Who remembers THESE (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3638&item=6167674386) little cuties?

Either that's a really big cup of mud, or that set is smaller than I remember it.

No, Anthony, they're THAT small. I have one-it's in decent shape & works.-Sandy G.

Whoa! I almost got one of those when I was a teenager!! The store (Two Guys) only wanted $90, but that was serious buckage in those days. Thank you for the pix!!!
Tom

There's one of these l'il guys on You-Know-Where right now w/31/2 hrs left for $36.00. Its item #616767386. Looks like it works pretty well, too.I remember seeing these when I went to Noo Yawk w/my family in summer '69. Couldn't cajole my dad into one of 'em, though.-Sandy G.

I remember seeing these when I went to Noo Yawk w/my family in summer '69. Couldn't cajole my dad into one of 'em, though.-Sandy G.
If you mean the boatload of camera and electronics stores around Times Square back then, I remember those places! It was my first trip to NYC in 1971 and I was 12, and was totally mesmerized by the city. The memories are still as fresh in my mind today as if it were yesterday! :yes:
Tom

Whatever happened to style? You never see anything as creative as that in the newer sets. I can think of many radios, record players and televisions when I was growing up that were at least interesting to look at. The new stuff has all the charm of a toaster-oven.

That toaster over remark reminded me of way back when banks would tempt you to open a new account by giving away toasters etc.......which led to a Polish bank's bankruptcy, seems that if you brought in a toaster they'd give you $50. Thank you and good night! Try the veal!

Those sleezebag stores still pervade NY as well as San Fran. These operations are the lowest of the low, you'd get a better deal from those fellers in the white vans.

Anthony

HI, I have two of these, one is a parts set if anybody needs anything. The other one I received as a gift in 1969 and still going strong.
Richard

I had a wacky-ass dream once that I was back in NooYawk w/my folks, & went down the "TV/Radio street" & all these little guys were COLOR instead of dumb ol' black & white....and there were several different sizes of 'em, & they ALL wanted to come home w/me....Alas & alack, I STILL couldn't talk my iold man into any of 'em...<Sigh>-Sandy G.

(said like those old Philip Morris commercials)

"Call for Hair-ree Po-ster!"

HI, I have two of these, one is a parts set if anybody needs anything. The other one I received as a gift in 1969 and still going strong.
Richard
didnt you have a dead crt in one of those?
seems to be the sore spot .
what is the size and number of the crt?
i wound up with a bunch of tiny crt's and it would be nice if they fit these sets.

Was that Symphonic made by Funai? What's the quality like? Funai has been making bottom of the pile junk for as long as I can remember, but were they good at one time? A TV like that would have been pretty high end back then.

Most of these little guys I've seen on the E-place DO work-or at least produce a raster. I would think they were not used 18/7-or more- like the "real" TV in the den or living room was. And they are getting close to the 40-yr-old mark-maybe Funai made 'em, but did a little better job than they do now.-Sandy G.

Was that Symphonic made by Funai? What's the quality like? Funai has been making bottom of the pile junk for as long as I can remember, but were they good at one time? A TV like that would have been pretty high end back then.
Speaking of Funai Ltd., they now have control of the Emerson, Magnavox and Sylvania nameplates. I bought a little Emerson TV/DVD stereo combo last year on the "orphan aisle" at Fart-Mart for a measly $78.00. One of the ribbon cables wasn't seated properly and the DVD wouldn't work as a result. It was an easy fix. Actually, the build quality inside isn't all that bad. Typical modern stuff. Gold band resistors, Nichicon caps, etc. Nice pic quality. It's missing a few features that would have been nice (previous channel return for one). Mine was this horrid flat metallic silver. While it was apart, I masked off the control panel, removed the speakers, pic tube and dvd drawer and painted it with dark charcoal hammertone paint. It looks real classy now!

The original Symphonic that would have sold this set went out of business in the early 70's...was an American owned company I believe, but this little set may have been made in Japan.

Speaking of Funai Ltd., they now have control of the Emerson, Magnavox and Sylvania nameplates. I bought a little Emerson TV/DVD stereo combo last year (...)

