Any Audiophiles here? Need gear suggestion.

Hey guys,

Here's the deal. I have an old component system in my garage that doesn't work. I'm debating on repairing it, or just throwing it out and putting something modern in there. The kicker is I have an old Akai cassette deck I bought in the Army in '84 or '85. It's the only component piece I have left from that time. The others have all been replaced with pieces from the 90's to early 2000's. I'd really like to keep the Akai, but that requires having a receiver to use it, and at that point, I should probably add a Cd player to use all my CD's. So, if I decide to repair the Akai, what is a good budget (mid-level) receiver/tuner to purchase new that has both old component system connections as well as new phone/digital device connections? My old speaker wire driven Yamaha speakers seem to be fine.

If I decide not to repair the Akai, is there a modern device that will play the cassette's, CD's and also allow me to hook up a digital device?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Most every receiver these days still have the L & R audio inputs. Heck, many still have phono inputs.

Hit up any Best Buy type store and see what they have. I agree that anything I've seen still has both types of inputs you need.

I have an Onkyo AV receiver that has everything imaginable on it except for phono. I had to buy a pre-amp to hook up my turntable.

You might be better off checking craigslist. You should be able to get something used on there for $50 or less if you don't want to spend what new ones cost.

AND, they will have an "Aux" mode & jacks. Look at Denon or Yamaha for a good receiver. The lesser models are not an arm & a leg.

. I agree, Marantz has some nice stuff too. If you want to go a bit cheaper with good sound, especially for a garage check out Sherwood. I have some vintage audiophile stuff but I don’t expose it to the garage climate.

I have 4:
80'scomponent with ribbon wiring
90's sony older analog
tossed an 00's Onkyo that hdmi quit
new yamaha
70's mcintosh looking for a good turntable.
The ribbon type is junk used in garage takes rca component, the sony is dolby all rca, the yamaha has rca, optical, and hdmi, the mac is all rca.
I could live fine with the sony, yet some of the newer decoding is not represented.
If your cassette may need a pre-amp make sure you factor that in, otherwise I think your options should be based on the speaker system you desire as some of the newer units simulate surround from 2 channel. Also important is the speaker wattage. you want to drive.

I have 2 of these. Affordable great sound and small. FM tuner and Bluetooth along with multiple aux inputs. The pic has this unit. My 1980s inspired boom box.

www.ebay.com/itm/Pyle-PDA6BU-Bluetooth-Stereo-Amplifier-Receiver-FM-Radio-USB-SD-memory/262805596324?hash=item3d306f28a4:g:U~kAAOSwImRYh6iw


I have one of these as well. Not as powerful as the above but sounds great and goes pretty loud. No FM tuner but Bluetooth and 2 aux inputs.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pyle-PCAU48BT-2-x-120W-Bluetooth-Stereo-Power-Amplifier-USB-SD-AUX-Remote/262863896873?epid=1433721870&hash=item3d33e8c129:g:VIoAAOSwxLdb6ybj

Based on your garage application, and media source (cassette), ANY name brand receiver will sound fine.

Until you start spending over a $1000+ for a receiver, the single most important sound quality factor in a name brand, is simply the RMS power output rating, a case of a more powerful output will always sound better then a less powerful, no what the listening level.

Now whether you can hear/appreciate the difference, only you can decide.

I'm thinking you need to visit Walmart (almost everything is built overseas today).

The nice thing is the options available today. High end low distortion powerful "Tuners" can still be had if your a true aficionado. But Low cost options are out there that sound really good as well. I like to look on CL often for 1970s tuners. Love the brushed aluminum faces and flywheel tuning. Very reasonable deals but my luck has been they work great for a year then one channel stops working. Call me old fashioned but I have a vintage 1990 Realistic home stereo EQ that can only be used on old receivers that have a Main IN/OUT.

For a garage system that may be in the hot and cold I'd just pick up something off of craigslist. I've had the opposite luck of the poster above and have had very few problems. I got a whole Pioneer silver face system (Amp, tuner and casette player) along with some 12" speakers for $25.the only thing that didn't work was the drive on the tape machine (broken drive belt - they rot after a while). I also got some 12" Cerwin Vega Re30 speakers for $25 and they work and sound great on a Sony AMP the seller left with my house when I moved in.

You can also get a Bluetooth input you can put in your L and R inputs to allow you to use your phone for Pandora, stored songs or whatever on your phone.. Many amp/tuner combos can be had for under $50 and you could probably go though 4 or 5 before you are at the cost of a new amp. Make sure to test it through the volume range before you buy and listen closely for static or dead spots in the controls for both channels.

How to convert audio files correctly and simply WAV to MP3 ? Found this tool on the Internet https://onlineconvertfree.com/convert-format/wav-to-mp3/ How effective is it?

Those online convertors are known for malware. I would not trust any of them!

You'd have better luck starting a new post