The story of my inherited first HiFi setup.

I inherited this nice Yamaha setup that still works like new from my uncle when he passed away. It just happened that I started getting interested in making a HiFi recording set up befor he passed away. My Grandmother and the rest of my family that lived out there started cleaning out his place and came across the setup. When I was able to come up and help clear out the place, they said if I was interested, I could have it, because no one else in my family had a use for it. I thought it would be a nice momento to our common interests (we both were collectors, And the was a Retired Navy commander who traved alot, and always incuraged my interest in my German/Poslih roots, and my interest in history),it way to keep it in the family and it would be the my first HiFi setup. They day I brought it back home I placed it by my bed and tested out the playback to see if it needed repairs, and it sounded as good as new. My first problem how ever was trying to figure out how to record music, Because none of the raido stations out here were my taste in music. I eventually created this complicated set up using my old Xbox 360. The left and Right Audio is ported into the record ports in the cassette deck, and a video goes out to a TV none of us use, then I stream the music off YouTube on to my cassettes. (I'm aware of the moral gray zone with this). I have alot of used and unused recording cassette I have gotten from throughout my family.
Note I'm aware that this isint the greatest set up, but I'm not very picky with music quality, I usually pic out a good quality upload of what ever I'm after and record that one. I usually use 90 min type I and II tapes (preferably II). I might improve the setup at a later date. Im generally Sony for portable players, but for home recording I use A Yamaha K-220 deck, A Yamaha AM/FM T7 tuner, and a Yamaha Directed DC A-1 amplifier. Thanks to this I'm now Sony and Yamaha loyal. I just finished recording a Vaporwave Mixtape on Al (I nicked named it after my uncle) as I've been typing out this story.

 

Im not surprised with the glowing reviews, Ive been recording on this for a few months now and I can agree with alot of the reviews myself. For me, alot of the fun is recording the tape itself, I enjoy spending a hour adding up all the time to make the most room out of the tape, and I like spending the 1-2 hours recording the music. My set up is a bit more complicated due to my YouTube to Tape method, but it's almost like a form of meditatin. Its to the point I can record without actually looking at the buttons on the deck, I just instinctively no where to push.

 

Thanks, it was my first idea on how I would record till I had proper equipment.

 

Thanks for sharing your story. How is the quality of recording by streaming from you-tube? I never recorded anything on cassette using youtube music as a source. I tried recording from Pandora but it was not as good as recording from CD.

 

As T-ster says I'm sure your Uncle would be pleased to know that his HiFi has gone to a good home.

You should keep a look out for additional items like some speakers.
Even Music Centre type Speakers (i.e. cheap light ones) will probably sound better than most TV Speakers.

Back in the 1980s it was normal to buy a HiFi system one component at a time as you could afford it.
I can't find the original price of the Yamaha but it would have been a week or twos average wages back in the day.

Recently I got some Speakers complete with the Aiwa Midi system they had been used to upgrade for £8 at the local car boot sale.

About nine years ago I bought some bigger Mordaunt Short speakers for a good price because they were collect only on Ebay.
The seller actually delivered them to me for free and commented rather sadly that his HiFi had been replaced by an Bluetooth Speaker as his wife
thought it took up too much room

 

I recommend using youtube. But quality is entirely based on the quality of the video. If it was professionally recorded or if it's an official release, it will have very very good quality (or at least to my standards) if it's a video that a made by a crappy micropne infront of a speaker, then you'll have the same quality. Now there is probably some better quality ways to record if you are a bit more of a audio snob who prefers master recordings, I wouldn't recommend this method. But if you find a video of the song that your recording, and it fits your standards, then it will sound equally as good. Even if you don't turn on Dolby reduction, (I never turn it on because my WM-4 walkman I use for listening predates Dolby) it sounds excellent, and if you do use Dolby it will sound practically the same as pulling up the video. Im not a perfect expert. To the minor tinnitus my earsh have, I really don't notice much of a difference between a fresh and old LP (minus the cracks), Or the difference between Dolby reduction or no Dolby reduction.

 

Actually I have some pretty good speakers plugged into the set. You may not be able to tell, but in the photo my HiFi is actually resting on the speakers like a shelf. I mainly did that as a method for saving some space. The speakers were also My uncle's, I actually inherited his entire setup minous the falling apprt case he had everything in. He had multiple little shelving units designed for cassettes, these speakers (not perfect condition, but still very very great), and all the Yamaha equipment. If I didn't end up taking the set up, it would've been pitched. Of all his old stuff, I got his HiFi, a nice brass Buddh statue, a sake set (he collected many Asian items), and his commander uniform (since my uncle and I shared many interests including world traveling and military history my family thought it would be appropriate if I had it).

 

I'm not 100% on the exact model but give me a few minutes to get back to you that, I have a idea on how to find out

 

Just as a bit of a warning, they look fancier then try actually are, the wood grain is actually fake. But if it's well cared for like mine is, it's very hard to spot

 

I took a picture of the hook up area of one of the speakers, I'm hoping this can help

 

Sorry to hear that, but I hope you do find something equally as good looking.

 

Nice finds

 

Wow, is this a read!

First-off: Don't worry about the moral implications of recording audio from YouTube. You're basically making a copy of a copy, so the dues are already paid for by the video's OP.

Plus, I did the same once... back when Rhapsody allowed trial members to review songs full-length for free. All I has was a Sony dual-cassette deck and head unit, fed from the speaker output on a HP compact-form factor desktop without any special audio software, so I had to play with the computer's on-screen volume control to prevent over-driving the signal.

I too used Type-II tapes (Preferably), and found the harshness created by the masking MP3 compression does just to be more pronounced on playback. The hardest parts of it all was playing the track once to set the recording level right, then cue the recording and track playback to prevent catching the odd "pop" that occurred when I reset the cursor on the playback bar to the beginning.

Polish/German, and has an uncle that was in the Navy who collected things and appreciated high-end electronics... Bou, does that sound familiar. (Me!)

BTW: I have a Yamaha K-960. Just had it serviced and feel the cost is worth it. And I too have made my system of an odd combination of speakers... One pair is from a friend's defunct Aiwa compact stereo (as my centers) a pair cheap-but-good used floor speakers (3-way, 12" poly-cone woofer w/foam surround, dual L-pads) from Goodwill as my mains, and a pair of Bose reflectors from a local resale shop as my rears. My big early-90s Sony head unit has no problem driving all of them, and does so with Dolby Pro-Logic.

 

Nice to know someone there is someone else out there that has good taste, and a simular background. That made me chuckle.