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Not R to R but bought this cool tape deck today


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Picked this up off eBay for the princely sum of $12.50. Looks to be in good condition and the seller tells me it works fine. I just picked it up today but haven't had time to test it. Should be a bit of fun.

 

Any thoughts? Would certainly appreciate any tips on how to get the best out of it.

 

 

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Go forth and listen

Main thing to do regularly is

Clean the heads and capstan

Demagnetise the heads

Use quality tapes

And you will be rewarded @

thanks man.... bit of research to do then about cleaning and demagnatising heads

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I'm also keen to hear some views about the quality/sound of tape recordings compared to vinyl... the few tapes that I have sound ok on my 70's National Panasonic "boom box" I get the feeling I can expect something more when I use a proper tape deck through a decent amp.... oh, I also bought this recently for $25 but it's costing me $150 to get it fixed. swings and roundabouts eh?

 

Even though it's going to cost me a small fortune I just can't wait to get this thing singing!

 

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Tapes were never my thing, but it won't stop you from having a go. See if you can find a Nakamichi deck, I gave away a BX1 here on the classified for free.

I don't have any casstte tapes because when I moved the BOSS made me throw away my tape collection.

If they can do it a chrome tape such as a TDK SA-X would give you some decent recording quality, I use to rock up at Encel HiFi and buy boxes of 10 at really competitive price.

I hated tapes with a passion, hi8 and DAT were the worst, they use to jam when there was high moisture....

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Tapes were never my thing, but it won't stop you from having a go. See if you can find a Nakamichi deck, I gave away a BX1 here on the classified for free.

I don't have any casstte tapes because when I moved the BOSS made me throw away my tape collection.

If they can do it a chrome tape such as a TDK SA-X would give you some decent recording quality, I use to rock up at Encel HiFi and buy boxes of 10 at really competitive price.

I hated tapes with a passion, hi8 and DAT were the worst, they use to jam when there was high moisture....

Thanks @@Addicted to music

 

geez those TDK's don't come cheap... $15 a pop plus postage! OR I can buy one from the US for $26AUD with FREE shipping!! wow! I bet you weren't paying this much for them back then??

 

I'm not really sure at this stage about my little fascination with cassette/tape decks. It could be just a passing thing, but for now I'm going to enjoy it, play some of my old tapes and hunt around at thrifts/garage sales and local markets for some bargains. As I said, just have a bit of fun with it. I'm kinda spewing I'm spending so much on getting the TEAC going but it's too late now!

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Thanks @@Addicted to music

 

geez those TDK's don't come cheap... $15 a pop plus postage! OR I can buy one from the US for $26AUD with FREE shipping!! wow! I bet you weren't paying this much for them back then??

 

I'm not really sure at this stage about my little fascination with cassette/tape decks. It could be just a passing thing, but for now I'm going to enjoy it, play some of my old tapes and hunt around at thrifts/garage sales and local markets for some bargains. As I said, just have a bit of fun with it. I'm kinda spewing I'm spending so much on getting the TEAC going but it's too late now!

I can't remember exactly what I paid for them, it's been almost 30yrs. Definately not $26 each, more like $3.50-4.00 for a 90 min tape. That gets you enough to record one side of an vinyl LP. TDK were the reference standard in any tape formulation, everyone used them, and when you go to Brashes, Douglas HiFi and many other Stereo shops they all be using them.

The reason I bought the Nakamichi BX-1 was that it was the only one I could afford. Superb deck for its time. Like one of the other posters here said, it was never high quality, more convienance than anything else, so you can have music on the go.

Just remembered there's 3 formulations, normal ferrite that's bias for 120us, Chrome dioxide; such as the TDK SA-X are bias to 70us and also Metal formulation. Your heads must be constructed to take these formulations otherwise the chrome and Metal will wear it faster. Always fast forward and rewind before you start to record. And ensure the heads are cleaned with isopropyl with a cotton bud.

As you would know it died out real quick when the recordable CD hit the market, then iPods finished them off for good.

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I can't remember exactly what I paid for them, it's been almost 30yrs. Definately not $26 each, more like $3.50-4.00 for a 90 min tape. That gets you enough to record one side of an vinyl LP. TDK were the reference standard in any tape formulation, everyone used them, and when you go to Brashes, Douglas HiFi and many other Stereo shops they all be using them.

The reason I bought the Nakamichi BX-1 was that it was the only one I could afford. Superb deck for its time. Like one of the other posters here said, it was never high quality, more convienance than anything else, so you can have music on the go.

Just remembered there's 3 formulations, normal ferrite that's bias for 120us, Chrome dioxide; such as the TDK SA-X are bias to 70us and also Metal formulation. Your heads must be constructed to take these formulations otherwise the chrome and Metal will wear it faster. Always fast forward and rewind before you start to record. And ensure the heads are cleaned with isopropyl with a cotton bud.

As you would know it died out real quick when the recordable CD hit the market, then iPods finished them off for good.

 

 

Yeah $3-$4 sounds right. In my teens (from 86-88) I worked in the "Record Bar" at Coles Variety Story in Bourke Street - my role was part cashier/attendant part resident DJ. I worked every Friday night and Sat morning taking requests from staff or spinning my fave tunes of the time - I remember TDK were definitely the biggest seller!

 

Good tips for preping the tapes @@Addicted to music - my Subaru Outback has a tape player that works well so I'm keen to get some of my prized LP's onto tape so I can listen in the car  :thumb:

Edited by Fair Play
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This is my Teac RS 263.  As long as the heads are clean the sound is beautiful.  I ABC's 'Dark Side of the Moon' through 2 turntables, CD and Cassette.  The cassette came a close second to my #1 turntable.

 

nice... I just love the chunky look of these things - more a piece of furniture than a piece of electronics  :thumb:

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The audio cassette was invented in the early 60s for use in dictation machines, it was never intended as a high fidelity medium. Over the years, a lot of effort went into trying to improve its audio qualities, with various noise reduction schemes and improved tape formulations. Performance improved quite remarkably as a result, but it was always a compromised medium in terms of audio quality.

 

I still have a JVC TD-W718 cassette deck that I bought around the time cassette tape was on the wane (just after my Aiwa deck died). I have used it very little since that time, but I still keep it in my system. I still have a whole stack of cassette tapes sitting in the back of a cupboard.

Edited by emesbee
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Thanks for the tip @@billyboyrm

 

Tested the Pioneer last night and it aint good... 

 

I tested the deck on its own with headphones and it sounded great! Happy!

 

Then plugged it into the Pioneer amp and the sound I was getting was quite distorted and crackly... Played it a little while longer and the crackle seemed to disappear.... at which point the deck decided to chew up my tape!! Ahh the memories!

 

Also it won't rewind. I suspect new belts are in order and a good clean/demagnetise but will doing these steps stop it chewing tapes?

 

Cheers,

Skender.

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Re won't rewind

Belts could be an issue but don't discount a start capacitor if one is used

Re Crackling

Crackling can also be a capacitor or similar - this happens when cold and dissipates as warm -

I always found that slipping at the capstan and drive shaft is overlooked often

Even a good alcohol capstan clean may not be enough, as the capstan rubber can still be stiff at the drive face

I usually remove the capstan and jig it up to run true on a drill and use some wet and dry to resurface

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