Wait, we now have an 8-track player!?

I’ve been getting into FLAC this year, on account of having some minor ear surgery in Vietnam and realising I could now perceive a difference! It’s been a joy rediscovering old favourites, and listening to new music in higher fidelity than I could appreciate before. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there are entire instruments and detail in songs I heard growing up I didn’t even realise existed (yes, this has as much to do with the mastering process and other attributes, not just the fidelity of the audio format, but I digress). Therefore, it seems fitting that the next item in our Hi-Fi stack would be the pinnacle of analogue tape format quality: the 8-track! Clara’s colleague saw this stunning Realistic AM/FM Stereo 8-track recorder at a yard sale in his part of Sydney recently, and thought we’d appreciate it. That was very kind, and yes, yes we would! This Taiwanese unit dates from the mid-1970s, if the stunning wood veneer wasn’t a massive giveaway. The stickers on the knobs…