uxwbill
Lurking in the Shadows
...and for those wondering what "it" is, I now have an 8-track player. 
Is it a score or junk? You decide! (I'm on the "score" side of things.)
I went out and hit the thrift stores last week and saw a fairly massive Panasonic 8-track player sitting amongst some records. After that, I got a cold and spent all week feeling miserable. When I got to feeling better, I went back and grabbed it. There was a method to my madness...my grandfather has numerous 8-tracks in his basement and I wanted to listen to some of them.
What I ended up with is a Panasonic RS-847 US playback-only model. It's ready for quadraphonic playback, so whenever that becomes the next big thing...I'm ready.
To my delight, after fishing out some piece of plastic labeled as being a "tape protector", it works perfectly. Of course, it ought to. At some fourteen and change pounds, you could fight a war with the thing and not break it. Although the metal face could use a good cleaning, there is not a mark on the wooden casing or any other part.
Its internals are impressive. The drive motor alone is huge.
I also got the owner's manual, a sheet with service center locations and half of the warranty registration card, all sealed neatly in the zip-locking bag that they probably came in when new. On the remaining half of the warranty card was the date purchased, price paid plus tax, ticket number and name of the store where it was purchased...someone bought it on December 5th, 1972 from a "Diener Stereo" (located in Champaign, IL), paying 99.95 and another five dollars (tax?) for it.
I wish that a copy of the sales ticket would have been included.
As mentioned above, it still seems to work nearly as well as the day it was made. Right now I think it could use a head cleaning and possibly a run with the demagnetizing wand.
The last time I listened to an 8-track (prior to last night) was in my aunt's old 1970s-something Ford Thunderbird, in the early 90s. I was a kid back then and remember being terribly confused when I discovered that the "tape player" in her car could not play my cassettes. So I listened to one of her 8-tracks instead. I remember the experience as an interesting one. That deck had some problems, in particular, a loud hiss was all that came from some of the speakers.
I wouldn't call it "high fidelity", maybe "lower mid-fi". The Panasonic didn't sound bad, both pitch and speed stability seemed to be very good, with some rolling off of the high end. Plus, there was something about that "clunk" as it switched tracks and finally ejected the cartridge. Not too bad of a performance from a 38+ year old unit! :thmbsp:
Is it a score or junk? You decide! (I'm on the "score" side of things.)I went out and hit the thrift stores last week and saw a fairly massive Panasonic 8-track player sitting amongst some records. After that, I got a cold and spent all week feeling miserable. When I got to feeling better, I went back and grabbed it. There was a method to my madness...my grandfather has numerous 8-tracks in his basement and I wanted to listen to some of them.
What I ended up with is a Panasonic RS-847 US playback-only model. It's ready for quadraphonic playback, so whenever that becomes the next big thing...I'm ready.
To my delight, after fishing out some piece of plastic labeled as being a "tape protector", it works perfectly. Of course, it ought to. At some fourteen and change pounds, you could fight a war with the thing and not break it. Although the metal face could use a good cleaning, there is not a mark on the wooden casing or any other part.
Its internals are impressive. The drive motor alone is huge.
I also got the owner's manual, a sheet with service center locations and half of the warranty registration card, all sealed neatly in the zip-locking bag that they probably came in when new. On the remaining half of the warranty card was the date purchased, price paid plus tax, ticket number and name of the store where it was purchased...someone bought it on December 5th, 1972 from a "Diener Stereo" (located in Champaign, IL), paying 99.95 and another five dollars (tax?) for it.
I wish that a copy of the sales ticket would have been included.
As mentioned above, it still seems to work nearly as well as the day it was made. Right now I think it could use a head cleaning and possibly a run with the demagnetizing wand.
The last time I listened to an 8-track (prior to last night) was in my aunt's old 1970s-something Ford Thunderbird, in the early 90s. I was a kid back then and remember being terribly confused when I discovered that the "tape player" in her car could not play my cassettes. So I listened to one of her 8-tracks instead. I remember the experience as an interesting one. That deck had some problems, in particular, a loud hiss was all that came from some of the speakers.
I wouldn't call it "high fidelity", maybe "lower mid-fi". The Panasonic didn't sound bad, both pitch and speed stability seemed to be very good, with some rolling off of the high end. Plus, there was something about that "clunk" as it switched tracks and finally ejected the cartridge. Not too bad of a performance from a 38+ year old unit! :thmbsp:
