[Mateo Sanboval]

Beauty. How's it run and sound?

[maxlevel]

Pretty good, I thought it might struggle to drive my cans but only briefly did I notice it. There is a tiny motor noise hum in the headphones which I’m told is a capacitor getting old but it really does sound lovely, nice and wide... and I don’t have to do anything to it!!

I eventually got hold of the wm-50 and it really is broken. I’m a bit stuck now! I’ve taken the whole thing to pieces to discover the broken part is absurdly hard to find as it is the number one fault on this model. So I may have to buy broken wm-50s until I get a non broken gear.

[Mateo Sanboval]

Pretty good, I thought it might struggle to drive my cans but only briefly did I notice it. There is a tiny motor noise hum in the headphones which I’m told is a capacitor getting old but it really does sound lovely, nice and wide... and I don’t have to do anything to it!!

I eventually got hold of the wm-50 and it really is broken. I’m a bit stuck now! I’ve taken the whole thing to pieces to discover the broken part is absurdly hard to find as it is the number one fault on this model. So I may have to buy broken wm-50s until I get a non broken gear.

Do you have anyone who could service in locally-ish?

[static14]

Denon DRS-610. Nothing too fancy, but it gets the job done.

[maxlevel]

@mateo The two guys I’ve used are exactly why I want to do it myself! A major issue I had with my d6c was when it was cold it would play with a massive flutter, and my girlfriend noticed it behaved better if I kept it near a radiator in a box. So I took it to a central London place, they took £50 off me and didn’t fix. So I went to a recommended guy nearer to me, took £150 and didn’t fix, although did replace a few components and ran it through a full test... and so I got some isopropyl and actually cleaned the rubber rollers. Cleaned it right up, plays perfectly now! It was grease on the roller which turned to a gluey solid when cold, then loosened when warmed. I’d expect for that money they clean it and stupidly assumed they had.

So now I will try it myself until I can’t go any further. I can’t solder capacitors for example, my soldering isn’t great so I’m struggling with the wm-50 circuitboard. It just occurred to me these guys may own a repair shop but have no direct knowledge of the models because they arnt Sony Walkman engineers. They probably download the manuals and source parts in exactly the same way I have been doing.

@static nice horizontal loader! Are they easy to clean?

[static14]

@max not too hard. When i got it years back i just ejected the tray and unplugged it. Once i opened it up i had a clear shot at the heads and what not. :)

[Mateo Sanboval]

Nice looking deck, Static.

Max, I hear you. I have a place near enough to me with a good reputation that if I can't make a go of it myself, I feel okay about bringing equipment there.

[maxlevel]

Nearly finished... the spring kept pinging off into the air, Ive lost 3 and on the last one I got it into line. Now, reassembly and cleaning, and some oiling. I cannibalised another Walkman for a few bits which are almost as good but not 100%.

[ScoJo]

Nearly finished... the spring kept pinging off into the air, Ive lost 3 and on the last one I got it into line. Now, reassembly and cleaning, and some oiling. I cannibalised another Walkman for a few bits which are almost as good but not 100%.

EXCITEMENT!!! ^^^

[maxlevel]

I thought it was all over when that spring pinged away, I had to go make a tea. That little shit Walkman on the right took 3 weeks to arrive as well, took me all of five minutes to destroy it

[Bezulsqy]

Excellent work @Max.
Pesky springs!

[maxlevel]

I put it back together and zero. Fucking nothing turning. Hulk smash

[Bezulsqy]

I put it back together and zero. Fucking nothing turning. Hulk smash

ouch...
You will get it to work Max!

[Mateo Sanboval]

This is a harrowing tale, ladies and germs.

[maxlevel]

So I made the executive decision, and have binned the wm-50. Absolutely gutted, but some things are not meant to be...

in the mail today arrived a shitty condition Sony wm-f1, where the belt turns slowly (new belt needed) but the radio works perfectly and I found a local London drum and bass radio station called Origin FM. The headphone amp is perfect for this purpose, it’s well used and reaches the full range. Slight corrosion on the circuit board but nothing serious, scratchy headphone jack and volume pot too.

So to date I have lost 2 and repaired 2.

[Mateo Sanboval]

Two for four is a great day at the plate, Max. Well done.

[maxlevel]

@mateo and here she is! Spanking (like) new with my favourite film score mixtape... unfortunately the head is in such good condition I can hear faults in the vinyl which I can’t even hear out of the main speakers! Wtf. Sony made em tough but it’s ridiculous.

[Mateo Sanboval]

Max. Dude. That's a true blue beaut. Those aren't easy, or cheap, to come by in that kind of shape. My hat's off to you, friendo.

[ScoJo]

Hard.

Core.

'man.

Pron.

[maxlevel]

Very kind chaps. Might I also say, I blame yourselves and the board for my addiction. The musical taste of this place brought the whole thing to life for me

[deafmetal]

@max - Excellent-looking machine... well done, sir.

[NathanLurker]

On of my local record store has used equipment for sale, they have a Yamaha Double Tape Deck for sale. You guys know if Yamaha are considered a good brand ? I'm not sure which model it actually is.

[maxlevel]

@nathan there’s loads of great Yamaha decks for sure, but like all decks of any brand in 2018 it’s often pot luck wether the belts and circuit boards are good, even Nak decks need a little TLC. For example, today I got into a Bang and Olufsen Beocord 2000 and the belts were like cheesy toothpaste and it took an hour to clean it off my hands, clothes, table, everything! And that’s a high end deck.

I would say there’s a checklist. 1) does it play, 2) is the metal head clean, no white crud, scratches, 3) do the cogs and rubber tyres turn when you try and prevent them turning, 4) which Dolby does it show - Dolby C is most recent, B is very good, S is early and NR probably earliest, and by ear can you hear a good change in hiss (test it with a tape). If so, it’s probably an ok purchase.

Don’t forget belts are dirt cheap for popular models. Do an eBay search for your model and if there’s spares it means there’s healthy infrastructure available.

[NathanLurker]

thanks for the tips Max ! The store that sells the deck, they have their own tech guy that restores the hardware they sell. they restore turntables and amps... I'm sure that they would have cleaned the belts, circuits and whatnots...but I'll talk to them about it and see if they can play a cassette to test it in store. that's good advice.

[Mateo Sanboval]

thanks for the tips Max ! The store that sells the deck, they have their own tech guy that restores the hardware they sell. they restore turntables and amps... I'm sure that they would have cleaned the belts, circuits and whatnots...but I'll talk to them about it and see if they can play a cassette to test it in store. that's good advice.

Do you know which model it is, Nathan?