Category Archives: Audio

Studer A80-R

32 Replies

So, the inevitable has happened.
I have bought a Studer A80-R.

Studer A80

Studer A80

Studio

This is a beast. The unit is 70x60x84 cm, and is the size of a washing machine. And it weighs around 100kg. That is even heavier than a washing machine. It has wheels though. So you can roll it around.
This is the studio recorder that the artists from the seventies used to record their material on. It came in several configurations, from 1/8” (cassette tape) to 2” (24 track). Mine is the A80-R (for ‘rundfunk’ i think) 1/4” 2 track, speeds 7½ and 15 IPS (19 & 38 cm/s). Every studio in the world had one, or several. The most prominent artists that used the Studer A80 are Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons, etc.
I came in contact with someone who has access to professional studio equipment and repairs them on a regular basis, often in his spare time. Sometimes studios get rid of these machines that are in the way, and then he takes them in and repairs and refurbishes them.
I have visited him to look at the machine that I would buy and the second time I went there, the machine was all done and I took it home. Which was not a simple task. It fitted the back of my car fortunately.
After I got it home I wheeled it inside, where it would stay in the living room for the time being. It was simply impossible to get it upstairs.

Here is a short clip:

Challenges

The Studer gave me some challenges. First, the inputs and outputs are the balanced XLR type. I already have adapters to/from RCA which I used for my Revox PR99, but the problem is the line level. My other equipment is home use stuff, so it’s line level is -10dBV. The Studer, being a professional piece of equipment, uses +4dBu. This box fixes the level conversion and the physical connections.

xlr-rca lveveller
Second, the Studer was simply too heavy to carry up the stairs to the first floor where my audio room is. So it sat in the living room, happily enjoying the family life. And, between you and me, it sounds so good in the room.

Caps

Unfortunately, after a few weeks, the left motor, the supply motor, was giving problems because the tension was not there in play. Also, rewind was not possible anymore. A search on the net and my supplier both revealed that on the board 1.080.383 there are 2 transistors that control the 2 motors.P1010315

They are BC141-16 with heatsink on them. On my deck the one for the supply (left) motor was broken. I replaced him twice, but that was not the cause of the problem. The problem was elsewhere. The transistor blows as a result of that other problem.
Further investigation revealed that there could be problems with the tension potmeters that control the tape tension (the A80 has a sophisticated tension control system) or with the motor capacitors that could be faulty after 30+ years. I tested the potentiometer and I could not find anything wrong with it. So I removed and tested all the motor caps (9 pcs.) and found they were not entirely up to spec anymore.

A80 rear - motor caps

A80 rear – motor caps

I replaced them all, and installed a new BC141 just tot be sure. And so far, it works flawlessly again. Fingers crossed.

mechanical calibration

So now that all the caps were replaced, i though that the tape tension was a bit off. So i grabbed the service manual and started the mechanical calibration of the deck. This involves setting the (emergency) brakes, the tape path, the capstan pinch roller, and of course the tape tension and edit mode characteristics back to the desired specification. I have bought spring scales just for this! It was fun to do and the end result is here:

Heavyweight

So I had a Studer A80 in my living room. Now who can say that? It was always clear that it would have to be moved to the upstairs room eventually. When my brother-in-law heard about my problem, he thought it would be a challenge to get it upstairs. So one day he showed up on my doorstep. Long story short, an hour later it was done. Actually, it took almost an hour to do the preparations like attaching the rope appropriately (and carefully!), and it took just 10 seconds to go from the bottom of the stairs to the top of the stairs! So now it has reached its final destination, my “audio room”.

Testing

Being hooked up to some good sounding equipment, my trusty Technics amp and my new KEF Q700 speakers, and using my Philips SACD player as source, I made test recordings and played them back. My tape of choice was BASF 911 and SM900. The results were nothing short of spectacular! The level of OEMPF that his recorder is able to put on tape is astounding! And, those of you who are familiar with analog recording equipment will know that there is always noise (tape noise, vinyl groove noise, FM-noise, cassettes!) when working with these machines. Not so with the Studer! It is so quiet! And that is a piece of equipment that was made around 1970. Incredible.

I am still enjoying this beast. I am tempted to do the technical calibration as well to calibrate it for BASF 911 or 900, but it sounds so good already i’m not sure it would get much better, and there is always the risk of f***ing it up. So for now, i think I’m good.

