Simon, a very close friend of mine, had this mini-compo system back in 1984. This thing was pretty powerful and I must say that it was used as a stereo system in his room. Simon was very lucky because he always had these lovely toys to play with and most of us did not. Only one weakness of this et was the speakers. these APMs could not take the power of the amplifier!
I remember that I was at my cousin’s place when I first heard this Sony Walkman in 1979. I was so smitten by it (especially by the sound when you listened to it through headphones) that my dad got it for me when I passed my PSLE results with flying colours. Mine was a better one because it could also record. This Sony invention hit the world by storm and Sony became a household name because of it.
My dad bought a three-piece hi-fi set back in 1978. This was one of the components on that hi-fi set…the Sony TA-11 integrated amplifier. And you wanna know the funny thing about this amplifier? I used this amplifier as the main amplifier in a mobile disco in the mid 80′s. I jest you not…this amplifier was capable of putting out some HEAVY wattage. It could drive huge speakers as well as the problematic ones that came with this set. Imagine…7 years after they were first bought and this set was still kicking! It finally bit the dust in the year 2000 I think…after giving 22 years of reliable and solid duty as the home’s hi-fi amplifier and as my mobile-disco amplifier. They sure do not make them like they used to. Any of you reading this, if you ever come across it, buy it without a second thought. This amplifier is worth its weight in gold!
Way, way back in the day, as far back as I can remember, Grandpa had one of these in his house. Needless to say, dad had the same one. This was the stereo to have back in the 60s and 70s folks…and what a stereo it was! It had some kind of plasma display section. I will try to describe it. Think of it as a black bar about 3cm in width and 0.5 cm in height. It had this green plasma-like effect. When you tuned in to a station, there would be green bars from each end of the black bar, slowly filling up, making a gap. The smaller the gap, the better the reception. So you tuned to your favourite radio station, signal based based on the gap that remained.
The phonograph section had this long spindle that kind of let you stack records on it. This was like what a stacker was so that you could have several records all cued up…truly ahead of its time! And the sound? Well, all I can say is was for something of that time, it was absolutely superb. I spent many a night listening to the thing.
In 1978, Dad got rid of it, replacing it with a shiny, new Sony hi-fi system. But there are times when I still miss that Loewe Opta. I dunno. It just reminds me of childhood, and in a rather ironic way, it helped me to get my first foothold into music.
It was in the year 1978. Dad wanted to get a proper hi-fi system so he bought a Sony hi-fi system, replacing the old Loewe Opta that we had for bloody ages. The new hi-fi system came with a turntable, integrated amplifier, tuner and cassette deck. Dad was mighty happy with his hi-fi and I remember years of listening to it. Somehow, dad did not buy many records, preferring cassette tapes. After a while, the hi-fi system fell into a state of disrepair.
In 1985, I decided to become a DJ and so, I needed a turntable. What did I use? The turntable above of course! I sent it for servicing as the motor was cranky. I also put a Stanton 500AL cartridge and stylus on this thing. I used this turntable for my mobile gigs for years until I got my Technics SL-1200s in 1988. This turntable was thus relegated to a backup turntable but it still functioned flawlessly.
Today, this turntable is used by my sister to play her music. It is still functioning, almost 33 years later! Sony built a workhorse in this PS-11. If you ever come across this model, do not ask questions…buy it! If it can survive years of DJ mixing and the rigours of the road, it can handle anything…guaranteed.
Oh, and there is a little bit of information. If for some reason you are not happy with the pitch control, or would like to make it faster, there is a screw at the bottom of the turntable, under its base. You can use that to make the pitch faster. Its like a master pitch-control. And, if you happen to take off the platter, you will notice some magnetic strip running round the rim of the platter. This, coupled with a reading head, makes sure that the wow and flutter is kept to a minimum.
So Sony is stopping the 8mm format. Wonderful thing Twitter is, gives you updates to the latest news. I remember having to use this format once when I was still involved in post-production, Have no fear…seems that you have one month more till Sony stop their production, according to this website. But to be honest, I kind of saw this coming. There is no room for tape in our flash-enabled world of today…unless you count U-Matic and Betacam that is…
