Are you new to vintage audio? I certainly am. If so, then join me as we take an in-shallow look at interesting old hi-fi and audio equipment that I run across while thrifting and scouring estate sales. I have no idea what I'm talking about so I figure that qualifies me to share my observations on the internet! Come on my journey and lets take a look at some neat hi-fi gear, do a little thrifting, and maybe we'll both learn something new.
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! 😀
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.
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...
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
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
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.
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 !
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.
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.
Listening to this through my Bose Companion Series 3 mk2 sub/sat set right now! 😄 I'm not a huge Bose fan but they get shot down too early by many who don't even stop to listen to their products. If Bose sound is what you like, that is fine with me. They make respectable speakers. Any spring clip speaker terminal can accept something like Sewell's flex pin connectors (and other variants) so you do have some connection options. Could always change it out for after market binding posts.
A couple days ago I got may hands on a speaker selector switchbox from Amazon and hooked these up to it along with a couple other sets I had and was able to do an actual side-by-side comparison. I can't deny the clarity. Paired with a sub to get the bass on par with their highs and mids, they're pretty solid. :)
Has anyone ever had to replace the LED bulb that he showed inside of the turntable? (the one where he demonstrated how it powers the turntable with a pokemon card) My bulb is either burned out or not working because of something else wrong, and I can't figure out what to do!!
I've had these speakers for years and I had no idea there was a jack on the black knob between the wire input in the back. I always had issues especially with moving them around to better spots in my place, and the wires lose connection easily and its hard to get it back to the sweet spot sometimes. Is there a drop in quality of sound/other issues with using the RCA jack compared to the 2 wire inputs? I haven't used my speakers in so long because I cannot get the sound to stay without adjusting them frequently.
I, myself, did not notice a difference in the sound quality between the two but I am also partially deaf in one ear so I'm probably not the best judge.
@@AudioThrift OK great! What kind of adapters and/or cables would I need to run this with a kenwood kr-4070? I would need one cable per speaker correct?
I actually use a couple of modified RCA tattoo machine cables that I bought from our supply wholesaler and chopped one end off to turn into speaker cables. They're effective but kind of overkill. You can easily solder an RCA plug onto some decent speaker wire and use that. Or any old speaker wire should work with the terminals on both. Might be worth opening the speakers and checking the solder joints because it sounds like you might have a loose connection on one of the terminals.
@@AudioThrift that is great to know because I bought one right before I found your channel. :) Just hooked it up and it sounds great… thanks for the reply btw!
still have it, exceptional...1975, stretches the memory...quality 'must have' goods started to appear, like 10 spd bikes, (!), SLR 35 mm cameras...lots of social buzz as about their quality so you decided you had to have it, then satisfying to find out it was really quality stuff after all. Now so much junk to wade through, and we all have too much 'stuff', so much of ch!**s* stuff is cheap, you use it and throw away when it breaks, and hence these real items from that era are treasured.
That would probably look good but the original version was artificial so I wanted to try to keep it as original looking as possible. With a little more time/money, it would definitely be nice to use a real walnut veneer and stain it. That would be an interesting video for a later date.
It was a £125 in the uk brand new in 1982 so over £400 in todays money I would say it is a good entry level turntable for a serious listener which you can do a few upgrades too. I really like mine
Thanks for reminding me that I have a pair of these in my junk room! I pulled them out of the trash about 15 years ago and fell in love with the sound profile. Sure, they don't emit a massive amount of bass, but they have some of the best clarity for speakers from that era.
I need to find one of those little car radio broadcaster things I can hook to my phone. I bet that would work with the RU-vid music, now that I think about it.
I have a pair of CS-99A in my basement. They were given to me by a former co-worker that was just going to throw them away. There is a minor damage to one of the grills and my basement suffered minor flooding, thus a little water damage occurred on the bottoms. Really sucked as when I received them, they were in immaculate condition. I have not hooked them up recently to see if they actually still good, though.
Hello Mr Thrift- another great and informative video. Your mention of the ease of cap replacement is giving me confidence to open up my old thrift Tannoy’s and do the same. I must admit I have some fear of screwing up but I will take it one step at a time.
Wow, a Bose video without downvotes. Man your technical analysis is great - to the point & paired with show not tell. And that alligator is a ninja. Let's get those subscriber numbers up!
Compared to other speakers I've tried, it's a struggle to get a balanced bass out of them. Everything sounded thin. Even when I dialed in the amp settings and placement, I felt like something was missing. However, in a small room at lower volumes, they were surprisingly pleasant. It's weird.
