WOW! That is so cool that yoiu resurrected this from an electronics recycling center. 8-Tracks, IMHO, are awesome. I have quite a collection myself and I still love jamming to them when I play them. I have a Bradford 8-Track player unit hooked up to small Encore Technology compact stereo system, which has a small turntable, dual cassette deck and 3 disc CD changer, but I strictly use it so I can play and listen to my 8-Track Cartridge Tapes. For those unaware, Bradford was a brand that was owned by the W.T. Grant (a.k.a. Grants) department store chain that lasted 70 years in the USA from 1906 to 1976. My mom once had both a Bradford washing machine and dryer. The player still sounds and plays good. 8-Track tapes were wonderful, IMHO, as you could have the convenience of listening to your favorite music while relaxing as the tape plays and also, the convenience of pushing the progam button if you wanted to hear another particular song. Plus, if you wanted to hear it all again, just leave the tape in the player and let it play all over again as the tape itself had a continuous loop of tape inside the plastic cartridge, and also, the plastic tape housing had a wide variety of colors from red, blue, green, gray, white and black, just to name a few. When most record labels stopped producing them, they were still available mostly through the records clubs, Columbia House and RCA Music Service, up until 1988. Right now, on record, the most expensively sold 8-Track was the quickly canceled 1969 Sinatra/Jobim album, which featched dollar amounts on Ebay ranging from 4,550 to almost 6,000 dollars. There are also many rare record club only issues of many 1980's new wave artists on 8-Track, such as, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, The Police (including Sting solo), and also, other popular artists, such as Fleetwood Mac, Hall & Oates, The Doors, Michael Jackson, George Harrison and much much more. By the way, VWestlife, I know a couple of places who fix and tune-up 8-Track tapes for a small fee, which includes both pressure pad replacement and new sensing foil. Those places are Kate's Track Shack and 8-Track Fixation. They both do great work. Thanks for sharing and for making this video.
My Dad loved 8tracks. He had a very nice Realistic 8-track recording deck. I think my mom still has it somewhere. She asked me about a while ago and I told her to put it on eBay. As I recall, the damn thing was built like a tank and sounded surprisingly good. :)
That's a nice unit. It looks like it was made 10 years earlier than it was. :P Although I read below that it was sold as early as 1980, so that would explain it.
I had one of these and a Realistic SA-100 stereo amplifier. I'd break it out every Christmas at my folks house so we could listen to this great Christmas album collection we had on 8 track. Many, many years later, I found the collection on ebay on LP and now have an easier way to play it at my house. But going back, I remember that little 8 track deck sounding really nice.
I have a 5A9 coded TR-169 (1985?) that I found in my parents basement, and I resurrected it by removing wound up tape from the capstan and giving the belt a little nudge (it was kind of form-fitted around the wheel), which let it work itself out and it's been great ever since. I just ordered a replacement belt to keep it happy and playing tunes. Thanks for showing some of the innards and talking about it!
Cool! I've never seen a Realistic TR-169 8-Track Tape Player before! I've looked at one of those online and what I saw was these were built from 1988 to 1990 and what I've just realized is that Donny Osmond is only 57 years old and he was only a teenager while recording those songs. Thanks for posting!
I really like the direct hookup demonstration of the 8 track, in that you can really hear the head moving down the tracks when you changed the program, without it being drowned out by the "KA-CHUNK" of the mechanism as it does so.
almost makes you wonder if radio shack had so many unsold, they still tried to sell them as late as 89, i have a vague memory of these, and they sounded wobbly and muffled! I wonder if he will now be searching out Bay City Rollers tapes :}
The design of this thing is pretty outdated for 1989. All of Tandy's development costs would have been long paid off by then, they could churn these out at low-ish cost and probably make a decent profit.
@@jusb1066 Yep those were massed produced and it took a decade to get rid of them all.. They stopped making wood casing stereo equipment long before 1989..
Never seen that one before. And as you know, this 8-track player was from 1989 and it was one of the last 8-track players ever made by Radio Shack. They discontinued them after 8-track tapes are no longer available around 1987 or 1988. This was indeed a late 8-track player from Realistic.
I have a similar Panasonic deck that literally came with the house --- plugged into the Nutone system. Only difference in layout is an eject button on the left. Though 8-track had challenges with sound quality, there was very little to go wrong with the decks.
