C30, C60, C90, Go...
We are currently in the process of remodelling
our living area. We’ve ordered new
sofas, a cupboard and table, and are having the whole space redecorated over
the next couple of weeks.
At the moment we have a full on surround sound
home cinema system which I don’t think will fit in with our new décor, so I’ve
been looking at new fangled hi-fi stuff on the internet to replace the boxes
and speakers that currently provide our entertainment.
Anyway, this is taking me back to my teens when
I assembled a state of the art (to me) hi-fi separates system comprising a
turntable, amp, speakers and………..a cassette deck. Does anyone remember those? They were an essential piece of kit for any
serious hi-fi buff, but you had to get the right one. Mine was made by Aiwa, and was the subject of
rave reviews in the hi-fi magazines back in the day.
Being able to borrow friend’s albums and tape
them no doubt saved me a fortune. And
then there was the pleasure of making a mix tape for friends (or normally girls
I was trying to impress) or to play in the car.
This satisfied the techno geek in me as well: finding the loudest part
of an album and setting the recording level so the sound wouldn’t be clipped on
the recording, meant carefully using the oh-so hi-tech LED VU meters to make
sure the recording didn’t stray into the “red” for too long.
Then there was the choice of tape. Not just the make (TDK was my personal favourite)
but its physical coating. Should I go for
normal FE tape, chrome or, for that extra special recording (or girl) the best
metal tape available? And how long
should the tape be? Long enough to fit
the album on of course but not too long so as to leave unused tape.
Somehow I fear streaming music to whatever device I
buy (while no doubt being at the cutting edge of technology) will miss some of
the romance of the old analogue days and in particular the technological
highlight that was the cassette tape.
Ah, the good ole days........ ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't have to go too far to get back to the good old days......as far as the garage in fact. My early 80's system including a Technics twin cassette deck is alive and well and living out there complete with a selection of TDK tapes of recordings I did myself from borrowed albums. The sound quality is nowhere near as good as the now ancient CD but it was cutting edge at the time.......just!!!!!
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