After seeing Techmoan's video on cassette tapes, I have picked up a renewed interest in the format despite its flaws. Ended up getting a Sony TC-WR645S deck with the almighty Dolby S noise reduction on eBay and while it is not a Nakimichi Dragon, it still packs a solid punch. I know tapes are crap compared to vinyl and even CDs, but like a good floppy disk, it just has this interesting feel to it that is hard to describe.

Also not a MAJOR tape collector and never will be, but I listen to a lot of retro/synthwave artists and other assorted electronic ones that have released their music on tapes on Bandcamp, so it is great to have the tech to listen to those with good sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WQbJ0VFrFQ

This thread got me thinking about what an important thing music used to be in my life, and that one day maybe I will want to pull my old tapes / records / CDs out of storage and play them again, but on what? So I hit up eBay and found this NOS Sharp system selling locally which covered all my bases. The seller was an audio shop in the posh part of town, and they explained that when the local rich folks kick the bucket then their kids often bring in nice stuff for them to sell on. The original receipt was provided with the system – someone paid 700 bucks for it back in ’93 and then never got around to using it!

My only problem now is where to set it up - it's pretty bloody big!

Holy fuck, I'm totally envious 🤣.

Ha yeah it was a lucky find - thanks for motivating me to look!

Wow! That thing has the audio equivalent of fake floppy drive putty plates!

What do you mean?

I'm guessing the feet that make it look like separate components, but aren't.

These Sharp systems aren't that great, to be honest. I personally would invest in better speakers.

I recently got a Grundig Fine Arts double tape deck from a friend. Though the single, non-auto reverse tape decks are supposed to be higher quality, I adore the late double decks loaded with every conceivable feature!

I have no use for it at the moment, so I installed it in my sons stereo for the time being - he loves all things technical:

oerk wrote:

I'm guessing the feet that make it look like separate components, but aren't.

These Sharp systems aren't that great, to be honest. I personally would invest in better speakers.

Precisely, the fake feet. Hard to say regarding audio quality. I can't find any specs on that system.

gdjacobs wrote:

Precisely, the fake feet. Hard to say regarding audio quality. I can't find any specs on that system.

Haha yeah I'm under no illusions that this is an audiophile level system! We have a yamaha / dali system set up in the lounge if I want to rock the block, this guy is pure nostalgia 😎

gdjacobs wrote:

Precisely, the fake feet. Hard to say regarding audio quality. I can't find any specs on that system.

These are known as BPC (Black Plastic Crap). 🤣 But it's still cool to find this kind of unused set. I'm sure it's fine for its intended use.

Well I put up a shelf for my BPC in my man cave and think it looks and sounds superb 😀

It's so 90s.

Funny. Just saw this thread now. Earlier today when cleaning out old stuff from upstairs and i found a cassette. Curious what was on it i got out to my 2001 Volvo V70 that has a CD and Cassette combo carstereo. I havent played a cassette for a decade and never in this car! First tune on side A was Bon Jovi sat there and pressed next track. What?! Did cassetteplayers had that function? Didnt remember that, but anyway it didnt find any gap and i just skipped around on the memorylane. Just suddenly a dj talked and said i was listening to Voice of America Europe. Is that station still around? Have no clue when i recorded this.

Yeah, VOA is still there, you can listen to it on shortwave.

keenmaster486 wrote:

Yeah, VOA is still there, you can listen to it on shortwave.

Ok. This was FM stereo and probably from cable. Must be from the early 90s 😊
Soon FM radio are closed down in favour for DAB in Norway as the only country in the world. Must dig up more cassettes and CDs for driving then. Buyed a DAB adapter, but signals are too weak in my area 😵

keenmaster486 wrote:

Yeah, VOA is still there, you can listen to it on shortwave.

Or stream it. Same with Deutsche Welle, RFI, BBC World Service, etc.

This is my dad's old cassette deck:

with this radio:

Should I keep or sell them?
What can they do better than modern / cheaper ones?

The three head deck allows you to record and preview simultaneously, so you can monitor exactly what's being recorded as it goes on tape. Definitely a keeper, unless you've got another superior deck and are short on space.

That tuner is pretty schmick, too. The pictures are not sufficiently detailed to tell, but does it feature 3 or 5 pin din connectors for the inputs?

Definitely keep, why are you even asking?

Build quality and nostalgia, I'd say...

What's the purpose of the display on the Saba?

badmojo wrote:

Well I put up a shelf for my BPC in my man cave and think it looks and sounds superb 😀

Looks great, escpecially combined with the C64! Though a 386 or early 486 system would be more appropriate 🤣