I bought this exact model brand new off the shelf from Radio Shack and still play it today, 1989 would be correct and the year I purchased mine , great video and hopefully it still going strong for you like mine is. Take care ~ Jeff
I found a 1989 Radio Shack booklet and that 8-track player is in it. Model TR-169. It cost $49.95. So I guess that confirms it. The booklet has all kinds of cool tech Radio Shack used to sell.
A VWestlife video of an 8 track player? I never thought I'd see the day! So what do you think? hehe Cool story about getting the 8 track autographed too.
I have a realistic 8 track tape player that I recently bought at my local Value Village Thrift Store for about $8.00. That is what I call a fun and successful day thrifting. :)
Thanks for posting this! I have 2 of this same model (TR-169) of Realistic 8-track deck: one currently in full working condition in my bedroom stereo (acquired from eBay recently), and another that I picked up at a thrift store about 10-15 years ago in less ideal, but working shape--the belt slips initially for a few seconds before becoming stable, and it's a new belt (maybe it's just a tish too long), plus the plastic frame that the playback head is encased in is cracked on the side, but the head seems to be glued on the bottom of the frame and stays put. Overall, this model of player is not half-bad, that's why I picked up another one. It sure is better made than most low-end consumer electronics nowadays. I kinda thought that RS had these for sale for quite a long time, I vaguely remember seeing them in their catalogs in the late 80s....
Now you can use your Realistic cassette adapter also! Thanks for the demo. I didn't realize they made 8-track players that late, I was already in high school. :-/
i found a very rare find at a thrift store. i found a 6 cd changer stereo! it was missing the entire thing you put the cds into,, but i found a free cd jammed inside tho...
Looks small enough. It looked like it was really good shape. That's a neat fine. Get some more 8-tracks I'm sure you can find a ton of them out there at the thrift store.
And speaking of Realistic and Radio Shack, I've just heard that Radio Shack is closing its doors on March 31st. Say goodbye to this store, Radio Shack will never be the same. 😢
About half of all Radio Shack stores will be staying open, but especially in the Northeast, most will be closing because the market is just so saturated with competitors like Batteries+Bulbs, mobile phone stores, Best Buy, PC Richards, etc.
I still have a few 8 track recorders. One is a Panasonic and my original 1974 Centrex by Pioneer recorder. I also have that model too realistic 8 track player. All in working condition.
Wow, that's pretty cool, I remember seeing one of these at a garage sale not too long ago but it didn't work. I shoulda just picked it up anyways. As a kid I remember I had an Emerson boombox with an 8 track player in it, and the only 8 track I had was the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's. I wore that thing out so bad it just never played again. But it's always nice to see a blast from the past though. Aren't the carts that they used to use for radio commercials basically 8 tracks?
I though they stopped making 8 Track tape players by 1984. I know in the Sears Catalogue that is the last time I ever saw one (that same year). I know Columbia House made tapes until 1989 (1985 in the Canadian Market) and RCA Music Services made them until 1988 and the last made one for RCA was Chicago 19 and Fleetwood Mac for Columbia House. This is really abnormal to see an 8 Track player from 1989/1990.
Radio Shack probably just had old stock or transports. People wanted to transfer tapes...and eBay was not a big thing back then to find a player...so they RS had the nitch sewed up.
Holy crap? I’d forgotten that Radio Shack sold this horrible garbage that eight track cartridges were. But man! Seriously back in 89’? I guess I was a cool teen back then the same year! 89’ buying my very first CD player with my own saved up chore and working money. I still have my first CD’s from that era which have never been touched on the play surface!
The deck has a Taiwanese date code on it that appears to decode to June of 1979, so either Radio Shack had a lot of these lying around, or they were still building them from decade-old parts.
Its late 80s alright.. i remember going to radio shack with my grandfather to buy Mach 2 speakers in 1988/89 and the guy try to sell us an 8 track player. I know into the 90s they still sold blank 8tracks.. Before Realistic became Optimus in the 90s
It is impossible to rewind an 8-track because the tape is in an infinite loop. Some players can fast-forward, but that really just runs the tape at twice the normal speed, because anything faster than that would likely cause the tape to jam or tear.
I don't see how that thing was made in 1989 or 90.. They stopped producing silver faced stereo equipment in wooded housings back in the early 1980s... Most likely those were massed produced in the late 70s, early 80s and stored and on sale at radio shack until 1990 when they got rid of all of them.. Even blank 8 track tapes were still on sale at radio shack well into the 90s
I have two Realistic 8-track player and they both have the same problem. The plastic that holds the head has broke off... Pretty dumb idea to make that in plastic.
