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Thread: ( Video ) My 8 track AKAI machine in action

  1. #1
    Audio Al is offline Pishanto Specialist & Super-Daftee
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: Dagenham Essex

    Posts: 11,215
    I'm Allen.

    Default ( Video ) My 8 track AKAI machine in action

    Not sure if anyone will be interested in this ?

    Its my AKAI CR-81D 8 track player in action

    Sorry it a bit out of focus , dont know why , If anyone would like to see it not out of focus I will do a video on my DSLR in stead of this compact , hopefully it will be better quality

    Anyway here goes



    tried the youtube button and all i got was a white screen
    [

  2. #2
    Audio Al is offline Pishanto Specialist & Super-Daftee
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: Dagenham Essex

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    I'm Allen.

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    Dam Dam Dam

    Thats done it now , sat here listening to 8 tracks all afternoon

    cant be bad though can it
    [

  3. #3
    Join Date: May 2010

    Location: Weymouth

    Posts: 3,463
    I'm John.

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    Takes me back to the 70s. I had a Hillman Imp with an 8-track player. Those were the days.

  4. #4
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Hi Al,

    Lol - looks great, in typical retro-stylee fashion, and I think (given the limitations of YouTube) sounds pretty fab! Certainly much better than MP3!!

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

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  5. #5
    Join Date: Dec 2008

    Location: Yorks

    Posts: 16,643
    I'm Nobody.

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    I have a 'CR-81D' but presently looking for a 'GXC-82D'

  6. #6
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: Sunny (occasionally) Devon

    Posts: 1,713
    I'm Shane.

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    8-Track? Really? C'mon guys! It was horrible then and it's even more horrible now. Not everything from the sixties and seventies was wonderful. Remember Tank Tops, Afros and beige Morris Marinas?

    A brief resume of exactly how dreadful these things were in their basic principle of operation is needed for those who are unaware of the full awfulness. Tape was pulled from the centre of the single reel and fed back to the outside. This meant that the outside of the tape reel was travelling at the same speed as the inside, which is physically impossible, so the layers of tape on the reel had to slip over each other as they travelled from the outside of the reel to the inside. This in turn meant that the tape had to be lubricated, usually with graphite, which got all over everything. It also meant that once the lubrication wore off the tape it would jam. Which they did, all the time. The supposed superiority of 8-Track over cassette due to the higher tape speed was completely nullified by the lubricant getting on the head (note you could only have one head, so ply-back only) and the fact that the head had to clunk up and down four times on each play to get from one pair of tracks to the next, and so was seldom in proper alignment for more than about half an hour after the machine was taken out of it's box for the first time. The single reel was unpowered so all the transport load was taken by the capstan and pinch-roller. Wow? WOW!

    Then there was the fact that only a few players offered fast forward, largely because doing so increased wear rates on the tape dramatically, and rewind was physically impossible, and then remember that the recorded material had to be divided into four equal-length bits which meant that tracks were either interrupted half-way through or punctuated with long silences.

    The hifi industry heaved a sigh of relief when 8-Track went unlamented to it's grave. For pity's sake leave it there undisturbed.

    Have a look at how it worked, and shudder:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-track_tape
    Time flies like an arrow.
    Fruit flies like a banana.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Dec 2008

    Location: Yorks

    Posts: 16,643
    I'm Nobody.

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    Amazes me how people seem to be worried about what others listern to!

    It's like this i buy 8 tracks cos I LIKE TO LISTERN to them, me, no one else

  8. #8
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Quote Originally Posted by shane View Post
    8-Track? Really? C'mon guys! It was horrible then and it's even more horrible now. Not everything from the sixties and seventies was wonderful. Remember Tank Tops, Afros and beige Morris Marinas?

    A brief resume of exactly how dreadful these things were in their basic principle of operation is needed for those who are unaware of the full awfulness. Tape was pulled from the centre of the single reel and fed back to the outside. This meant that the outside of the tape reel was travelling at the same speed as the inside, which is physically impossible, so the layers of tape on the reel had to slip over each other as they travelled from the outside of the reel to the inside. This in turn meant that the tape had to be lubricated, usually with graphite, which got all over everything. It also meant that once the lubrication wore off the tape it would jam. Which they did, all the time. The supposed superiority of 8-Track over cassette due to the higher tape speed was completely nullified by the lubricant getting on the head (note you could only have one head, so ply-back only) and the fact that the head had to clunk up and down four times on each play to get from one pair of tracks to the next, and so was seldom in proper alignment for more than about half an hour after the machine was taken out of it's box for the first time. The single reel was unpowered so all the transport load was taken by the capstan and pinch-roller. Wow? WOW!

    Then there was the fact that only a few players offered fast forward, largely because doing so increased wear rates on the tape dramatically, and rewind was physically impossible, and then remember that the recorded material had to be divided into four equal-length bits which meant that tracks were either interrupted half-way through or punctuated with long silences.
    Sure... YET, despite all that, I thought that (Sylistics aside) the music on Al's YouTube video sounded pretty good!

    I rather like the warm and organic sound of 8-track

    Perfect it isn't, but then neither is much of today's cold and clinical sounding digital-derived music, such as MP3, and most of what spills out of your average iPod......

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  9. #9
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: Sunny (occasionally) Devon

    Posts: 1,713
    I'm Shane.

    Smile

    Quote Originally Posted by Rare Bird View Post

    It's like this i buy 8 tracks cos I LIKE TO LISTEN to them, me, no one else
    Absolutely, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's just that having had to sell and subsequently repair the things for some years, they've left a deep wound on my engineering soul, so I emit an involuntary wail of despair every time I'm reminded. Enjoy the pleasure (while it lasts....)
    Time flies like an arrow.
    Fruit flies like a banana.

  10. #10
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: Bristol, UK

    Posts: 9,962
    I'm Nick.

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    My CR81D sounds pretty good. As good as pre-recorded tape on a typical cassette deck at least.

    And it records. I have 2 8-Tracks and both record. You could buy blanks for them back at the time as well.

    The main problem with 8-tracks was that the foam behind the tape that the head would press the tape onto tends to disintegrate with time, but it's easily replaced (draught excluder works well!), and learning how to re-foam old carts is the trick to getting them to play back and sound good. Without the foam working properly azimuth and tension is all over the place, and your tapes will get chewed.

    Plenty of sealed / NOS tapes on eBay as well
    Nick
    My system...


    Follow AOS on Twitter: @AoS_Forum

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