Just taken a random gamble on a Sanyo M9998K

Hi all, I just happened upon a Sanyo M9998K whilst searching our auction site for portable players - minidisc and the like. It was running only 1 low bid with just a few minutes to go. Condition stated as good with working radio reception but tape deck not going. I decided to flick a bid, so I went up to $50 NZ ($36 US) on it and won

The guy I bought it from has yet to contact me (although I only won it an hour or so ago) and he's a zero feedback new trader. Hopefully he's a genuine guy (he has lots of other items for sale) so we shall see.

Anyone got any experience / tips / warnings etc about doing the belts on a M9998K ??? Cheers

Well you've chosen the most difficult deck to remove from a Boombox for servicing! You'll need to get out the soldering iron to desolder a bunch of random wires plus a bunch of identical looking plugs to gain access to the multiple layers of stacked circuit boards that a stacked on top of the deck.

They are a nice sounding Boombox. Not powerful by any means but a nice, balanced sound all the same. The tuners have a fault where they exhibit a random feedback loop style hum. If you tap the tuner board, you can make the tuner exhibit the noise - I've seen 3 units so far with the same issue. Tuners in general can fail or be failing with reduced sensitivity of poor stereo lock on.

The decks sound really nice when working well. The RCA line in works ok but the sensitivity is a little low so your line in won't sound as loud as the tuner or deck.

Good luck with the restoration.

James.....

These are great units after fully restored but if I were you try and stay away from zero feedback sellers as your chances of getting something on the money from the description is low 😉


Bad Boy Bill

Sound quality is outstanding but a bear to work on the deck.
So clean, crisp and powerful!
I have two that needs belts and one needs more attention.

Hey thanks guys, looking forward to (hopefully) receiving it soon. I know what you mean about zero feedback sellers Bill, I would not have bid had the price been any higher. I look at it this way - I've been on auction sites for years and built up hundreds of positive feedbacks. This seller is new and could be totally genuine, we all gotta start somewhere

If it falls through, nothing lost. He still hasn't contacted me which I'm not exactly surprised about. If he expected it to go higher and simply goes silent on me, so what.

This box is a must for a collector! The sound quality is that good! Sooner or later I will fix the decks and they will rock!
I think the engineers worked on the interior design were gypsies. They threw everything one over the other and soldered wires instead of adding plug in sockets.

If they separated the boards away for deck service that would have solved a lot of hair pulling for us. I am very good at exploring things and pretty careful also but I am waiting for better pictures on the belt replacement. It is so easy to break parts during the exploration process! So I am holding my horses!

I have so many boxes in my collection but the love for M9998 is different! It is special!

the 9998 bass sounds as solid as this terrific box looks --

and these days - ebay is very good at honoring your $$ back --
of course its a PITA to go thru the claims process and takes about 10 days -
but if your price was right - then its worth the 0 feedback risk

good luck

redbenjoe said:

the 9998 bass sounds as solid as this terrific box looks --



good luck

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Words of wisdom from the most respected Pro here!

This gentleman knows a lot about boomboxes!

I'm not too hopeful on this deal, sadly. When the 9998 was listed thee guy had several other items for sale but now all have disappeared. They may have all ended at around the same time, hence they are no longer there, but I think he may have pulled them all down for some reason. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.....at least no money has changed hands yet because it wasn't a BUY NOW and there's no automatic payment option either so I'm waiting on the seller sending me his account details.

Whoa - just had contact from the seller saying that he's glad the box has 'gone to a good home' (I mentioned in my email to him that I had a few other boxes) and that he will get postage etc arranged by the end of the week. Sweet !

ah it was you that got this. i was watching it. already got 1 so prob wasnt gonna bid. cheaper than i paid.
as everyone said. not the easiest to work on. i took the back off mine once to attempt a decent clean. looked at it for 20min put back together.

Yep it was me mate, I may regret it but hey I'm a glutton for punishment. I pulled an older Sanyo apart a while back, one of those with the TV monitors in them, and that was a scary monster.....

The M9998K has all of the electronics within the centre section of the box leaving the speakers to have their own 'cabinets'. It's the stacking of all the circuit boards that causes the dramas. If you don't stow all the wiring in exactly the same way it came out, you will never be able to replace the rear cover - such a bastard of a design. Beautiful build quality though.

jimmyjimmy19702010 said:

The M9998K has all of the electronics within the centre section of the box leaving the speakers to have their own 'cabinets'. It's the stacking of all the circuit boards that causes the dramas. If you don't stow all the wiring in exactly the same way it came out, you will never be able to replace the rear cover - such a bastard of a design. Beautiful build quality though.

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YUp this. Its a bitch to remove or disconnect the boards to get to the tape to but its a helluva lot easier if you have done it before. I'm going to try and put some sort of guide together as its not well documented and extremely tricky.

It is a beautiful deck though and i'm glad i persisted.

Seems there's some love n hate going on for this boomer I will have to see if it looks more horrifying than my VZ-3000 !

T-STER said:

YUp this. Its a bitch to remove or disconnect the boards to get to the tape to but its a helluva lot easier if you have done it before. I'm going to try and put some sort of guide together as its not well documented and extremely tricky.

It is a beautiful deck though and i'm glad i persisted.

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Please do it T-STER... I am waiting...

I hear ya man, im waiting for the weekend to hit, i leave home at 8pm, roll in between 7-8pm and dead on my feet!!!!

Good find mate, i´ve seen one in person and they look novelty ! I´ve seen photos here of decks and they look exactly like big "no-no" to me, but with help of other members i´m sure you´ll be able to service the deck. Keep us updated !