32 thoughts on “Studer A80-R”

  1. Johan

    Hello Philip,

    You knew I left some work for you to do 🙂
    Your machine has been set to SM911 and, to be honest, you machine is sonically one of the better ones.
    Most recordings on this machine …. not many to none. It was used as an edit machine in the former Dureco studios so that’s why it had about 5500 powered hours on it without recording hours. If you run SM900 you’ll have to push the level to 1,55Vrms to reach +9dB. With the SM911 you go up to 1,23V ak the defacto level of the a80: +4dB. But you can push it without problems to +6dB on the SM911. You were with me when I aligned the machine to SM911. To add to your article: your machine has the ‘Schmetterlich” head config. Also called “butterfly” heads. But the real truth is that it is a DIN head config machine (which has 2×2,75mm track width). Most machine that went to the US were NAB head config but for sure not all. IEC with DIN is still the best tape format, or you must go exotic and choose a half or one inch stereo head config. I am aware that there even is a two inch two-track machine. Hmm .. 300 euros for a tape which lasts 30 minutes tops at 15ips, or 15 minutes at 30ips … that’s 20 euros a minute for a two track recording 🙂
    SM900 is a gorgeous tape but, I have tested the new ATR tape on my a80vu-mk1. Not good. I had to rework the record helper and bias amplifiers in order to get enough bias for this +12dB tape (!) After that and one alignment further it’s able to use the tape up to +15dB (equals +3vu). It’s scary .. no noise .. no hiss ..
    I now have to work on another a80vu-mk1. Two channels DIN is fun but 16 of them is even better. This machine is well known to the Police (the group with Sting, Stewart and andy) This one comes out of the once very famous Wisseloord Studios. With a very late, or early hours, recording when they had fun, the “dodododadada” was recorded. The story goes that no engineer was around and Sting asked the cleaning man to start the recorder.

    Reply ↓
  2. Philip van der Matten Post author

    Hey Johan,

    Thanks for adding to my article. I am still very happy with the beast!

    I have recently been to Wisseloord and visited all studios. Studio 4 aka. ‘The Vintage Room’ was where I was able to admire the 16 track Studer A80 that they use there.

    -Philip
    p.s. Sorry for the late reply

    Reply ↓
  4. Jonas

    Hi
    I recently got an A80 in very nice condition, apart from some dust which was easily cleaned off.
    However, I’d be interested in knowing the noise level on yours, as I’m having difficulty telling if I have a problem or not. I send from the outputs of my RME UCX at +4, and getting it back on analog in 7+8, and I can hear a very tape-ish soft noise when I crank the output to 0. Is that normal operation, or should this thing be dead silent?

    Reply ↓
  5. Jonas

    Hi, and thanks 🙂
    Yes, I record and repro simultaneously. Have ordered some sm900, so I’m pretty eager to see if that’s a fix. Using old agfa *something* now, pr528 I think. What do you normally use?

    Best
    Jonas

    Reply ↓
  6. George Vardis

    Hi Philip
    Looking around for information’s about A80RC I have,I found your beautiful Blog. In this moment I almost completed the mechanical inspection of the tape path and changed several bearings. I would like also to change some capacitors of the motors control ,but I have difficulty to find the 20μF and the 10μF both “stud mount”. Do you have their exact voltage and some source for them???
    Greetings from Athens
    George

    PS. The Studer is 7,5″/15″ 2 tracks

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Hello George,
      Thank you for your kind words.

      I have searched the archives, but I have been unable to find the parts that I used to replace the motor capacitors. The supplier does not have the records either. Bummer. But I remember that I had trouble finding the right capacitors mount-wise, so in the end I had to do some creative mounting and ended up taping some to the frame, IIRC. Hey, if it works, it works ?

      Have you looked at the service manual? You can find it at my site http://pvdm.xs4all.nl/
      or
      http://ftp.studer.ch

      I am also very interested in changing some of the bearings, as some are noisy right now. Do you have an instruction for that? I really don’t know where to start. And I would like to know the source of your bearings as well.

      Hope to hear from you,
      -Philip.

      Reply ↓
      1. George Vardis

        Thank you Philip

        I think I found at least the 10μF ones :
        http://gr.rsdelivers.com/product/epcos/b32332i6106j080/epcos-10%CE%BCf-polypropylene-capacitor-pp-450-v-ac-%C2%B15-tolerance-stud-mount-b32332-series/7694273

        I am not sure it is the proper ones,so I asked to a friend to see if is ok and I will let you know. My Studer is in very good condition an is recaped also BUT AS YOU SAY creatively.I don’t like it. For example those 2 caps are with tairaps on the chassi.
        Now about the bearings. It is not a so difficult job. A test for see what bearing is to change is: FF or RW mode and by hand you try to stop one by one all the rollers starting from the left. If you notice the noise is getting less there you are. I changedfor the moment the pinch roller,move roller,all tension rollers

        For the pinch roller I used 2 NOS ,for the move roller I used SKF 61900-2Z and for the tension rolers SKF 623ZZ. All the bearings on the machine are : The big ones 10mmID X 22mmOut D X 6mm Width.
        The small ones for the tension rollers : 3mmID X 10mm X 4mmWidth
        You need mostly a circle clip plyer and for sure the small circlips for the tension rollers. If you go to a SKF agent they will guide you (I hope)

        Now they say a lot of things about the bearings out there. ATHAN Co is a Suder specialist in CA sells the bearings 25USD each http://www.athan.com/cgi-local/store.cgi?product=1479. I don’t know if it’s worth.

        In the mean time my friend called me and the cap above is ok as replacement for the 10uF cap.

