Falling in love again. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

sp10mk11 · 17th Feb 2016, 5:09 pm

My usual habit of spending when i shouldn't has allowed me to buy a secret love, this being the Philips N2607 Car stereo cassette, it looks unused and mint, the pinch roller appears to be soft but it will be interesting to see how the capstan belt etc are after all these years.
It has its original speakers with it and the Din plugs you can fit yourself, the only thing that is a bit of a let down is the box is tatty, but I will try and reconstruct that and there is only one speaker box.
These have fascinated me ever since I saw one in a friends brothers car I am under no illusions that this will not (plus I could not even fit it in my car) put Pioneer etc out of business but it has a charm I cannot resist.

Gary

brenellic2000 · 18th Feb 2016, 11:02 am

I had a similar Philips deck when new - wow and flutter was awful and seemed to vary with the car's speed! I was not impressed... 40 years later I now have a car with a cassette player - they still eat tapes and fail to impress! I suggest you keep it mint and unused in a glass display case!

paulsherwin · 18th Feb 2016, 12:26 pm

There were lots of these aftermarket car cassette players around in the early 70s, this being one of the classier ones. This was an era where most cars had a mono AM only car radio, and that would be retained while fitting one of these under the dash and perching the speakers on the rear shelf. They did sound pretty grim but the novelty of being able to play your own music made this tolerable.

camtechman · 18th Feb 2016, 3:05 pm

Last year I acquired both the Philips one & a "Ford" branded one.

Fortunately I've had a stock of AD161/162 output transistors for some years, so they may come in use, as these often blew on this cassette unit (mainly due to bad speaker wiring & s/c).

But I too have a 'thing' for these cassette players.

sp10mk11 · 18th Feb 2016, 3:53 pm

ha ha dire experiences from Mr Brenellic2000, do you know in all my years of car cassettes I have never had one chew a tape, the best sounding one was a VW Gamma beautifully built and superb sounding even with dolby on.

Hello Paul
I should have said I was about 15 (1975) when I saw one of these in my mates brothers car, it was great (to me). yes under the dash in a lot of danger of being clumped with a knee, also changing a tape whilst driving would positively lethal, so a passenger was a must for safe driving and listening pleasure

Hello Camtechman
Yes I have noticed in the past that we often share "A thing" for certain products, infact performance is the least important to me, some time it is just the joy of holding and using some thing that makes me smile, that is all I require.
So you managed to get two of these ******* through your front door and still be alive, well done.
I haven't looked at it yet or taken it into the loft for inspection as I am working on a vintage steam iron and a very old Broadmoor clock radio.
But I shall return with news on the 2607

Thanks to all for your comments
Gary

sp10mk11 · 21st Feb 2016, 4:49 pm

Spent a few hours in the loft having some fun with the N2607, needless to say it had the Philips decomposed belt syndrome, so about half an hour later it was all rid of and a new capstan belt fitted, loaded a tape and hey ho off it went. I had connected up the original Philips speakers and it sounded sort of like I expected which is no bad thing for what it is, there is only one belt thankfully and also the rubber tyres inside had not perished and were still soft and grippy as was the pinch roller.
the azimuth was a tad out (naughty Philips) but easy to set, I dug out some very old cassette tapes (early 1970s no dolby) James Last Ron Goodwin etc and they sounded really good on there.
I tried modern recordings I had made and apart from some slight flutter they came across very clearly.
The auto switch off works at the end of tape, but this just switches off the motor and does not retract the pinch roller.
If I could hack out a suitable hole in my Volvo dash I would really like to put it in there, but that is not going to happen.
I am glad I bought this and it is working and sounds err as it should, there is some thing about this sort of gear.
Gary

