For all the bellyaching of people who fancy themselves as audiophiles, while this may be on the low end from what was normal, it's not far from what 90% of people had in their living rooms or bedrooms. Most people aren't "audiophiles." If it sounds reasonable at a volume you can easily hear, it's good enough for most people. For a lot of these people, the choice wasn't between audiophile equipment and this, it was between this and no stereo at all. I was a teenager in the 80s. I got what I was given and that was it. I would have loved to have had this thing. What I had was a very cheap GE boombox. 90 plus percent of people could not differentiate this from a high end receiver and amplifier at low volume. Because that is what money gets you, great sound at higher power. Most of the low end AIO "stereos" all are good for about 2 watts of output and reach distortion even before 2 watts.
@tarstarkusz I agree with you and also yes, would have loved one of these in the 80s when I was a teenager. Again, just had what I got given. Didn't get my own stereo till 1990 when I bought myself a fairly pricey (for 1990 anyways) Hitachi boombox.
I have to agree with this as well. I was also a teenager in the 80's and I pretty much got what was given. In my case, I had a SoundDesign boombox (which I still have), which was actually pretty decent, despite all the dissing that SoundDesign has gotten over the years. A unit like what was shown in this video was pretty much what most people listened to music on. My parents had one similar to this (if I recall, theirs was a Sharp) that had the cassette, AM/FM receiver and phonograph. Heck, pretty much most of my other friends had similar setups at their houses and even most of my relatives (well, my grandfather did have a REALLY NICE "audiophile" setup, though and would not let any of us touch it. Just wish I could remember what all it consisted of. I do remember the really nice Teac Reel-to-Reel. I think my oldest brother still has it). Now, having a bit more money, I do have a pretty high-end "audiophile" type system that I absolutely enjoy and should last me the rest of my life. Today, most people will pretty much just stream music from an iPhone into a bluetooth speaker or headphones. If anybody had a "stereo" in their house these days, more than likely a soundbar hooked up to the TV would be the extent. Interesting with the resurgence of vinyl and even cassettes, there are people now wanting to get something like this unit shown again.
@@tarstarkusz IME "audiophiles" forget that it's a *HOBBY* which is supposed to be *FUN* Not everyone is willing to spend or have funds to spend in the thousands for a simpe piece of kit for entertainment.
Heck, I'm a self-described audiophile who owns several Nakamichis yes including a Dragon but you won't hear any complaining from me, like you say we all started somewhere and for many of us it was with way worse than this, not to mention it's fun! I mean 8 track tape has to be the absolute pits for sound quality, horrible design and execution compared to cassette tape, and this all-in-one probably outperforms all but the best 8 track decks but I still think it's great people are even getting interested in those again! :D
That brings back some memories as I recall my parents used to have a similar unit. Friggan Rhapsody!! 🤘Did not know that album was available on vinyl. I have the CD. I actually got to meet Luca Turilli in person. Hell, I even got go to dinner with him at ProgPower USA! A really awesome guy. After all those years listening to those Rhapsody albums and I never once, in my mind, thought I'd actually get meet him, let alone actually eat dinner with him! If I could only post a photograph here. Also to add, yeah, that looks like the typical cheap BSR record-changer mechanism that was so common on those all-in-one type units back in the day. Yeah, those ceramic cartridges typically track around 6 grams, which is why it will feel somewhat heavy. Overall, that is actually a pretty decent unit and does look to be in excellent condition. I would easily put that unit above the typical all-in-one units you now see, such as those by Victrola or Crosely.
Nice little unit, l like it myself. Can't go wrong with most Panasonic gear from 70s, 80s and 90s. I have a few items from Panasonic and they all work well.
@AudioThrift I have a 90s Panasonic cassette player that my wife uses in her car via the Aux in port. I made her some mix tapes, all 80s music which she really likes. I had to replace the belts on it but it works flawlessly now. It's from 1996. Also have a Panasonic portable cd player that I use via line out into my receiver, also from mid to late 90s. Again works flawlessly and sounds good too.
That's actually a very high quality entry level compact. Soft touch tape transport, real metal flywheel, while it isn't going to crank out the watts, with small efficient speakers, it probably does a good job and the at least the tape transport is better than most today. AC bias too- that is great find.
An outstanding presentation showcasing the Panasonic All-in-One Stereo System 👍 Wow! An great example of what an All-in-One is capable of - instead of some of the other units which were / are out there….. $2.00 = most probably the best $2 you have spent in a long time ;-) * You are an excellent storyteller, which adds to the enjoyment of your videos. Thank You for sharing this video with us.
