Overpriced Vintage Equipment: You've gotta be kidding me!

[mandrix]

We have total crap for radio in NC Florida.
Lots of Country stations here, and I got no problem with Country music. I just don't wanna hear it every time I turn on my shop radio. I don't plug in earphones there for safety reasons so that eliminates Spotify.

I miss all the old Album Rock stations where you heard deep cuts often. I don't miss hearing Pat Benetar or the Pina Colada Song every-single-day on "Classic Rock" stations.

 

[pherbert]

I don't believe that to be true anymore. Most FM stations at least in Canada rarely mention their call letters but use nicknames instead, a practice that I despise. In the good old days radio stations mostly AM (but FM as well) identified themselves almost exclusively by call letters. The jingles (sung call letters) were played between almost every song, I loved it! Some combinations sounded very cool CKLW, CKFH, CKPR, CFRW, WDGY, WLS, KAAY, KOMA, CKRC just to name some of my favourites. At least CITI-FM (city) still uses their call sign as their nickname. Most of the now nicknamed stations are totally forgettable to me as is largely their content.

"CKLW, the Motor Cityyyyyy"
Growing up in Detroit I heard that jingle about a million times. Of course as soon as I discovered FM about 1970 that's all I wanted to listen to. I had to borrow the radio in my parents room, it was the only FM radio in the house. I'm sure my folks were horrified my the sounds coming out of that little radio on WABX.

 

[mandrix]

Florida people sing out if you know/remember any of these stations;
98 Rock

WYNF 95 in Tampa - I still have my "Pirate's Grog" mug. On display next to my, ahem, Miller pool tournament mug. Henry Paul of The Outlaws and Blackhawk used to sit in on the morning show as commentator.

Mount Dora, near Orlando. Can't remember call sign. Best damn album rock station I ever heard, long long gone.Everyone turned their car plates with the call letters upside down when the station changed formats, early 80's. It was not too long after Lennon was assassinated. Bloody awful years. Huge candlelight ceremony on Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland celebrating John's life, very spontaneous.

WSHE "She's only Rock & Roll" Fort Lauderdale I believe.

There was a good AM station in Tampa area that signed off at 6 PM every day with Aphrodite's Child 666.

104.5 Tallahassee "Gulf 104" now a wretched "Classic Rock" station. Do you like Pina Colada's? Getting caught in the rain?

WUSF @ University of South Florida in Tampa. First FM station to play rock in central Florida, albeit at first a few hours a week.

Could occasionally pick up KLS out of Chicago. Long ways for FM!

 

[mlrocker]

my first encounter with FM was a station broadcasting from Tampa I believe. I could only pick it up in the evening, and they played AOR cuts instead of the top 40. They played stuff from Diamond Dogs and Dave Loggins

 

[Sal1950]

FM's going to hell everywhere because the advertising dollars are drying up. Soon you won't be able to tell FM from AM. Sad but there are just too many options for music today with less or no commercials, better sound, etc

 

[mandrix]

FM's going to hell everywhere because the advertising dollars are drying up. Soon you won't be able to tell FM from AM. Sad but there are just too many options for music today with less or no commercials, better sound, etc

Ya know, I don't believe I've even heard an AM station in ages. The local outfit here had both AM & FM but the AM broadcast shut down years ago.
After a dead battery a few months ago switched my truck radio to AM unknown to me, I tuned up and down the dial and couldn't find a single station.

 

[MidiMagic]

We have 3 classic rock stations where I am.

And I use AM because the only station that carries the Indy 500 in my area is AM

 

[marpow]

You Gotta Be Fucking Kidding Me.
Florida and Los Angeles had the best radio stations. Where I live San Francisco, they always sucked. Thank God for MTV.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

You Gotta Be Fucking Kidding Me.
Florida and Los Angeles had the best radio stations. Where I live San Francisco, they always sucked. Thank God for MTV.

Video killed the radio star.
Edit: unless, I guess, you're Dire Straits.

 

[Quad Linda]

I hadn't visited this thread before. So, my comments address posts back to beginning.

Vintage Quad receivers are beautiful and have "curb appeal." So, I see why many folks covet them. But, they're left in the dust by separates manufactured "back then" or now. Apologies to anyone who owns one. "Sure, they're fun!" - Steve Martin

For my main system, I chose B&K separates with several of my Quad black boxes and tape decks connected. Curb appeal next to nil. Wanted Krell, but couldn't justify double the expense. 2800 REAL watts incl REL sub. Better dynamic range than a receiver.

