A Boxed Sanyo M-7700 In New Unused Condition For £30??
Too good to be true??
Too damn right it was, however I couldn't let this pass me by so I bought it.............
Arriving a day or two later I carefully unboxed the extremely badly packed box & took out the original box full of excitement & very eager to get my hands on a brand new old stock M-7700!!
It soon became apparent that this was going to be quite a job to sort out!
This was a great dish of ointment to me - But then I did have what appeared to be an unused stereo complete with box having spent just £30
So what do we have here??
Cassette deck not working (As expected)
Top brushed aluminium trim detached from stereo, very mucky but undamaged - the glue always fails on this Sanyo series of radio cassettes, I'm just so happy that it isn't damaged!
Volume balance & tone controls very stiff due to non use I guess & were very hard to even move!
Both aerials very stiff again I think due to non usage over the years - Amazingly these did appear to be unused, once freed up they are dead straight & glide perfectly now to full height & down again!!
Cassette mechanism keys very stiff due to dried up grease!
Power adapter dead, no output at all........
So, for £30 I decided that "IF" I can restore it to perfect working order as it would've been when it was sold in 1979 or thereabouts, then it was going to be a bargain & potentially worth a lot more than it cost me!
Now, anyone from my generation that has taken on restoring the cassette deck on this series of machines will know - They are a real F**king B***ards to work on!! I hate em even more now.........
Trouble is: I & many others love these beautiful little Sanyo mini's from the golden era of boomboxes - Despite being a pig to restore, the build & sound quality still leave folk astonished when they hear one doing it's stuff & on top of that, they are beautiful to behold & when in new condition, a real privilege to own one in 2019!!
I'm not going into all of the frustrating & obscenity inducing hurdles to overcome when you strip one of these down to reach the works of the cassette mechanism, I'm sure many of you already know how tricky these are to do!
Rebelting was by far the hardest task & is not a pleasant experience so I'll just say that over 2 days of stripping deck after battling with the main board which simply DOESN'T unplug anywhere, I was ready with the new belts - Fitting them is fun "Not" & then begins the awkward process of reassembling the deck after regreasing the sliding plates that freed up all the transport keys!
Incidentally, the main drive belt was a very funny shape & had obviously been static for a very long time, the other belts seemed ok but I changed em anyway........
While main board was lifted up I cleaned the rec/play switch & every other switch I could find........
Board remounted & a quick check of the tape functions........Everything now working as it should!!
Up until now I had been standing on the hedge as to whether I was right to go this far with it, never mind being completely caught up in the tentyhooks wondering if I had ended up with a lime!
Anyway: Time to put it aside until the next day............
A lovely dinner of "Sausage In The Toad" was enjoyed & a small tasty cake bar afterwards! (You Can't Beat That Dr Kipling)
"Time To Get The Grindstone" I pondered the next day, hoping I hadn't forgotten any "Key" tasks as I put the little Sanyo back on the bench! I decided to clean & degrease the small leaf switches on the tape deck just to be sure it would keep running well into the future!
Next it was time to clean & refix the thin brushed ally top plate very carefully! After cleaning it up, it now indeed did look new as did the cleaned up casing all round............Lubricate the twin aerials & pinch up the swivel mounts so they stay tight!!
By now, I was praying that I hadn't been "Caught Out Like A Kipper" & was feeling a little more hopeful that I hadn't bought an orange!!
It was finally time after cleaning everything over & over again to screw the case back together & admire what was now a very beautiful little stereo!
I was quietly confident having done many of these in the last 40 years, that the deck would be good again! I needn't have worried!
Using another mains abapter the set sprung into life - "Strong & Stable" (Like Teresa May's Leadership) reception resulted in very nice FM radio audio! All is well so far...........
The cassette deck surprised me by being even better than I remembered these Sanyo's sounded! Superb punchy sound & all transport functions working perfectly!!
The tiny 3 inch speakers with their biggish magnets deliver a great sound & a joy to listen to!!
So finally & to try & keep it all original, I opened the Sanyo mains abapter & saw straight away that the contacts that switch it between 110V & 240V were tarnished badly & could never have worked in that condition!
A squirt of Serviceoil & a cotton bud soon restored a good contact & the little power supply burst into life!
A labour of love perhaps?? This was a difficult machine to restore to what does now appear to be "As New" condition with it's box & power supply! A very desirable item no question, I love it - A pristine Sanyo M-7700F & a keeper (I Think)
Just a few images here - I can't get used to only being able to upload one image at a time now on both forums - Maybe it's my browser??
Hi-Res Images Here:
https://onedrive.live.com/…
Et Voila:
https://youtu.be/EjM2Ko2ox8k
Too good to be true??
