memories-Capehart dual-8 track AM/FM/phono recorder

Christmas 1977- a friend of mine got a new Capehart all-in-one stereo
for as a gift from his mom. We were 15 years old at the time. All
through high school, this was our main party/music machine- and I still
remember quite clearly listening to Joe Walsh, Zeppelin, Mott the
Hoople, Foghat, Jefferson Airplane, Rush, Nazareth, Aerosmith, Ted
Nugent, Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. on it- over at his house.
The layout of the switches and buttons, and the dual 8-track deck,
that allowed dubbing from one cart to another, was too cool back then.
This stereo is engraved into my memory so vividly, I even remember the
LP's he got with it that Christmas- they were Aerosmith Draw the Line
(a brand new release), and Ted Nugent Free for All (a one year old
release). Man, did it sound GOOD at the time. He dubbed me a copy of
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow S/T onto 8-track with it. I had to tell
him that he didn't need the mics to record, the unit will record from
any source automatically, using the internal ALC circuitry. Another
cool thing about it was, it could drive 4 speakers- it had 4 pairs of
RCA's and a switch, which at the time, for an all-in-one, was really
something.

Shortly thereafter I got my own receiver-turntable-tape deck component
system, which was markedly higher end than the Capehart. Mine had a
Pioneer professional turntable with strobe that played one record at a
time, and was the first one in our crowd to get a higher end component
system, using "separates"- not all in one. But that Capehart always
had a special place in my musical teenage memory- you can say I cut my
classic rock teeth on it. Anyone who grew up with us, still remembers
that Capehart stereo to this day.

The first time I heard Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused live version, and
Blue Oyster Cult The Reaper, was on that Capehart. We even took it to
the shore with us on vacation one year.

So I decided on a lark, to get one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...5137%26fvi%3D1

After doing a search last week, on a whim, I found one on Ebay and
scored it. I had seen one on Ebay before but passed on it, because it
went for over $100 at the time. This one had 2 broken toggles- but
that vintage sound from my teenage years, now fills my home- again.

After a total disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly, it's 1977 all over
again. I put 2 new belts on the 8-track decks- everything works like a
"beaut"....no double tracking at all. The stereo had very little miles
on it. I fixed the broken handles, by replacing them with allen head
screws, after drilling/tapping the toggle part of the switch.

rock on, people...

not a thing wrong with an all in one unit like that units like that were big
in the 60s 70s and in to the late 80s.
if you noticed all in one's are again domateing the market history repeats
it self but thay are much higher quilty now.
i think both all in one's and componiant systems have a place in the audio
world
whats youre opion on this bob


"The Paris Gun" wrote in message
ups.com...
Christmas 1977- a friend of mine got a new Capehart all-in-one stereo
for as a gift from his mom. We were 15 years old at the time. All
through high school, this was our main party/music machine- and I still
remember quite clearly listening to Joe Walsh, Zeppelin, Mott the
Hoople, Foghat, Jefferson Airplane, Rush, Nazareth, Aerosmith, Ted
Nugent, Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. on it- over at his house.
The layout of the switches and buttons, and the dual 8-track deck,
that allowed dubbing from one cart to another, was too cool back then.
This stereo is engraved into my memory so vividly, I even remember the
LP's he got with it that Christmas- they were Aerosmith Draw the Line
(a brand new release), and Ted Nugent Free for All (a one year old
release). Man, did it sound GOOD at the time. He dubbed me a copy of
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow S/T onto 8-track with it. I had to tell
him that he didn't need the mics to record, the unit will record from
any source automatically, using the internal ALC circuitry. Another
cool thing about it was, it could drive 4 speakers- it had 4 pairs of
RCA's and a switch, which at the time, for an all-in-one, was really
something.

Shortly thereafter I got my own receiver-turntable-tape deck component
system, which was markedly higher end than the Capehart. Mine had a
Pioneer professional turntable with strobe that played one record at a
time, and was the first one in our crowd to get a higher end component
system, using "separates"- not all in one. But that Capehart always
had a special place in my musical teenage memory- you can say I cut my
classic rock teeth on it. Anyone who grew up with us, still remembers
that Capehart stereo to this day.

The first time I heard Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused live version, and
Blue Oyster Cult The Reaper, was on that Capehart. We even took it to
the shore with us on vacation one year.

