Who needs hi-fi? I've LO-FI !

[DaveF]

I bought a new radio-alarm clock yesterday. After all the recent discussions about shoddy Marantz receivers, Onkyo 696's being powered by underfed squirrels, and the mountainous spectral response of Bose speakers, I thought I'd better check the specs on my new clock.
The radio output is rated at, "200mW at 10% THD"
Woo hoo!

Although I fear that may be exaggerated; hopefully an audio magazine will publish a more detailed analysis soon.
What about you? What sorts of lo-fi products do you own?

 

[Holadem]

Well, I have a mini system... it was my first, and also my first HT: 5 speakers and DPL...
--
Holadem

 

[Kelley_B]

At work I have these speakers that take batteries plugged into my pc, thats lo-fi!

 

[Kevin P]

I have a 23 year old Radio Shack digital clock radio that still gets me up every morning. How's that for LO FI?

It was my first AM/FM radio too. Still works great.
KJP

 

[Jay H]

heck, I have an old Electrophonic receiver downstairs with a built-in 8-Track!! And old speakers where the speaker wire is built in and the receiver's backpanel is made of pressed wood. And you know what, it works great too. The left channel is a bit dusty and int but as long as you don't move it, it works. It has a lit up glass round tuning dial that drifts and Multiplexing and Bass and Treble controls. Ooohhhh, must of been a deluxe model.
Jay

 

[DaveF]

"Electrophonic receiver downstairs with a built-in 8-Track"
8-Track! I'm jealous. I used to listen to Trucker songs on my grandparents' 8-track player, as a kid. Brings back memories. "Give me 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around."

Growing up, my dad had a 10-20 year radio in the garage. I think it was older than I was. But it kept on playing, longer than any other piece of electronics I've known. AM/FM, mono, probably 1W power.
Regarding mini-speakers -- in high school, selling fund-raiser stuff, I "won" a pair of mini-speakers for a walkman. They probably had 1/2" cones, and were powered by the headphone out of a portable radio. Not exactly high-fidelity.

 

[Jay H]

Where else can I play my 8-Track version of Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell

Jay

 

[MickeS]

Ha, I can beat you all...
when I was little, I made a real lo-fi system, consisting of an old turntable that didn't work, a sheet of paper rolled into a cone, a piece of tape and a sewing needle.
Here's what I did: took the paper cone, taped the needle to the pointy side of the cone, put a record on the turntable, started spinning it (by hand, of course), put the needle on the record, and leaned the cone against my hand. Voila! Lo-fi sound coming out, clearly audible, from the paper cone.
Sure, I only used this a couple of times, but it was fun...

/Mike

 

[DaveF]

MickeS -- You're my new Lo-Fi hero! That's awesome!
Reminds me of my college DJ days - when spinning the vinyl, you could scream at the needle, and it would faintly pick it up. Listeners would hear faint voices in the music

 

[Rob Lutter]

hehe... until a couple weeks ago when I trashed them, in my bedroom stereo system I had my dad's old old old (insert about 20 more 'old's) Virtuoso speakers (they are dated back to the late 60s, early 70s) with built in speaker wire... and I also have his old Rotel amp (with pressed wood back and silver front)... feel the power

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My DVD Collection/ AIM: roblutter/ email:[email protected]
"Why, that's the biggest Kahn since Genghis" -Sealab 2021

 

[DaveF]

Somewhere, I think, my dad still has his circa 1970 Reel-to-Reel player. Though hi-fi at the time, it's lo-fi now from years of neglect and abuse.
He pulled it out of the attic a couple of years ago, and fooling around with it. The most amusing thing, though, was watching the cat chase the trailing tape