Too damn right it was, however I couldn't let this pass me by so I bought it.............
Arriving a day or two later I carefully unboxed the extremely badly packed box & took out the original box full of excitement & very eager to get my hands on a brand new old stock M-7700!!
It soon became apparent that this was going to be quite a job to sort out!
This was a great dish of ointment to me - But then I did have what appeared to be an unused stereo complete with box having spent just £30
So what do we have here??
Cassette deck not working (As expected)
Top brushed aluminium trim detached from stereo, very mucky but undamaged - the glue always fails on this Sanyo series of radio cassettes, I'm just so happy that it isn't damaged!
Volume balance & tone controls very stiff due to non use I guess & were very hard to even move!
Both aerials very stiff again I think due to non usage over the years - Amazingly these did appear to be unused, once freed up they are dead straight & glide perfectly now to full height & down again!!
Cassette mechanism keys very stiff due to dried up grease!
Power adapter dead, no output at all........
So, for £30 I decided that "IF" I can restore it to perfect working order as it would've been when it was sold in 1979 or thereabouts, then it was going to be a bargain & potentially worth a lot more than it cost me!
Now, anyone from my generation that has taken on restoring the cassette deck on this series of machines will know - They are a real F**king B***ards to work on!! I hate em even more now.........
Trouble is: I & many others love these beautiful little Sanyo mini's from the golden era of boomboxes - Despite being a pig to restore, the build & sound quality still leave folk astonished when they hear one doing it's stuff & on top of that, they are beautiful to behold & when in new condition, a real privilege to own one in 2019!!
I'm not going into all of the frustrating & obscenity inducing hurdles to overcome when you strip one of these down to reach the works of the cassette mechanism, I'm sure many of you already know how tricky these are to do!
Rebelting was by far the hardest task & is not a pleasant experience so I'll just say that over 2 days of stripping deck after battling with the main board which simply DOESN'T unplug anywhere, I was ready with the new belts - Fitting them is fun "Not" & then begins the awkward process of reassembling the deck after regreasing the sliding plates that freed up all the transport keys!
Incidentally, the main drive belt was a very funny shape & had obviously been static for a very long time, the other belts seemed ok but I changed em anyway........
While main board was lifted up I cleaned the rec/play switch & every other switch I could find........
Board remounted & a quick check of the tape functions........Everything now working as it should!!
Up until now I had been standing on the hedge as to whether I was right to go this far with it, never mind being completely caught up in the tentyhooks wondering if I had ended up with a lime!
Anyway: Time to put it aside until the next day............
A lovely dinner of "Sausage In The Toad" was enjoyed & a small tasty cake bar afterwards! (You Can't Beat That Dr Kipling)
"Time To Get The Grindstone" I pondered the next day, hoping I hadn't forgotten any "Key" tasks as I put the little Sanyo back on the bench! I decided to clean & degrease the small leaf switches on the tape deck just to be sure it would keep running well into the future!
Next it was time to clean & refix the thin brushed ally top plate very carefully! After cleaning it up, it now indeed did look new as did the cleaned up casing all round............Lubricate the twin aerials & pinch up the swivel mounts so they stay tight!!
By now, I was praying that I hadn't been "Caught Out Like A Kipper" & was feeling a little more hopeful that I hadn't bought an orange!!
It was finally time after cleaning everything over & over again to screw the case back together & admire what was now a very beautiful little stereo!
I was quietly confident having done many of these in the last 40 years, that the deck would be good again! I needn't have worried!
Using another mains abapter the set sprung into life - "Strong & Stable" (Like Teresa May's Leadership) reception resulted in very nice FM radio audio! All is well so far...........
The cassette deck surprised me by being even better than I remembered these Sanyo's sounded! Superb punchy sound & all transport functions working perfectly!!
The tiny 3 inch speakers with their biggish magnets deliver a great sound & a joy to listen to!!
So finally & to try & keep it all original, I opened the Sanyo mains abapter & saw straight away that the contacts that switch it between 110V & 240V were tarnished badly & could never have worked in that condition!
A squirt of Serviceoil & a cotton bud soon restored a good contact & the little power supply burst into life!
A labour of love perhaps?? This was a difficult machine to restore to what does now appear to be "As New" condition with it's box & power supply! A very desirable item no question, I love it - A pristine Sanyo M-7700F & a keeper (I Think)
Just a few images here - I can't get used to only being able to upload one image at a time now on both forums - Maybe it's my browser??
Hi-Res Images Here:
https://onedrive.live.com/…
Et Voila:
https://youtu.be/EjM2Ko2ox8k
