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I'm curious to find out if anyone here is into old media, in particular, Laserdiscs? Yes, really!

I bought my first Laserdisc player in the fall of 2016. A Pioneer CLD-1090. I then started buying discs from eBay (carefully looking up versions etc on LDDb.com). Those discs and some I came across locally now number around 150. I also have a Pioneer CLD -S104 and a Pioneer CLD-S201.

I want to know what player(s) you have, how long you've been collecting discs, what are your favorite ones and why you collect?

This is a really good article about what it means when we let physical media die and only use digital/streaming.

[electricliterature.com]

I believe that when we do that, we really lose something. Collecting Laserdiscs, preserving them (and the ability to play them) and posting photos and information about them on social media is important to me. All too often these days, we are too quick to lose our connection to the past, even if its something seemingly frivolous like entertainment.

Filmmaker 3 May 12
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Old Media? Laser discs are old media? i have a Websters of Chicago wire recorder is pre reel to reel - doesn't sound great but looks fantastic

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I only know of one person that had a lazer disk. A friend of mine collects VHS tapes. I collect records. I have about 70 albums. There isn't a record shop anywhere near here, so I have to buy them online. Metal vinyls aren't common in the us, so lots came from Europe (mostly Sweden). The only thing that would sound better than a 12" 45 would be the master tape.

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I never bought a laser disc, still use my old (bought early 90s) Exposure x amp and Pioneer PD75 cd player - with B&W Nautilus 805s (a gift from a grateful factory). I keep listening to new kit, but found nothing that sounds as good. Bluetooth connected kit is bloody awful, but seems everything is going that way.

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Shit dude... I still have 8-Track tapes!

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When I was younger, I worked for a while in a record shop. We had piles and piles of laserdiscs in the stockroom that we couldn't even have given away - I hope someone kept them after the shop closed down and has since sold them on to a collector.

Jnei Level 8 May 12, 2019

They were really expensive back then. The main reason why VHS won the home video battle. But LD's were and still are very superior to VHS and first generation DVDs.

Those stockpiles of Laserdiscs are all on eBay now. Lol. But thank goodness they are! Many of them contain extras, audio and music soundtracks, commentaries and artwork that has never been released since.

Thank you for your comment.

We had a few elcasets, too - I wish I'd kept some of those as I've never seen another once since.

@Filmmaker They really were fabulous things - not only was the image and sound quality great, you felt you'd got something that was actually worth what you'd paid for it... unlike DVDs, which are just bits of crappy plastic and look like they're worth pennies.

@Jnei I've never seen those.

@Jnei Sometimes I will just sit and hold them. 😀

@Filmmaker You mean you've never seen elcasets (the replies don't seem to be in the correct order)? They looked like normal compact cassettes, but about twice as big - the idea was that they would offer similar sound quality to reel-to-reel tape with the convenience of cassettes.

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