Do you know when the Soundesign AM FM radio/8 track player stereo receiver was manufactured? This is the main machine I use to listen to my 8 track tapes.
+vwestlife Okay, even though this is a budget brand I think it sounds decent enough and I think it was cool that I found it at Value Village and it was only $9.00 which makes it good for an 8 track beginner like me. Then I did not have to spend a lot of money on my first 8 track to get into 8 tracks.
+vwestlife My brother had a Soundesign about that time with AM/FM, turntable, cassette, and 8-track. Cheap, but he had some nice '70s Sony 2-way speakers with it.
Some Soundesign units sound great when connected to quality speakers. Soundesign was very well designed for budget buys. My receiver cassette 8 track combo still works great. Cheap controls need to be contact cleaned once in awhile. The capacitors held up excellent compared to capacitors now made in China.
I've never understood why anybody would want an 8 track, not rewindable (on most) and tracks all over the place, the Compact Cassette was so superior :o)
RetroGamerVX It is impossible to rewind an 8-track, since the tape is a continuous loop. Theoretically, 8-tracks could sound better than cassettes because the tape runs faster, but the cheap construction of most 8-track players and tapes negated that advantage, and better tape formulation and the advent of Dolby Noise Reduction meant that cassettes had surpassed 8-tracks in audio quality by the late '70s.
+Edgard Agosto I just think they are cool and I feel very privileged to have been able to purchase a very nice 8 track tape player from Value Village at such a low price. I'm glad I found it because I do not believe that such a great piece of stereo history does not need to be recycled or destroyed on youtube (I'm referring to all of those destruction videos).
Well said VWestlife. There are some later manufactured 8 track tapes that sound awesome. Columbia House and RCA record service offered them all the way up to 1988. I stuck with it...glad I did. I sold my Prince 8 track for $500 and Madonna 8 track for $200 on eBay.
Why is it that some drive belts will last for ages and others turn into goo in a short time? It seems that it's the flat belts that are more likely to become goo.
I have the exact same unit, It has lots of alignment issues since the tape part that keeps the play head in had broken off. I super glued it back but it never wants to play quite in line. It works just to hear just what's on the tapes, though. Also, mine has the sticker that says "head adjustment" on the bottom as well, but there's no actual hole. Is their a hole on yours?
***** Yeah, in the latest reglueing I finally got a little smarter and used some decent glue, which, so far, has done the trick. I don't get nearly as much issues with alignment now, though it's still there. Track one always seems to sound a good bit better compared to all the others. So it works as good music for the background, though if I ever get a decent amount of 8 tracks, especially if I want to make digital copies, I'd like a better machine. I've certainly thought about the 3d printing method, but I don't know anyone around where I live who owns one. It'd be really cool to try if I ever get the chance, though.
while I appreciate the video, I have the same unit and would like to have seen how the machine works from another angle, then seeing the lights on the front. Played track 3 fine, when it switched to 4, its stuck there and I cant figure out why.
I am very new to 8 track tape format and does the 8 track tape player need to be connected to an amplifier to hear the music from the tapes or can you just connect the 8 track tape player directly to speakers without an amplifier. (I know that a turntable needs an amplifier to hear the music)?
tanashin/toyoda tape transports notice how cheap made they are the head support is//it's plastic and will eventually break. you will find these transorts in soundesign ,emerson, yorx, sears, and in some underdash car units, and other cheap brands from china,t'wan etc. were sound quality was not a factor. i have has this same realistic model.. it will play your tapes but when you plug in your tape and no sound the head has fell out of the broken head support bracket but never fear jb weld is here..
It wouldn't be the first time that tech has remained in production well past its heyday. Case in point: you can still buy a brand new Z80 CPU in 2021, despite the fact it was first released in 1976.
