Personal cassette player rubbish playing music. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

vinrads · 16th Sep 2023, 5:49 pm

I have several makes of these ,all serviced new belts etc ,all of them seem to have excessive wow and flutter or maybe just wow , not so noticeable on speech but terrible when playing music , these run on a 1.5 volt so there must a dc to dc converter , has any one had this problem . Mick.

Ted Kendall · 16th Sep 2023, 7:26 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinrads

I have several makes of these ,all serviced new belts etc ,all of them seem to have excessive wow and flutter or maybe just wow , not so noticeable on speech but terrible when playing music , these run on a 1.5 volt so there must a dc to dc converter , has any one had this problem . Mick.

I think this may be a case of everything having had to be "just so" when the thing was new to give acceptable results - lubrication, belt compliance and thickness (some are very thin, on Sony bi-directionals for instance) and all drive surfaces scrupulously clean. Dissolving belts can leave remnants of themselves deep in grooves in the pulleys, where they play havoc. The other favourite is a take-up clutch binding or a sticky feed hub. I think the market tolerated pretty poor w&f performance for the sake of portability - at least at first, hence the introduction of direct drive Walkmans, whose stability is most welcome!

DMcMahon · 16th Sep 2023, 8:05 pm

I vaguely remember some time back some threads about problems with some Sony portables (maybe Walkman) related to the DC to the DC converter module but I don't think they were single 1.5V battery units so probably not relevant here.

David

paulsherwin · 16th Sep 2023, 8:41 pm

This sounds very odd. I've used a range of Walkman type players over the last 40 years, and apart from the dirt cheap ones at the very bottom of the market they've all sounded surprisingly good - not up to the performance of a half decent cassette deck, but that's hardly surprising given the design constraints.

ben · 17th Sep 2023, 10:14 pm

My money is on the replacement belts being out of tolerance. There is some utter rubbish being sold online, some seem like off-cuts of bicycle inner tubes!

vinrads · 18th Sep 2023, 9:34 am

I did notice that Ben if you pull the belt through your fingers you can feel the imperfections this was in a job lot from China ,all mine were purchased from Germany especially made for the model in question . Mick.

stevehertz · 18th Sep 2023, 9:48 am

As Ted says these things rely on each and every component being up to scratch. Double check?

16th Sep 2023, 5:49 pm	#1
vinrads Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 3,655	Personal cassette player rubbish playing music. I have several makes of these ,all serviced new belts etc ,all of them seem to have excessive wow and flutter or maybe just wow , not so noticeable on speech but terrible when playing music , these run on a 1.5 volt so there must a dc to dc converter , has any one had this problem . Mick.

16th Sep 2023, 8:05 pm	#3
DMcMahon Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 6,366	Re: Personal cassette player rubbish playing music. I vaguely remember some time back some threads about problems with some Sony portables (maybe Walkman) related to the DC to the DC converter module but I don't think they were single 1.5V battery units so probably not relevant here. David

16th Sep 2023, 8:41 pm	#4
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,169	Re: Personal cassette player rubbish playing music. This sounds very odd. I've used a range of Walkman type players over the last 40 years, and apart from the dirt cheap ones at the very bottom of the market they've all sounded surprisingly good - not up to the performance of a half decent cassette deck, but that's hardly surprising given the design constraints.

17th Sep 2023, 10:14 pm	#5
ben Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK Posts: 7,331	Re: Personal cassette player rubbish playing music. My money is on the replacement belts being out of tolerance. There is some utter rubbish being sold online, some seem like off-cuts of bicycle inner tubes! __________________ Regards, Ben.

18th Sep 2023, 9:34 am	#6
vinrads Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 3,655	Re: Personal cassette player rubbish playing music. I did notice that Ben if you pull the belt through your fingers you can feel the imperfections this was in a job lot from China ,all mine were purchased from Germany especially made for the model in question . Mick.

18th Sep 2023, 9:48 am	#7
stevehertz Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK. Posts: 8,659	Re: Personal cassette player rubbish playing music. As Ted says these things rely on each and every component being up to scratch. Double check? __________________ A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever.. Last edited by Station X; 18th Sep 2023 at 10:18 am. Reason: It is not necessary to quote the previous post in full.