        If you want some more details let me know.
        I see that you are well equipped , me too.
        I have a 4 Ch.Rigol oscilloscope, Audio Precision Portable one dual domain (fantastic device) several multimeters, Tentelometer,HAN-D-MAG degausser

        Have a nice night
        George

        Reply ↓
        1. Philip van der Matten Post author

          Hello George,

          That is exactly the method I use to determine which roller is making all the noise! 🙂
          Anyway, I knew when I got the Studer, that the rollers were far gone and probably soon needed to be replaced.

          I want to ask you, the SKF roller numbers you used, are those the original spec? Or perhaps even better? And how did you know?

          I ask, because there is a lot of discussion on the web about the rollers of the A80, and I want to have the best (most silent) ones available at a reasonable price. But I am prepared to pay some extra if it is a super-duper roller… 🙂
          Do you think the NATHAN ones are better? Maybe there is a supplier closer by in Europe…..

          Anyway, hope to hear from you soon. I can’t wait to start to make my Studer more silent!

          -Philip

          Reply ↓
  7. Gunnar Langemark

    Hi Philip

    I’m quite new to R2R (apart from my childhood in the sixties and seventies) – and I was fortunate to be given a Studer A80 Master Recorder quarterinch two track machine a week ago. It had some ot the behaviour of yours. I managed to record a few minutes of test talk with it – which sourded really good.

    But now recording is broken. It spools and plays well, but recording stops slowly within a couple of seconds. I suspect a capacitor.
    When I depress the Rec and Play button, they do not stay in place – If I hold them, the recorder works for a second, then slows down to a halt, and after a couple of seconds, the take up reel goes in reverse for a second and unreels 4-6″ of tape, then stops. When I release the two buttons – it begins play.

    I’m looking for answers. I have had the row of buttons removed (very nice modular design – I simply love it) – but contacts seem fine.
    Greetings from Denmark

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Hello Gunnar,

      You were *given* a Studer A80? Wow that is amazing. That sort of things never happen to me. ?
      You have a great friend!

      About your problem: it could be related to the transport electronics. I don’t suspect it to be the buttons. The transport electronics are located on some plugin cards in the machine, and also the big capacitors (the ones you see in the photo) play a large role in the tape handling. Any of that could be faulty.
      And after that has been repaired, tape handling calibration is absolutely necessary. After that, the tape handling is super-smooth again. Read the Service manual and get to it, I suppose.

      Or if that is a little bit out of your league, try to contact someone nearby who can help you or do the repairs for you. The studer list is a great resource. Google it.

      -Philip.

      Reply ↓
      1. Gunnar Langemark

        I have very nice friends.
        I also now have a very fine hobby.
        I’ll be changing capacitors, a couple of relays and cleaning and lubricating for the next few weeks, I suppose.
        Then I’ll look into calibration. Right now it runs smoothly.
        I’m preparing by reading the manuals. I actually printed the whole thing and put it in a binder.
        Thanks for your feedback on my problems. Listening carefully.
        I can do good soldering and I have a multimeter and an occilloscope, so let’s see if I also can do audio-calibration soon. ?
        This machine lends itself to turning on too may calibrations. So far I’ve shyed away from it, as I believe I would very soon run into “chaos” by fiddling with all those adjustments.

        Reply ↓
  8. Jimmy Makhaisingh

    Hi Philip,

    I’m interested in a Studer A80mk2 2inch 16ch.
    Ik wondering which kind of things I should keep in mind before buying the machine.
    Any tips and advice would be great!

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Hello Jimmy,

      I am not an expert on the multi-track Studers, but I can give you some hints 🙂

      First, what is the need for you to buy the machine? if it is for a professional studio, to do serious recording work on it, the requirements are probably different than when it is for other use.

      Also, what is the price? If it is cheap, you can not expect as much as when they are asking a lot for it.

      You will need to check if the machine is in good condition. Check the heads. Is it in working condition? Do some tests with it. Do all the channels work? Can it be calibrated? When was it last serviced? Are there known issues?

      A lot of things can be critical on this machine. I have heard of power supply issues, capstan issues, channel issues, pinch roller issues, bearings, audio cards, you name it.
      But the upside is, that almost all things are repairable, so that need not be showstoppers.

      You should either buy it from a respectable and knowledgeable seller, that you can keep in touch with, or have a friend technician come with you to take a look at the machine.

      Fortunately, there is a LOT of help available online, as the Studer community is very large and active.

      -Philip.

      Reply ↓
    2. Guy FOUCHER

      Hello Jimmy,
      In the next weeks I will have for sale a ….STUDER A800 MKIII ….2″ …16 TRACKS ! ( much better than a A80 !) Fully rebuilt on mechanics and electronics by a professional Studer service eng. ( me ! )
      Heads relapped as new condition.
      Complete with a Channel Remote Control and a Tape Transport Remote.
      All in the most perfect condition you can imagine.

      Reply ↓
  9. Jimmy Makhaisingh

    Hi Philip,

    Thanks for your reply,
    The machine, 2inch 16 tracks, will cost around
    €6000,-
    The machine is for almost a year not in use.
    So the owner hasn’t used it for a long time…

    It should be calibrated and get serviced I think…
    This week I’m have an appointment to
    check it out.

