I bet you were wondering what happened to this wonderful piece of equipment. I've had it the entire time and there is a bit of a story behind it all. I received it and spent some time getting used to it and figuring out how everything worked. It had a few faults(hey,it's old,give it a break!)like for example one of the channels in FM stereo mode was weak and wasn't outputting a stereo signal. The same problem existed in FM wide mode. Then something started up where when I had the deck running so that I could at least have my cassette adapter in there to use as a line in(I didn't have access to a phono to line in converter and reversing the RIAA phono EQ using my MP3 player's EQ is a crude solution at best)there would be a loud hum coming from the left channel.
I wasn't sure what was causing it so I took it apart and found a cap that was faulty however I really did not want to remove the main board to replace it since the main board is really quite big and considering how this player is 30 years old I did not wish to disturb a 30 year old PCB that has lost significant amounts of flexibility. I gave it to the fellow who I usually have service my deck related items and told him of the things that needed sorting. The only problem is that this fellow likes to take his time with things. His work is good but he must really take on more than he has room for since it took him a very very long time for him to get it done.
Not only was the cap bum but as I remember you suspecting the IC that does the stereo multiplexing was not working properly so that was replaced as well. It also received new belts and a new idler wheel. I'm not thrilled that it took nearly 4 months for him to get it back to me but I am very happy to have it here next to me playing away happily. I still need to find replacement tape pickup wheels as apparently they've gone the way of goo and replacements could not be sourced so it seems that I will need to find some appropriate fuel tubing to make replacements.
I really really do enjoy this thing,it is very enjoyable to have a boombox with such a nice even frequency response that doesn't over emphasize the bass so all sorts of music sounds good through it. I also really do enjoy the amount of power this box always has in reserve. It never seems like it's really trying all that hard even with the sound levels do get quite high. The sheer weight and size of this thing always make it something that stands out quite easily in a room. I've been wanting one of these for quite some time and with that it's nice to finally own one and now I can take a break from actively buying boomboxes as any of the other ones I have interest in are really quite a bit out of my budget.
So Norm,I thought I'd give you an update about where one of your flock ended up. it's doing fine and I'm certainly more than pleased to have it back home and playing music again! Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to own such a fine piece of equipment.
I'll post more photos and a video soon,some more day light will help photo quality immensely.
- Mike
I wasn't sure what was causing it so I took it apart and found a cap that was faulty however I really did not want to remove the main board to replace it since the main board is really quite big and considering how this player is 30 years old I did not wish to disturb a 30 year old PCB that has lost significant amounts of flexibility. I gave it to the fellow who I usually have service my deck related items and told him of the things that needed sorting. The only problem is that this fellow likes to take his time with things. His work is good but he must really take on more than he has room for since it took him a very very long time for him to get it done.
Not only was the cap bum but as I remember you suspecting the IC that does the stereo multiplexing was not working properly so that was replaced as well. It also received new belts and a new idler wheel. I'm not thrilled that it took nearly 4 months for him to get it back to me but I am very happy to have it here next to me playing away happily. I still need to find replacement tape pickup wheels as apparently they've gone the way of goo and replacements could not be sourced so it seems that I will need to find some appropriate fuel tubing to make replacements.
I really really do enjoy this thing,it is very enjoyable to have a boombox with such a nice even frequency response that doesn't over emphasize the bass so all sorts of music sounds good through it. I also really do enjoy the amount of power this box always has in reserve. It never seems like it's really trying all that hard even with the sound levels do get quite high. The sheer weight and size of this thing always make it something that stands out quite easily in a room. I've been wanting one of these for quite some time and with that it's nice to finally own one and now I can take a break from actively buying boomboxes as any of the other ones I have interest in are really quite a bit out of my budget.
So Norm,I thought I'd give you an update about where one of your flock ended up. it's doing fine and I'm certainly more than pleased to have it back home and playing music again! Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to own such a fine piece of equipment.
I'll post more photos and a video soon,some more day light will help photo quality immensely. - Mike
