this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2025
53 points (98.2% liked)

Display your thrifting finds

213 readers
58 users here now

Whether it's spare parts, a weird AC adapter, a cool sweater, an obscure movie, a tool... show it off here!

founded 8 months ago
MODERATORS
 

This thing is crazy. It's this giant cassette deck with an ultimate late '70s look to it. Those huge vertical VU meters, LED "Spectropeak" display, that power button, those piano keys, beautiful.

It's in impeccable condition, all the knobs are there, not even a scratch on the cassette door window.

It's massive, super heavy and huge. Inside it's amazing, it's a basic single motor mechanism but everything's huge in there. Huge motor, gigantic flywheel, and some kind of internal secondary chassis to hold stuff in place. Belt's slack though, at least it ain't goopified.

It doesn't do Dolby but has ANRS and Super ANRS, some kind of alternative noise reduction system.

It didn't power up at the Renaissance but it was 15$. It will make a decoration or bookend if, as I suspect, I will never attempt to repair it.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

This reminds me that I have a rare cassette I should try to digitize. (It's songs from the house band at a local radio station, in case you were wondering.)

[โ€“] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 hours ago

Well take your time, the market is flooded with horrendous USB cassette players that likely will mangle your tape, or just have shitty audio. Cassettes sounded really good towards the mid '80s even at the mass-market level, so there's a chance that tape sounds at least decent.

I bought a USB player that had a cheap and nasty-looking head with a large scratch on it, then it had the audacity to yank out tape and wrap it around the capstan. I threw it out. And I'm a hoarder.