The afternoon I tried to show my nephew an 8-track player and it nearly caught fire
Last Saturday I pulled out my old 8-track collection from the garage to show my teenage nephew what music was like before CDs. I plugged in the player and within ten minutes the tape started smelling like burnt plastic and smoke was coming out of the vents. Has anyone else had a vintage music player nearly cook itself just from playing one Beatles album?
My uncle had a Nakamichi Dragon from the 80s that still works perfectly (knock on wood), so I gotta push back a little. The build quality on those high-end decks was incredible compared to the cheap stuff they sell today. Yeah, the cheap plastic ones could definitely heat up and get sketchy, but a well-maintained vintage unit with a wooden case is pretty safe. I think the fire hazard thing is more about people leaving thrift store junk running unattended for hours.