    Reply ↓
  10. Martijn Janssen

    Hi Philip, I am a colleague from the analog audio meets.
    I also have a studer A80 (via route Johan) and I am happy with it anytime I have time to play with it,
    Best pros are the way it handles (old) tapes and the utterly nice sound. great dynamics, but always smooth. a real master of a machine.
    I had only one (small ) problem from the start, the tape end switch does not work. so the first time I left the machine unattended it kept on spinning after tape ended and smoke cam from the machine. We fixed that, but still the machine does not stop automatically . I really want to have that fixed, and based on all the youtube movies , I can see you have quite some skill. would it be possible to make an appointment, or is it something I can fix myself ? please tell me where to look , thanks upfront, Martijn (reelx1)

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Hoi Martijn, I remember buying a quadraphonic 8-track player from you 🙂
      About your problem: I’m not sure how to fix that, I have no experience with that. I found some suggestions on the internet about a misaligned sensor. Also you can check out the Studer Yahoo group located here: https://groups.yahoo.com/group/STUDER. That is where the REAL experts are…… and they are really helpful.

      Reply ↓
    2. Johan Polman

      Hello Martijn,
      Late answer perhaps but still ?
      Did I sell you your machine ? I cannot recall … maybe i’m getting old ?

      But here is a solution:
      Attenuator and preamplifier card 1.080.396
      The LDR in the lower tube is becoming old and its value is going to change. Every Studer with this particular light sensor does have this issue, or will get it. Even on the A800 is one, but that is used for ‘tape time’, not for EOT. On the A80 in the transport cage you’ll find card 1.080.396. If you look at the schematics of that card and the sensor circuit, you’ll see two resistors, that are in parallel, and in series with the lightbulb. It’s a 10 ohm, 5W resistor (R12) and a 68 ohm, 1/4W resistor (R11). The lightbulb is in the upper tube of the sensor. What can be done is ‘drill’ out the tube with the lightbulb. not to destroy the wires. There are two plastic sleeves in the tube. the first one holds the lamp, so don’t drill too deep as the second sleeve holds the lens in place. I have replaced the lightbulb for a 20mA bright orange LED, which I soldered on after removing the lightbulb. Now the tricky part is to align the LED inside the tube so it produces the correct direction of the beam. It needs a certain brightness so that the tape trips the sensor again. I would say start out with 270 ohm: Remove the 10 ohm resistor on .396 card, and replace the 68 ohm resistor for ~270 ohm. The voltage over the lamp and resistors is 5,8V, so do the calculation. Please do note the polarity of the LED. Turn on the machine, align the tube, and test EOT. If it works, leave the machine on for an hour and then test again. If it fails you’ll know the LDR value is changing when warming up, so you need to let it settle. My A80’s do work fine with 220 ohm. You can choose any color LED you want but, don’t go beyond the 20mA type. This ‘extends’ the life of the LDR a bit.

      If the LDR is really failing, it needs to be replaced. Only thing to do is adjust the circuit to the somewhat different working area of the new LDR perhaps.

      Greetings,
      Johan

      Reply ↓
  11. Josie

    Hi Philip.

    I am looking to buy a Studer A80R too. I’ve found one for a reasonable price but it has developed the same fault as yours being the motor card. The left hand reel wasn’t working properly.

    They are currently getting the card repaired but I’m now thinking that it could be the main power caps (like yours) which are causing the problem.

    I’ve not bought it yet so I’m open to more information on owning such a machine.

    It won’t have a hard life as it will be used in my home and studio occasionally.

    I’ve just requested to join the yahoo group too.

    Any more information would be most welcome.

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Hello Josie,

      I am sure that it is fixable. It just needs the right amount of TLC (oh, and some repair skills 🙂 )
      It also depends on how much you want it and how much the unit costs.
      I really really really wanted it. A few years ago the prices were not as absurd as they are now. Fortunately I could fix it.
      Where are you located?

      Reply ↓
      1. Josie

        Hi Philip.

        Sorry about the delay, I only just noticed your reply.

        Thanks for the information.

        I’m in the UK. It looks in good fair condition for the price, needs some cleaning etc.

        Do you have an email so we can chat easier?

        Kindest Regards
        Josie 🙂

        Reply ↓
  12. Darius

    Hi Philip, i found your website via Youtube.

    I’m taking delivery of a Studer A827 soon and i already want to check out who can service it in Nederland.
    (The machine i’m getting is supposedly in almost mint condition with only 880 hours on it, but i’d still like to be prepared!)

    Perhaps you’re qualified or you know someone else who is?

    Please mail me at: dariusvh@gmail.com

    I’m located in Amsterdam.

    I’m English by the way.

    Cheers!

    Reply ↓
  13. Johan Polman

    Hello Philip,

    We are in 2019 now. It took me me two years on and off to restore, or rebuild, and normalise a Studer A800 Mark-II 24 track machine. If you call your A80r a beast, then come and visit me one day before it’s going out in a rental construction. The A800 is not a beast, it’s a monster which comes in at 355kG ….

