Clairtone 7980 vs JVC M90

[Transistorized]

The issue I've noticed with the Conion and aka's is that when the volume is turned up the mids get distorted through the main woofers, something the M90 doesn't do. The Conion and aka models do seem to carry the bass a little better but the highs are not as crisp. Deck is better on M90 but only has one. The Conion aka models do have a stereo (wide) feature but many view this as a gimmick. Personally if I couldn't find a M90 or didn't want to sell a kidney, I'd get a M70. You get a taste of the M90 on a less powerful scale and the deck is reliable when working properly and it can search up to 16 songs on music search. Just be careful with the volume sliders.

 

[retroclub]

That's a cool device caution. I didn't know you could get these adapters with remote control and SD card support.

I'm using a cheap tape adapter with a thin cable to a headphone jack but it works great. Pressing play and then pressing pause sorts out any auto-stop issues and the deck isn't constantly turning the wheels of the adapter, which sometimes makes a noise.

Like you said, it doesn't matter whether the belts and the motor are knackered. The only bits of the deck that needs to be functioning are the play head and mechanism. I'm really impress with the sound i'm getting from the 8989 playing 320kbps mp3's through the deck.

 

[Reli]

Of course - but I'm not sure why that's a concern, if you were playing a real cassette, it would be running anyway.

Right but I'm just looking at it from the standpoint of battery life. If the tape motor is running, the boombox batteries would drain more quickly than if you were using a Bluetooth dongle connected to the Aux In jacks.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

It all depends on what you call good sound quality. If you consider the sound from the fm stereo tuner to be good quality, I can assure you a good quality deck in good condition should sound better than the fm tuner.

My GF-9090 has a super healthy deck and FM tuner and the deck definitely has better highs and overall sound quality than the fm tuner.

Don’t give up the tape decks just yet.......

 

[Radio raheem]

if it hadn't been for cassette i wouldn't have bothered with boomboxes, don't rule them out ehh

 

[RocklandSally]

definitely going to be used for cassettes

thanks guys

 

[Reli]

It all depends on what you call good sound quality. If you consider the sound from the fm stereo tuner to be good quality, I can assure you a good quality deck in good condition should sound better than the fm tuner.

My GF-9090 has a super healthy deck and FM tuner and the deck definitely has better highs and overall sound quality than the fm tuner.

Don’t give up the tape decks just yet.......

The GF-9090 was built in 76 or 77 when tape decks were still pretty damn good. In 81-82 the manufacturers started to realize that most people cared more about size and looks. So decks became lighter and cheaper, frequency response dropped, and wow and flutter increased.

I don't know how good FM is in Australia, but it's OK here in the US, assuming the station's music library doesn't consist of low-bitrate MP3's.

 

[toshik]

Rx-7200 beats RX-7000 in sound qualty it just needs to be properly restored
Due to circuit differencrs straight out of storage RX-7000 would sound better than 7200 :-(

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

I have them all.

The 5150 has no bass response and is too 'bright' sounding for me. The scr-8 will treat you well at low volume but leave you reaching for more bass but distorts if you feed it more. 7980 in good shape will be a power house and decent price.

My 5150 had good highs but only basic levels of bass. One box I was never impressed with bass was the RX-5500. Beautiful build quality but the bass on the 3 examples I’ve heard were sorely lacking.

 

[Nickeccles]

M90 has a really decent tape mechanism that's built to last! Rebelting is worthwhile as these decks are reliable & get the best from a good cassette tape! Not heard an M90 but the PC-5 shares the same deck albeit with minor differences & I stripped mine down & rebuilt it! Just superb tape deck & solid as a rock!!

I want an SCR-8 too but they are scarce in the UK!

 

[Northerner]

The M90 might deck might be built to last but it doesn’t lol...they’re a nightmare. Mine still isn’t working after many many hours of work on it.

 

[Radio raheem]

let docs look at her si, sorted in no time

 

[Northerner]

let docs look at her si, sorted in no time

He’s had two goes at it along with others chipping in help but still no go :-(

 

[Transistorized]

Full logic decks are always finicky when something goes awry. IMO mechanical problems are always easier to solve than electrical IC chip based boards. That's why many lean towards the good 'ole full mechanical push button decks like the M70. You can be fairly sure your finger will work...lol. However, it's amazing to me that those decks in the M70 hold up as well as they do with all the springs and doo-dads they have.

I'm convinced that many of the M90 decks that are working today were lightly used and abandoned after the belts deteriorated and the resistor fuse blew which helped to preserve them for later....(Now). The ones that got used a lot are no longer with us in working form. But that's the funny thing about logic systems. You truly never really know. Some work well today and some probably failed under warranty in 1981. You just never know. I could be here tomorrow...or I might be dead. Day to day with everything I guess. Also history of the device matters prior to getting it.

Might have to source a replacement logic board and deck Si. I wish you good fortune friend

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

Was just playing a tape in my RX-C45 when all hell broke loose! What to do??? Get out the trusty GF-9090 of course!

Every time one of my decks starts playing up , I always switch back to the deck in my little GF-9090 - never needs speed adjustments and only sounds muffled when the heads need cleaning!!

 

[Radio raheem]

let docs look at her si, sorted in no time

He’s had two goes at it along with others chipping in help but still no go :-(

damn im sorry si there is only one way, the mighty superdouper

 

[caution]

Of course - but I'm not sure why that's a concern, if you were playing a real cassette, it would be running anyway.

Right but I'm just looking at it from the standpoint of battery life. If the tape motor is running, the boombox batteries would drain more quickly than if you were using a Bluetooth dongle connected to the Aux In jacks.

I see what you're saying about the batteries, they would definitely last longer. Also, the sound quality is usually better through aux-in than a tape adapter, you don't have that magnetic coupling in the signal path. I say usually because I've got some boxes that give better results through the tape adapter, I suspect the quality aux-in preamp may be worse than the deck preamp.