Welcome to Hell, here's your 8-Track

Haven't posted in some time, but had to respond to this post. I have to disagree to the bobbergman post. My 4 track was superior in many ways to my Panasonic 8 track player/recorder. Having only 4 bands on a tape the same width as an 8 track, there no hearing overlap of 2 tracks, the totally annoying changing tracks in the middle of the song. It was a Kraco (sp?) player and most cartridges were made by Muntz. Can't remember it ever 'eating a tape' either. I did like painstakingly recording various songs on my Panasonic 8 track and timing them to end correctly. Manufacturers preferred the 8 track because it only used half the tape length. I'd been buying LP's for some time, but you couldn't play them in the car. I also acquired an ac/dc converter to play them at home. Sounded great thru my Lafayette speakers circa 1968. Good times indeed.

P.S. Yes 4 tracks came before 8 tracks.

@nonoise 

When I first read the header of this thread, I thought it was going to be something along the lines of what we audiophiles are in store for when we do get to hell.

I think hell will be worse. We'll be trapped in discussions exclusively focused on speaker bracing, DAC chip comparisons, isolation materials, and whether the crappy electrical wires in our walls make all power cords a waste of money.

Can't wait....😄

8 track was an advancement at the time in the early 70s mostly in regards to how easy it was to pop an 8 track into a player which could cost as little as less than $30 in the day for a small portable device. Could be at home or portable on the road or in the car. Compare that to playing a record or reel to reel tape. The first recordings I bought with my own money were 8 tracks, though I quickly moved on. Sound quality was as good as most anything else comparable most people actually had. Then the much more versatile but also far more delicate cassette tape took over. So it was an advancement but one whose time came and went quickly.

That makes me think that most people might consider talking hifi with a die hard audiophile a form of hell on earth. It can even drive me somewhat bonkers sometimes.

my friend had a pioneer home deck, it really sounded decent.  continuous play was nice. 

still the format was totally flawed. 3 spontaneous interruptions per title when the head moved to the next track.  bulky footprint and low density per minute of music.

i remember hearing david bowie for the first time...

"suffragette citay, who hi, my suffragette citay,......... awwwww wam.................click..............click................bam thank you mam"

Loved my 8 track, pop it in and it would not stop til pulled out 😁

had a few fave, Styx, paradise theatre, grand illusion, II,

Eagles, the long run

billy Joel, 42nd st. 
 

ac/dc, high voltage, highway to hell

kiss, destroyer

judas priest, sin after sin, 

humble pie- eat it

pop one in, and play all night, til sick, then put in another.

sound was fine through my old Jensen speakers, I think the amp was a sears (Mca) or something receiver, worked just fine.

only gripe was the splitting of the song in 2 parts from 1,2,3, or 4 programs. 
 

 Upgraded to a bitchin Wollensack recordable 8 track player, champagne gold color, meters, every bell & whistle, amazing unit, been Saran wrapped after cleaning for past 38 years. 
still have box of 8 tracks, cassettes, , and a couple reel to reel albums, 1 Hendrix, and one Joplin. 
 

I liked them. 
do I want them back, no. Cassettes were a godsend, as well as my LP records. 
 

I see some 8tracks on eBay sometimes for 30-50$, I laugh and move on.