8 track system
- Thread starter marcok
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I will probably be roundhouse kicked for saying this, but 8-tracks are of no use to anyone unless you already have a trove of such tapes on hand. Otherwise, don't go there unless you see it as something new/old to play around with. If you want to get seriously weird, get an 8-track deck and a cassette adapter. In audio, the weirdness never seems to end - just seek out the "Snake Oil" thread over at the Vinyl Engine. Laz has contributed to it.
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I've been into 8 tracks for about 5 years and went off the deep end with both decks and tapes. The decks I've seen cited most often as being the best sounding are Wolensak, those Akai's and those Pioneer's. I've never seen or heard a Wolensak but am very familiar with Akai CR-81's and somewhat familiar with those Pioneers.
The consensus on Wolensak is good sounding but prone to motor failure.
Those Akai models are heavy duty beyond believe and use the same AC motor used in GX4000 reel to reels. The 82 model has glass GX heads which although attractive spec wise, can be flawed, prone to cracking and are unreplaceable. Other than that, and a Pause button on the 82, it and the 81 are identical.
I only had one Pioneer, an HR-100, but it had a hard life and lost half of it's playback volume after a few months. I relegated it to "mule" duty - using it to run newly acquired tapes through to quickly find the splice. But it's DC motor seized and I've since cannibalized it for the odd part.
I know Nando has at least one Pioneer 8 track deck so maybe he'll be offering more insight.
My recommendation would be a CR-81D and if you lifted one up, you'd know why. I've had 3, still own two and the belts were good in all of them. They remind me of belts used in vacuum cleaners to drive beater rollers.
There are also Akai CR-83D's. Some don't like them because they have DC motors and are not as robust as their predecessors. I've been using one since last fall and once I corrected a few issues, it sounds fine to me. Plus I think it is a very good looking deck with all the features except Dolby which I don't care about anyway.
As long as 8 track cartridges have not been partially erased from bad storage or been physically abused, they sound just as good as anything else. Different from CD and most LP's, better than pre-recorded cassettes and close to reel to reel recordings. You get used to songs fading out, program change noise from deck, then resuming again.
If you do take the plunge, and I cannot stress this enough, do not play any cartridge without overhauling it first. There is a 90% chance of needing new pads and foil splices, 50% the tape pack has layers stuck to itself, and 10% to 20% chance the tape has crawled up the hub. The latter is very bad unless dealt with first. Sometimes for reasons unknown, the tape will have flipped sides and that is a time consuming fix but fortunately not too common. - less than 1% or so.
I currently own over 700 8 track tapes but have reconditioned more like 2500. I like to think I've gotten inside every type of cartridge ever made and witnessed every problem which can occur. Some take a LOOONG TIME to correct.
The consensus on Wolensak is good sounding but prone to motor failure.
Those Akai models are heavy duty beyond believe and use the same AC motor used in GX4000 reel to reels. The 82 model has glass GX heads which although attractive spec wise, can be flawed, prone to cracking and are unreplaceable. Other than that, and a Pause button on the 82, it and the 81 are identical.
I only had one Pioneer, an HR-100, but it had a hard life and lost half of it's playback volume after a few months. I relegated it to "mule" duty - using it to run newly acquired tapes through to quickly find the splice. But it's DC motor seized and I've since cannibalized it for the odd part.
I know Nando has at least one Pioneer 8 track deck so maybe he'll be offering more insight.
My recommendation would be a CR-81D and if you lifted one up, you'd know why. I've had 3, still own two and the belts were good in all of them. They remind me of belts used in vacuum cleaners to drive beater rollers.
There are also Akai CR-83D's. Some don't like them because they have DC motors and are not as robust as their predecessors. I've been using one since last fall and once I corrected a few issues, it sounds fine to me. Plus I think it is a very good looking deck with all the features except Dolby which I don't care about anyway.
As long as 8 track cartridges have not been partially erased from bad storage or been physically abused, they sound just as good as anything else. Different from CD and most LP's, better than pre-recorded cassettes and close to reel to reel recordings. You get used to songs fading out, program change noise from deck, then resuming again.
