We had this in my house growing up
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I plug everything up to my AVR besides my Xbox and PlayStation. I use eArc for them, since HDMI 2.1 sometimes can be finicky on my AVR even though it has it.
Yeah, I remember them finding all sorts of issues around the launch of the new consoles, since they were the first proper test for the HDMI 2.1 AVRs.
My AVR is only a 2.0, but I found it could actually pass 120Hz at 1080p because that's what my 2017 TV supports.
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Yeah I found this which was more like what we had.
This is what we had, with no TV. You could store records in the center section.
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This is what we had, with no TV. You could store records in the center section.
Yep totally remember the record slot part. I would love to take one of these and modernize it. Not sure how but it would be cool anachronistic tech.
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My best friend had this (1980s) and he also had something I've never seen before or since: an 8-track recorder. We would make mix tapes on the thing and take them to parties - where we were extremely, extremely unpopular because our 8-track mix tapes had shit like Laurie Anderson and Ultravox and Jon and Vangelis songs on them. Also the tapes played back at 125% speed so everybody sounded a bit like the Chipmunks.
Personally, I find the current vinyl craze kind of amusing. I spent the first ten years of my listening life with LPs and the moment I got my first CD player that was the end of that shit forever. The clicks and pops and the physical PITA of taking records out of their sleeves and setting the stylus down somewhere to hear a particular song and then cleaning the record and putting it back was just so incredibly annoying. The only good thing about LPs was (is) the cover art; as a huge Yes fan growing up I should perhaps appreciate that more, but it wasn't enough to offset the negatives.
I'm with you on the vinyl. I was glad to get rid of it, and the pops and clicks, the need to clean every record before playing, etc
Years later, I came to realize that the whole ritual of removing the LP from its various sleeves, carefully handling it by the edges, checking for warps, blowing off the loose dust, carefully setting it on the platter, carefully cleaning it with a Discwasher or some other system, them finally carefully setting the needle down, only to do it all again in 20 minutes when you flip the record, and then reversing the entire process to put it away, became a ritual that gave the playing of a record a feeling of importance, as if it were an important cultural experience. By doing that often, it became exactly that, and a person's record collection became an important indicator of their personality. Music felt important, an integral part of a person's being, all because we treated it almost like a religious ritual.
Today, music seems so disposable.
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Yep totally remember the record slot part. I would love to take one of these and modernize it. Not sure how but it would be cool anachronistic tech.
I've thought of that, too, but they take up so much space. I can create a much better performing and sounding audio system in a much smaller space. This much floor real estate could house a shelf that could hold hundreds of LPs (or CDS).
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Honestly, has there been any progress of high end speakers? On the low end sure, high end not so sure.
Compared with the 1980's? IMO, absolutely, yes. At the very least we have stronger stationary magnets (neodymium) that make for more compact designs. They also need to hold up for higher and lower-end frequencies, due to how music has changed. I think the media used to make speaker cones uses more composites these days, instead of just stiff paper.
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Honestly, has there been any progress of high end speakers? On the low end sure, high end not so sure.
Progress has been steady as far as I can tell. We have a much better understanding of the physics now and much better material engineering.
The problem is that anything "high end" in the audio space is either for professional use, or for audiophiles, aka, expensive as all heck.
You'll probably need another mortgage to get a setup like this working in modern days with all the up to date bells and whistles.
Don't get me wrong, if you spend the cash, it will sound amazing. There's some question as to what actually helps with sound quality and what is audiophile snake oil, but even with the snake oil, it sounds great; it just costs more than it would without the snake oil, and separating the snake oil from the stuff that actually improves the sound is a nightmare.
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Honestly, aging capacitors and cracked motor drive belts aside, a complete hi-fi is a thing of beauty. And it's supposed to be, hence the showy front and glass case to keep the dust off.
I'm no audiophile, but with refurbished power supplies, updated noise reduction* & EQ, and modern speaker technology, that setup would be an old media blasting beast.
* - for the uninitiated, or if you're old enough to smell OP's photo, the way tape-hiss intrudes on music is just hot garbage by today's standards. So, having a way to mitigate it would be strongly advised.
Yes, but how does Huey Lewis sound on it?
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The audio equivalent of having a homelab
I feel called out
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I grew up with vacuum tube TV, (we got one channel, maybe a second if the weather was right), and reel to reel tape players.
I still remember the TV not working and my Father pulling it away from the wall and removing the back to look for the burnt out tube. Then since this generally happened on a Friday evening, (no Saturday cartoons), we had to wait until Monday to drive into town and go to the drug store to test and search for a replacement tube.
