General tape / cassette talk here.

Moderators: lazyben, static14, texasvinyl

User avatar
By NathanLurker
#103033
Mateo Sanboval wrote:
NathanLurker wrote: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?

I think it's this one :
Instagram post

a Yamaha Natural Sound Stereo double cassette Deck. I don't see a model number in the picture.
User avatar
By maxlevel
#103038
@nathan it looks like kx-w392, which is mid 90s. Probably a good enough deck, however, the top of the line nakamichi bx-100 (which is bottom of that period’s nak range) can be got for peanuts too if you look around. Getting a serviced deck is always a massive bonus though
User avatar
By Mateo Sanboval
#103039
NathanLurker wrote:
Mateo Sanboval wrote:
NathanLurker wrote: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?

I think it's this one :
Instagram post

a Yamaha Natural Sound Stereo double cassette Deck. I don't see a model number in the picture.
Hard to tell with that lighting and angle, but it looks like it might be a Yammy KX-W392 and while I've never used that one myself, the KX series seems to be pretty well received. Like Max said, Yamahas make good decks, but if you can, do the due diligence.
User avatar
By Mateo Sanboval
#103040
maxlevel wrote:@nathan it looks like kx-w392, which is mid 90s. Probably a good enough deck, however, the top of the line nakamichi bx-100 (which is bottom of that period’s nak range) can be got for peanuts too if you look around. Getting a serviced deck is always a massive bonus though
More good advice from Max. I have to stop posting while I'm watching shitty horror films; I neglected to see Max's post as I was languidly composing my own.
User avatar
By inksb
#103041
I need some help guys. I have a Technics RS-T10. It was my step fathers and I inherited in the early 90's. It has given me zero issues over the years, it obviously had a lot of use in the 80's and through the mid to late 90's. I pulled it out of storage a few years ago and have been using it pretty consistently since (by that I listen to at least one side of a tape a day if not more). Today I received a copy of Beyond the Gates and immediately put it in Deck A (which I use the most) and the sound starts to warp, I immediately stop the tape and remove it to see if the deck has eaten the tape, it looks fine. I hit play and it sounds normal again, so I rewind it and it seems to warp in the same spot, but I let it play and it goes back to normal but starts to warp again. I stopped it, tossed it into Deck B. Rewind it and hit play, plays just fine. I'm a little scared to put anything back in Deck A. Anything I can do? Other than professional service? Which I would rather avoid right now since my main receiver needs to be brought in and have $150-$200 worth of work done to it.
User avatar
By static14
#103042
@inksb have you replaced the belts recently?

that’s always the easiest, cheapist, and most likely fix for speed/playback issues.
User avatar
By inksb
#103043
I have never replaced anything on it. What is a good site to order replacement parts from?
User avatar
By inksb
#103047
Thanks! I wish that wasn't going to cost me $40 but it seems like it's my only option. I can't find any replacement parts US wise.
User avatar
By Mateo Sanboval
#103066
Static is correct as per. Swap the belts for certain. Clean the heads, etc while you're in there. 80+% of the time that'll cure what ails you.
User avatar
By Mateo Sanboval
#103068
inksb wrote:What's the best way to clean the heads?
Alcohol and Q-Tips. Here's a WikiHow link to cleaning heads:
https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Cassette-Deck

Here's a YouTube link to cleaning and de-magging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2LQr63X7lk

