I too had a large Sony Reel to Reel in the 70s because I could not stomach the sound of 8-Tracks nor Cassettes (even with Dolby NR).

They were finicky with head alignment as they wore; however, it was sure cool to watch when it was operating with the softly lit VU Meters dancing to the music.

I even ordered by mail-order prerecorded Reel to Reel tapes of albums that I wanted but they were always in short supply as Cassettes had largely taken over the market.

Gave it away & put all that behind me when CD Players showed up...

TAM