I think all Emerson TVs and VCRs are made by Funai, but I don't think that's true of Magnavox and Sylvania TVs. I think the Magnavox brand name is still owned by Philips, and Philips makes their 'regular' TVs. I used to think the Sylvania name was also owned by Philips, but now it seems to be owned by Osram instead (or did Osram own it before, but sub-licensed it to Philips..?), but I dunno who still makes their TVs. However, I think Funai is one of the few companies that makes combo TVs, so most combos you see are made by Funai regardless of the nameplate.

Speaking of Funai, I bought a Symphonic (Funai) Hi-Fi VCR a few years ago to use as a spare. Out of curiousity I opened it up a while back and just couldn't believe how few moving parts there were inside that thing..! Wow. Especially when you consider how the typical VHS VCR from the late 70's had such an incredible maze of belts and motors and gears, it's amazing to see how simplified they've managed to get these mechanisms. Also interesting about this VCR is the almost complete lack of connecting cables on the inside-- the mechanism portion of the VCR basically just "plugs into" the PC board just by pressing the mechanism down onto its mounting points and driving the mounting screws in place. Some of the microswitches and even the tape-end IR LED and sensor are actually mounted directly on the PC board itself rather than attached to the mechanism, presumably to reduce the number of electrical connections even further.

Those Funai VCRs tended to have power supply failures. Typically, they would lose regulation for one reason or another. Since they lacked any overvoltage protection, this would destroy the power supply along with the rest of the VCR. They also had lots of mechanical problems.

I used to HATE those VCRs when I repaired VCRs as a teenager. So many people would pay about twice as much for the Magnavox name only to get the same VCR as a Symphonic! Even Sony used a Funai mechanism in some of their mid 90's VCRs (although it was an 80's Funai design).

Sylvania and Philco VCRs were always made by Panasonic in the 80's, but I know Philips was behind them. It wasn't until the 90's that they switched to Funai.

Most Emerson TVs and VCRs I've seen were made by a company called Orion. They weren't quite as bad as Funai. Some even used rebranded Zenith CRTs.

Believe it ro not, Funai is a Japanese company, but they made junk that put today's Chinese junk look pretty good.

I have one of those Magnavox Funai VCR's that I got as a Christmas gift back in 1996 or so, it's still working, although I can count on one hand the time I have actually played video tapes since I got direct TV and DVD.

I think the deal with Sylvania was that when GTE sold the consumer electronics arm to Philips they did not sell the name, only licensed it. If you look at an old parts box or ad for NAP from the 80s it will list Philco/Magnavox/Sylvania, but Sylvania will have a little (r) next to it. Eventually GTE sold the rest of Sylvania to Osram. I was wondering if maybe Osram had discontinued the agreement with Philips & just leased the name to Funai. In the last year the big-box stores have filled up with new Sylvania junk.

Sylvania is listed on Funai's home page as one of their brands. It looks like they also own the Emerson brand now. I wonder what happened to Orion?

I'm not sure Andy, but I bought a "higher-end" 13" Toshiba TV/DVD Combo. The damn thing broke within 2 months. (worked fine when I turned it off and the next time I turned it on it was deader than a door nail, except for a loud hum and tripping a circuit breaker) Took the back off to have a look and it had an Orion picture tube in it. Was surprised as I thought Toshiba still used the "Black Stripe" tube branding. So I would guess Orion makes the combo's for Toshiba? Anyway.... took the set back and exchanged it for the same model. Got that set home, and the TV worked but the DVD part was dead. Returned the damn thing and got my money back.

Come to think of it, most of the TV/DVD combos I've seen lately were made by Orion. That included Toshiba and RCA. I forgot all about that.

I'm not sure Andy, but I bought a "higher-end" 13" Toshiba TV/DVD Combo. The damn thing broke within 2 months. (worked fine when I turned it off and the next time I turned it on it was deader than a door nail, except for a loud hum and tripping a circuit breaker) Took the back off to have a look and it had an Orion picture tube in it. Was surprised as I thought Toshiba still used the "Black Stripe" tube branding. So I would guess Orion makes the combo's for Toshiba? Anyway.... took the set back and exchanged it for the same model. Got that set home, and the TV worked but the DVD part was dead. Returned the damn thing and got my money back.

