Looks like a fail, till you read the small print. Built in speakers and headphone output, line in port.
If I was ever to go back to vinyl, I would always go for the Technics SL1200 series - Panasonic have restarted production with the SL1200GAE: That is a thing of beauty. But I would say that being an ex-DJ !
£7000 for a 2nd hand model http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Linn-Sond...254450?hash=item41abfb6872:g:MJ4AAOSw~oFXJjB3 I would expect it to have better sound for that price. And make a coffee. And clean the house. And make my life better.
Well I dunno about making your life better. Problem with vinyl is thag it really does take an expensive turntable in order to sound better. And you also need good quality speakers and amplification as well. As an aside, I actually listen to 1/4 inch tape on an open reel recorder quite often because the sound is actually very good. You can pick up a Linn Majik for about £2700 though or a good cheap turntable is the rega planar.
I used to work with Revox B77's. The last one I used caught fire, that was scary to say the least. Those days of splicing blocks, splicing tapes and razors are long gone. Somehow cutting and splicing on PC's isn't quite the same!
I always liked the look of the spools turning around and the sheer inconvenience of it means that I'm forced to listen to an album all the way through. Very often when I listen to cd or worse to mp3, I find myself skipping from song to song and I don't really pause to listen to the music. Tape forces me to do that . this is the unit in action.
I used to have a Sony TC-377 and enjoyed it for a couple of years. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-TC37...862346?hash=item2cada5734a:g:taUAAOSw9eVXVyO6 I enjoyed playing it for many hours in one go but that pales into insignificance when we can now queue so many mp3's in WinAmp and let that play music for days! I gave the reel to reel to a friend because it started to play slow and I couldn't be bothered changing drive belts.
I remember well HIFi geeks would drool over it and heated debate over which arm and cartridge couldnt afford/justify it my self so made do with this Technics SL-J300R Linear Tracking Turntable with NAD 3020 amp and Mission speakers there came a point for purists when you could record from your Linn onto a panasonic multi head vhs and loose all the feedback
Pioneer PL12D and Shure V15 (I think it was a V15) bought in 1975 had it for donkeys years. It continued to be a great source right up till CD got cheap enough to afford, I never got rid of it though. Started out with Wharfdale XP3's and later moved to Heybrook HB2's, then finally Tannoy Revolution R2's, I still have the R2's. Various amps over the years, I was never top end just not interested enough, but the kit I had was always good enough, my mate went for the Mission speakers at one point and had some really wonderful Quad valve amps (pre and power) he's probably got something really stunning now but I've not been in touch for a few years since I left Scotland.