WOW! That is so cool that yoiu resurrected this from an electronics recycling center. 8-Tracks, IMHO, are awesome. I have quite a collection myself and I still love jamming to them when I play them. I have a Bradford 8-Track player unit hooked up to small Encore Technology compact stereo system, which has a small turntable, dual cassette deck and 3 disc CD changer, but I strictly use it so I can play and listen to my 8-Track Cartridge Tapes. For those unaware, Bradford was a brand that was owned by the W.T. Grant (a.k.a. Grants) department store chain that lasted 70 years in the USA from 1906 to 1976. My mom once had both a Bradford washing machine and dryer. The player still sounds and plays good. 8-Track tapes were wonderful, IMHO, as you could have the convenience of listening to your favorite music while relaxing as the tape plays and also, the convenience of pushing the progam button if you wanted to hear another particular song. Plus, if you wanted to hear it all again, just leave the tape in the player and let it play all over again as the tape itself had a continuous loop of tape inside the plastic cartridge, and also, the plastic tape housing had a wide variety of colors from red, blue, green, gray, white and black, just to name a few. When most record labels stopped producing them, they were still available mostly through the records clubs, Columbia House and RCA Music Service, up until 1988. Right now, on record, the most expensively sold 8-Track was the quickly canceled 1969 Sinatra/Jobim album, which featched dollar amounts on Ebay ranging from 4,550 to almost 6,000 dollars. There are also many rare record club only issues of many 1980's new wave artists on 8-Track, such as, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, The Police (including Sting solo), and also, other popular artists, such as Fleetwood Mac, Hall & Oates, The Doors, Michael Jackson, George Harrison and much much more. By the way, VWestlife, I know a couple of places who fix and tune-up 8-Track tapes for a small fee, which includes both pressure pad replacement and new sensing foil. Those places are Kate's Track Shack and 8-Track Fixation. They both do great work. Thanks for sharing and for making this video.
My Dad loved 8tracks. He had a very nice Realistic 8-track recording deck. I think my mom still has it somewhere. She asked me about a while ago and I told her to put it on eBay. As I recall, the damn thing was built like a tank and sounded surprisingly good. :)
Unbelievable that 8 tracks were still sold in 1989, the era of digital music.
That's a nice unit. It looks like it was made 10 years earlier than it was. :P Although I read below that it was sold as early as 1980, so that would explain it.
I had one of these and a Realistic SA-100 stereo amplifier. I'd break it out every Christmas at my folks house so we could listen to this great Christmas album collection we had on 8 track. Many, many years later, I found the collection on ebay on LP and now have an easier way to play it at my house. But going back, I remember that little 8 track deck sounding really nice.
Nice to find another Donny Osmond and 8-Track fan! Check out his latest album as well, it's great.
Very cool and that is a great album right there and the fact you got it signed is even more awesome.
I remember my Grandfather (my Dad's Dad) having an 8 track player and quite a few 8 tracks as well..
I have a 5A9 coded TR-169 (1985?) that I found in my parents basement, and I resurrected it by removing wound up tape from the capstan and giving the belt a little nudge (it was kind of form-fitted around the wheel), which let it work itself out and it's been great ever since. I just ordered a replacement belt to keep it happy and playing tunes. Thanks for showing some of the innards and talking about it!
I never would have guessed that they still made 8-track players that recently!
Cool! I've never seen a Realistic TR-169 8-Track Tape Player before! I've looked at one of those online and what I saw was these were built from 1988 to 1990 and what I've just realized is that Donny Osmond is only 57 years old and he was only a teenager while recording those songs. Thanks for posting!
Now, if you only had a "Tiger Beat" magazine, you'd be all set...!
I really like the direct hookup demonstration of the 8 track, in that you can really hear the head moving down the tracks when you changed the program, without it being drowned out by the "KA-CHUNK" of the mechanism as it does so.
I din't know 8-track players were sold as late as '89!!!!!!!
almost makes you wonder if radio shack had so many unsold, they still tried to sell them as late as 89, i have a vague memory of these, and they sounded wobbly and muffled! I wonder if he will now be searching out Bay City Rollers tapes :}
The design of this thing is pretty outdated for 1989. All of Tandy's development costs would have been long paid off by then, they could churn these out at low-ish cost and probably make a decent profit.
By 1989 people where starting to buy CDs.
@@jusb1066 Yep those were massed produced and it took a decade to get rid of them all.. They stopped making wood casing stereo equipment long before 1989..
It definitely was, it's in the 1990 Radio Shack catalog.
Never seen that one before. And as you know, this 8-track player was from 1989 and it was one of the last 8-track players ever made by Radio Shack. They discontinued them after 8-track tapes are no longer available around 1987 or 1988. This was indeed a late 8-track player from Realistic.