    Also I have started working on the A80-16.
    You have been to the Wisseloord studios. When the Wisseloord studios bought the first 16 track Studer machine, they did not buy one. The A80-16 now in the Wisseloord studios, if it never has left the building, is serial number 92, which probably is the most famous A80-16 in the world.
    Don’t ask me how but somehow I have serial number 93 here. It is being restored … rebuild … the parts counter at the moment is just shy of 7000, that’s a ‘few’ time more parts than what went into the A800… Me thinking: ‘omg what have I started by producing 302 pieces of the A-101 in discrete version’.

    The positive thing is that, since the A80-16 had 14 fully working channels, I have about 250 pieces of original A-101 modules. I will sell them to anyone who is in need of a cheap repair. But since I have produced 400 pcbs for the A-101 I will sell these for a 101-DIY project.

    Btw. My ‘personal’ A80vu high speed has also become fully discrete. Those later transistors do their job very well. The noise of the original A-101 is gone. Use SM900, not 911. 911 is +6dB. It has got its attitude though as it goes exeptionally well with hard-rock, metal, etc. Or order and try the +12dB tape from ATR Magnetics … it’s crazy 🙂

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Hi Johan,

      It is 2020 now. It seems that I have 4 of those A101’s that you produced right here on the bench. I got them through a mutual friend, A3 H. who got them from you. I was thinking of buying a B67 that he has got at the moment, but that is another story.

      I still have to assemble the A101’s that I got, because the transistors are delivered separately.
      But first I want to do a noise test before and after, just to see if there is much difference.

      -Philip.

      Reply ↓
  14. Philip van der Matten Post author

    That is nice ….!
    At the moment the A80 is acting up again. The machine starts spooling when there is no button pressed. I think its the 1.080.383 board, where the two BC140/141 transistors have gone faulty again.
    I have just replaced them (again – it is a good thing I had ordered a lot of spares when the problems started) but before I put the board in again I want to renew the two associated caps MKS4 0,47 µF just to try to solve the problem. Because I believe that the constant failing of the BC140/141’s is not the cause, but the result of a problem that is located elsewhere.
    Oh, and when desoldering, the traces on the board came off….grrrr. Had to do a (clumsy) repair job on that.
    But the MKS4 caps were wrongly delivered, so I will have to wait a few days more……
    To be continued.

    -edit-
    The caps have been replaced too. Not good. The right tension rollers are ‘jittering’. A very strange sight.

    Reply ↓
    1. Johan Polman

      Hello Philip,
      The motor run capacitors are always a suspect if the 141 dies too often. The Rifa 0,47 are spark killers and if those are found anywhere, they should come out. And, yes the pcb’s cannot handle too much heat, so be careful as they are also double sided. But i’m sure the machine id fine now, I saw the videos 🙂

      The A80/16 as I call it showed its roots. It started life as an A80-1-8 machine. The machine already was prepared to extend it to 16 tracks. We are end of June 2020 now. After the fall and winter of last year the transport has been re-balled and is smooth as butter again. All audio channels has been reworked. Only renewal of ‘a few’ caps left, then it is done. I am missing one channel or, say it’s incomplete but those cards will be found. Will I do another one ? Only if I get paid for it (heyhey).

      My personal A80 will be up for sale …. as I have found a nicer replacement for it in the form of a Telefunken M20. Also I am busy with an A80rc-mk-II in half inch stereo and four-track (you don’t see these much). Working on an Otari MX80 which is a very neat and sweet machine.. But then, I am very busy reworking machines strangely enough in these times. I hope all is fine with you. Cheers, Johan

      Reply ↓
      1. Dan Williams

        Hi Johan,

        I stumbled up on this thread as I’ve been searching for an A80 to compliment my analogue recording set up. I have a couple of recorders already (TEAC A3440 and a Revox B77), but I’m in the market for a high end multi track unit, and I just missed out on a Studer on the dreaded eBay! I was wondering if you’re machine is still available?

        Any info would be greatly appreciated….many thanks, Dan

        PS: Please, feel free to contact me via email – dandroid76@yahoo.com

        Reply ↓
      2. Philip van der Matten Post author

        Hi Johan,

        The A80 is fine now (for the moment haha. It will always be necessary to do repairs on it to keep it running, but that is no problem, just a challenge).
        I have replaced the left tension pot and that was the culprit. I got it from Clive C.

        -Philip.

        Reply ↓

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A Quadraphonic Akai 1730D-SS

8 Replies

My new addition to the collection is already a few months old, but here is the blogpost anyway.

It is an AKAI 1730D-SS Quadraphonic tape deck that I received from the first owner.

[picture shamelessly stolen from the internet]

When picking it up I tested the deck and only 2 of the 4 channels worked. Only the REAR. Strange. And one of those 2 channels failed intermittently.  When I got home I opened up the deck and had a look at it. I put on one of the many quadraphonic tapes that came with the deck. Quickly I found out that cleaning and fixing the 2ch-4ch switch solved that problem. That was easy.

