More Teenage Nostalgia!

[Nickeccles]

So Today.................

I decided to try & repair an identical generic walkman to the one I had as a 15 year old in 1981

I bought this 4 years ago for £10 & had been after one since I lost mine sometime back in 1982

Mine was from Argos (Of Course!!) & was badged as a Harvard LMR-1..........

This Unisef TU-1 Stereo Cassette Player is the same in every way & has been waiting to be repaired since I got it!

The problems were minimal really - Belt had turned into a strange shape & the volume sliders were both seized solid!!

Belt changing means lifting the Pcb being very careful not to snap any of the tiny wires from the board & other places they run to!

Belt was quite easy to change - I don't like doing walkmans of any kind.......I am too old now & no longer have the steady hands/fingers needed for personal stereo repairs

Anyway, belt on & I kept looking at it while I freed the volume sliders with Servisol along with the tiny leaf switch that turns the motor on, but I was very uncertain about the new belt being on correctly - it just didn't look right as you can see in the close up images I took!

Strangely though - It WAS right & so was playbeck speed! Result

Just a tweak on the azimuth adjustment to bring this little gem up to standard!!

What can I say?? After carefully reassembling it, I put the headphones on & was astonished at the playback from such a lowly unit

Thing is in 1981, the cheaper end of the market wasn't like from 1985 onwards - You still got a metal case, decent build quality & reliabilty! Also the finish is very nice - Like a Sony but without the 'Talk Line' & other features........Just a stereo cassette player sold in a time where you also got a powerful output chip!! This thing goes loud & effortlessly too!!

The Sound?? I will say this: This machine has no right to sound as stunning as it does, neither did I expect excellent stabilty the tape transport provides

Load a decent Chrome cassette recorded on my Technics deck & the sound is rich, full with lots of analogue warmth!!

I had a good day today getting this repaired - Am delighted to own a childhood memory again & listen as we all did in wonder back then of stereo sound you could take with you!!

As a footnote, I must add - In 81 when I bought the Harvard, the earphones went straight in the bin & I bought a pair of walkman style Audio Technica phones for £15 I remember which of course transformed the sound!! Wish I still had those too! They were stunning sounding headphones..................

Et Voila:





















https://youtu.be/FuAJI1-D9xY

 

[MyOhMy]

Another Classic saved by Nick! I love the back story and detailed account of rebelting - and that belt looks very awkward to fit. I've not seen inside more than a couple of portable cassette player and the first thing I notice with this is how jam packed it is with no excess wiring for manoeuvring individual parts around.

As for this particular model, it's one that caught my eye some time ago due to the the classic 80's lines & colours that are so indicative of the period. I'd say the design is bold and confident, proud of being a child of the 80's so.............what's not to like about this? I liked it some time ago but now I love so onto my shopping list one of these will go.

Nice one, good work and many thanks for the valuable insight.

 

[Fatdog]

Nice looking walkman. The style reminds me of the first Sony walkman... and you have the original plastic case!

 

[T-STER]

Yeah definitely has echoes of the Tps-L2 about it, nice to have your old walkman back to (or a same aka). You must be a few years older than me as I got my childhood walkman recently, a Bush, and it was horrid! It was nothing like this one at all with cheap plastic everywhere and the loveliest mech. I think you are right and late 80s the quality tailed off.

This one looks like a quality unit, well done.

 

[thinkchronicity]

Haha...I see what you mean about the belt arrangement! Always a pleasure to read and see your posts Nick. I never had a Walkman until I bought one of Sony's last models in 2002 i think it was. Only started using it about three years ago - I was stunned by the 'live' sound quality - maybe a touch of w&f discernable at times - but so warm and detailed. Of course using it outside is like any activity you can name...sounds even better! Maybe it's the minimal circuitry they had to employ that gives the very direct sound...I dunno, no expert here...