There are songs that just sound terrible, but they are good songs (Medeski, Martin & Wood - I Wanna Ride You is one that comes to mind). Then there are others, even at 320kbps that sound amazing (Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - Rippin' n Runnin,' Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - Life in the Bubble, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - Da Blues, and Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - Backrow Politics to name a few).

The MMW sounds like it was recoded at 112 kbps MP3, and the others sound like CD-quality, even though they are played through the same 320kbps Spotify system.

Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band would probably sound good on 8-track. Love this band...ordered Act Your Age, Sunday afternoon...should complement Life in the Bubble, quite well.

anthem wrote: Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band would probably sound good on 8-track. Love this band...ordered Act Your Age, Sunday afternoon...should complement Life in the Bubble, quite well.

I just discovered them last week. And its funny that you mentioned 8-track, because I almost posted the same thing. The only reason why I didn't is because someone told me the other day that 8-track was a hi-fi platform. I was like...WHAT?! I had to do some research comparing reel to reel, cassette, and 8-track. I guess 8-track could sound pretty good compared to cassette in the early days of the 1970's, but over time, cassettes started to sound better over time until CDs came out.

Regardless, I recall the 8-track in my Grandmother's 1981 Cadillac, and man that thing sounded awful.

Memory Lane... Back in 1976 I use to rock out to Judas Priest (Sad Wings of Destiny), Ted Nugent, and Nazareth, on 8-track, in my 69 Chevelle...those were the days.

In 1977 I bought my first decent system: a Technics receiver, Pioneer 8-Track, and Cerwin Vega Speakers. I had a buddy that had a nice set up of his own ( don't remember brand names) he used a turntable as his source, but he actually preferred my system to his...go figure.

anthem wrote: Memory Lane... Back in 1976 I use to rock out to Judas Priest (Sad Wings of Destiny), Ted Nugent, and Nazareth, on 8-track, in my 69 Chevelle...those were the days.

Considering that tape would have been the first real solution for car audio besides radio, I can see what you mean by 'those were the days"

anthem wrote: In 1977 I bought my first decent system: a Technics receiver, Pioneer 8-Track, and Cerwin Vega Speakers. I had a buddy that had a nice set up of his own ( don't remember brand names) he used a turntable as his source, but he actually preferred my system to his...go figure.

I remember hearing a really high quality cassette system and couldn't believe my ears. Indistinguishable from CD in that specific example. So I can see a case where 8-track could sound better than a cheap phono.

Tying this back to the original thread, playing low-quality source material that sounds like it was recorded in a bathtub under water, regardless of hardware to play it on, doesn't really sound great on GE systems. The source tends to come out the same way as it came in, which is a good thing.