These both fairly accurately represent my knowledge on the subject. I'd say any further (meaningful) nuances would be deck specific and would be gleaned by doing or researching maintenance of your specific model.
User avatar
By inksb
#103069
Thanks for the info. This will be a fun task for me, hope I don't mess anything up. I'll let every one know how it turns out.
User avatar
By Mateo Sanboval
#103071
inksb wrote:Thanks for the info. This will be a fun task for me, hope I don't mess anything up. I'll let every one know how it turns out.
Good on ya and please do.
User avatar
By maxlevel
#103074
Agree with everything above! Alcohol and qtips, clean everything in sight... what usually chews tapes is the rubber roller and metal pin which are next to the head. The metal pin is easy to clean, you can see if it’s got hair or crap on it, but the roller needs more than a light wash with alcohol, you need to push quite hard with the cotton head, and repeat until absolutely no black grease comes off. It’s helpful to press play during cleaning for this. It’s a mixture of metal waste from the cassette tape, oil and rubber degrading over long periods.
User avatar
By inksb
#103076
Quick update, I cleaned the heads, pins and rollers. The heads were pretty clean (I think I may have cleaned them a year or two ago now that I think about it) but the roller on Deck A in particular was disgusting, you could see the build up on it. After cleaning it with about 15 q-tips and rubbing alcohol there doesn't seem to be any more black gunk on it. As for Deck B, it was dirty but nearly as bad, only took about 5 q-tips to clean. I took the top of and look at what I'm in for with the belt swap. Looks like it may be a bit of a challenge but I'm up for it. I tested Deck A after the cleaning and no more warping on the Beyond the Gates tape. So I may be in the clear for now. One thing that has always annoyed me about this deck is that while playing it makes a mechanical click, while it was open I went looking for the noise and there is a little mechanism that that seems to move along with the main spindle and it is meant to move back and forth with it and up and down (it has a spring to pull it back down after it's pushed up), every time it returns from being pushed up it "clicks" back into place. Don't think there is anything I can do about it.

Thanks for the help everyone! I will update and probably with photos when I change the belts for those that like to see that stuff (I know I do).
User avatar
By Mateo Sanboval
#103079
inksb wrote:Quick update, I cleaned the heads, pins and rollers. The heads were pretty clean (I think I may have cleaned them a year or two ago now that I think about it) but the roller on Deck A in particular was disgusting, you could see the build up on it. After cleaning it with about 15 q-tips and rubbing alcohol there doesn't seem to be any more black gunk on it. As for Deck B, it was dirty but nearly as bad, only took about 5 q-tips to clean. I took the top of and look at what I'm in for with the belt swap. Looks like it may be a bit of a challenge but I'm up for it. I tested Deck A after the cleaning and no more warping on the Beyond the Gates tape. So I may be in the clear for now. One thing that has always annoyed me about this deck is that while playing it makes a mechanical click, while it was open I went looking for the noise and there is a little mechanism that that seems to move along with the main spindle and it is meant to move back and forth with it and up and down (it has a spring to pull it back down after it's pushed up), every time it returns from being pushed up it "clicks" back into place. Don't think there is anything I can do about it.

Thanks for the help everyone! I will update and probably with photos when I change the belts for those that like to see that stuff (I know I do).
Glad to hear it's working out so far.
User avatar
By maxlevel
#103221
So I got hold of a Bang and Olufsen 2000 tape deck. On this unit a previous owner has rewired the motor incorrectly so the play function confuses with fast forward and rewind dosnt work at all. It’s all touch sensitive and very beautiful, but it also dosnt have a line out, only a proprietary connection to the separate amplifier. And, if you choose to wall mount as described you will have cables running down and across the walls to the different elements. I always prefer cable to Bluetooth where analogue systems are present, because the ear is analogue and you effectively convert analogue, to digital, to WiFi, to Bluetooth and to a speaker eventually, not always in that order before it reaches your ear. It’s very inefficient to keep converting! But in this case I can see a clear advantage to just having a wireless connection.

All quite interesting!

Image
User avatar
By maxlevel
#103232
inksb wrote:More pics!
ok!

You can see the dodgy solder where the red and black meet the round motor casing

Image
Image
User avatar
By maxlevel
#103369
B+O all done... but I don’t have any polish! I resoldered the badly wired motor and it’s a little better and actually plays tapes now. So that’s good I guess. Not perfect...

What does everyone use for polish? I feel like normal furniture polish is for wood. I’m not domesticated in such matters.
User avatar
By Bezulsqy
#103543
maxlevel wrote:Another new one, needs a belt...

Image
You do keep yourself busy :-)

I'll search for some pics of replacing the belts on my Beocord 5000.
User avatar
By Bezulsqy
#103545
I worked on this two years ago. The Beocord 5000 needs 5 belts... I took some time but got it working. However when playing sometimes a loud static like noise is heard. I am thinking this has to do with old soldering or other electronic stuff that needs to be replaced. At one point I will try to get it working completely.

Image
The tape carrier part is really heavy. Well the whole machine is heavy. 8,5 kg.
Image
Image
Image
Image

More info here: https://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=597
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 7