For Christmas of 2002, I bought Mom a DVD/VCR combo at sears, the Toshiba model and the VCR record function died. I could play DVD's and tape but cannot record. Don't know when it died, must have been early 2003 because at the time I fell on ice getting out of my truck, cut my left hand open on the pinky side, got stitched, got infected with strep (I almost lost my hand or part of it, got a huge scar, nerve damage and it feels awkward), spent time in the hospital for 5 days including surgery and long therapy sessions. Well during my ordeal, I was going to buy the warranty but I did not go for it since I had to deal with all of this. Well, I took it back to Sears and after talking to them and listened to my story, I was able to return it and get another Toshiba, one that is a little better. Well, at least I had a positive experience although for a little while, I thought I was headed to a fight.

Come to think of it, most of the TV/DVD combos I've seen lately were made by Orion. That included Toshiba and RCA. I forgot all about that.

You still get Orion stuff here in the UK as well - mainly through Littlewoods catalogues (and the like) and Index (a bit like our Argos catalogue shops on the high streets). I always assumed they were crap...

So Tosh combis are Orions too? What about Samsungs?

I've always been a seperates guy myself :)

BTW - I had TWO Sony VHS machines in 1996-97 - both of which died (one after the other, both rented machines); I'm willing to BET the mechs in those were Funai - bloody mechanical noise, and the first machine developed noise on the hifi recordings as well. I've NEVER gone near Sony for anything other than MD or TVs since (had bad experience of their DVD and CD players).

As an aside, last time I was at our old school (for a reunion, summer 2004) they STILL had their original 1978 Panasonic top loading VHS - STILL going strong! The only thing that broke on it was the usual belts, and it needed a new head in 1985 IIRC. Now THAT'S craftsmanship! I still miss that "vrrrooooup!" noise the head drum made as the motor for it span up - it used to break through into the audio while the tape was lacing up - pure class!

I got a Sansui combo VCR/DVD writer. Sansui, mind you. Not that I was expecting a really high-class machine, but imagine my shock when I saw that it was made by Orion!

Orion, couldyoudie?

When Sony sold TV/VCR combos, they were made by Goldstar using a Sony CRT. They made the on screen display look like Sony's. They even added a delay to blank the screen for the first 10 seconds after turn on to simulate Sony's auto CRT bias circuit.

jeezzzz even Sony? I shouldn't be surprised. I know this is somewhat off this topic, but I found out some newer Sony's don't even use a Trinitron tube. They can't even afford to put out the once outstanding quality device they used to. Some of their sets use standard cheap off brand tubes. In another post awhile back I vented on how I returned my new 24" Sony Wega after 3 days because the picture was so AWFUL.

My grandparents have a "Zenith" 19" TV/VCR in their bedroom. The CRT is made by Orion, but I don't know who made the rest of it. It's about 5 years old, and made in Thailand.

I have a Symphonic SE436D VCR from 1996. It was an xmas gift. But amazingly, it is still in use by me 9 years later. And I use it a lot (although it is just one of like 15 VCRs I have as I collect older VHS/Beta VCRs.) Amazingly, this one actually handles the tape much better than some of my VCRs, and the HIFI audio sounds great on it. It even tracks extremely well. But mine seems to be just the exception, not the rule. I don't understand why mine works so well. People have given me so many of those Funai VCRs to fix. Junk... My parents had a spare Symphonic, and it either ate tapes (cheap mode switch problem), the HIFI audio never tracked correctly, and it went into the garbage the day the worm gear on the loading mechanism broke in half.

I also have a Go Video (Goldstar) DVD+VHS combo from 2 years ago that is actually hooked to all my TVs via a video distribution amp. I am actually surprised at that thing too. It was cheaper than other combos in price. Yet it works extremely well. Although right when I bought it, I had to take it back because the DVD drive was dead.

But it seems like most VCRs after the early 90's went to junk. Those older VCRs were real VCRs. I got VCRs older than me that still work great on all original parts aside from new belts and a cleaning. A coworker gave me a 1985 Magnavox (Panasonic clone). A rather feature rich model that has linear stereo with Dolby B noise reduction, microphone inputs, etc. All it needed was a new rubber tire on the idler after all those years. I am surprised that almost all of the prerecorded VHS tapes all have linear stereo with Dolby B, even as of late.

I think if you go to the big box electronics store and turn every dvd, vcr, combo unit and tv around, you'll find the words "Made in China" printed on the back. There are probably 2 or 3 Chinese factories turning out this junk for the whole world. Oh, and be sure and turn all those rigs back around so you don't piss off the management.


