Who wants to work on a TPR-950 or 955?

[Tinman]

I refurbed a 950 about a year and a half ago.
I really forgot how bad these are to work on.
You can see I've got this 955 to the point of having all of the electrical parts in a heap.
Other than the power leads to the main board, every single thing is soldered together.
I cut at least 8 wires to get to this point since I didn't feel like unsoldering everything.
These definitely aren't for the faint hearted.

 

[Northerner]

Jeez that’s some strip down! Why have you had to take it apart this much?

 

[Tinman]

I didn't have to but like to disassemble as much as possible so I can get everything as clean as possible.
After removing the main board, it didn't take much to remove the rest of it from the frame.
Right now I have the frame completely cleaned, all pots and switches cleaned and deoxed and the two main belts on.
The band selector switch gear is cracked so I had to glue that.
The guy I bought this from said he just had the belts and dial indicator cord replaced.
The first thing I noticed after receiving it was the indicator moved left when I turned the dial right.
When I took the cassette player apart, I noticed the main belt was about 1" larger than the capstan flywheel which is way too small.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll get everything mounted back on to the frame.

 

[Northerner]

That is dedication!...I like mine really clean but even I don’t go that far

 

[koleloi]

I love Aiwa's sound and built quality but to be honest, the Company's engineering and designing teams are the worst among all Japanese brands. Terrible look and construction in most of the lineup.

 

[Tinman]

Yep, I'm a little anal I guess.
If I keep or sell them, I like knowing they're absolutely as clean as I can get them.

I agree koleloi, great sound but it really looks like they turned a 12 year old with a soldering iron and a few spools of wire loose on these, it's crazy.

I got everything mounted back on the frame the next day like I hoped.
The dial indicator now moves correctly.
I washed the front and back panels today and am waiting on two new woofers.
Unfortunately, one had a hole in it.
It still works but I'd rather switch them out while it's apart.
I also replaced four caps.
Two new polypropylene caps for the tweeters and two for the woofers.
The tweeters caps are 3.3uf but we're both measuring over 6uf.
It should sound really good when reassembled.

 

[BoomboxLover48]

Why to remove the dial cord for this cleaning process? That was a little too much!

 

[Radio raheem]

not the best looker but the best sounding Aiwa made imho

 

[Tinman]

Why to remove the dial cord for this cleaning process? That was a little too much!

The previous owner said he had a shop replace the belts and dial cord.
The main belt was way too small and the dial cord was routed backwards so it had to be removed and corrected.
You can probably see, he stretched the spring out at the end of the dial cord not to mention it was tied wrong.
It's amazing the shotty work people do and then charge unsuspecting customers for it.

 

[Tinman]

Just to update, it's back together and everything I've tested is working correctly.
It sounds really great and should be good for another 10+ years.

 

[Northerner]

Looks great. They really are awesome sounding machines

 

[Tinman]

Looks great. They really are awesome sounding machines

Thanks.
The new woofers are sounding really nice.
One thing I wish the 950 & 955 had is a line in/phono switch so you can leave the RCA cord plugged in.

 

[fyj2972]

Nice work indeed.

 

[BoomboxLover48]

Great work!

 

[Radio raheem]

in silver they look really nice, great work DUDE

 

[Tinman]

Thanks guys.