But the FRONT channels still did not work. At all. No sound, no noise, no click when the deck was powered up, no nothing. I sure hope the playback amp hasn’t died. It appeared there are 4 audioprints in the machine, see picture. At the left of the picture you see the 2 playback prints, at the right the record prints. Each print is stereo. FRONT at the top, REAR at the bottom.


[picture showing the 2 right audio prints removed from their slots]

By turning the pot on the prints I found out wich print was unresponsive (I am going to recalibrate it anyway, so that did not matter). I took it out of its slot for further inspection.



Unfortunately I could not find anything wrong with the print or the components. No burned components, fused caps, burn marks, loose contacts, nothing. I was beginning to feel that I was reaching the end of my knowledge because I have not got expert knowledge of electronics.

When I was going to put the print back into its slot, I noticed something odd about the slot. The slot is a kind of very crude ISA-style slot type, like in the first IBM PC. I saw that the plastic of the slot was broken! That caused the print to not make good contact with the pins in the slot. See the pictures.





When I carefully with my hand pressed the slot so that the print made contact, everything started working! Eureka! ‘There, I found it.’ 

Now how to fix it. Glueing was no option. I soon thought of a tight tie-wrap, that might do the trick. I pulled the tie-wrap as tight as I could. See the pictures.



Then came the next issue. The deck did not want to record at all. I soon found out that the other slots were damaged too (duh). So another set of tie-wraps to the rescue. I put tie-wraps around everything and reconnected it all.

It worked ok, but not reliable. Even when just looking at the recorderprints weird effects on the signal were noticable. First I doubted my tie-wraps, but that solution DID work reliably at the playback prints. Just to be sure I sanded the contacts on the prints and voilá: everything worked flawlessly! So I put the print in and secured them thoroughly. ‘There, I fixed it again’

This is a machine from the early seventies, that has been idle for who knows how long, and I’m surprised at the audio quality.

Now I need to demag it, and calibrate it. Then it will probably sound even better!

[edit]
Although it sounded good at first hearing, further test revealed there was noise in the left front channel ,even when it was not playing. Same on the right rear.

So I replaced the 2sc458 transistors on all the audio prints. After that, I eagerly turned on the machine.

No signal at all!

Remember that I am only doing this as a hobby, I am not a professional guy and I know very little about electronics.

Searching and searching and searching again I found out that the new transistors I had ordered, had a different pin-out than the ones that came of the print. I had put the new ones in with the same orientation as the old ones, that seemed logical but that was incorrect. :) They simply needed to be turned around, so that was relatively simple. I did not need to cross their legs.

After that it worked again, fortunately! Apparently these guys can withstand some rough handling haha. And the best part is, that the deck is silent again now, the noise is gone. I recalibrated it and it sound great!

8 thoughts on “A Quadraphonic Akai 1730D-SS”

  1. Mich D. White

    Hey there! I just recently got one of these decks myself, and my problems match your exactly. How do I clean the 2-track 4-track switch? Much appreciated. Great blog!

    Reply ↓
      1. Mich D. White

        Thanks! It seems like there is a short somewhere, and isn’t a dirty switch issue. Front left is working great, with no luck on the other three tracks so far. Just intermittent functionality…

        Reply ↓
          1. Mich D. White

            Nah, my contacts were all nice and solid. It did look like some coffee or something had been splashed on the front panel and then got into the machine. Right now I have gotten both Front and Rear Left channels to work but no luck with the right channels, which is ok for my intents and purposes in my home studio. I just panel the F-L to the left and R-L to the right when I record.

            Thanks for the speedy reply and useful post, I’ll be bookmarking this blog!

          2. Mich D. White

            Nah, my contacts were all nice and solid. It did look like some coffee or something had been splashed on the front panel and then got into the machine. Right now I have gotten both Front and Rear Left channels to work but no luck with the right channels, which is ok for my intents and purposes in my home studio. I just pan the F-L to the left and R-L to the right when I record.

            Thanks for the speedy reply and useful post, I’ll be bookmarking this blog!

  2. fast proxy list

    Hi,I log on to your blog named “A Quadraphonic Akai 1730D-SS | Tapehead” regularly.Your humoristic style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing! And you can look our website about fast proxy list.

    Reply ↓
  3. George Snell

    Thanks to the great read! I have had one of these bought used in the mid 90’s. It has goon through periods of heavy use and years of no use at all, just setting in the closet unplugged. a few months back, dug it out and put it back in use. After a couple of sessions of radically varied tape speeds, all the dust got out and working great. Only thing ever done to it as been demagnetize the tape heads and replace the pinch wheel on the front. Also have a Teac X-3r. That one has been areal pain, with having to replace the mainboard and tons of switch corrosion problems. I now use both, but really like the Akai and have it as the main tape deck.

    Reply ↓

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A problematic Teac X-2000R

17 Replies

2014-03-31 18.59.39

Recently I obtained, for a fair price, a Teac X-2000R. It is a stereo reverse deck, with 6 heads, which means it will record also in reverse. It has dbx built-in, and it can use (chromium) EE tape. A digital counter in hours, minutes and seconds and bias fine tuning on the front panel is also provided. It has 9,5 and 19 cm/s speeds.