I have a similar Panasonic deck that literally came with the house --- plugged into the Nutone system. Only difference in layout is an eject button on the left. Though 8-track had challenges with sound quality, there was very little to go wrong with the decks.
It's a wonder they even made 8-tracks and 8-track decks until they did. NIce deck.
Fascinating...! .... since I used to play em... back n tha day.... !
I love that Donny Osmond 8 track album
Thanks for sharing this, you have me wanting to dig out my old Craig standalone 8-track player from the mid to late 70's and see if it still plays.
It's four years later, but how was your 8-track?!
@@nickvickers3486 I never got around to looking for it.
I bought this exact model brand new off the shelf from Radio Shack and still play it today,
1989 would be correct and the year I purchased mine , great video and hopefully it still going strong for you like mine is.
Take care ~ Jeff
I have one of those! It's integrated into my home theater system.
I found a 1989 Radio Shack booklet and that 8-track player is in it. Model TR-169. It cost $49.95. So I guess that confirms it. The booklet has all kinds of cool tech Radio Shack used to sell.
I bought one brand new in 1991 for tape transfers, $50.00.
Tanashin made the last ever 8-track mechanism, and now they're the only manufacturer of cassette mechanisms.
Last 8 track tapes were actually made in Mexico back in 1995
I just got one of these Realistic 8-track players with a cassette to 8-track adapter at my local antique/record store. :)
I'm not sure if 8- tracks were ever really a thing in Britain, certainly haven't seen any, but they do seem to have a certain coolness about them!
I remember when Radio Shack was selling them, definitely into 1990.
A VWestlife video of an 8 track player? I never thought I'd see the day! So what do you think? hehe
Cool story about getting the 8 track autographed too.
I have a realistic 8 track tape player that I recently bought at my local Value Village Thrift Store for about $8.00. That is what I call a fun and successful day thrifting. :)
Really cool story.
Thanks for posting this! I have 2 of this same model (TR-169) of Realistic 8-track deck: one currently in full working condition in my bedroom stereo (acquired from eBay recently), and another that I picked up at a thrift store about 10-15 years ago in less ideal, but working shape--the belt slips initially for a few seconds before becoming stable, and it's a new belt (maybe it's just a tish too long), plus the plastic frame that the playback head is encased in is cracked on the side, but the head seems to be glued on the bottom of the frame and stays put. Overall, this model of player is not half-bad, that's why I picked up another one. It sure is better made than most low-end consumer electronics nowadays.
I kinda thought that RS had these for sale for quite a long time, I vaguely remember seeing them in their catalogs in the late 80s....
I'm thinking about getting one too..
Are you happy with this unit?
it's a Tanashin mechanism. Didn't notice that last time i watched this video.
I thought they quit making 8 track player in the early 80s. I didn't know they still made them in 1989.
Wow an 8 track player from 1989 hope they still sell them on Amazon awesome video
Now you can use your Realistic cassette adapter also! Thanks for the demo. I didn't realize they made 8-track players that late, I was already in high school. :-/
i found a very rare find at a thrift store. i found a 6 cd changer stereo! it was missing the entire thing you put the cds into,, but i found a free cd jammed inside tho...
Looks small enough. It looked like it was really good shape. That's a neat fine. Get some more 8-tracks I'm sure you can find a ton of them out there at the thrift store.
And speaking of Realistic and Radio Shack, I've just heard that Radio Shack is closing its doors on March 31st. Say goodbye to this store, Radio Shack will never be the same. 😢
About half of all Radio Shack stores will be staying open, but especially in the Northeast, most will be closing because the market is just so saturated with competitors like Batteries+Bulbs, mobile phone stores, Best Buy, PC Richards, etc.
pretty realistic.
currently listening to an 8 track right now
+slapandtick1e Cool
😂😂😂😂same😂😂😂😂⬛️🔳🔳⬜️◼️🔲◻️◼️🔷🔸🔴⚪️⚫️🔺▫️◽️◾️🔹🔵🔶
Awesome!
Are you listening to this video’s audio 8 channels through your 8 track player in real time? 😉
I still have a few 8 track recorders. One is a Panasonic and my original 1974 Centrex by Pioneer recorder. I also have that model too realistic 8 track player. All in working condition.