-Steve D.

I've been very happy with my vcr, bought 12-31-99 @ Wally World, a genuine Made in JAPAN Panasonic. One of several later model Panasonic products I've had that really impressed me. This VCR took, I think, a little lightning once cause I was walking through the room during a very bad lightning storm & heard an evil crackling from that vicinity. Since then the tv/vcr switch has not worked right. Other than that, no problems. Interesting, on the box it came in it stated, in large blurbs all over the box MADE IN JAPAN! so obviously they knew that we knew it stood for something!

My Sony VCR is about 3-4 years old and has been great, it gets a LOT of use too.
It was fairly cheap for a Hi-Fi unit and it wasn't very heavy so I wasn't expecting much.

I just looked and it was made in "Malaysia"

Funny how "Made in the U.S.A." used to mean quality and "Made in Japan" meant junk...well not really funny but you know what I mean. :gigglemad

I can remember when "MAde in Korea" meant junk, but now Samsung and LG are considered quality companies my most. I wonder when "Made in China" will be seen as a good thing. I can see it happening. They already make some pretty sophisticated products, but don't work out all the bugs before they sell them.

Couldn't agree more......when I tell youngsters there was a time when we'd look at the bottom of something and see "Made In Japan" we'd put it back down in disgust of the crappiness.....they cannot understand that! Not until I tell them that it was the equivalent to today's "Made In China" Then they get it!

Anthony

Does anyone know if there are ANY US made sets now? I tried to "Google" and couldn't find a one. Here was an interesting article I found as to why that is to. Kinda sad.... http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/article.print?id=204

Seems like I remember some Sharp and Panasonic sets that were "Assembled in U.S.A." from U.S. and foreign components...don't know if they are that way anymore. There is the company in Tennesee that was the former Magnavox plant, don't know if they are still manufacturing.

I would say that you would be very hard pressed to find a company even assembling tv sets in the U.S. Even a non-union operation. Just basic economics as outlined in the previous post would prove this out. You can't pay American salaries and benefits to turn out a product and expect to compete with China i.e. in the marketplace. After figuring in all the costs from labor (salaries, health & welfare, pensions ect.) to plant overhead, parts and distribution, you would be selling your product at a net loss per unit. The current problem with U.S.auto makers is a good example of the next major industry to exit this country.That effort is already underway. General Motors is expected to have the worse sales record in it's history this quarter. They've dropped the Oldsmbile line and expect to drop either Pontiac or Buick in the near future. But that's getting off topic, and a long way from this original thread.

-Steve D.

I think that Five Rivers Electronics plant (on one of these threads) mostly assembles sets for Samsung. If I had to guess I would say they would be bigger screen sets. Saw some remanufactured sets the other day in a store & they had American flags on them but I didn't go look. One of the "second tier" makes like Samsung or Orion or something.

I think a lot of projection sets are assembled in the US because it's expensive to ship a huge mostly empty box. Sony makes virtually all their CRTs used in US market TVs in the US.

I saw a story on TV pretty recently about what they said was the last US TV manufacturer and the problems they were having with a Chinese company. Apparently the US company was accusing a Chinese company of unfair business practices in court and Wal-Mart sent in their own lawyers to fight for the Chinese side.

I know that Panasonic does or did have a plant back east and that Sony at least used to build their big screens in the former VW factory in Pennsy (they may still)

Last I heard, that Tennessee factory won their battle against the chinese dumping product and the US imposed some form of tariff which is essentially being given to the American company to offset their loss of production.

Anthony

Orion has been in Canada for about 5 years and the quality of the VCRs seem quite good. I bought an Orion VR5000 at a garage sale - it had hifi and 4 heads plus a badly designed remote. The chassis had plenty of steel and the machine had a decent mechanism which appears to come from JVC.

It did not look like the bare bones mechanism that Funai uses in their Emerson and other brand VCRs (which I swear could float on water).

Orion actually bases itself in Hungary and probably made a deal with Funai to make cheap VCRs to gain brand recognition in North America. In Europe they sell a neat line of multi-standard and higher end VCRs. They fought a lawsuit over patents in US courts with Funai and Orion may have gone its own way.

