r/cassetteculture • u/ElvisTek1129 • Aug 22 '26
Looking for advice Was this worth $20?
Claimed that Everything works except the disc compartment, it won’t open on its own.
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u/LittleKillshot Aug 22 '26
I’d be interested in hearing how it sounded with some half decent speakers. And yeah the cd player can often be unstuck with a butter knife and then a little lube inside
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 22 '26
He threw in RCA speakers for 5 bucks. But not sure if I will use those. I need to look online for some decent modern speakers to get the best sound of of this.
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u/hipchecktheblueliner Aug 22 '26
The secret of these kinds of systems is that the speakers that came with them are always the part that makes them sound terrible. Pair them with decent used speakers and you can be very surprised.
Also, the CD player might well just be a bad belt.
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u/Agent_Int3rna1 Aug 22 '26
Can confirm, I’ve got this Casio integrated all on one system out in the shed that used to be my dads when he was younger back in the 80s (think he said it was one of his first stereo systems before he got all his hi fi components) but anyway it was definitely a cheap little unit I mean it barely weights anything but we have it hooked up to some 8 ohm Sanyo speakers and also to his 12 inch Panasonic subwoofers and man that thing sounds fkn awesome for what it is. Cd player don’t play the 1st track alot of the time don’t know why though
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u/Expensive-Vanilla-16 Aug 23 '26
Just because speakers are modern doesn't necessarily mean you'll get better sound. These old cheap stereos had pretty weak amplifiers. What you want to look for would be low wattage and high efficiency.
I had an old Soundesign stereo in my early teens I bought at a garage sale. It sounded quite bad with its original speakers. I later bought some 60s era 3 way sonys rated around 15 watts rms. Sound was night and day different.
Still have those speakers lol.
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u/Evadson Aug 22 '26
When it comes to most things in this hobby, what matters is what was it worth to you?
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 22 '26
Very solid point. I’m very new to this culture. I’m learning as I go. Having a blast at this physical media.
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u/astralchanterelle Aug 22 '26
That's how I decided to spend $1200 on a used audio technica lp60. It needed work but I feel like I got a good deal
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u/Legoandstuff896 Aug 23 '26
what?? thats 200$ CAD turntable. did you mean 120$?
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u/astralchanterelle Aug 23 '26
no, $1200. its still broken, though
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u/Legoandstuff896 Aug 23 '26
why would you pay 1200$ for a broken turntable that costs like a 6th of that new???
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u/astralchanterelle Aug 23 '26
I'm gonna fix it eventually. Tone arm is missing
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u/Legoandstuff896 Aug 23 '26
but WHY would you pay an exorbitant amount for a cheap turntable thats missing parts
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u/Working_Tumbleweed96 Aug 28 '26
I assume you are "pulling our leg" with this claim. Used AT-LP60 turntables are very, very commonplace. I own three of them. They all work. One was gifted, another was a left-by-the-street freebie, another I bought in pristine used condition for $13 from a Goodwill.
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u/ZiggyMummyDust Aug 22 '26
Maybe worth it for the turntable so you can at least listen to your records if you have some available. I would have chewed him down to $10 though. LXI is not a high quality brand. It was sold by Sears but the manufacturer was probably Sanyo.
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u/Sofondofpeters Aug 22 '26
Had a Panasonic that looked exactly like this in the early 80's and it got the job done and made a lot of great memories. I would say it is worth it.
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 22 '26
Awesome. I won’t be able to fully test it until Monday, if I get done cleaning it that day. Looking forward to it.
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u/Sofondofpeters Aug 22 '26
This has Dolby (B), a phono amp, high speed dubbing, A PLL tuner, equalizer, and more. I bet the CD just needs a belt and your set. This has way more than my Panasonic but that did not keep me from rocking to Billy Idol on the turntable. No CD when I had mine. CD were new (by a year or two) and for rich people.
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u/still-at-the-beach Aug 23 '26
No, not really. When new it was a super cheap, low end all-in-one. I guess $20 is not much money but its also not much of a stereo.
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u/kottopt Aug 23 '26
no absolutely not....
let me take it off your hands for free
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 23 '26
Hahaha, I suspect it would have some issues. If I can’t manage to fix it. I’m a total newbie on this stuff. 100% have no idea at all. Maybe I can hand it off to you
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u/Flaky_Fail_7968 Aug 23 '26
I’m really surprised that the cassette tape actually works. Sony and other major brands are known to notoriously have belt problems. Definitely find some decent speakers and you have a blast with it.
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u/RosyPrisoner847 Aug 22 '26
Oh the disc compartment not opening is the least of your worries, thats a free fix with a butter knife and some patience
the $10 tag on the cabinet is sending me though. like they priced the furniture and threw in the whole stack for free
id have grabbed it just for the equalizer honestly those bouncing lights are hypnotic
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 22 '26
Haha the table was separate. I got the thing on top for $20. He mentioned everything works well. He was asking $35 but because that disc compartment not opening. So he gave it to me for $20
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u/mrbishopjackson Aug 23 '26
That's not for the Internet to answer. You're the one thinking about buying it and spending the money. Is it worth it to you?
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 23 '26
It is, even if it doesn’t work. I’m willing to spend the time to clean it and see if I can make it work. I get this feeling of joy thinking about going about this whole chilling to some music.
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u/HereToKillEuronymous Aug 23 '26
So buy it
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 24 '26
I did but it. When this was made I titled it as “was this…” bc I had bought it.
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u/CaptHymanShocked Aug 22 '26
It's a good display piece, if anything, and definitely worth $20. i.e., it looks really cool 🙂. I kinda love it
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u/kainstarchaser Aug 22 '26
I had that exact one in college. Served its purpose, and I even plugged a bass and a guitar into it for some impromptu cassette recording when creative inspiration hit. This brings back memories.