That's a great Panasonic SG-V11 all-in-one unit and for $2, it's a no-brainer to scoop up in working order. It's also a better quality unit compared to many of its contemporaries as well as many made today in terms of its auto return turntable, the ability to use stackers for LPs and 45s, the repeat function by moving the stacker arm all the way to the right, and the soft-touch controls for the cassette deck were also a cut above many average all-in-one units back then. :)
Yeah, I was super excited! It's definitely not one of those later BPC units that showed up, which was what I was kind of expecting. This was a sleeper for sure! 😀
Cool, you're back with a new video !! Imagine finding one of these brand new, still in box. Would be amazing. Great to see one in such great condition 80s sublime and I love it !
cool deck! i just bought a SG-40 last week and it seems to be functionally the same as yours. kind of like the 70s version of that deck, except for external record player but also including a build in condenser mic
I'm listening to this video through the Panasonic SA-AK410 my parents got it back in 2004 when I was still 9 it became mine when I was 13 I used it with my computer for years then later I added a bluetooth receiver when bluetooth became the main thing and I'm still using it to this day Panasonic products are truly very well built
Some denatured alcohol on a q-tip will get all that buildup off of the capstan and pinch roller. It will dramatically increase the sound quality of the head too.
Funny I was thinking the same thing, get some head cleaner and q-tips and clean up those heads, pinch roller and capstan and it'll sound better. Speaking from decades of experience it's also the best way of preventing cassette tapes from being "eaten", a clean tape transport is a happy transport. Great video by the way, even an audiophile can have fun with this stuff just for the nostalgia, and yes this is coming from a guy who's owned everything from cheap Radio Shack portables in the 1970's to my prized Nakamichi Dragon and a lot of stuff in between!
@@AudioThrift If you mean the rollers, you could try normal cleaners like "simple green". Perhaps best to wipe them with water or alcohol once finished though, so it doesn't leave residue. You wouldn't want to use these cleaners on the head though. If you're not already, you can make it easier to clean the rollers by having the deck play without a tape in it, so you can just press against the roller while it turns - just try to avoid the cotton bud material wrapping around the capstan. You typically need to press a sensor arm to trick it into thinking a tape is inside.
Yes, enjoy seeing stuff like this. Memories............. Forgot that Radio Shack made blank cassettes. Now know what AM and FM stands for. Curious how you fried the Transformer. Thoroughly spray the tuning Fork (don't spray anything else) with self drying contact cleaner should correct that issue.
It was surprisingly easy. The thing that made it much easier was having a couple of dental picks to fish the belts around. One thing I did though, that was not proper, was there was a metal plate that I had to bend out of the way. But it was easy to put it back.
Yeah, it only took about 20 minutes... but like I said, that's because I cheated by bending that piece of metal. If I had done it properly, it might have taken a lot longer...
I missed for 8 days the fact you had a new video out. How remiss of me. In any case, I always loved the high end shelf systems of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The reason those were ruined though is mostly the fault of Sir Alan Sugar who created the Amdstrad Electronics company. He imported really cheap nasty low quality systems and tarted them up with a few leds and "chrome" bits. Many a teenager and young adult were bamboozled into buying a nice looking crap stereo. The x y zed is actually proud of his duplicity, naming the chapter about it in his book "A mug's picture." As in something pretty but crap. He's a huge part of why the midrange hi-fi market doesn't really exist anymore. The pillock.
@@AudioThrift Technoan has talked about it too. I think the video was actually called "A Mug's Picture" or something like that. Also try searching Amstrad with Techmoan.
I really don't see this one as quintessential craptastic 80s badness. The reason is because it's all analog, there are no flashing LCD lights and its silver. There was a company calling itself "Yorx" that in my mind is the quintessential 80s craptastic badness. Always black. Always LED lighting. Random flashing lights or lights flashing to the music. Obviously this colored by my own experiences, but for me, that is what bad 80s electronics look like.
For all the bellyaching of people who fancy themselves as audiophiles, while this may be on the low end from what was normal, it's not far from what 90% of people had in their living rooms or bedrooms.
Most people aren't "audiophiles." If it sounds reasonable at a volume you can easily hear, it's good enough for most people. For a lot of these people, the choice wasn't between audiophile equipment and this, it was between this and no stereo at all. I was a teenager in the 80s. I got what I was given and that was it. I would have loved to have had this thing. What I had was a very cheap GE boombox.
90 plus percent of people could not differentiate this from a high end receiver and amplifier at low volume. Because that is what money gets you, great sound at higher power. Most of the low end AIO "stereos" all are good for about 2 watts of output and reach distortion even before 2 watts.
Agreed!