I can remember when "MAde in Korea" meant junk, but now Samsung and LG are considered quality companies my most. I wonder when "Made in China" will be seen as a good thing. I can see it happening. They already make some pretty sophisticated products, but don't work out all the bugs before they sell them.

ARE YOU SURE??? My Samsung combi (grill/convection/micro) microwave has firmware issues - it only cooks above 200 degrees C if you heat from cold - try to preheat and it only maintains the temperature when it feels like it! Also, my old Samsung E700, and the newer E800 that's replaced it, BOTH have the same bug (you go to SMS texts and scroll down the received list, and sometimes the person's name doesn't appear until you go down-then-up the list). OH, and ALL Samsung region 2 PAL DVD players (first gen to last years') have issues with some discs (putting subtitles up when you don't ask) - so Koreans can't debug either.

I bought Samsung mobiles because my mate Kenny used to design and build their RF amps and do all the fourier analysis on the codecs. He's a total genius and the performance of making calls on them is much better (in my experience) than the equivalent Sony/Ericson and Nokia models :)

I said most people seem to see them as quality, but I'm still not convinced. They are certainly a lot better than they used to be.

Software bugs seem to be the norm in modern electronics. My Toshiba DVD player has numerous annoying bugs. My Philips DVD recorder has a timer that's almost unusable because of the bugs and this is after about 5 updates. My Bose wave radio won't go from bright to dim when the alarm is on. My JVC SVHS VCR won't rewind at full speed unless you push menu while it's rewinding. My Sony dolby digital receiver occasionally won't produce any sound when turned on and has to be unplugged to reset it. I frequently have to reset my Toshiba PDA to get the wireless adapter to turn on. I could go on, but you get the idea. In software, close is good enough.

Programmers use hammers?

Anthony

Whatever happened to style? You never see anything as creative as that in the newer sets. I can think of many radios, record players and televisions when I was growing up that were at least interesting to look at. The new stuff has all the charm of a toaster-oven.

You can say that again! I see the small TV/AM/FM sets in discount and drug stores all the time, and yes, they don't look anywhere as nice as the original Symphonics, etc. of the '60s-'70s. They are about as nicely styled (!) as today's color TVs in black plastic cube cabinets. The Korean, Japanese, etc. electronics firms turning out these small sets (which probably don't last very long--one good knock or drop and there goes the CRT or the main circuit panel :eek: The CRTs in those sets probably don't last long either; if the set is used a lot, the tube will probably give out within a year or less) just don't have the sense of style the American TV manufacturers had in "the olden days" of the '50s through the '70s. The price tags on the new sets bear this out. Twenty bucks or less (I've actually seen these going for far less than $20--one time at a discount house I saw one for $11.97, and I swear I saw one a while ago for $9.99 listed in a catalog) for a new portable TV, with or without the AM/FM radio, seems incredible even in this day and age. How the stores that sell these cheapies can turn a profit on them is beyond me. :dunno: As I always say of things like this, go figure.

Pardon me for bringing this thread back on topic.....but I always thought the TV in question reminded me somewhat of Spock's Tricorder.

Anthony

Yeah, it did...Did you ever have one? Got one now ? They ARE cute little buggers, cuter than the 1.5" Panasonics of the '80s...I've seen 'em in both white & black cases..Mine is black.-Sandy G.

A fiend of the family had one of these sets so I got a chance to play with one way back when. Can't recall for sure, but for some reason I keep thinking there was a cover that clipped on the front to "close up" and protect the face......not sure, might be thinking of something else.

Anthony

Speaking of Funai, I bought a Symphonic (Funai) Hi-Fi VCR a few years ago to use as a spare. Out of curiousity I opened it up a while back and just couldn't believe how few moving parts there were inside that thing..! Wow. Especially when you consider how the typical VHS VCR from the late 70's had such an incredible maze of belts and motors and gears, it's amazing to see how simplified they've managed to get these mechanisms. Also interesting about this VCR is the almost complete lack of connecting cables on the inside-- the mechanism portion of the VCR basically just "plugs into" the PC board just by pressing the mechanism down onto its mounting points and driving the mounting screws in place. Some of the microswitches and even the tape-end IR LED and sensor are actually mounted directly on the PC board itself rather than attached to the mechanism, presumably to reduce the number of electrical connections even further.

