I used to own a Teac reel to reel (I can't remember the model #), but it sounded, I thought, great, at the time. I played everything through my tape deck, ( monitoring the sound through the deck) the tapes electronics, it seemed, made everything sound better than the actual source itself. That may be why someone told you to leave it on all the time. It won't do much unless you route your signal through it, and, unless it is a really good deck, I don't think it will make things sound better. I've long since replaced that deck with a Revox A77, but have not used that in quite a while. I would however recommend that you try it with a good quality deck like a Revox, Akai, Teac, Studer, or even Sony or Pioneer reel to reel types. Cassette decks, though, where not of the same quality, so I'd consider giving it a try with a top of the line model, like a good Nakamichi, or equavalent. Running the sound through the analogue circuitry seemed to smooth things out making all sources sound less fatigueing. I no longer use my reel to reel setup or, even any of my cassette decks, but now, I'm curious again. So, I think I'll head down to the basement tonight, clean up my Revox A77, and try it. There. Now I've given myself a project!
Leave cassette tape deck ON using ANY source
A number of years ago I was told to always make sure the cassette deck is on, irrespective of the program source. It had something to do with the way a preamp works in conjunction with the cassette deck. Can someone explain to me, in laymans terms, why this is true? Also, if it is true for the cassette deck, what about the tuner and turntable and CD player?