When I got to be a teen, I remember listening to the local am rock radio station and waiting for hours for the latest hit to come on so we could record it on a portable cassette recorder. Both my sisters spent many evenings doing that. We were sailing the high seas of piracy before it even existed.
Ahhh, those were the days. I'm so glad we don't need to do that shit anymore.
Fun fact, recording stuff from the radio is not piracy. There's actually an exemption for broadcast recordings specifically.
Also, I have similar memories.
I too am old.
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I've thought of that, too, but they take up so much space. I can create a much better performing and sounding audio system in a much smaller space. This much floor real estate could house a shelf that could hold hundreds of LPs (or CDS).
Yeah they were quite huge.
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I was 4 years old, listening to a record on headphones connected to this rig. Leaned too far back, and caught the 1/4 inch input jack on the headphones right in my fucking eyeball.
Still use my stereo system, obviously upgraded from that cheap plastic rca junk but still. I've never not had a stereo system. Funny how it was the norm, now its rare for any human to have ever heard music not on shitty earbuds. Makes me sad. And explains why popular music sounds horrible. No one's ever listened to it on an actual home system.
*im talking about the population spoon fed corpo pop that most people (usually young) listen to. There is amazing music being made today but it actually takes effort to find now.
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Yes, I am that old. Yes, I miss physical buttons to play and rewind, along with a decent wheel to adjust volume without fixed steps.
I also miss when placing the speakers separate of each other was the normal and expected behavior. The idea of Stereo.
But above all, I miss dynamic range. And that's not because of the gear, but of the recordings.
The scary part is people are conditioned to like 0 dynamic range now. Dynamics scare them.
Thank goodness we have old recordings where the sound actually mattered and engineers took it seriously!
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Yes, but how does Huey Lewis sound on it?
I've got news for you
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I'm with you on the vinyl. I was glad to get rid of it, and the pops and clicks, the need to clean every record before playing, etc
Years later, I came to realize that the whole ritual of removing the LP from its various sleeves, carefully handling it by the edges, checking for warps, blowing off the loose dust, carefully setting it on the platter, carefully cleaning it with a Discwasher or some other system, them finally carefully setting the needle down, only to do it all again in 20 minutes when you flip the record, and then reversing the entire process to put it away, became a ritual that gave the playing of a record a feeling of importance, as if it were an important cultural experience. By doing that often, it became exactly that, and a person's record collection became an important indicator of their personality. Music felt important, an integral part of a person's being, all because we treated it almost like a religious ritual.
Today, music seems so disposable.
Thats exactly it.
Plus a lot of music now is INSANELY crushed to the point the only listenable version IS the record because they physically can't squash the life out of it.
Check out no more tears cd vs the record. Mind blowingly improved on the record. Same with rush vapor trails (sadly the worst victim of the loudness wars).
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You call that old? It's got one of those fancy, new-fangled CD players! Not old at all.
I dont feel like vhs tapes and cds are old at all. People were foolish throwing away all their media for corporate owned garbage streaming.
Cds were honestly the perfect form. You still get physical media. You can rip it. Its portable. Its perfect. Reel tape of course is peak audio of all time but insane expense.
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Why do you need to hit me like this... Right now i'm fixing my dad's old telefunken hifi. I'm a lot younger than that generation. But my first taste of music was on that motherfucker with old cassettes and radio...
Fuck how am i nostalgic of a time i only saw the aftermath of?
Don't worry. I feel about 40 years older than I am because I didn't follow trends, preferred old tech, and am a cheap ass. I can talk to a 70 year old like I was their buddy in high school hahah
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I was 4 years old, listening to a record on headphones connected to this rig. Leaned too far back, and caught the 1/4 inch input jack on the headphones right in my fucking eyeball.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Love to spend $3000 in 1980s money to get the sound quality of a modern day $150 pair of headphones. Also, really cool to dedicate a full wall of my house to a series of machines that will be obsolete inside six months. Double plus also too, the music cassette was a garbage medium for a garbage era.
Anyone old enough to remember this can tell you about the day they turned a refrigerator sized cabinet of music into
this little guy. Absolutely changed my life.
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I was 4 years old, listening to a record on headphones connected to this rig. Leaned too far back, and caught the 1/4 inch input jack on the headphones right in my fucking eyeball.
Separate Tuner, Cassette Deck, Amplifier, CD player, Equalizer, and Turntable?
I am old enough and if that system were in good shape I would set it up in my living room right now. Would probably leave the cassette deck and CD player in storage though.
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Yes, but how does Huey Lewis sound on it?
LOL.
On CD? Almost as good as a new drug.