@tarstarkusz I agree with you and also yes, would have loved one of these in the 80s when I was a teenager. Again, just had what I got given. Didn't get my own stereo till 1990 when I bought myself a fairly pricey (for 1990 anyways) Hitachi boombox.
I have to agree with this as well. I was also a teenager in the 80's and I pretty much got what was given. In my case, I had a SoundDesign boombox (which I still have), which was actually pretty decent, despite all the dissing that SoundDesign has gotten over the years. A unit like what was shown in this video was pretty much what most people listened to music on. My parents had one similar to this (if I recall, theirs was a Sharp) that had the cassette, AM/FM receiver and phonograph. Heck, pretty much most of my other friends had similar setups at their houses and even most of my relatives (well, my grandfather did have a REALLY NICE "audiophile" setup, though and would not let any of us touch it. Just wish I could remember what all it consisted of. I do remember the really nice Teac Reel-to-Reel. I think my oldest brother still has it). Now, having a bit more money, I do have a pretty high-end "audiophile" type system that I absolutely enjoy and should last me the rest of my life. Today, most people will pretty much just stream music from an iPhone into a bluetooth speaker or headphones. If anybody had a "stereo" in their house these days, more than likely a soundbar hooked up to the TV would be the extent. Interesting with the resurgence of vinyl and even cassettes, there are people now wanting to get something like this unit shown again.
@@tarstarkusz IME "audiophiles" forget that it's a *HOBBY* which is supposed to be *FUN*
Not everyone is willing to spend or have funds to spend in the thousands for a simpe piece of kit for entertainment.
Heck, I'm a self-described audiophile who owns several Nakamichis yes including a Dragon but you won't hear any complaining from me, like you say we all started somewhere and for many of us it was with way worse than this, not to mention it's fun! I mean 8 track tape has to be the absolute pits for sound quality, horrible design and execution compared to cassette tape, and this all-in-one probably outperforms all but the best 8 track decks but I still think it's great people are even getting interested in those again! :D
That brings back some memories as I recall my parents used to have a similar unit. Friggan Rhapsody!! 🤘Did not know that album was available on vinyl. I have the CD. I actually got to meet Luca Turilli in person. Hell, I even got go to dinner with him at ProgPower USA! A really awesome guy. After all those years listening to those Rhapsody albums and I never once, in my mind, thought I'd actually get meet him, let alone actually eat dinner with him! If I could only post a photograph here. Also to add, yeah, that looks like the typical cheap BSR record-changer mechanism that was so common on those all-in-one type units back in the day. Yeah, those ceramic cartridges typically track around 6 grams, which is why it will feel somewhat heavy. Overall, that is actually a pretty decent unit and does look to be in excellent condition. I would easily put that unit above the typical all-in-one units you now see, such as those by Victrola or Crosely.
Wow... I have been a fan of Luca Turilli for years. I'm really glad to hear he's as nice as he seems. That's awesome!!
Nice little unit, l like it myself. Can't go wrong with most Panasonic gear from 70s, 80s and 90s. I have a few items from Panasonic and they all work well.
I like Panasonic too. 😁 In fact, I even film all my videos with a Panasonic Lumix camera!
@AudioThrift I have a 90s Panasonic cassette player that my wife uses in her car via the Aux in port. I made her some mix tapes, all 80s music which she really likes. I had to replace the belts on it but it works flawlessly now. It's from 1996.
Also have a Panasonic portable cd player that I use via line out into my receiver, also from mid to late 90s. Again works flawlessly and sounds good too.
That's actually a very high quality entry level compact. Soft touch tape transport, real metal flywheel, while it isn't going to crank out the watts, with small efficient speakers, it probably does a good job and the at least the tape transport is better than most today. AC bias too- that is great find.
An outstanding presentation showcasing the Panasonic All-in-One Stereo System 👍
Wow! An great example of what an All-in-One is capable of - instead of some of the other units which were / are out there…..
$2.00 = most probably the best $2 you have spent in a long time ;-)
* You are an excellent storyteller, which adds to the enjoyment of your videos.
Thank You for sharing this video with us.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
That's a great Panasonic SG-V11 all-in-one unit and for $2, it's a no-brainer to scoop up in working order.
It's also a better quality unit compared to many of its contemporaries as well as many made today in terms of its auto return turntable, the ability to use stackers for LPs and 45s, the repeat function by moving the stacker arm all the way to the right, and the soft-touch controls for the cassette deck were also a cut above many average all-in-one units back then. :)
Yeah, I was super excited! It's definitely not one of those later BPC units that showed up, which was what I was kind of expecting. This was a sleeper for sure! 😀
Cool, you're back with a new video !! Imagine finding one of these brand new, still in box. Would be amazing. Great to see one in such great condition 80s sublime and I love it !
