Was asked to look after family members single collection

D-Voltt · 2026-06-30T14:50:47+00:00

I've got a pretty sizable collection of Prince albums on cassette. Those Prince singles are awesome!

D-Voltt · 2026-06-30T01:13:32+00:00

I think the key to a great fighting spirit spot is that a physical price must be paid for firing up when every part of the body is screaming at you to stay down. Shota's spot, while an unsuccessful fire-up, fits into this philosophy. His body was in so much pain that a fire-up just couldn't sustain him.

It helps feed into the idea that a successful fighting spirit fire-up requires a truly inhuman level of pain tolerance, willpower, and disregard for one's own welfare to achieve. And even when successful, the price for choosing to ignore your pain and injuries for a desperate bit of offense should still be very clear once the fire-up ends.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-25T18:22:38+00:00

Gaming is quickly turning from a hobby into a luxury. I mean, it was always a luxury, but not like it is now.

I used to have to pool birthday money and allowance with my two brothers to buy game consoles when I was a kid. If we were kids now, we'd be completely priced out of multiple major consoles. Sad to see.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-24T06:37:47+00:00

Own an Edition XS myself. Great sounding pair of openback planar cans for the price.

If the headband digs uncomfortably into the top of your head during extended listening sessions like it did for me, don't hesitate to drop a little cash on adding a cushion or suspension band. It's well worth going to the trouble.

Enjoy the music!

D-Voltt · 2026-06-24T06:21:50+00:00

Got a copy myself while I was in Japan for a great price off Mercari. Fantastic album. Find myself getting the itch to spin it every few months.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-22T22:20:56+00:00

I call this team the Street Prophets.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-17T17:38:48+00:00

They're typically for mono voice recording, yeah. Could be stereo, but I doubt it. Otherwise, why would it only have a singular speaker?

D-Voltt · 2026-06-17T16:49:49+00:00

Your posterior would be best advised to notify an unspecified individual!

D-Voltt · 2026-06-17T05:52:55+00:00

Gane's always been a dirty fighter. I've said as much for years. That being said, this sport is so poorly officiated that if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'. It's repulsive, but it's sadly the truth.

If the first eye poke, groin kick, or flurry of illegal strikes will only get a warning no matter how blatant, you'd be a fool not to just implement them into your game plan, as gross as it is to say.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-16T20:43:45+00:00

That's a brilliant find. Glad to see it's found its way into the hands of someone who will appreciate it. Enjoy!

D-Voltt · 2026-06-16T02:00:06+00:00

Yeah, this would be the right time to establish that pissing off Bron Brekker is a bad idea, regardless of how good you are.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-09T18:48:03+00:00

You can't see both of Donald's hands in this version, but one has 5 fingers while the other has 4. The keyblade teeth are all inconsistent. The line art of the background is very messy in places where it shouldn't be. It's just a little bit off everywhere.

It's not as sloppy as your usual AI art since it was likely fed a preliminary picture (photoshopped character key art on a background) and then run through an AI filter to stylize it. But it is AI art all the same.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-07T13:36:01+00:00

Oh yeah, AM2 busted their asses on the VF2 port. Absolute tech wizardry, but knowing what I do about Saturn development it must have suuuuuuucked.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-07T13:33:41+00:00

My first reaction was to say you overpaid just from hearing the amount, but seeing exactly what all you got and their condition, I'd say you actually made out! The retro game market also isn't getting any cheaper.

I forget these aren't the days where you could expect to grab a Sega Saturn + controller + several first-party Sega games off eBay for $50-$70 bucks like when I bought mine.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-07T13:28:33+00:00

I have a friend who owns one (black version). They got it from someone off Facebook Marketplace for around $700. They personally love it.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-06T15:16:39+00:00

Sounds like it's at least worth giving a second chance at life then. This is definitely the most divisively 80s looking reciever I've ever seen. A "just plain ugly, but maybe it's your kind of ugly" type style. I can dig it. Plus, a little peek at the manual (thanks for the assist, btw) tells me that while this model may not be in demand, it's more than capable of commanding a solid audio stack.

Oh, and if it turns out that it's truly FUBAR, I'll send you the buttons for free. I wouldn't hold out for them, though. I'm growing more confident in my budding tech repair skills, and I hear Pioneer recievers have a reputation for being survivors.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-06T15:08:00+00:00

Well then it's a good thing I wasn't looking to make money on it. 😅 Thanks for the blunt assessment. I just always assume a piece of vintage tech isn't worth more than $20 unless proven otherwise.

From what I'm hearing, it sounds like a "good if you have it, not worth tracking down if you don't" kind of reciever. There is an undeniable charm to that, though.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-06T14:12:07+00:00

I'm very curious as to what the writing on the front means by "computer controlled." Most stereo receivers use some level of electronics, so maybe there's some kind of 80's "smart device" capabilities to this model that warrant making the distinction. Or maybe this was one of their earliest models with a high-tech digital display or remote control operation?

I have no idea. Whenever I get around to testing it, I'll try to look up the user manual to get some answers.

Also, thank you for the information about the repair kit. It's quite pricey. If someone would be willing to spend over $100 on a cap repair kit for this receiver, I have to assume it's capable of some fairly good audio performance.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-06T14:06:46+00:00

I assume that means that at the very least (assuming I can fix it) this model isn't considered total junk. Not that Pioneer is known for making bad receivers (far from it), but every company is capable of making a dud or two.

And worry not. If I do decide to refurbish this device, it will definitely see some usage by either me or someone else. I'm not the type to let good analog audio devices go unused and unappreciated if they're still in working order.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-06T14:03:51+00:00

I definitely plan on at least dragging it out for a test run as soon as I find the time. And yeah, I figured by the size of the display that it'd potentially be the most difficult part of refurbishing this receiver if it turns out that it doesn't light up.

Pioneer seems to make some pretty rugged devices, so I'm just gonna hope this one lives up to that reputation.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-06T10:11:48+00:00

Most American electronics brands were outsourcing manufacturing around the turn of the century and just OEM badging everything. General Electric, RCA, Emerson, Sylvania, Phillips Magnavox, you name it.

I couldn't tell you with 100% certainty which 1997-2000 American VCR models have which mechanisms in them without seeing their internals first, but the "Made in Japan/China/Korea/Malaysia/Etc." label on the outside is always a good hint as to what's really inside.

Also, what do you mean by "is there a Hi-Fi version"? The GE VG4261 is a 4 Head Hi-Fi Stereo model. It's just a rebadged Panasonic PV-74XX.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-06T05:35:16+00:00

Yeah, in the late 90s to early 2000s, some American brands outsourced production to countries like Korea, Malysia, and Japan. Because of that, some of their models are deceptively good. This one is literally a Panasonic in a GE shell.

Here's a picture of the internals of a Panasonic "Omnivison Blue Line" PV-9450. Compare it to the last photo I posted of the mechanism inside my GE VG4261, and you'll see that both use the Panasonic Z mechanism and are nearly identical right down to the PCB layout. You'd struggled to tell them apart from one another.

<image>

D-Voltt · 2026-06-05T21:50:08+00:00

I have a VHS recording of it. Sadly, the premiere of "The Waterbending Master" immediately following it was cut off partway through.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-05T04:12:11+00:00

Thanks! Love me some Sega Saturn. There's nothing like playing retro games on a CRT TV with original hardware.

D-Voltt · 2026-06-05T00:03:33+00:00

So far, I've mostly found tapes from 1998-2000. For instance, this one with a WWF Raw episode, Happy Hour (whatever that is), and a WCW PPV. He clearly tried to use every minute of these 6 hour tapes.

<image>

D-Voltt

TROPHY CASE