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cfz2882

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time for a home stereo tape machine thread;cassette,8-track cartridge,reel+reel...
My machines in use:
cassette:
-1981 akai GF-X60R;two-motor autoreverse transport,great machine with superb
sonics from the heyday of japanese audio.
-1982 studor revox b710 mk 2
-1985 studor revox b215-these two german machines feature 4-motor transports with
direct-drive brushless capstan motors and low inertia"coreless"hub motors for
superb (and fast)tape handling.Thought to be the best by many audiophiles.
-1988 onkyo dual well cassette,two motor transport- ok unit,i'd call it "upper
consumer grade,but basicly "BPC"compaired to the akai and revoxes....
-in need of repair,but worth mention:1978 tandberg 310-3 motors,direct drive DC
for hubs,AC synchcronus belt driven to capstans.
8-track
-1977 akai-very heavy and overbuilt unit,AC synchronus 2-speed motor-low speed,
(600 rpm IIRC)for play,high speed-1800 rpm IIRC for fast forward(rewind not
possible with 8-track..)
-Ca.1975 BSR-made in england,4-pole shaded pole motor.
The last 8-track i bought new at the store was Steve Miller band"Abracadabra"
back in 1982,'82 seems to be the last year 8-track tapes were widely avalible in
stores-anyone remember the plexiglass 8-track display cases that had holes so you
could reach in and handle the tapes,but needed to get an attendant to open the
case to retrieve a tape for purchase?
 
Cool thread cfz...

I have a late 1977 Akai GXC-570D cassette deck that my Dad handed down to me in 1978 or so to go with a Yamaha integrated amp and separate tuner that he bought for use in our finished basement in Denver. The Akai has been mine ever since. My Dad is into high-end sound equipment like I am washers. He got himself a Nakamichi deck to replace the Akai.

Talk about over-built - the Akai would probably amputate your foot if you dropped it from chest level. Amazing unit with heat sensitive controls for tape functions. I recorded LOTS of 1970s and 1980s top hits off the radio from about 1979 to 1987 or so with that machine. I have never recorded over them - just dated the cassettes (all TDK SAs) and put them away. I play them from time and time when I am in the mood to enter a time warp.

I still have the Yamaha, but not long ago replaced it as my primary sound.

Gordon
 
Oh Boy!

I have 2 Pioneer CT-F500 Casette decks with the back and forth meters still hooked to my main stereo system, a Magnavox 8 track in a wood cabinet hooked to the Magnavox console in the rec room, a Wolensack (not sure of the spelling) reel to reel not hooked up plus a bright yellow Magnavox boom box with dual casettes that takes 8 D batteries. My daily driver is a 95 Buick Century Estate Wagon with a Delco auto reverse casette. So I have a good selection of both casettes and 8 tracks, but usually only use the Buick's when driving. But when a song comes up that brings back memories, I'll crank it up.
 
I have two surplused RR tape decks from radio stations-An older-classic Ampex 300 mono full track with tube Rec-Pb amp.and an Otari MT10 Master RR dual track stereo-mono-It has PM DC capstan and reel motors.The ampex has induction reel motors and synchronous capstan motor.Ampex 300 decks are legendary-even today-many recording studios still use them!Studer Revox-these leave a bad taste for me-their electronics are hard to service.The motors,however-are pretty easy to rebuild.Just remove the circ-clip on the back of any of their outer rotor motors-and the rotor and stator easily come apart-replacing bearings is easy.The rotor on these covers the stator.The stator core and windings are under the outer rotor.These motors-usually built by Pabst-are also found in turntables and cart machine,cassette machine capstan and reel drive(cassette.)And many Studor Revox capstan motor assemblies have thier own circuit board to drive the motor-have repaired many of these-the output transistors, Mosfets-sometimes fail-but easy to replace.Studor machines are workhorses at radio stations and commercial recording work-can be harder to service-electronics-esp the control circuits.
 
I've got so many, where to start? Here's a sampling: I have one or two Panasonic 8 track recorders, Panasonic top load cassette deck, Panasonic dual cassette portable with a slide out phonograph, three Magnavox cassette record decks, two Mag cassette play decks, and my first Magnavox reel to reel set, which is pictured here. And hopefully two functioning Magnavox push top 8 tracks, the third one hit the concrete floor in storage!

112561++2-11-2012-07-51-3.jpg
 
At one time I was big in to reel to reel myself. I had a Roberts r2r with the Crossfield heads and a Wollensak 5900 which was great in itself.