Yes, but these new VCRs don't last as long as the early VHS and Betamax machines did. I once had a Panasonic VCR with VCR Plus that ate a tape after only two years. I opened it to get the cassette out and wound up wrecking the mechanism. :( The next day I ordered a new Panasonic VCR from H. H. Gregg which has lasted two years and is still working, but for how long is anybody's guess. There may not be as many belts, etc. in these new VCRs as there were in earlier models, but the mechanism which is there is made almost entirely of plastic. It is no wonder these machines don't last longer than two or three years, but then again, VCRs were never meant to last years as the older TVs and radios often do. A friend of mine has his late father's Curtis Mathes VCR, which was new some 20+ years ago; the machine still works for playing back tapes, but doesn't record anymore. His father had the VCR repaired once or twice during those 20-odd years, but the machine cost something on the order of $800 when new so it was probably worth repairing. Today's VCRs aren't worth being repaired even once after they are out of warranty; the charge to simply have a shop look at the thing, let alone to have it repaired, is often equal to or even more than what a new VCR goes for these days. It's called planned obsolescence. VCRs are obsolete anyhow today, with DVD players now becoming ever cheaper every time one turns around, or so it seems (I have a CyberHome DVD player which sells for $30 at Best Buy and other electronics stores). With almost all new movies on DVD these days, tell me honestly, who needs a VCR except to watch old favorite VHS tapes? I have a rack in my bedroom with about 60 VHS cassettes, on which I have recorded movies and old TV series. About the only thing I use my VCR for, aside from occasionally time-shifting shows, is watching those old tapes once in a while. My DVD player is getting more use now, since I subscribed to Netflix some six months ago, than my VCR has seen in the same time period. As I said earlier, VCRs are all but obsolete these days and are being phased out in favor of DVD players, so the day will eventually come when the stand-alone VCR will be all but impossible to find except at yard sales, flea markets, Goodwill, etc. There are combo machines available now which will transfer non-copyguarded VHS tapes to DVD (not the other way around--the DMCA forbids it and all DVDs are copyguarded by Macrovision), but the industry has all but given up on stand-alone VCRs. There's no stopping progress. DVD is the wave of the future. VCRs are dinosaurs today, which is why the new machines still available are almost deliberately made to fail after only a year or two. The manufacturers of DVD players are counting on VCRs becoming things of the past, just as TV manufacturers are trying with all their might to declare CRT-based televisions obsolete--as they may well become, sooner than we may think, as flat-panel HDTVs come down in price. Heck, I saw a 17-inch Magnavox flat-panel advertised for under $500 in last week's Best Buy newspaper flyer that had me seriously considering replacing my 5-year-old RCA 19-inch CRT set, which still works well and makes a great picture on digital cable (using a cable box), with a flat-panel LCD. If these flat panels keep coming down in price (I'm waiting for 19-21" FPs to drop below $500), my CRT-based sets may well go into storage, with a new Magnavox or other brand of flat-panel HDTV taking the RCA's place in the entertainment unit in my living room. One of these days... Hey, I ditched my vinyl phono records five years ago in favor of CDs, and finally made the switch to DVD last year; my old TVs may and likerly will eventually be next, in favor of HDTV. To paraphrase a character in the 1970 movie The Graduate, I have only one word: Digital. And I'm all for it. The only thing holding me back is the currently steep price of 19-21" flat-panels. I could replace my present set with a flat panel tomorrow if I wanted a set two inches smaller than my CRT set is now, but wanting an even larger set when I do make the switch, I'll wait until the 21" FPs become reasonable.

Jeff - you've bought hook line and sinker into digital...

Vinyl's still far more musically coherent than any silver beermat. VHS always was and still is crap compared to DVD, but Laserdisc, in many respects, can look better (especially in comparision to early DVDs with poor bitrates/blocking artefacts).

As for LCD/Plasma - I've still not seen one that can do what CRT does (decent dynamic range, colour fidelity); when an LCD 28-inch widescreen costs the same as an equivalent sized Sony Trinitron/Panasonic TAU in the UK *and significantly* outperforms these CRT sets, I might well be interested. My 9-year-old Sony Trinitron can produce a picture every bit as good as (though obviously smaller than) a £6000 Pioneer plasma that one of Exeter's hifi shops has - with NONE of the horrid blocking/banding/smearing artefacts.

