Uh-oh, now what have I done? (Tensai Rhythm Machine)

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Beosystem10

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OK, so these past few month I've been mostly acquiring, repairing and reselling JVC RC-656s (they're cheap, they're good, they're easy to find and I haven't yet run out of friends to sell them to! :blush: ) and I'm otherwise occupied with refurbing a member's M70 on the rare occasions that I'm at home but then I saw something weird, weird's good, right?
I bought this earlier today after having my low offer accepted for the thing.


So, is it wrong to buy a radio because I like the way it looks? Does anyone else have one? Are the looks and the gadgets matched with half decent sound quality?
It should arrive in roughly a week so I'll know soon enough but the seller was very pleasant to deal with and the money was burning a hole so I had to buy something! :lol:
 

AE_Stereo

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I had seen it and wished to have it.

It is a clone of the legendary National 5410. Almost the same machine!
It must have been made by Akai for Tensai. The cassette deck buttons are same as Akai AJ-350, 370 and 480!

My applause for your decision.
 

Beosystem10

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Thanks for the encouraging words! I looked at a youtube clip of the National Panasonic you mentioned and that certainly sounded ok, not that it's always possible to judge from a video viewed on a laptop that plays through my B&O 'cos that box can make anything sound better than it really was, but I figure that the a/f stage of the Tensai should be pretty strong as it has to cope with the sort of random peaks that the instrument input would feed to it. Someone on the radio forum I visit suggested that the audio board is all discrete and uses a pair of big Ge Darlingtons in push-pull but he was last in about at one thirty years ago and admitted that he may have got that wrong. Time will tell.
:-D
 

Northerner

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I saw that one too...thought it looked really cool and loved all its different functions...certainly a unique beast I would've liked on my shelves if I could spend any money at the moment! Congrats and be sure to let us know how it turns out :-)
 

Beosystem10

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Yep, I'll be posting the usual picture with the box standing in the kitchen on the worktop above the washing machine and may do a youtube vid if it plays ok from the crate. Funny thing is that I was looking at Nat Pan "Commando" radios and failing to buy one as they always seem to make silly money so made the offer on this Tensai mostly because it has similar styling. That, and the fact that the seller came across as a really nice bloke to trade with.
Naturally, I'll need to buy (and teach myself to play :blush: ) a suitable musical instrument to hook up to it! :w00t:
 

Beosystem10

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Well, the seller just sent me a dispatch notice with tracking details, he's ordered the collection and depending on when the courier gets to him I may even have this before next Thursday. I haven't been this fired up about a radio purchase in a while! :-D
 

k2j

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Can't blame you for being excited! By the looks of that box, your going to have all kinds of fun!!
 

Beosystem10

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Well, this morning at 7:30 - I hadn't realised there was a 7:30 in the morning too - the doorbell sounded and I opened the front door to find the local parcel agent standing on my step clutching a box. This box was so big that it could have held half a dozen of these boxes and unwrapping the machine was like opening up a Russian doll, so many layers of card with large bubble wrap in between and loads of foam around the box in the centre of the 3D maze.
Needless to say, it had survived the journey from Brighton to Edinburgh in a big truck and from the depot there out along the coast to here in the back of the parcel agent's people carrier. Being that well packed he could have tied it to his towball and dragged it along the road but I'd guess he didn't.
It works perfectly! I had a quick delve inside to check the basics - no pool of wax under the mains TX, belts smelling like rubber and no signs of degradation so presumably changed at some recent time, switches all positive and working without any crackles or white noise, insulation testing the TX suggested that the thing wouldn't burst into flames and the electrolytics in the audio board all appeared to be recently fitted, premium brand domestic ones. So far, so good!

