Vintage Audio Encounter - A Panasonic RS-856 8-Track Tape Deck

Would you ever buy an 8-track player for your home audio system?  

Every once in awhile, I come across one in the thrift stores.  I remember when my granddad bought a pickup truck with an 8-track player.  That was luxury.  Of course, my granddad only owned two 8-track tapes and both were recorded by Jim Nabors.  Well golly!  Needless to say, I've never been in love with the format.

Panasonic 8-track Player

Vintage Panasonic 8-Track Player

I recently encountered this Panasonic 8-track player at a North Georgia thrift store.  It looked like it was in good shape.  I like the chrome face anyway.  I left it to wait for just the right person with the just the right Jim Nabors 8-track tapes to come buy it.

Of course, listening to 8-track tapes isn't quite as simple as just buying an 8-track player and popping in a tape.  At this point, 8-track players and 8-track tapes are both very old.  According to the 8-track enthusiast site 8trackavenue.com, the budding 8-track enthusiast will need to pro-actively restore their 8-track cassettes before using them.  Even brand new tapes contain a sensing foil strip that can deteriorate badly and render the tapes unusable.  In addition, tapes may need to be re-tensioned.  Fortunately, 8 track avenue has some videos that provide step-by-step instructions for opening up an old 8-track cassette and restoring it.

8 Track technology sells cheap at Goodwill

In addition, there may be issues with the 8-track tape deck itself.  The drive belt that runs the tape deck may well have deteriorated or broken.  The guys at turntableneedles.com have a whole section on how to get a replacement drive belt for an 8-track tape deck.  Vintage-electronics.net also offers a belt kit for this Panasonic tape deck.

By acting pro-actively, to restore your 8-track tapes and make sure that your tape deck is in good working order, you could find yourself with an interesting conversation piece to add to your home audio system.

If you are looking for an owners manual for the Panasonic RS-856 8-Track Player, you can actually get a printed manual at StereoManuals.com for about $9.  Here is the Panasonic Model RS-856 8-Track player in action on Youtube:

Replacement Foam Tips for Your Earbuds

If you are serious about being a cheap ass audiophile, then I think I've found the perfect product for you.  It's replacement earbud tips.  Yup, if you wear out those foam tips on your earbuds, you don't have to buy a new pair of earbuds.  All you have to do is order some replacement memory foam tips for your existing earbuds.

It seems like a pretty goofy product since you can just go out and pay $5 to $15 for a brand new pair of earbuds.  However, if you are serious about the environment and NOT throwing things away that have good life left in them, it makes sense to have some extra earbud tips on hand.  So, if you lost the foam tips for your earbuds, or want to try a different size, or just want to replace grungy existing earbuds, just remember that you can find them here on on Amazon.

How Do I Use My Headphones on a Vintage Stereo?

Are you used to headphones that work with a Smart Phone or MP3 player?  Do you want to use the headphones from your cell phone on a full-sized stereo?  It's easy to use 3.5 mm headphones on a traditional stereo receiver.  All you need to do is get a 6.35mm (1/4 inch) Male to 3.5mm (1/8 inch) female stereo jack adapter.

1/4 inch male to 1/8 inch female headphone plug adapter - CAD Rendering by Jeffrey Scot Leonard, J. S. Leonard Electronic Publishing (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Best of all these little 1/4-inch Male to 1/8-inch Female stereo plug adapters are cheap.  Here's an inexpensive solution to your problem on Amazon.