If you do take the plunge, and I cannot stress this enough, do not play any cartridge without overhauling it first. There is a 90% chance of needing new pads and foil splices, 50% the tape pack has layers stuck to itself, and 10% to 20% chance the tape has crawled up the hub. The latter is very bad unless dealt with first. Sometimes for reasons unknown, the tape will have flipped sides and that is a time consuming fix but fortunately not too common. - less than 1% or so.
I currently own over 700 8 track tapes but have reconditioned more like 2500. I like to think I've gotten inside every type of cartridge ever made and witnessed every problem which can occur. Some take a LOOONG TIME to correct.
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I had my Dad's old Akai for a few months here, but it gave up the ghost.. not to mention me remembering the 11 year old "me" cleaning the heads with nail polish remover (yeah, ya learn 
). It was a combo reel to reel / 8 track deck GX-1820R if I recall. Back in it's heydey in the early/mid 70's I think the 8 track sounded pretty good, but that was sooooo long ago.
From there, one Christmas around 79 we kids both got 8 track AM/FM cheap boomboxes. Played Elton John on em.. grease too since that was the big thing back then.
Then there was this thing here.. lol.. it was basically an 8 track in disguise. The 4 "choice" buttons were just direct access to the 4 channels/tracks whatever. The magic was in how they mastered the tape, where the choices it would prompt you for when made, switched it over to another track where it appeared to be a computer actually thinking.. lol.
). It was a combo reel to reel / 8 track deck GX-1820R if I recall. Back in it's heydey in the early/mid 70's I think the 8 track sounded pretty good, but that was sooooo long ago. From there, one Christmas around 79 we kids both got 8 track AM/FM cheap boomboxes. Played Elton John on em.. grease too since that was the big thing back then.
Then there was this thing here.. lol.. it was basically an 8 track in disguise. The 4 "choice" buttons were just direct access to the 4 channels/tracks whatever. The magic was in how they mastered the tape, where the choices it would prompt you for when made, switched it over to another track where it appeared to be a computer actually thinking.. lol.
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It's Fun... Seriously!
Thank you for stepping in to support the cause, Brother Gary. I have a couple of Panasonic 8-track playback decks, a Realistic TR-882 recorder, Pioneer H-R99 and a couple of parts Pioneer H-R99s given to me by Scott (braxus.) My newest ride has a Delco AM/FM 8-track deck and I have an NOS car 8-track on stand-by. I even have a Karaoke portable.
The Akai models Gary has mentioned have a good reputation. Gary has reconditioned a bulk of my 8-track cartridges. I have a few more I picked up, recently, and I already asked Gary to recondition those as well in exchange for blank Elcaset tapes.
Just like other formats, you must have good equipment, good tapes, and a well-mastered copy on pre-recorded 8-track to make a fair comparison.
Here is a video of the TR-882 playing through a pair of Pioneer cube speakers and powered by an hk 380i receiver.
Click on image to play video:
Portable Karaoke:
Pioneer H-R99 and Kiss:
Click on image to play video:
Panasonic RS-844US and Herb Albert:
Click on image to play video:
And unlike cassettes, you can find quadraphonic recordings. Happy hunting!
Nando.
Thank you for stepping in to support the cause, Brother Gary. I have a couple of Panasonic 8-track playback decks, a Realistic TR-882 recorder, Pioneer H-R99 and a couple of parts Pioneer H-R99s given to me by Scott (braxus.) My newest ride has a Delco AM/FM 8-track deck and I have an NOS car 8-track on stand-by. I even have a Karaoke portable.
The Akai models Gary has mentioned have a good reputation. Gary has reconditioned a bulk of my 8-track cartridges. I have a few more I picked up, recently, and I already asked Gary to recondition those as well in exchange for blank Elcaset tapes.
Just like other formats, you must have good equipment, good tapes, and a well-mastered copy on pre-recorded 8-track to make a fair comparison.
Here is a video of the TR-882 playing through a pair of Pioneer cube speakers and powered by an hk 380i receiver.
Click on image to play video:
Portable Karaoke:
Pioneer H-R99 and Kiss:
Click on image to play video:
Panasonic RS-844US and Herb Albert:
Click on image to play video:
And unlike cassettes, you can find quadraphonic recordings. Happy hunting!
Nando.
Well crap; You guy's are sucking me in here. I've got several decks on my watch list now & tonight I'm going to look for a few tapes I had way back when. Need me some Hendrix, Johnny Winters, King Crimson, Black Sabbath & maybe Deep Purple to start..............