Yeah, everything is hooked up properly. I tried inverting the phase just out of curiosity and it was worse, but it's also really interesting if you point them at each other on a table out of phase... it suddenly sounds like the music is coming from the next room with the door closed.
Yeah, it's wild. A lot of resellers get stuff in bulk and keep only the stuff they specifically trade in... like furniture or dishes or clothes or whatever. Everything else is either given to thrift stores or just handed out to other resellers or, in my case, weird RU-vidrs.
I like how you bump the mic right when you say "I'm still in the learning process" 0:18 😆 I don't mind the Bose sound but finding a used pair for a decent price is difficult in my area. I had a pair of Roommate II powered speakers that sounded great coming out of a portable CD player but the quality of materials and construction was pretty poor.
That's what we call a "happy accident" lol I'm not familiar with the Roommate brand... but thinking back to actual room mates I've had, the poor build quality would be fitting... hehe.
@@AudioThrift It's the Bose Roommates II. They were interesting in that they were the first "good" sounding speaker you could plug into your Walkman in the late 80"s. Before that it was all boomboxes. Holy crap! Look for a boombox to review!
@@stephenmorrissey1254 Oh,yeah... I have been looking for one since I started the channel. They're so hard to find in presentable condition. But I DID just find a cheapo all-in-one that I'm gonna do once I get the belts for it. I've wanted to do that for a while. lol
That Masterwork 570 stereo system was a great score! AudioThrift, you and I have similar tastes in vintage equipment and that unit has all of the visual aesthetics I love too, namely, bright green AM/FM tuner numbers, chrome face, wood paneling, VU meters, and cool black and chrome knobs. Add to that a working 8-track player/recorder and it ticks all the boxes. Haha! :)
Seeing this a year later, as it is always nice to find more videos on linear tracking turntables. The reason is that I have a Technic SL-QL15 linear tracker and trying to find information on that thing is not easy. At least there is a recent video about it that was posted about 8 months ago by some guy to demonstrate it for selling it. However, I do have the original user's manual with it, and also found the service manual online, which I downloaded. My unit does work perfectly, though. How I acquired it? Some 15 or so years ago, I had a friend that had it and he did not want it anymore, so he just straight up gave it to me! I asked how much he wanted for it and just told me to go ahead and take it. This was before the whole "vinyl revival" thing took off, plus he also got one of those really expensive "audiophile" turntables, so he just did not need this unit. It has some cosmetic scratches on the dust cover, and it did need a new stylus, but other than that, it did indeed work perfectly. For a long time, it did just sat in my basement, going unused and collecting dust until I figured out what I wanted to do with it. Just recently, during the whole "COVID" lockdown, I decided to bust it out and play with it again, as I also at least had some records to play as well, including a copy of Marillion "Misplaced Childhood" on vinyl. So, for the past couple of years, re-igniting my old love for playing records again, and finding out that SL-QL15 is actually a very good unit and a very respectable unit in terms of what is considered "audiophile". It does sound quite good on my rig. I wish I could find more information on the Audio-Technica LT121 cartridge that it has, and if it is any good and/or if there are "better" P-mount cartridges that is worth upgrading to. Indeed - Keep it Metal! 🤘 (I am a festival sponsor for ProgPower USA in Atlanta) EDIT - I just pulled the trigger on the LP Gear Reference Series VS cartridge with Shibata stylus. Can't wait for it arrive! Also, this channel just got another subscriber!
@@AudioThrift Once it arrives and I have a chance to listen to it, I'll definitely report back and let you know how it sounds. Right now, listening to Orden Ogen's brand new album off of Apple Music streaming lossless through my Eversolo DMP-A6 Master Edition. That album is friggan INCREDIBLE! I'll have to get it on CD as I like having my physical copies.
@@AudioThrift Just received the new cartridge in the mail today and got it on the Technics SL-QL15. Yeah, at $200, the LPGear Reference VS cartridge with a Shibata stylus was definitely not "Thrift Audio", but still. Sometimes it is worth to spend a few dollars to get good sound. Anyway, I immediately can tell a difference from the AT LT121 with the elliptical stylus. First, putting on this copy of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite that I have. Wow, the dynamics and clarity is just incredible! The bass was so much fuller and the audio detail was amazing. Moving on to power/progressive metal, I put on Immortal Guardian's new one "Unite and Conquer". Talk about blowing my hair back!! The second track on side A "Echoes" is just friggan incredible, with the way the guitars play off of each other! I will have to listen to other records, such as this copy of Methodica "The Silence of Wisdom", which is an excellent progressive metal record.