Progress isn't always good, and it's forced on us. I for one resent having to rebuy all my music on CD, and when they ditch CD player manufacture (DVD players are crap for playing CDs - really flat and dull sounding) and force a new format on us, I might well say "stuff it" and give up on music altogether! Corporate greed = another word for progress.

I mean, I have a UK copy of "Hunky dory" by David Bowie on 8track that outperforms the 2001 EMI CD reissue. And I'm not joking. Sure there's a bit of hiss and some minor wow, but musically and soniically it's streets ahead. The timpani on the end of "Life on mars?" on the 8track sounds like a timpani; the one on the CD sounds like someone slapping a kipper against a kitchen worktop. Even the original US-pressed 1983 RCA CD copy I have of this pees on the 2001 copy from a great height! Let's not even mention the LP...

You can't claim that 30 years' age on the mastertape is why the CD sounds crap either - this 8track's been to hell and back and is the same age as the master, with much slower tape speed and no environmentally controlled long term storage (I got it from a carboot sale!). I blame digital for most of today's musical ills - it's what made Kylie Minogue sing in key, what made Oasis "talented", and what removed the soul from all bands' albums. Listen to "Elephant" by the White Stripes to hear what an album SHOULD sound like (direct to 8 track open reel - all valve; even on the grossly-inferior CD format, it sounds good; on vinyl.. well...). I tell you one thing - manufactured crap like The Spice Girls would have got nowhere without pro-tools and other digital malarky.

...and here's the killer; my turntable/arm/cart/phono stage cost a quarter of my CD player - and still sounds far better. Figure that one out.

I've heard pre-recorded (as in shop-bought) cassettes that outperform remastered CDs - my original 1982 unbarcoded tape copy of "Love over gold" by Dire Straits is one such example.

As for washing machines that are designed to break after 5 years, and computers that have, what, a six-month lifecycle at best, and other such crimes to our bank balances and the environment, SOMETHING'S got to give...

My comments:
I mostly listen to records for music...I remember buying 45's of favorite songs heard on the radio, wish I could still do that.

I do listen to 8-tracks in my old car that has a player. However, 8-tracks are subject to physical/mechanical problems such as pressure pad and pinch roller degradation so that many 8-track cartridges do not have nearly the sound quality they did new.

I do not have any nostalgia for VCR's except for some of the old Betamax and 3/4" machines. DVD's are superior to video tapes in every way I can see...better picture and audio quality and you can instantly skip to portions of the show. Yes, laser discs may have these advantages too, but the discs and players are a lot harder to find and don't have the current movies.

Am so glad for the advent of direct TV/digital satellite...can finally watch TV shows that I want to in a rural area where there is no cable.

Am so glad for the advent of direct TV/digital satellite...can finally watch TV shows that I want to in a rural area where there is no cable.

No cable? I find that difficult to believe in this day and age. You must live in an area so rural that no cable company wants to extend its network there. I would have thought that there is at least one good-sized city near you with a cable system willing to connect your home to it. IIRC, you are near Odessa and Midland, Texas, both of which very likely have cable systems. How far are you from either or both of those cities?

Satellite is good, I guess; however, I wouldn't know for sure, as I never had it, though some folks here do. My small northeastern Ohio town of 3,180 population has had digital cable (Comcast) for years--we cannot get decent TV reception here without it. Satellite service, however, has its drawbacks; you sometimes lose the signal in rain or snowstorms (or even if a good wind blows against the dish), and sometimes you might lose your picture for no reason at all. (I know this from having seen a commercial running on Comcast cable for an organization called onlycablecan.org, which extolls the virtues of cable against the problems of getting TV reception via satellite; another organization does just the opposite in its commercial, also seen here on cable from time to time, pitting satellite TV against cable.)

However, as I said at the start of this message, I find it almost incredible that your area does not have cable in the 21st century; I always thought cable TV was more or less national in scope, being available virtually anywhere. Are there any plans for the cable systems in either Odessa or Midland to extend their networks to your town? Just curious.

Jeff - you've bought hook line and sinker into digital...

Vinyl's still far more musically coherent than any silver beermat. VHS always was and still is crap compared to DVD, but Laserdisc, in many respects, can look better (especially in comparision to early DVDs with poor bitrates/blocking artefacts).

