony typically used Garrard changers in their phono systems. Their higher end systems used Dual turntables with full sized receiver units and bigger speakers.

 

[Tigerpaw07]

I'd try and get the sheep skin rug on the deal too.

 

[bshorey]

My first stereo was a Hitachi all in one. I almost immediately started upgrading, first by adding tweeters and then by tossing the whole thing and getting into real components. I know that pretty much all of the all in ones are lowfi at best.

But that doesn't stop me from wanting one, for nostalgia. What stops me is that I know it will end up in a closet, or taking up precious top of rack or table space.

You should buy it. With so few survivors, I'm really surprised that these things haven't gone crazy in pricing. Those of us that grew up with them are in the sweet spot with income. We buy so much other nostalgic junk, why not these?

bs

 

[Tigerpaw07]

Right now I am adding to a really nice (in my humble opinion) vintage and modern component system so my focus is there. This little one might be really nice in the garage though!

 

[Sandstrom]

It's so damn cute and brings back such great memories, thanks for bringing a smile to my day

 

[Ken Boyd]

A perfect example of what may people owned during what others think of as an era of Hi-Fi. I guess you could equate it to a Crosley of the past. Although I would much rather own the Sony.

 

[vwestlife]

That BSR record changer looks the same as the one in my 1971 Panasonic stereo system, and its performance is far better than you might expect!

 

[Ken Boyd]

That BSR record changer looks the same as the one in my 1971 Panasonic stereo system, and its performance is far better than you might expect!

Honestly I think the majority of members here know just what to expect from a table of that level, many of us owned one like it at one time in our life.

Tables of this nature is why the world marveled at the introduction of the CD.