When is that White Oak Wayback machine coming out???
EDIT: OH..OH! Can't forget the Iron Butterfly ! In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida !!
When is that White Oak Wayback machine coming out???
EDIT: OH..OH! Can't forget the Iron Butterfly ! In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida !!
Last edited:
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I just sold my Akai CR-80D-SS 4 channel (Quad) Eight Track Tape Player a couple months ago for $250. I had planned to start using it someday. However, as I have gotten older I am beginning to realize those "someday's" are turning into never.
I had met a fellow at Dean's house a number of years ago who was buying all the quad 8-track, reel-to-reel tapes and records he could get his hands onto. I only wish I had the opportunity and the time to sit down and listen to some of those old quad recordings.
Ed
I had met a fellow at Dean's house a number of years ago who was buying all the quad 8-track, reel-to-reel tapes and records he could get his hands onto. I only wish I had the opportunity and the time to sit down and listen to some of those old quad recordings.
Ed
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Thank you for your answers ,guys .
The temptation to enter the 8 track world is very
strong , but the problem is that I have no tapes .
A recorder or simply a player is not expansive ,
but the tapes are moreless available only in US and
so their price is too high , considering S&H and VAT.
Anyway now I 'll give a try to find tapes here in Europe .
Ciao
Marco
P.S. : last question
Is Centrex Pioneer TH-30 a good player ?
The temptation to enter the 8 track world is very
strong , but the problem is that I have no tapes .
A recorder or simply a player is not expansive ,
but the tapes are moreless available only in US and
so their price is too high , considering S&H and VAT.
Anyway now I 'll give a try to find tapes here in Europe .
Ciao
Marco
P.S. : last question
Is Centrex Pioneer TH-30 a good player ?
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I have seen the odd Centrex piece advertised on Craigslist but never encountered anything Centrex in the flesh. It may not have been distributed in Canada.
Looking at "images" after a Google search, it has no features whatsoever, it is very basic. I have have come to appreciate some features which such a basic player does not have like for instance, the ability of stopping play when the 4th (or in some cases each) program has finished. For me, that is highly desirable otherwise the tape repeats over and over until you pull out the cartridge.
In reading about that TH-30, mention was made that it has a plastic head bracket. I only own one unit so equipped , a Realistic TR-803 and that part is intact, but they supposedly have a tendency to break. From age or too aggressive tightening, I'm not sure but I've had no success at all trying to repair any broken plastic part I found in any tape deck.
I'm guessing, but I suspect the frequency response tops out at 12K which is typical for lowish end players and may in fact be totally adequate for 8 track reproduction. Those previously mentioned Akai's and Pioneers will do 15k to 16K.
If you have a line on a TH-30 and it works well or you can get it to work well, it should be fine. But like I said, a player's ability to stop playing at least after the 4th and last track is pretty much a must have for me. I have a perfectly working Marantz TDR-820 packed away in it's box that I quit using it because it does not do that.
Maybe one of our US brethren can offer an opinion re Centrex from first hand experience.
Looking at "images" after a Google search, it has no features whatsoever, it is very basic. I have have come to appreciate some features which such a basic player does not have like for instance, the ability of stopping play when the 4th (or in some cases each) program has finished. For me, that is highly desirable otherwise the tape repeats over and over until you pull out the cartridge.
In reading about that TH-30, mention was made that it has a plastic head bracket. I only own one unit so equipped , a Realistic TR-803 and that part is intact, but they supposedly have a tendency to break. From age or too aggressive tightening, I'm not sure but I've had no success at all trying to repair any broken plastic part I found in any tape deck.
I'm guessing, but I suspect the frequency response tops out at 12K which is typical for lowish end players and may in fact be totally adequate for 8 track reproduction. Those previously mentioned Akai's and Pioneers will do 15k to 16K.
If you have a line on a TH-30 and it works well or you can get it to work well, it should be fine. But like I said, a player's ability to stop playing at least after the 4th and last track is pretty much a must have for me. I have a perfectly working Marantz TDR-820 packed away in it's box that I quit using it because it does not do that.
Maybe one of our US brethren can offer an opinion re Centrex from first hand experience.