As for LCD/Plasma - I've still not seen one that can do what CRT does (decent dynamic range, colour fidelity); when an LCD 28-inch widescreen costs the same as an equivalent sized Sony Trinitron/Panasonic TAU in the UK *and significantly* outperforms these CRT sets, I might well be interested. My 9-year-old Sony Trinitron can produce a picture every bit as good as (though obviously smaller than) a £6000 Pioneer plasma that one of Exeter's hifi shops has - with NONE of the horrid blocking/banding/smearing artefacts.

Progress isn't always good, and it's forced on us. I for one resent having to rebuy all my music on CD, and when they ditch CD player manufacture (DVD players are crap for playing CDs - really flat and dull sounding) and force a new format on us, I might well say "stuff it" and give up on music altogether! Corporate greed = another word for progress.

I mean, I have a UK copy of "Hunky dory" by David Bowie on 8track that outperforms the 2001 EMI CD reissue. And I'm not joking. Sure there's a bit of hiss and some minor wow, but musically and soniically it's streets ahead. The timpani on the end of "Life on mars?" on the 8track sounds like a timpani; the one on the CD sounds like someone slapping a kipper against a kitchen worktop. Even the original US-pressed 1983 RCA CD copy I have of this pees on the 2001 copy from a great height! Let's not even mention the LP...

You can't claim that 30 years' age on the mastertape is why the CD sounds crap either - this 8track's been to hell and back and is the same age as the master, with much slower tape speed and no environmentally controlled long term storage (I got it from a carboot sale!). I blame digital for most of today's musical ills - it's what made Kylie Minogue sing in key, what made Oasis "talented", and what removed the soul from all bands' albums. Listen to "Elephant" by the White Stripes to hear what an album SHOULD sound like (direct to 8 track open reel - all valve; even on the grossly-inferior CD format, it sounds good; on vinyl.. well...). I tell you one thing - manufactured crap like The Spice Girls would have got nowhere without pro-tools and other digital malarky.

...and here's the killer; my turntable/arm/cart/phono stage cost a quarter of my CD player - and still sounds far better. Figure that one out.

I've heard pre-recorded (as in shop-bought) cassettes that outperform remastered CDs - my original 1982 unbarcoded tape copy of "Love over gold" by Dire Straits is one such example.

As for washing machines that are designed to break after 5 years, and computers that have, what, a six-month lifecycle at best, and other such crimes to our bank balances and the environment, SOMETHING'S got to give...

My audio system is in fact 100-percent digital (all my music is on CDs, much of it ripped into my computer, and I listen mostly to Internet and cable radio/music channels rather than standard local FM which, for the most part, except for the National Public Radio affiliates operating from 88-92 MHz, is garbage in this country); so is my video entertainment center, except for the monitor. I still use an RCA 19" CRT television I bought new some five years ago; it still makes an excellent picture on the cable system in my small town, as well as my other video sources (VHS and DVD). As long as my CRT TV still works, I'll use it with the digital cable box; it's probably just as well, as all U.S. TV stations will convert to all-digital (ceasing all analog telecasting) by the end of 2006 (by the U. S. Federal Communications Commission's decree, not by their own choice) and I want to be ready. I also have a DVD player and a subscription to Netflix.com (a very popular DVD rental service in the U.S.), and believe me, I use the DVD player a lot more these days than I use my Panasonic VCR, even though I have a collection of about 60 VHS tapes of old movies and TV series I taped over the last 20 years or so. Nice to see the old shows I grew up with in the 1970s coming back on DVD.


Kind regards,

Don't worry guys - I have no affection at all for VHS; even as a 7 year old kid in 1983 (when our neighbours got Beta - MY parents didn't get a video until 1988!) I could still see the better quality picture of Beta a mile off! Still poor compared to off-air though :)

I got my 8track deck/tapes in 1998, so have no idea what the tapes sounded like new. After new pressure pads (read window draught stripping!)/resplicing/refoiling and a head clean, some of the tapes sound crazily good. My Hendrix "Live at the Isle of Wight" gives decent LPs a SERIOUS run for their money - and that surprised me too!

Jeff, around here all the small towns have cable & you are covered if you live on one of the main roads, but most of the side roads just don't have it available. The houses are too far apart. Thats what started the Rural Electric Administration way back, its just not profitable to run the lines down a road with only a few houses.