# Do you still have a component stereo? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498 "2019-07-23T13:13:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/1 "2019-07-23T13:13:11Z")
You know, where you _separately_ bought the receiver, CD player, video (VCR/DVD/Bluray) player, and speakers, all with their own power and connection wires so you get that spider’s nest of wires behind your entertainment center that you dread having to ever undo? **I’m NOT talking about “surround sound speaker systems,” where you get the receiver and all of the little speakers in one box.** While you can create a surround sound system with a component stereo, it doesn’t all come in one box, you have to buy all of the speakers separately. Still have one of those (that you use)? I have my old system just sitting in my basement. It was all bought in the late 1990s, early 2000s, and it hasn’t been set up since about 2007, but I just had a friend express some interest in it, hence this question. I don’t use any of that stuff anymore; I’m not sure the receiver would even work with my modern TV, because I don’t think it has RCAs. I suppose I could get a converter, but it’s not really worth it to me. None of it’s top-line stuff, I was working with a supermarket checker’s budget at the time ;), but it worked. JVC receiver, Sony floor speakers, Sony VCR, Sony DVD player, and my one “high-end” item was an Onkyo 6-CD changer that was cutting-edge state of the art in 1988, which I inherited from my father who had since bought a MUCH better one. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/2 "2019-07-23T13:15:43Z")
Yes. I use a receiver as my home base. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/3 "2019-07-23T13:19:42Z")
Yes. I use it daily. I stream internet “radio” by Bluetooth to the system. It rocks. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/4 "2019-07-23T13:19:56Z")
My living room stereo is like that. The newest component is a CD player from the early 2000s. The rest of the components (tuner, turntable, cassette recorder/player) date from the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/5 "2019-07-23T13:23:21Z")
I still have one, which I bought when I started working in '89. Receiver / amp, turntable, CD player, dual tape deck. I haven’t turned it on in years; I know that the CD player is broken, and the turntable likely doesn’t work any more, either. I should probably just scrap it. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/6 "2019-07-23T13:28:54Z")
My current CD player for my cool system is an old PS2. In a bedroom, I have another component system with a receiver that uses a VHS/DVD burner/player as the CD player. Whatever, it works! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/7 "2019-07-23T13:40:46Z")
Sadly, I no longer have room for a component system. I gave away my last one to my wife’s niece and her husband after we bought this small house. It was the smallest system I’d ever had, with a 5.1 amp/receiver and B&W bookshelf speakers, but still too much for this small living room. We now have Sonos for our musical needs. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/8 "2019-07-23T13:42:47Z")
Yes. 16YO receiver, 24YO CD/DVD player, 10YO Blu-Ray player. Main speakers (Boston Acoustics) are 30 years old, but I replaced the woofers in them about 12 years ago. Bought matching speakers about a decade ago to serve as surround speakers, and likewise replaced the aged woofers in them. I made a separate subwoofer about 20 years ago, fantastic for home theatre. And yes, it’s a freakin rat’s nest behind there. There’s also the TV and the TiVo, so altogether a gazillion audio and video interconnects and power cords. Can’t remember the last time I used the CD/DVD player. Blu-Ray player gets used once in a great while when I bring back anime from Japan. Other than that, we tend to stream movies on an Amazon Fire stick (so yeah, one more video interconnect and power cable…). ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/9 "2019-07-23T13:48:28Z")
Funny you should ask. I bought a new turntable just yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/10 "2019-07-23T14:37:19Z")
I have an old BSR/DAK system that still works aside from the display backlight not working. It’s a receiver/CD changer and I also have the subwoofer and equalizer. I haven’t used the CD changer part for easily a decade but it still works as far as I know. These days I use it to play my TV audio for movies or games, and listen to FM radio on it sometimes. In the past I had a cassette deck hooked to it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/11 "2019-07-23T14:43:48Z")
I haven’t even had a dedicated stereo system since about 2002 (when I pawned my midi system). I rarely listen to music at home but when I do I use my computer, or to a lesser degree my wife’s Echo. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/12 "2019-07-23T14:45:25Z")
I not only have one, I didn’t know there was an alternative. What do the kids nowadays use? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/13 "2019-07-23T14:49:05Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > What do the kids nowadays use? Headphones. Or mini Bluetooth speakers. Mostly headphones. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/14 "2019-07-23T14:56:35Z")
Got rid of the component system a few years ago. Have a multiroom Sonos speaker system that connects wirelessly to a variety of music sources including my home PC. Also have a turntable that connects to the Sonos system as well. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/15 "2019-07-23T15:19:20Z")
I just got rid of mine about 6 months ago. I had a receiver, cassette deck, 5 CD player, turntable (2 actually) and 4 large speakers. All were components I had purchased separately over the years. It finally got to the point that I never turned it on anymore and couldn’t justify moving it to our new house. My son got the speakers and Goodwill got the components, although I did keep the USB turntable so I can convert vinyl to digital. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/16 "2019-07-23T15:20:02Z")
Yes, although I haven’t had it connected and operating in quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/17 "2019-07-23T15:30:45Z")
Yes. It’s ancient, and lives in the basement. I still have a lot of music, though I rarely use the stero for anything other than vinyl. One day we’ll downsize and get rid of it all. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/18 "2019-07-23T15:33:46Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Headphones. > > Or mini Bluetooth speakers. > > Mostly headphones. Or, if they want to have music in the whole room, their Amazon Echo or Google Home. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/19 "2019-07-23T15:59:41Z")
Yep; including a turntable. And I have plans of hooking an old 8-track to it as well unless I can get someone to convert some tapes I have to other media. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498/20 "2019-07-23T16:10:49Z")
yes I do [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-still-have-a-component-stereo/837498.md?page=2)