What to do with a large old stereo?

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What to do with a large old stereo?

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Started 2 years ago by Claycat
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Claycat
Member

I have an old Pioneer stereo. I bought it in the 80s. Only half of it works. The CD player is broken. The receiver is okay, but the attached double cassette player has only one that works. The turntable needs a new pad and belt. The large speakers work.

It takes up a lot of space. I have CDs, cassettes, and records. We have no money to spend on anything new. I have an iPod, but it is sort of disappointing, because it has to be recharged so frequently!

Should I try to get it fixed? Should I downsize and make everything digital and sell the records, etc? What about the speakers? Should I keep them?

Help!

Posted 2 years ago #
stagepin
Member

Take it digital and get rid of the hardware if you can. As long as you're not looking for audiophile quality, you'll be fine. If your home is networked, you'll have music available all over the house.

I've condensed all (ok, I still have some to do) my music onto my hard drive. You can take analog sources and make digital copies of them with free software and a 1/8" plug. The key is the spare time to do it and the hard drive space. Right now, I've got about 400 albums sitting on 30g of hard drive space. This feeds our 4 mp3 players (two iPods and two 1g "music sticks" from Disney for the girls) as well as to a computer on each level of the house.

Let me know if you want me to go into more detail. It was easy for me to do, I'm a geek and had a bunch of old computers hanging around.

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

I have my iMac and an iPod. I am somewhat disappointed in the internal speakers for the new iMac. I had external speakers on my older iMac, and there is no place to plug them in on the new iMac. Is there any way to make my Pioneer speakers work with my computer or iPod, or is that just a ridiculous question?

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

Actually, I am looking for quality sound!

Posted 2 years ago #
stagepin
Member

There's quality sound, and there's complaining because digital sound just doesn't have the same warm tone that you'd get from a vacuum tube amp. Basically, if your iPod's sound quality doesn't bother you, you're not the type of audiophile I'm talking about.

Anyway, one cable will let you connect your iPod to the receiver just like any other component.

I am thoroughly unfamiliar with Macs. Do you have a link to the iMac specs? I find it mindblowing that they don't have an audio out for headphones at least.

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

There is an audio out for headphones, but I can't plug my older iMac speakers into that jack.

I can connect my iPod to the Pioneer receiver?

LOL! I haven't heard my iPod sound yet. I just recently got my new iMac, so I can only now download from iTunes.

Posted 2 years ago #
badkitti
Member

There must be an adaptor to make the old speakers fit into the new imac jack?

Posted 2 years ago #
stagepin
Member

What does the jack look like on the back of the old iMac speakers?

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

The metal part is smaller in diameter than the earphone jack.

Posted 2 years ago #
stagepin
Member

Odds are the old jack was 2.5mm. Standard is 3.5mm. You can get adapters from Radio Shack or online.

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

Thanks, stagepin! You've been a lot of help! You made me think about what I need to do to adapt everything. That is one thing I really dislike about technology. People keep inventing new technology, and you keep having to make adaptations, and sometimes they don't work. I love the internet. I love the scaling down of things, but I hate the loss of quality and the constant adaptation.

Posted 2 years ago #
PJ Doland
Forum Admin

I think those old iMac speakers were powered with a proprietary connector. If I recall correctly, you'll need one of these to use them with a different computer:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00013MRT8/unclutterer-20/

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

Considering the price, PJ, I'll probably pass on that! I found out how to connect my computer and iPod to my old stereo. I'll let you know if it works!

Thanks so much for your input! (Wow! Proprietary connector! LOL! I don't even know what that means.) :)

Posted 2 years ago #
PJ Doland
Forum Admin

The design was pretty cool actually. There was only a single cable for the speakers, connecting them to the iMac. They didn't require a second cable because all the power came from the iMac.

Uncluttered, but as a consequence, not standard or easily reusable once Apple started thinking they could get away with integrated speakers inside the newer iMacs (which sound horrible by comparison).

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

Yes, I agree, PJ! We were very disappointed with the sound in our new iMac. I loved those other speakers! I am a huge Apple fan. I won't buy anything else. Still...

Posted 2 years ago #
Jeni315
Member

If you want to get rid of your electronics without having to pay for disposing of it BestBuy will take any electronics and they give a small credit in a BestBuy gift card or something like that.

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

That's good to know, Jeni!

Posted 2 years ago #
MemeGRL
Member

Love the BestBuy tip. Another place to contact: The Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. They take old recordings (any media) and equipment. Even better, they come to you! I donated my parents' record collection to them and in return got a tax document. I love knowing they are archived and not in a landfill. (And I live *nowhere* near Bloomington--several states away in fact.)

Posted 2 years ago #
Laetitia in Australia
Member

Man! With all the stuff we've been taking to charity shops the last few weeks (we've just moved to a smaller home) I'd love if we got tax receipts for it! Unfortunately registered charities only give receipts for money - I guess it's too hard to assess random donations particularly if they are anonymous.

Posted 2 years ago #
Kaz in Oz
Member

I've always thought that too Laetitia. All those clothes that have gone to Vinnies over the years would have been a great tax deduction. But Australia is one of the most overtaxed countries in the world - the government can't afford to give it back to us either.

Claycat - I was disappointed that I can't tweat the sound to how I want to hear it on my iPod, buyt I';m not sure big old speakers will really help with that. I'm waiting for Hubby to take the hint and get me a nice little Bose docking station LOL.

Posted 2 years ago #

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