Wow, that's pretty cool, I remember seeing one of these at a garage sale not too long ago but it didn't work. I shoulda just picked it up anyways. As a kid I remember I had an Emerson boombox with an 8 track player in it, and the only 8 track I had was the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's. I wore that thing out so bad it just never played again. But it's always nice to see a blast from the past though. Aren't the carts that they used to use for radio commercials basically 8 tracks?
I though they stopped making 8 Track tape players by 1984. I know in the Sears Catalogue that is the last time I ever saw one (that same year). I know Columbia House made tapes until 1989 (1985 in the Canadian Market) and RCA Music Services made them until 1988 and the last made one for RCA was Chicago 19 and Fleetwood Mac for Columbia House. This is really abnormal to see an 8 Track player from 1989/1990.
Radio Shack probably just had old stock or transports. People wanted to transfer tapes...and eBay was not a big thing back then to find a player...so they RS had the nitch sewed up.
Hey, look underneath the 8-track deck. A date code is printed there.
Lol... I have the same 8track player,,, it’s a great unit,, man I miss radio shack ...well of the 80’s and 90’s anyway!!!
👏👏👏👏👍excelent player!
1989? 8-Track tapes were long gone by then.
I found an 8 track player (very rare in england) still to do a video on it :o)
coincidence..i was at the car boot sale last sunday and saw a box full of 8 track tapes.i was so tempted to buy.
I sure don't remember radio shack selling 8track players in 1989, they sold a lot of keyboards and technical stuff....
Very good
Holy crap? I’d forgotten that Radio Shack sold this horrible garbage that eight track cartridges were. But man! Seriously back in 89’? I guess I was a cool teen back then the same year! 89’ buying my very first CD player with my own saved up chore and working money. I still have my first CD’s from that era which have never been touched on the play surface!
Are you sure this is from 1989? This looks like 100% 70s!
i have the same one that i foumd in my attic looks in great shape is it worth anything
does it work?
Looks like 79
The deck has a Taiwanese date code on it that appears to decode to June of 1979, so either Radio Shack had a lot of these lying around, or they were still building them from decade-old parts.
I had a similar model from the 70's
Its late 80s alright.. i remember going to radio shack with my grandfather to buy Mach 2 speakers in 1988/89 and the guy try to sell us an 8 track player. I know into the 90s they still sold blank 8tracks..
Before Realistic became Optimus in the 90s
Piece of art hand crafted,work of art 8track player, like a Rolls Royce
Try to make sure none of the old pressure pad gets on the tape as they often turn into a sticky mess when they break down.
Did this `Realistic` player no forward and backward function ?
It is impossible to rewind an 8-track because the tape is in an infinite loop. Some players can fast-forward, but that really just runs the tape at twice the normal speed, because anything faster than that would likely cause the tape to jam or tear.
Never seen an 8 track tape / player in person
I don't see how that thing was made in 1989 or 90.. They stopped producing silver faced stereo equipment in wooded housings back in the early 1980s... Most likely those were massed produced in the late 70s, early 80s and stored and on sale at radio shack until 1990 when they got rid of all of them.. Even blank 8 track tapes were still on sale at radio shack well into the 90s
Hablaste de la fecha de fabricación pero no sé de dónde sacaste esa informacion
I have two Realistic 8-track player and they both have the same problem. The plastic that holds the head has broke off... Pretty dumb idea to make that in plastic.
That's why when I find a 8 track payer I make sure the playback head had a metal bracket , but if it doesn't it's nothing that gorllia glue can't fix
I have the same problem with one of mine! It causes cross talk! Very annoying!
Do you know when the Soundesign AM FM radio/8 track player stereo receiver was manufactured? This is the main machine I use to listen to my 8 track tapes.
+Michael Pierce The cheapo brands like Soundesign and Yorx made stereo systems with 8-track players well into the mid-1980s.
+vwestlife Okay, even though this is a budget brand I think it sounds decent enough and I think it was cool that I found it at Value Village and it was only $9.00 which makes it good for an 8 track beginner like me. Then I did not have to spend a lot of money on my first 8 track to get into 8 tracks.
+vwestlife My brother had a Soundesign about that time with AM/FM, turntable, cassette, and 8-track. Cheap, but he had some nice '70s Sony 2-way speakers with it.
There is a alarm clock with a 8 track player built in
Some Soundesign units sound great when connected to quality speakers. Soundesign was very well designed for budget buys. My receiver cassette 8 track combo still works great. Cheap controls need to be contact cleaned once in awhile. The capacitors held up excellent compared to capacitors now made in China.