So I decided on a lark, to get one:


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=http%3A% 2F%
2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffro m%3DR40%26satitle%3D972941
5137%26fvi%3D1

After doing a search last week, on a whim, I found one on Ebay and
scored it. I had seen one on Ebay before but passed on it, because it
went for over $100 at the time. This one had 2 broken toggles- but
that vintage sound from my teenage years, now fills my home- again.

After a total disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly, it's 1977 all over
again. I put 2 new belts on the 8-track decks- everything works like a
"beaut"....no double tracking at all. The stereo had very little miles
on it. I fixed the broken handles, by replacing them with allen head
screws, after drilling/tapping the toggle part of the switch.

rock on, people...

Andy wrote:
not a thing wrong with an all in one unit like that units like that were big
in the 60s 70s and in to the late 80s.
if you noticed all in one's are again domateing the market history repeats
it self but thay are much higher quilty now.
i think both all in one's and componiant systems have a place in the audio
world

Well they aren't making all-in-one with dual 8 tracks in them today.
Maybe with cassette and CD in them. The new ones with turntables I've
seen, are those retro antique looking ones.

From an aesthetic point of view, yes, all in ones have their place.
They are just so damn convenient, and space savers. And the turntables
on them usually have stackable LP/45 spindles.

From a technical point of view, all in ones are inferior- here's why.

All the components must share the same DC power supply inside an
all-in-one unit. If you are playing the tape deck, the tape deck and
amp inside are both drawing from the same DC power supply/rectifier and
transformer.

One of the major advantages of component systems is, each component has
its own power supply- because they are all separate units. The power
supply makes the stereo- the better it is, the better it sounds.

But it's hard to beat the convenience of an all-in-one. Last night I
stacked 6 LP's on it, and played them with the headphones on. Not bad.
I also like the 8 to 8 dubbing capability- and it has line out jacks as
well.

I got it more for the nostalgia effect, than actual stereo power and
fidelity. It can't compare to my tube amps, or my Pioneer, Technics or
NAD solid state amps. The cool thing is, I can line out it to one of
those amps, and play 8's, or stack LP's, 45's, and 78's (it has a flip
stylus for 78s).

I like to turn knobs rather than push digital buttons too.

On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 06:52:09 GMT, "Andy" wrote:

not a thing wrong with an all in one unit like that units like that were big
in the 60s 70s and in to the late 80s.
if you noticed all in one's are again domateing the market history repeats
it self but thay are much higher quilty now.
i think both all in one's and componiant systems have a place in the audio
world
whats youre opion on this bob snip

I've seen what amounts to "all-in-one boom boxes" for sale and have
heard a few. Due to switching power supplies and other advancements,
those little things can put out a lot of power in comparison to the
boom boxes of old. Sound is still not great, but it's loud. They're
certainly convenient, cheap to buy and are a lot better than they used
to be.

Watch for a big shift in the market for these and aftermarket car
stereos as HD radio starts to penetrate the market. Already, many big
AM stations are either broadcasting in or are converting to HD-R. This
is not just a US phenomenon, either. Many European countries are way
ahead of us on this convension, and have even sacrificed MW, LW and
even SW traditional broadcasting altogether, to the sorrow of radio
fans worldwide. The destruction of the big antenna farm at Playa de
Pals, Spain that was built by the US as a propaganda effort in 1958
back in March was indeed prophetic.

Here's a clip of the Playa de Pals towers falling into a heap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWWT...age=4&t=t&f=b_

On 9 Jun 2006 16:15:21 -0700, wrote:



"The power
supply makes the stereo- the better it is, the better it sounds. "

Y'know, I wonder if this is why the AC-motored 8 track decks I have
sound much better (deeper bass, higher highs) than the DC-motored ones. snip

Not even.

I picked up a Lloyds' 8 track deck a few weeks ago- it looks really
ugly, not even cool-tacky, BUT it's AC-motored and, like all the ACs
I've seen, has a metal head mount, and it sounds exactly, precicely the
same as all the other ACs in my collection. The downside is, it's all
plastic- the body, the front, etc. Sounds good though. If they had to
cut cost, I'm glad, though, they did it in it's appearance and not it's
quality. snip

The type of capstan drive motor has absolutely no effect on frequency
response...period.

wrote:
"The power
supply makes the stereo- the better it is, the better it sounds. "

Y'know, I wonder if this is why the AC-motored 8 track decks I have
sound much better (deeper bass, higher highs) than the DC-motored ones.