IMHO, hall effect settings generally sound like crap. But, I love synthesized Quad. I prefer discrete Quad, but I have over 20,000 records in 1ch & 2ch. Need to upgrade to a Surround Master!

I counted 18 VU meters on my main system, and a Technics scope. Plus another 4 on a QRX-6500 I inherited a couple years ago that isn't connected. Didn't know where to put it, so it sits under the iMac for now. Inherited a QRX-5500, too. Yes, I KNOW these are mid-line. The price was right! Free. Still LOTS of curb appeal. And no wife to bitch about a wall full of gear in the living room! and another wall full in the bedroom...

Bedroom system is a Denon AVR-3801, again w/Quad decoder & demodulator. Curb appeal, eh. I like matrix and 5ch stereo positions. Still need to connect the Polk 12" sub I bought in late April. Polk T20's and a Mission sub for now. Life gets in the way!

Radio? Got free Sirius XM when I bought my convertible. Listened once. That's nice, but big deal. We subscribe for Joe's car. He listens to it, I don't. Dozens of channels on DirecTv which we also never listen to. AM/FM tuner that sounds great (for terrestrial radio) and is never used. It will p/u WSM Nashville Grand Old Opry on AM clearly.

Radio is mostly homogenous, as discussed. Just like Tang vs. fresh squeezed OJ. WXRT in Chicago offers varied rock styles. It and WFMT's classical are jewels, yet I never listen. I program myself and listen in higher fidelity than FM. Can p/u all the Chicago and Milwaukee stations, but don't care.

Sal, I grew up a couple miles from you and also listened to WLS-AM & WCFL. Silver Dollar Survey. Coolest radio show ever was Ron Britain's "Subterranean Circus" Sunday nights on CFL. A prog/underground rock program that played deep tracks and artists that didn't fit top 40. The kind of "way out" stuff I regularly bought. Moby Grape, Floyd, Spirit, Hendrix, Velvet Underground, Zappa, etc. Only problem was that"great fidelity" of AM.

Have had some killer car-fi over the years. '76 Buick Regal with a Q8 and auto reverse cassette, both on slide mounts. Which deck will I bring today? Next car had a Concord cassette w/dbx adapter. Then an Alpine cassette w/12" sub, 8ch of amps, and 6 CD changer in trunk.

Today, I have DVD-V/A factory nav with Boston Acoustics in my convertible, Alpine in my other car and Ford factory stuff in Joe's car.

My grandmother, who lived to 101 dated a Dentist for years who collected Avantis. He had the dough...

In high school, I worked for a man who had a Ferrari Berlinetta and his house was featured in Playboy. House burned down 20 years ago. Perhaps I'll have that kind of stuff when I grow up. Haven't grown up yet, though.

 

[mlrocker]

Here's my new quad receiver Pioneer VSX-819H 5.1 Channel 110 W ..$60

 

[Quad Linda]

Recently replaced the boom box in my laundry room with Onkyo TX-SR504 w/Polk S10's & Yamaha CDC-506 carousel. Got the receiver for $39.

 

[senorverde]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373721854615

 

[Quad Linda]

"Selector is finicky" says that nothing has been done to maintain/repair it.

A QQ member was kind enough to gift me an RS-858. I had one for a short while when they were new. Bought a RS-847 (player only) and an Akai CR-80DSS back in the day. Someone on Ebay was selling an Akai for $299, which is what it cost new. Technics decks have undersized motors for Quad tapes. Akai motor is more powerful. Technics has more creature featues and curb appeal.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

"Selector is finicky" says that nothing has been done to maintain/repair it.

A QQ member was kind enough to gift me an RS-858. I had one for a short while when they were new. Bought a RS-847 (player only) and an Akai CR-80DSS back in the day. Someone on Ebay was selling an Akai for $299, which is what it cost new. Technics decks have undersized motors for Quad tapes. Akai motor is more powerful. Technics has more creature featues and curb appeal.

That’s one heck of a QQ member buddy there Quad Linda!
I know you like your Akai for the better motor, but that Technics sure is a beaut!
Sounds like maybe the seller is just flipping it for high dollar

 

[senorverde]

"Selector is finicky" says that nothing has been done to maintain/repair it.

