Posted on 07/23/2017 8:19:33 PM PDT by lee martell
I decided it was time to replace my very old home stereo system from Magnavox. It had a CD player, an AM/FM radio and a pair of speakers. I must have bought it back in the late 90's. I knew it would be difficult to find an affordable CD player vs one that took DVDs or other. What I didn't know was how difficult it would be to find a home stereo system that allowed me to get AM radio. All the systems I saw online offered FM. That was no problem.
I went into Best Buy and was told I would have to connect to AM by using my iphone's Bluetooth App. The Bluetooth App would then be used to link up and connect with my home stereo, which would then provide access to AM radio.
Oh. said I. I didn't want the bother and all the extra fiddling needed to make that connection. So I looked online, and settled for something from LG for a little over $200. According to the online Ad, I could have both FM AND AM radio. I was thrilled, since I rely on AM to get most my talk shows. A few days pass, it's delivered, I set the home stereo system up , only to find, you guessed it. I still would be expected to use Bluetooth to establish the connection to Am. Damn!
After lots of silent grumbling, I decided, Okay, I guess I'll just have to learn how to connect. Eventually, I found the App, but the Bluetooth was only able to connect to a port with a headset symbol above it. Meaning, I suppose, Am Radio is only accessible via headphones. (Oy!!)
At this point, I just dug up one of my old CD players. A small model by Memorex, and I now use this to access AM Radio until further notice. I had to hunt for a replacement cord for it. Seems most stores don't even sell your basic appliance cords anymore. They are sold online for about $17. adding postage, brings that to about $26. No thanks. I found one stuffed in my box of old souvenir from college days. It still functions fine. Life is for learning, right?
I’ve found useful cords and cables in thrift shops — things impossible to get any normal way. It can take a while to untangle them depending on how they’re stored.
The advents are extremely popular among vintage audiophiles. Prices on those things have actually gone up.
Beautiful!!
I used to have a TEAC reel-to-reel tape recorder/player that I’d run through a similar system. It was great.
First, though, I have two cassette decks that need attention (just new belts and a cleaning). including one of the Nakamichi models that does auto-reverse by flipping the entire tape around. That's worth preserving.
I had a few of those 8-tracks - and one of those red-lined cases, too. I recall when the department stores had those things piled high in the audio department.
I’ve never shopped at a Walmart. There aren’t any nearby, and once there, you have to pay for a membership, as with Costco.
I guess I’m not interested enough as a consumer to find out.
Sometimes, when I hear that ‘everybody’ shops somewhere, ‘everybody’ watches this show or is seeing this movie, I want to stay out of that group. It’s an old habit.
I've actually begun to build up a replacement collection of cassettes. I have an old car that has an early aftermarket AM/FM/Cassette unit in it; and I've owned it since 1980 or so. Lots of memories swirl around the car, and the various digital adapters for the cassette deck are annoying at best. So I decided to use it the way it was designed - and it's just nice to take a break sometimes from the from the digital *everything*. Driving that car is a totally "analog" experience, from the manual 4-speed transmission to the stereo.
“Cruise the thrift stores.”
Abdo-lutely! I used to hit them all. Tube Hi-Fis from the 50s. Valuable tubes and Jensen speakers that were the same as used in old guitar amps. Made a nice buncha moolah doing that, but they have all closed up around here, Got a Danish Modern dining room suite for $250 delivered. Just appraised at $2.500 bucks, and it’s gorgeous!
i used to haunt those places!
Am radio??? I stopped listening to FM years ago, never listened to AM.
Good thing you did not need a cassette player built in.
AM radio doesn’t always come in well in my house or in my car on some of my commutes. I just use my phone instead to hear my talk shows. Usually I have it plugged in to a charger in the car so it doesn’t drain the battery.
Only problem with listening to the talk shows using I Heart Radio or one of the other apps is that some of these men have dry mouths, and the sound is so unbelievably crisp that you hear every click of their dry sticky mouths. Rush Limbaugh and Dennis Prager are the most drymouth of the bunch. Maybe because they both smoke cigars.
I’ve had good luck with Tivoli; great quality; reasonable price.
My "time machine" looks more like this:
Sort of like the constant references to some NYC TV sitcom that "everyone" assumes all watched.
I have the original Polk SDA-SRS’s.
Driven by twin Behringer A500 amps.
I could use a bit more power, though...
My stereo was rescued from the curb on trash day. I couldn’t believe the guy was tossing it out! Took it hoim and plugged it in and it worked perfectly. I took it out of the huge room divider-sized cabinet. Bunch of 12AX7s and 4 7591s. Killer!
What caught my eye about that one verses some of the others I looked at on Amazon was it’s a stand alone unit. A tuner, receiver, and amp so it just needs speakers and wire. If you just need a tuner to add to a component type setup; this wouldn’t work for you.
There’s something to be said for both type setups.
What caught my eye about that one verses some of the others I looked at on Amazon was it’s a stand alone unit. A tuner, receiver, and amp so it just needs speakers and wire. If you just need a tuner to add to a component type setup; this wouldn’t work for you.
There’s something to be said for both type setups.
I like the Geek Squad over at Best Buy. When I finally got a laptop, the Geeks answered everyone of my stupid questions, respectfully, and w/o once rolling the eyes. At least while talking to me.
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