I picked up a Lloyds' 8 track deck a few weeks ago- it looks really
ugly, not even cool-tacky, BUT it's AC-motored and, like all the ACs
I've seen, has a metal head mount, and it sounds exactly, precicely the
same as all the other ACs in my collection. The downside is, it's all
plastic- the body, the front, etc. Sounds good though. If they had to
cut cost, I'm glad, though, they did it in it's appearance and not it's
quality.


hmmm...interesting. You might be on to something there. Power
supplies are very sensitive in regards to sound quality- so much so,
that merely changing the brand name or type of caps in them, will
change the sound slightly. Realize this difference is not going to be
dramatic, but it will be noticeable to a keen ear- esp. if doing back
to back tests with headphones. If the DC motor is pulling from the 12
volt DC power supply that also feeds the preamp/amp sections for sound,
during a demanding passage of music where demand is higher, there may
be an advantage to having an AC motor instead- as the AC motor will
feed directly off the 120 VAC wall plug socket current- rather than
from the power supply.

Yesterday I dubbed an 8 to another 8 using the Capehart dual 8 deck.
(fittingly enough, it was Blue Oyster Cult Spectres) What a blast !
I haven't seen one of these dual 8's in action in nearly 30 years.
The recording came out good- but not quite as good as my Pioneer HR-99
will record. Logical, being the Capehart used ALC. One neat feature-
the bottom source deck is always in auto stop mode after track 4, as a
default setting. When the bottom source tape clicks from 4 to 1, both
decks stop automatically. Simply insert the next source tape into
bottom slot, push and then release pause, and it starts both decks
again. This allows successive recording of source 8's onto 90 minute
tapes, without a lot of indexing hassle. Nice toy !

On 10 Jun 2006 04:39:14 -0700, "The Paris Gun"
wrote:

hmmm...interesting. You might be on to something there. Power
supplies are very sensitive in regards to sound quality- so much so,
that merely changing the brand name or type of caps in them, will
change the sound slightly. snip

More horse**** from the deluded moron, Charlie Nudo. DEFECTIVE caps
in any circuit will cause malfunction, causing sonic differences.

Yesterday I dubbed an 8 to another 8 using the Capehart dual 8 deck. snip

A piece of crap.

(fittingly enough, it was Blue Oyster Cult Spectres) What a blast !
I haven't seen one of these dual 8's in action in nearly 30 years.
The recording came out good- but not quite as good as my Pioneer HR-99
will record. Logical, being the Capehart used ALC. snip

No one uses ALC for any recording. They're crap.

Bob-

To me, it sounds as is the AC-motored decks have a fuller, richer
sound. Maybe it's just because the DC decks I've used before were ****.
Still, though, I'd choose an AC deck over a DC unit because the ACs
I've seen seem to be better built. Plus, with the real wood casings
and not laminate-covered plywood, they have a classier look. At least,
my Zenith is like that. :-)

On 10 Jun 2006 14:53:47 -0700, wrote:

Bob-

To me, it sounds as is the AC-motored decks have a fuller, richer
sound. Maybe it's just because the DC decks I've used before were ****.
Still, though, I'd choose an AC deck over a DC unit because the ACs
I've seen seem to be better built. Plus, with the real wood casings
and not laminate-covered plywood, they have a classier look. At least,
my Zenith is like that. :-) snip

I prefer DC motors with tachyservo speed control, as in the
Wollensaks. Lesser decks with DC motors just use a current regulator.
The motor has no bearing on frequency response or quality of the
electronics whatsoever.

I prefer DC motors with tachyservo speed control, as in the
Wollensaks. Lesser decks with DC motors just use a current regulator.
The motor has no bearing on frequency response or quality of the
electronics whatsoever.

Bob-

I've not been lucky enough to even see a Wallensak. Each time I've
seen one, I've been outbid. :-( Do they have plastic or metal head
mounts?

I meant to say in my other posts that the general design and quality of
the early decks seem to bee much better than the later ones. With the
exception of the Sony "Toaster" unit- wouldn't play Columbia House
tapes at all- poor capstan-to-pinch-roller contact, at least in the one
I had.

In y'alls opinions, which is the absolute best recorder deck? Make and
model numbers?