Dual capstan

Another prominent feature that is has, however proved to be a very problematic one. The deck is equipped with 2 capstans. This feature was introduced into the later tape deck models, almost towoards the end of the tapedeck-era, to further improve tape-head contact and wow&flutter. These assumptions are correct, and they work well when the deck is in new condition and everything is well calibrated and up to specifications.

On this deck however, things were not new and not up to specs. The dual capstan design is a challenge in itself, but things are further complicated by the fact that it has to function in reverse as well. On this unit that is accomplished by a belt that ‘travels’ across different parts of the flywheel that varies in diameter.

Problems

After the initial cleaning, optical and technical/mechanical, it soon became apparent that the tape handling was not up to par. Sometimes the tape would ‘run away’ from the heads a bit, resulting in loss of audio or worse: tape jam. Things were even worse when playing in reverse. I soon found out (through the service manual) that there were adjustments to be made to the tape tension.

Tape tension

But the increased tape tension was not the solution. When it was ok in forward play, it was bad in reverse. Or vice versa. Or it differed when loading large reels (26 cm) compared to 18 cm reels. Or it was different with different brands of tape. And that wasn’t even reproducible across sessions. And the next day it would be different again.

Solution

Of course the first thing I did was to change the belt. I have a blog of that action, but it is in dutch. So here it is, sorry only in dutch:

====== BEGIN OF DUTCH TEXT ======

Nou, de siem-snaar was snel binnen, en vanochtend was het toch regenachtig, dus aan de slag gegaan met het vervangen van de Teac X-2000R snaar.

Ik heb de uitbouw gedaan volgens de foto’s in deze thread, daar heb ik heel veel aan gehad:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59729

Daar wordt behandeld een X-1000R, en die blijkt toch niet helemaal hetzelfde van binnen. Ik kwam meteen al een grote print tegen die in de weg zat, deze is er niet in een X-1000.
Hierdoor kon ik niet bij de bovenste schroeven komen van de plaat waar de capstanmotor op vast zit. De print moest dus los en daarna omhoog gelift worden, er zitten helaas te veel kabels aan vast om hem compleet uit de weg te krijgen.







Na wat kabelbomen losgeknipt te hebben, kon ik de print opbeuren en omhooghouden met een plakbandrol.





Hierna kon ik er wel goed bij.





Nog even de plaat losknippen van de motor zelf:



Er zitten alsnog wat kabels in de weg, maar die zitten gelukkig vast met connectoren. Loshalen die hap dus.





Eindelijk uitgebouwd. De 2 vliegwielen in de achtergrond:



De 2 vliegwielen verwijderen. Goed links en rechts uit elkaar houden.



Overigens viel me meteen op het grote verschil tussen de snaren: de oude is een stuk langer dan de nieuwe. Dus of de oude was wat uitgerekt, ondanks dat het rubber nog vers aanvoelde, of de nieuwe is ietsje te krap. Of allebei.

Toen heb ik alles losgehaald en schoongemaakt en opnieuw gesmeerd: de vliegwielen, de aandrukrollen en het aandruk mechanisme. Oud vet verwijderd, nieuw vet er op. 

Alles zeer grondig schoongemaakt. Vliegwielen er weer op, meteen de washers aan de voorkant weer over de capstans gedaan. Nieuwe snaar er op:



En toen alles in omgekeerde volgorde weer vast. Het was een beetje pielen om de snaar weer over de motor te krijgen, maar het ging uiteindelijk wel. Als laatste de print weer laten zakken en vastgezet.

====== END OF DUTCH TEXT ======

Unfortunately this was not the solution that fixed it completely, although the situation improved a bit. Even increasing the tape tension to incredible heights (or incredible lows) did not fix it. So I went online to find a solution.

Several fora messages suggested that everything in the tape path was relevant to my problem. From tape guides, to the rubber idle rollers, to lubrication of the tension rollers, to the state of the rubber of the pinch rollers. From the tape tension to the smoothness of the tape in question. It seems that everything was related to weather the dual capstan principle would function correctly.
So I soaked the pinch rollers in detergent for one night. The rubber was much softer and grippier after that treatment. Again, a little improvement, but no permanent fix.
I switched the pinch rollers from left to right, to see if that would improve the situation. No way.
I lubricated all the moving parts, I installed the little O-rings that were required for the rollers to function correctly (expensive little buggers!). Still there was no definitive solution that worked all the time.

Meeting

In April I went to a meeting of fellow tape deck enthusiasts where there was an opportunity to work on decks. I tagged the deck along, and fortunately there was an expert who was willing to take a look at the Teac. Immediately he found one problem: I had put the tape tension way too high. We measured more than 100 gr. when 50 was required. He used a Tentelometer, a very rare instrument which he posesses. It looks like this:

After we adjusted the tension to 50 grams, the tape handling was still not good. In fact, it was worse. Then, the guy helping me thought the problem might be in the capstan motor, of which the carbon brushes would have degraded over the years resulting in less powerful drive. So, on the fly he opened the capstan motor, removed the old brushes and (he had them available) installed new ones.20140412_145008 20140412_144659After this, still no good. But I had new carbon brushes! Jeey!