I watched TNT amusements vedio on it because arcade game use it
I've never understood why anybody would want an 8 track, not rewindable (on most) and tracks all over the place, the Compact Cassette was so superior :o)
RetroGamerVX It is impossible to rewind an 8-track, since the tape is a continuous loop. Theoretically, 8-tracks could sound better than cassettes because the tape runs faster, but the cheap construction of most 8-track players and tapes negated that advantage, and better tape formulation and the advent of Dolby Noise Reduction meant that cassettes had surpassed 8-tracks in audio quality by the late '70s.
8TRACK IS THE BEST AUDIO MADE IN STEREO HISTORY
+Edgard Agosto I just think they are cool and I feel very privileged to have been able to purchase a very nice 8 track tape player from Value Village at such a low price. I'm glad I found it because I do not believe that such a great piece of stereo history does not need to be recycled or destroyed on youtube (I'm referring to all of those destruction videos).
Well said VWestlife. There are some later manufactured 8 track tapes that sound awesome. Columbia House and RCA record service offered them all the way up to 1988. I stuck with it...glad I did. I sold my Prince 8 track for $500 and Madonna 8 track for $200 on eBay.
Why is it that some drive belts will last for ages and others turn into goo in a short time? It seems that it's the flat belts that are more likely to become goo.
a silly question; it has 4 lights, so how you do access 8 tracks?
wow!
1989 is awful late for an 8-track player. Didn't know they made them that long.
looks like a soundesign
Is the transformer on this thing always 'hot'? It looks like it might be, and that seems odd.
I have the exact same unit, It has lots of alignment issues since the tape part that keeps the play head in had broken off. I super glued it back but it never wants to play quite in line. It works just to hear just what's on the tapes, though.
Also, mine has the sticker that says "head adjustment" on the bottom as well, but there's no actual hole. Is their a hole on yours?
Yes, there's a hole underneath the sticker on mine.
***** Yeah, in the latest reglueing I finally got a little smarter and used some decent glue, which, so far, has done the trick. I don't get nearly as much issues with alignment now, though it's still there. Track one always seems to sound a good bit better compared to all the others. So it works as good music for the background, though if I ever get a decent amount of 8 tracks, especially if I want to make digital copies, I'd like a better machine.
I've certainly thought about the 3d printing method, but I don't know anyone around where I live who owns one. It'd be really cool to try if I ever get the chance, though.
while I appreciate the video, I have the same unit and would like to have seen how the machine works from another angle, then seeing the lights on the front. Played track 3 fine, when it switched to 4, its stuck there and I cant figure out why.
Probably the plastic head carrier has cracked. That often happens with 8-track players.
Donny Osmond killed the 8-track.
I own this model. the only 8 track player I own
I am very new to 8 track tape format and does the 8 track tape player need to be connected to an amplifier to hear the music from the tapes or can you just connect the 8 track tape player directly to speakers without an amplifier. (I know that a turntable needs an amplifier to hear the music)?
+Michael Pierce Some 8-track players have a built-in amplifier, but this one does not.
+vwestlife I think mine might have one because it is one of those bigger radio 8 track combination machines.
If you swing back to Tennessee Holler at me. Like to meet you! :)
1989 shit they still make it?
You can replace the felt Pad by yourself if you watch techmoans Video about 8tracks
I just sold mine on ebay for $60, needed it gone.
tanashin/toyoda tape transports notice how cheap made they are the head support is//it's plastic and will eventually break. you will find these transorts in soundesign ,emerson, yorx, sears, and in some underdash car units, and other cheap brands from china,t'wan etc. were sound quality was not a factor. i have has this same realistic model.. it will play your tapes but when you plug in your tape and no sound the head has fell out of the broken head support bracket but never fear jb weld is here..
Ha does the tape have "Puppy Love" hehe?
Nope, Puppy Love was 1972. I have the record.
Radio Shack was making eight tracks in 1989? Who bought these things? Donnie Osmond! Yikes!
I highly doubt this is late 80's technology, It is more of like mid to late 70's.
It wouldn't be the first time that tech has remained in production well past its heyday. Case in point: you can still buy a brand new Z80 CPU in 2021, despite the fact it was first released in 1976.
Sounds incredible, and I don’t even like Donnie Osmond!
Nice find but it brought it back to me....how terrible Donny mostly was! All my girlfriends liked him :)