So then I grabbed the nearest tape to hand which was Big Country's "The Crossing", and pressed play. To say that this unusual device sounds good is something of an understatement. It sounds good but it's also capable of playing incredibly loudly. That'll be the push-pull, Germanium audio stage then which, unlike many Ge A/F boards, doesn't make any audible background noise when the volume is low but does play flat out with no detectable distortion or cabinet noises.
Radio is equally good, as good as many of my far more costly UK and European built multiband radios in fact, with VHF (in FM) sounding particularly good and both am bands (Medium and Long, this is a UK market set) sounding better than the VHF does on some lesser devices.
The bizarre rhythm section works perfectly too, its various effects and its tempo adjustments all doing exactly what they should.

I tried to capture its sound with a quick video recording but couldn't do it justice with the HOX camera so might try later to fiddle with the settings and see whether I can come up with something.
Meanwhile, have some photos:


The photos can be embiggened for a closer look, they tell a pretty accurate story of its condition - one very minor area of rubbed paint to the left of the cassette buttons is all that's really letting it down apart from a little dust in some corners but there's no damage, no broken screwposts, no cracks anywhere, no scratches whatsoever and even the pinch roller turned out looking like new along with the heads and the insides of the beast.

Looks and sounds like this is a case of my instinct to buy being good. I did have some minor concerns around the seller's sub-100% feedback score but he came through for me with this radio/cassette/rhythm section/rudimentary mixing desk/ornament type thing.

If you get a chance to buy one of these - do it! :yes: :yes:
 

AE_Stereo

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Congratulations!

It should have been made by Akai (I read somewhere Akais were sold as Tensai in Europe). Any traces inside of Akai?

And did you see, what ebay is suggesting now against this? A National RF-4210.

I just dropped it thinking of the shipping cost, being at some other side of the world!
 

Beosystem10

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AE_Stereo said:
Congratulations!

It should have been made by Akai (I read somewhere Akais were sold as Tensai in Europe). Any traces inside of Akai?

And did you see, what ebay is suggesting now against this? A National RF-4210.

I just dropped it thinking of the shipping cost, being at some other side of the world!
Yeah, I checked out the National as it would only have cost £20 for shipping from Spain but it needed quite a lot of work and - much as I love lighting the soldering irons and getting intimate with a nice box - I'm not buying projects just now since I have quite a few items that need some attention and am gradually, during my extremely limited free time, working through these as well as doing my regular jobs and taking on a few long-term equipment refurbs for others. One day I might look for one of those though.

I should have taken some interior shots when I had the box apart, but didn't. I didn't notice any branding in there but this is simply because I wasn't looking. I'll open her up again at some time and investigate further.

AE_Stereo said:
It is written After Recording System. What is it? Is it like Sound on Sound recording?
Yes, in two track mode, it uses a stereo record/playback head to write to the left and right channels independently, so it can in effect create stereo recordings that, when switched to single track mode, can be fed out to another device as either stereo or mono. In two track mode it's possible to record one track followed by another, two simultaneously or one record while the other plays so that instruments can be timed together. It's also possible to record a rhythm track from the selection on the buttons at the top across both tracks after they've been recorded. I tell you, the thing is as mad as a whole box of cheese.

AE_Stereo said:
This will be interesting to you.
Another reference for the machine.

http://www.matrixsynth.com/2011/03/tensai-rhythm-machine-80s-boombox-with.html

Lehnert Studio-5000

Added:
On further research, there is a very similar Sony machine
Sony CF-900S
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-CF-900S-Rhythm-Capsule-boombox-ghetto-blaster-vintage-retro-/190979072420

1W3A8732_zps8ae60667.jpg
Interesting links, thanks. I have seen a Sony like that in a local market where it's been sitting gathering dust for at least the last twelve years, possibly because the seller wants £200 for it! That seemed a little rich for a Sony badge. :yes:
 

Beosystem10

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kingrat2010 said:
funky machine with those recording options, just missing a hiphopelectro beatbutton ;-)
Lol! A combination of rock at a suitable tempo with added chachachav gives something close. Or you can plug in the microphone and get a human being to do the job. ;-)

nz boom said:
thats cool i like it :thumbsup:
Cheers. It's kinda growing on me too. :-D
 
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