Anyone into cassettes?

Yup, cassettes rule. I have ditched my modded Oppo set up in favor of a very simple relatively unmodded, untweaked portable walkman type cassette player with vintage earphones. This very uncomplex system produces dynamic, uncompressed, open, clear and uber musical sound. No transformers to muddy up the signal, no fuses, no ground, no AC power, no wiring and cabling half of which would be installed backwards, no capacitors.

Speaking of the pressure pads falling off there are some very informative YouTube videos that explain how to reattach the little feller or in case It went Missing in Action how to replicate the felt pad and attach it. I have reattached five of the felt pads in the last few months. It's a piece of cake.

I lucked out and found a few RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence on cassette. They're sublime.

pryso
828 posts
07-26-2016 12:37pm
geoffkait, I was surprised to see your comments on the RCA and Mercury cassettes. In my experience, and I played with tapes for several years, commercial recordings were always a disappointment. I attributed that to the high-speed reproduction utilized to mass produce commercial cassettes.

I have to to admit I find cassettes to sound wonderful. Especially the RCA and Mercury cassettes that are as smooth and uncolored and dynamic as the LPs which I used to have. By comparison I find CD to sound thin, anemic, airless, lifeless, but there are some exceptions, like everything else. Cassettes are a natural medium. They breathe.