I like the separate electronics and transport makes it sort of classy

17th Feb 2016, 5:09 pm	#1
sp10mk11 Octode Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 1,275	Falling in love again. My usual habit of spending when i shouldn't has allowed me to buy a secret love, this being the Philips N2607 Car stereo cassette, it looks unused and mint, the pinch roller appears to be soft but it will be interesting to see how the capstan belt etc are after all these years. It has its original speakers with it and the Din plugs you can fit yourself, the only thing that is a bit of a let down is the box is tatty, but I will try and reconstruct that and there is only one speaker box. These have fascinated me ever since I saw one in a friends brothers car I am under no illusions that this will not (plus I could not even fit it in my car) put Pioneer etc out of business but it has a charm I cannot resist. Gary Attached Thumbnails

18th Feb 2016, 11:02 am	#2
brenellic2000 Octode Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Rye, East Sussex, UK. Posts: 1,647	Re: Falling in love again. I had a similar Philips deck when new - wow and flutter was awful and seemed to vary with the car's speed! I was not impressed... 40 years later I now have a car with a cassette player - they still eat tapes and fail to impress! I suggest you keep it mint and unused in a glass display case!

18th Feb 2016, 12:26 pm	#3
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,949	Re: Falling in love again. There were lots of these aftermarket car cassette players around in the early 70s, this being one of the classier ones. This was an era where most cars had a mono AM only car radio, and that would be retained while fitting one of these under the dash and perching the speakers on the rear shelf. They did sound pretty grim but the novelty of being able to play your own music made this tolerable.

18th Feb 2016, 3:05 pm	#4
camtechman Nonode Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Milton Keynes, Bucks. UK. Posts: 2,552	Re: Falling in love again. Last year I acquired both the Philips one & a "Ford" branded one. Fortunately I've had a stock of AD161/162 output transistors for some years, so they may come in use, as these often blew on this cassette unit (mainly due to bad speaker wiring & s/c). But I too have a 'thing' for these cassette players. __________________ When I die, please don't let my Wife sell my collection for the amount I told her I paid for it!

18th Feb 2016, 3:53 pm	#5
sp10mk11 Octode Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 1,275	Re: Falling in love again. ha ha dire experiences from Mr Brenellic2000, do you know in all my years of car cassettes I have never had one chew a tape, the best sounding one was a VW Gamma beautifully built and superb sounding even with dolby on. Hello Paul I should have said I was about 15 (1975) when I saw one of these in my mates brothers car, it was great (to me). yes under the dash in a lot of danger of being clumped with a knee, also changing a tape whilst driving would positively lethal, so a passenger was a must for safe driving and listening pleasure Hello Camtechman Yes I have noticed in the past that we often share "A thing" for certain products, infact performance is the least important to me, some time it is just the joy of holding and using some thing that makes me smile, that is all I require. So you managed to get two of these ******* through your front door and still be alive, well done. I haven't looked at it yet or taken it into the loft for inspection as I am working on a vintage steam iron and a very old Broadmoor clock radio. But I shall return with news on the 2607 Thanks to all for your comments Gary

21st Feb 2016, 4:49 pm	#6
sp10mk11 Octode Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 1,275	Re: Falling in love again. Spent a few hours in the loft having some fun with the N2607, needless to say it had the Philips decomposed belt syndrome, so about half an hour later it was all rid of and a new capstan belt fitted, loaded a tape and hey ho off it went. I had connected up the original Philips speakers and it sounded sort of like I expected which is no bad thing for what it is, there is only one belt thankfully and also the rubber tyres inside had not perished and were still soft and grippy as was the pinch roller. the azimuth was a tad out (naughty Philips) but easy to set, I dug out some very old cassette tapes (early 1970s no dolby) James Last Ron Goodwin etc and they sounded really good on there. I tried modern recordings I had made and apart from some slight flutter they came across very clearly. The auto switch off works at the end of tape, but this just switches off the motor and does not retract the pinch roller. If I could hack out a suitable hole in my Volvo dash I would really like to put it in there, but that is not going to happen. I am glad I bought this and it is working and sounds err as it should, there is some thing about this sort of gear. Gary I like the separate electronics and transport makes it sort of classy Attached Thumbnails