Tell us about your stereo!

[Hypnotia]

My system.
Cambridge Audio A1 Amp. Age unknown. Sony XE220 CD Player. Both purchased for £20 from a mate who had them sitting on a shelf for at least 3 years and never used it

Audio Monitor BX1 Bronze Speakers

Simple but effective

 

[LG]

^^Nothing wrong with that set-up Hypnotia, and the price is right too.

 

[gcczep]

More dollars and sense...

Sometimes I wonder if I should keep it simple but knowledge is a dangerous thing in this hobby. Hypnotia’s gear is simple but better than entry level gear you find at Best Buy or a local Radio Shack taking nothing away from those establishments. The Cambridge Audio amp is aces.

From that set-up Sox posted, it is just outrageous. I agree with Bruce that the law of diminishing returns kicked in way past the overall price point of the rig. The only saving grace of it is the “wow” factor it is invoking. For the price of the turntable or amps alone, I could piece together an excellent system with more than have enough coin left over to purchase the vinyl and discs I would ever want. I heard of the Goldmund line but I can’t imagine they are THAT much better than top of the line units from say Krell, McIntosh, Parasound, Rotel or Cambridge Audio.

Messing about with my new toy the AKAI deck, it is interesting how the pre-recorded mass market tapes that I have sound dull in comparison to self recorded tapes off vinyl and CDs. I am hunting down these rare TEAC blank cassettes that look like mini reel to reels.

 

[gguerra]

Unfortunately I phased out cassettes years ago and gave my entire collection away. I did not even own a deck and I know they had a limited shelf life. I can reproduce the entire collection from CD's or at least anything that I care to reproduce. Just out of curiosity I searched for the Teac cassettes mentioned above and lo and behold fleabay has them at outrageous prices. I don't know if anyone is actually paying the asking prices but they start at around $50 a piece and go up from there .. Take a look...

Teac Cassette Tape | eBay

I personally preferred TDK SA and SA-X when I still used cassettes.

 

[gcczep]

Tapes

Unfortunately I phased out cassettes years ago and gave my entire collection away. I did not even own a deck and I know they had a limited shelf life. I can reproduce the entire collection from CD's or at least anything that I care to reproduce. Just out of curiosity I searched for the Teac cassettes mentioned above and lo and behold fleabay has them at outrageous prices. I don't know if anyone is actually paying the asking prices but they start at around $50 a piece and go up from there .. Take a look...

Teac Cassette Tape | eBay

I personally preferred TDK SA and SA-X when I still used cassettes.

Yep, did some research too and the asking price is extortionary. Oh hell, no. I have tapes on TDKs too. I also had Denons, BASFs and the usual Maxells.




^Gotta say though, they look sweet!

 

[Sox]

From that set-up Sox posted, it is just outrageous. I agree with Bruce that the law of diminishing returns kicked in way past the overall price point of the rig. The only saving grace of it is the “wow” factor it is invoking. For the price of the turntable or amps alone, I could piece together an excellent system with more than have enough coin left over to purchase the vinyl and discs I would ever want. I heard of the Goldmund line but I can’t imagine they are THAT much better than top of the line units from say Krell, McIntosh, Parasound, Rotel or Cambridge Audio.

The price of the turntable alone would set you up with a nice little house in the UK. It's crackers.

 

[gcczep]

Wheels and steals...

The price of the turntable alone would set you up with a nice little house in the UK. It's crackers.

Sox, that puts in into perspective... Each pre-amp on that set-up is the price of a reliable four door car alone. Yep, it's crazy.

 

[LG]

Yep, did some research too and the asking price is extortionary. Oh hell, no. I have tapes on TDKs too. I also had Denons, BASFs and the usual Maxells.




^Gotta say though, they look sweet!

I've got tons of tapes, and they aren't that old. I have 2 boxes of sealed Maxell "S" blanks ready to go, but before I do open them I'll re-record on the ones I have already. Going to replace the CD's I recorded with vinyl rips instead...just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I've had good luck with all the brands, TDK, Fuji, Sony, Maxell and as I messed around with them years ago I decided I liked the Cr02 formulations the best for sound quality.

 

[gguerra]

I remember these as being very good quality. TDK MA, MA-X, MA-R. A large part of the cassette shell was made of metal. The tape itself was metal oxide.



They are also very high priced on ebay. I regret giving them away now. I had several of these and even used they are worth some $'s

 

[gcczep]

Pedal to the metal...

^I have only one metal tape in my collection. I recorded on it an FM broadcast of a Page/Plant gig in San Jose so it's definitely a keeper. I'm with Bruce that chrome tapes sound so much better than the ordinary low noise ones.