Thanks! I'd be so stoked to find one in a box still. That would be fun!
cool deck! i just bought a SG-40 last week and it seems to be functionally the same as yours. kind of like the 70s version of that deck, except for external record player but also including a build in condenser mic
That's a great find. Typically affordable audio gear like that was abused and in a landfill by now.
Thanks. Yeah, I like rescuing stuff like that.
I'm listening to this video through the Panasonic SA-AK410 my parents got it back in 2004 when I was still 9 it became mine when I was 13 I used it with my computer for years then later I added a bluetooth receiver when bluetooth became the main thing and I'm still using it to this day Panasonic products are truly very well built
They are indeed! :)
Some denatured alcohol on a q-tip will get all that buildup off of the capstan and pinch roller. It will dramatically increase the sound quality of the head too.
I'll try it. 😁
Funny I was thinking the same thing, get some head cleaner and q-tips and clean up those heads, pinch roller and capstan and it'll sound better. Speaking from decades of experience it's also the best way of preventing cassette tapes from being "eaten", a clean tape transport is a happy transport. Great video by the way, even an audiophile can have fun with this stuff just for the nostalgia, and yes this is coming from a guy who's owned everything from cheap Radio Shack portables in the 1970's to my prized Nakamichi Dragon and a lot of stuff in between!
@terrybeavan4264 There's still quite a bit of crusties on them after I used the alcohol. Anything a little stronger that might work?
@@AudioThrift have u tried isoprophyl alcohol? If not, contact cleaner?
@@AudioThrift If you mean the rollers, you could try normal cleaners like "simple green". Perhaps best to wipe them with water or alcohol once finished though, so it doesn't leave residue. You wouldn't want to use these cleaners on the head though.
If you're not already, you can make it easier to clean the rollers by having the deck play without a tape in it, so you can just press against the roller while it turns - just try to avoid the cotton bud material wrapping around the capstan. You typically need to press a sensor arm to trick it into thinking a tape is inside.
Yes, enjoy seeing stuff like this. Memories............. Forgot that Radio Shack made blank cassettes. Now know what AM and FM stands for. Curious how you fried the Transformer. Thoroughly spray the tuning Fork (don't spray anything else) with self drying contact cleaner should correct that issue.
It's embarrassing... because I should have known better. lol
I'll definitely explain it in full detail on an upcoming video. :)
Transformers won't "break" bro. They will burn or blow (like a fuse).
Cute system, looks like some good ole nostalgic fun❤😊
True enough. Burn is definitely more accurate. There was also a loud pop. lol
@@AudioThrift pop? Yikes!
Most importantly, I am glad u r ok my friend. Greetings from T&T 😁
Keep up with the great vidies and contents
Was changing the belts on the cassette player difficult on this unit? Some belts can be a challenge to change.
It was surprisingly easy. The thing that made it much easier was having a couple of dental picks to fish the belts around. One thing I did though, that was not proper, was there was a metal plate that I had to bend out of the way. But it was easy to put it back.
That's good. I recall doing a belt replacement on a sharp cassette deck that took me hours of disassembly and reassembly.
Yeah, it only took about 20 minutes... but like I said, that's because I cheated by bending that piece of metal. If I had done it properly, it might have taken a lot longer...
I missed for 8 days the fact you had a new video out. How remiss of me. In any case, I always loved the high end shelf systems of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The reason those were ruined though is mostly the fault of Sir Alan Sugar who created the Amdstrad Electronics company.
He imported really cheap nasty low quality systems and tarted them up with a few leds and "chrome" bits. Many a teenager and young adult were bamboozled into buying a nice looking crap stereo. The x y zed is actually proud of his duplicity, naming the chapter about it in his book "A mug's picture." As in something pretty but crap. He's a huge part of why the midrange hi-fi market doesn't really exist anymore. The pillock.
Interesting. I'm gonna have to read more about that. Might have to grab that book from Audible.
@@AudioThrift Technoan has talked about it too. I think the video was actually called "A Mug's Picture" or something like that. Also try searching Amstrad with Techmoan.
I really don't see this one as quintessential craptastic 80s badness. The reason is because it's all analog, there are no flashing LCD lights and its silver.
There was a company calling itself "Yorx" that in my mind is the quintessential 80s craptastic badness. Always black. Always LED lighting. Random flashing lights or lights flashing to the music. Obviously this colored by my own experiences, but for me, that is what bad 80s electronics look like.
Oh man... Yorx. That stuff. Yeah, those are pretty craptastic. 😆
Lmao I had a Yorx system, was drcent but yeah crap. Love that quintessa reference❤