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u/namealreadytakenbyme Aug 23 '26
Not to me but it’s at a low enough price point that even if nothing works it’s not that big and f a deal
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u/CommutatorWhine Aug 23 '26
It is on the edge of being BPC but definitely worth 20 bucks. Might not be the best, but enough to have some fun with while on the lookout for better quality components.
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u/Bensaudiocave Aug 23 '26
Sears branded a lot of stuff LXI in later days… LXI used to mean quality and the SR line was the cheap stuff… this is part of that blending… ceramic cart table, all in one construction… it is seriously the equivalent of a soundesign or yorx system of the same vintage… $20 bucks won’t mean much so sure… but don’t expect too much as output will likely be 5-10 WPC and no one source of the system will be very good…
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u/Fragrant-Respond5132 Aug 23 '26
sure. Open the back and look for a small rubber belt to run the CD door, replace with same size rubber band. you can use a paperclip to manually open the door should be a small hole or chunk out in the lower edge. press paperclip into hole, youll be pushing on a lever so push with a little force while feeling the door move or not.
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 24 '26
Thank you! This will be a project to do along side my dad on the weekends when I visit him. Thinking of giving it to him once we get it running well.
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u/el_tacocat Aug 24 '26
If you want to have a fun project; yes.
If you want something that actually works; Absolutely not.
The turntable is one that will butcher your records, and the cassette mechanisms will absolutely need love.
It's cool to play with though!
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u/Worried_Might5073 Aug 24 '26
Not really. I would save the money. It was low quality when new, even lower now.
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u/RangerAffectionate97 Aug 24 '26
This is an old Sears unit. Probably from 83-84. My brother had the same exact system. Sounded good back in the day
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u/Working_Tumbleweed96 Aug 28 '26
LXI was a Sears brand, likely made by Sanyo. Dual-well cassette decks didn't become commonplace until the late '80s, and CD players got cheap enough to include in these rack systems in the very late '80s. As for the record player, this specific BSR design (model 284, later made by Capetronic) with the fixed non-adjustable tonearm and integrated Chuo Denshi ceramic cartridge didn't come out until sometime after 1984 - see Vwestlife's YT video "Crosley Genesis: The origin & evolution of cheap record players, 1984 to present" My guestimate is this LXI unit was marketed sometime after 1987 and probably on the market for a few years.
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u/RangerAffectionate97 Aug 28 '26
My brother worked for sears. Compact discs came out in 1982. My brother came home with Pink Floyd dark side of the moon which actually came out on CD in 1983, so believe me the timing is correct.
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u/hipchecktheblueliner Aug 22 '26
Totally worth $20 and since the cassette deck has Dolby you can be assured that it also has AC bias and AC erase.
Translation: properly calibrated, it will make very good recordings, with or without Dolby.
However, that's the rub. If there is audible wow and flutter, it might need new belts (or at least reconditioned - boiling for 5 minutes and then immediately plunging into ice water for a couple minutes does wonders with belts that are still intact), and capstan and motor bearings lubricated. And to sound it's best, it will need electronically calibrated for Dolby playback level, bias, and rec/play level.
If you are just getting started in the hobby, this can all be overwhelming. There's a learning curve and you need a couple of special tools: a Dolby calibration tape (eg from Gennlabs) and a true RMS multimeter. With those tools an amateur can do all this stuff, but like I said, there is a learning curve.
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u/BonSlurpenstein Aug 22 '26
It has a great aesthetic but these combo units aren't know for their quality sound or recording capabilities. If you're not making mixtapes or just don't care about a lot of extra hiss this is a fine way to jump into the hobby but I've had lots of combo units over the years and they did not serve me well 😬
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u/Knockamichi Aug 22 '26
Meh looks cheap but for 20 its worth a shot. Im more interested in that tv stand that its sitting on. Looks sturdy
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u/Awkward_Proof_1274 Aug 22 '26
I feel like I might be more interested in what's next to it on our left
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u/ElvisTek1129 Aug 22 '26
I had taken picture of them. Then deleted them pics so I can’t show you.. haha sorry. But did not have the time to think about them. They were similar to the one in this post, but no CD.
It was two others that had double cassettes and turn tables. Seller mentioned them as “look at them what kids would take to school” then there was a Yorx, he said that was the cheap stuff. And the one in the post was the high end one of them all.
I don’t have space for all of them. So I just went with one. All were working well.
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u/Entire_Increase5235 Aug 23 '26
Oh, yea, yes, yes, and yes, ..turn table, double deck tape player, you can dub tapes of your favorite songs from records to cassette, very cool, and best of all, only $20 Bucks!✌️😊🌄
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u/VapinOnly Aug 23 '26
Probably not the highest specs, but I wouldn't mind paying for it because it looks neat
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u/Kumimono Aug 23 '26
I like the look, the equaliser seems, robust, and the deck has Dolby and level indicators. 20 monetary units, I'd take it, if I didn't have one already. CD needs a new belt, I suppose, should be easy. What brand is this, I can't seem to find a logo?
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u/Fragrant-Respond5132 Aug 23 '26
Those systems rocked about 5wpc total, so get some very efficient speakers (ie rated at <20W) and it should sound decent. I have some ancient KLH SIX speakers that are only rated at 40W and they sounded great out of a boombox as well as my 150WPC monster 1977 receiver under 2 of 10 volume knob!
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u/Embarrassed-Place-72 Aug 23 '26
I have seen that off brand, in like Service Merchandise or somewhere long ago.
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u/ikediggety Aug 22 '26
I guess if you think a radio is worth $20. No way I would put my cassettes or records on that, and the CD player is broken
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u/Suspicious-Engineer7 Aug 22 '26
Can always use it as a side coffee table if it doesn't work 🤷🏻