A QQ member was kind enough to gift me an RS-858. I had one for a short while when they were new. Bought a RS-847 (player only) and an Akai CR-80DSS back in the day. Someone on Ebay was selling an Akai for $299, which is what it cost new. Technics decks have undersized motors for Quad tapes. Akai motor is more powerful. Technics has more creature featues and curb appeal.

That and if memory serves Akais have a slightly better top end freq. response. The biggest complaints I've heard from Akai users are the heads going open and no lamps in the VU meters.

That’s one heck of a QQ member buddy there Quad Linda!
I know you like your Akai for the better motor, but that Technics sure is a beaut!
Sounds like maybe the seller is just flipping it for high dollar

I saw a similar one sold for that much not too long ago but it included a few tapes and some documentation printed off HiFi Engine (still grossly overpriced however).

I've just come to realize Q8s are the lazy man's way of getting into quad considering its library of popular titles and no-fuss discrete playback. Quad reel decks (your common 7" reel garden variety) seem pretty stable in price and I have a feeling that its lack of popular titles (other than a few notable RCA/Warner releases) is what keeps the prices down (disregarding Teac decks which are coveted for home musician multitrack ruse rather than their quad ability). At least we have our own Enoch the Rad cranking out new Q4 releases

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I've just come to realize Q8s are the lazy man's way of getting into quad considering its library of popular titles and no-fuss discrete playback.

I don't do Q8's because I've read too much on here about issues with tape, the gear, cart mechanisms etc. So I do believe you've gotta have a real passion for it to dive in and be pretty darn handy at fixing stuff.

 

[par4ken]

That and if memory serves Akais have a slightly better top end freq. response. The biggest complaints I've heard from Akai users are the heads going open and no lamps in the VU meters.



I saw a similar one sold for that much not too long ago but it included a few tapes and some documentation printed off HiFi Engine (still grossly overpriced however).

I've just come to realize Q8s are the lazy man's way of getting into quad considering its library of popular titles and no-fuss discrete playback. Quad reel decks (your common 7" reel garden variety) seem pretty stable in price and I have a feeling that its lack of popular titles (other than a few notable RCA/Warner releases) is what keeps the prices down (disregarding Teac decks which are coveted for home musician multitrack ruse rather than their quad ability). At least we have our own Enoch the Rad cranking out new Q4 releases

Q8's can be a nightmare, the foam pads rot and become sticky, the foil splice falls off. They are prone to failure. I've been able to fix many but many more ended up in the trash. Q4's are much much better but I've still had a few problems with squeaky, squealing tapes, warped reels etc. I haven't checked out any of Enoch's Q4's yet but I probably should, his prices seen very reasonable.

 

[senorverde]

I don't do Q8's because I've read too much on here about issues with tape, the gear, cart mechanisms etc. So I do believe you've gotta have a real passion for it to dive in and be pretty darn handy at fixing stuff.

For sure. It's definitely a gambler's format. Even if you replace the pads you still have to pop it open without having the tape fly out (red RCA Q8s are riveted!) and pray to the quad gods that the tape hasn't come loose from the center hub which I've had happen quite a few times during normal postal transit. Then there's a matter of splicing a new piece of foil tape and hoping the loop tension is just right. And after all that what do you get? A muffled sounding version of your favorite album complete with wow and flutter and the occasional crosstalk. And that's on a good day if your capstan still has some grip left to it. But hey! It's discrete!

I think a lot of people who praise the format have been spoiled with Akai and Technics units which shouldn't come as a surprise since they were TOTL for their day. But for the rest of us (even for burgeoning quad enthusiasts of the 70s) most affordable Q8 players only had a top end of 8KHz driven by a puny AC motor!

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Q8's can be a nightmare, the foam pads rot and become sticky, the foil splice falls off. They are prone to failure. I've been able to fix many but many more ended up in the trash. Q4's are much much better but I've still had a few problems with squeaky, squealing tapes, warped reels etc. I haven't checked out any of Enoch's Q4's yet but I probably should, his prices seen very reasonable.

Having never owned a Q8 tape or player, I have always wondered if they have that god awful hideous fade out > whirr > ka chunk > whirr > fade in like their stereo 8 track brethren? That would be enough right there to disown them.