The only tape machine I have now is a Luxman K-117 Cassette deck. I haven't used it in several years but I just found my box of cassettes so the Luxman will be put back into service soon.
 
Tape

arghhh where to begin, i was 12 (i am 51 now)when i got my first cassette, a Duette mono portable since then i have worked my way through hundreds of machines..........some good, some shite and some bloody brilliant ;-)

Now i am still using a Nakamichi BX300E....... best sounding reel-to reel would be between a Revox B77 and a Sony TC765 (I think)
But the one system i really liked and do miss is the Sony Elcaset system, this to me was perfect for convenience and sound.

Now am allowed to move onto GHETTOBLASTERS :-)
 
ghettoblasters/boomboxes

LOL.. will have to do a ghettoblaster/boombox thread sometime! I have a few of
those too;3 worth mention:
1985 magnavox/philips-this is the one with an 8"woofer in the center,5"on either
side of that.Made in the phillipines,but the speakers and other parts are from
belgium.
1980 sharp 6"woofers and has shortwave bands
1995 russian boombox-a small one,dual cassette(one motor)all russian made.
 
Akai GXC-570D

Brilliant machine as you say built like a tank and excellent performance........you can still get the pinch rollers re-rubbered by a guy over there in the US called "terrys pinch rollers"

GHETTOBLASTERS I LUV EM! SHARP SHARP SHARP SHARP SHARP........SONY, JVC, PANASONIC...........the list goes on i will refrain for now

electron1100++2-11-2012-12-48-19.jpg
 
I don't use tape very much these days.

Cassette was my primary format back when I was a teenager--although almost entirely in the form of recording records I owned. This was not uncommon back then--the idea was that one put the wear and tear on the tape, not the record. My influence spread: my mother had me tape her favorite records.

I started losing interest in tape about the time I moved into good equipment. At first, I had dreams of a top quality tape deck. But at the same time, my dealer took the attitude that with a good turntable, record wear wasn't an issue like it could be with cheaper turntables. In the end, I didn't get the tape deck to save the initial cost. I figured I might add something "later on" for convenience. I dumped all the tapes I'd recorded, and only kept prerecorded tapes which were almost all "low fidelity" material, like old time radio shows.

Apart from a cheap portable Panasonic (which I still have, and which was good enough for voice material), I didn't have a tape player until the late 1990s. At that time, I got my first car with cassette player. (Previously I'd only had "radios" for the car radio.) I wasn't very interested in car audio, but thought it might be nice to have some tapes for it--and so I picked up a 1970s Sony tape deck at Goodwill. The Sony was limited--only Dolby B, and it couldn't support Metal tapes, although I think it could support some other short-lived tape formulation. I didn't use it that much--the car radio I had was wretched--but I did keep the Sony, and use it sometimes. As I recall, it had flaws, but could be quite listenable. My big complaint with the Sony was that the motor runs constantly when the tape deck is on. I think it was by design. And I didn't like that "feature" seeing it as potentially wearing the motor out long before it "normally" would wear out. (Of course, this is a deck I bought used for next to $0. But it was quite expensive new. Plus I was interested in seeing it last, since it worked well for me.)

Later on, I picked up a 1970s Marantz that had, I think, real wood veneer sides and really solid feeling build quality. It worked, and also sounded pretty decent.
 
I also have a 8 Track deck...another one of those "make it go away, please!" finds. I picked it up as a toy/novelty time. I think it's RadioShack. Sound quality was pretty dismal, and I think had speed stability issues. (Bad design? Worn belt? Worn cartridge? Who knows?) I haven't played much with that 8 Track player since getting it.

My sometimes bizarre humor has given me this fantasy: someday I have a high quality system of audiophile approved equipment on an audiophile approved equipment rack. In the midst of the sea obviously expensive black metal, I'd have a shelf for the cheap particle board/fake wood veneer RadioShack 8 Track player.
 
The only tape player I have right now is a built-in Magnavox 8 track player in a 1973 console.

The only Ghettoblaster I would want is one of the Sharp VZ-series with the built-in record player.
 
8-track tapes

its very common for 8-track cartridges to have bad foam pressure pads,resulting in
little pressure against the head and muddled sound-sometimes a good pad can be
salvaged from another cartridge.Someday i may try to fix one with a strip of
weatherstripping and a piece of slipliner from a cassette attatched.
 

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