At the meeting we came to the conclusion that maybe the new belt I had put in was not an original Teac spare part but a fake. So I went to an official Teac repair center and got myself an original Teac approved belt. After I installed that belt, still not any better. Grrrr.

The solution!

Eventually, as a sort of last resort, I took the Service Manual and went through all the mechanical adjustments mentioned there. Some I could do, some I couldn’t. For instance, I haven’t got a spring scale necessary to measure torque. And then, finally, after I adjusted the pinch roller pressure to a much lower value, it suddenly all seemed to come together.
When I adjusted for a very, very low pressure of the pinch rollers on the capstans, even to the extend that I could very easily stop the tape when playing, the tape would indeed run fine along the heads and reverse play was no problem. So I adjusted for a little more pressure but anyway now it works great and I haven’t got any more tape issues.

Great sound

After that, I planned to calibrate the deck. This also proved to be not as easy as I thought. The service manual mentions a lot of steps and I think I did them all 4 or 5 times. The problem was that the record calibration required EE or Chrome tape, which I did not have. Fortunately I could borrow a Maxell XLII tape from a friend.
Bu after I calibrated the deck using the EE tape, it did not sound good. The level was way too low. And when I recorded at a higher level, the amount of distortion was unbearable. Something was not right here. After advice given to me on my favorite forum, I used normal tape to do the calibration. It still wasn’t to my expectation. I’m not sure what fixed it, but I repeated the calibration procedure several times, and after that I found the recording to be very good!

EE (chrome) tape

So the deck was performing as it should, reversing as it should, handling tape as it should and now I was to test it with EE tape and with the dbx noise reduction and dynamic expander on.
The result was, well, as close tot the original sound as you can hope for. The high tones were beautiful, and the sound was quiet as a CD. Out of nowhere the music starts. This is tape technology at it’s finest. I am very happy with my new tape deck.

17 thoughts on “A problematic Teac X-2000R”

  1. Michael Brenann

    Hello, In this report on your Teac X-2000R issues you mention that a friend had and installed new brushes in your capstan motor. I was under the impression that those brushes were not available so I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me where they can be obtained. Thanks and best regards, Mike

    Reply ↓
  2. Jaap Kroesschell

    Beste Philip,

    Dank voor het delen van je kennis en ervaring. Ik heb je blogs met veel plezier gelezen, en veel geleerd. Ik heb zelf recentelijk een bandrecorder aangeschaft, en verheug me erop ermee aan de slag te gaan komende zomer. Je schreef over een bandrecoder gebruikers / enthousiastelingen group, zou je me hier een link van kunnen doorsturen? Ik heb nl. (nog) geen calibratie tape, en andere tools. Misschien kan ik via die club iemand vinden die een calibratie band voor me kan maken op een gecalibreerde machine (ik ben immers een amateur, geen pro).
    Blijf vooral vloggen/bloggen!

    Met vriendelijke groet,
    Jaap

    Reply ↓
  3. Alain Deneef

    Hello, do you have a source for these carbon brushes in the capstan motor? Did this person remove and replace the carbon pad only (how do you attach the new carbons?), or the complete assembly with the copper spring blades?
    Thanks,
    Alain Deneef

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Alain,

      The friend had made the new brushes himself, by filing a larger piece that he had obtained somewhere so that it would fit in the motor. So it was just 2 very small pieces of carbon that were installed into the copper tabs. They are held in place by the tension.

      Reply ↓
  4. Jere Brewer

    My Teac X2000R has the same problem as described, especially in reverse play. I have the service manual and just to understand correctly what you did, there is an adjustment to the pinch roller pressure stroke adjustment nut. Is this what you adjusted to fix the problem? The manual says to adjust to 1.0 mm clearance between the pin and stopper cushion. Did you adjust to this clearance or just adjust to lesson the overall pressure? There is another section that is titled pinch roller pressure measurement but it only describes how to measure the pinch roller pressure and says if it’s not in the specified range you must replace defective parts, there are no adjustable parts. So, I just wanted to get clarity as to what you adjusted, hoping that I can fix my tape deck’s problem as well. Thanks.

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Hello Jere,

      This blog I have written many, many moons ago and since then I have fixed a lot of other devices. So, I can not recollect what I did exactly, but I can tell you that indeed the nut on the top of the deck was the solution. I think I recall that I adjusted it for a setting in the lower part of the ‘pressure-scale’ :), you just try that.
      I think that makes sense because the pulling capstan should be able to pull the tape to the point where it is tight between the 2 capstans. It works in unison with the forward tension. And if the pinch roller pressure is too tight, it won’t be albe to do that.
      Hope that helps a bit. Just keep following the SM to the letter, and try some setting, eventually it will work. But remember ALL the components need to be in good working order. It is NOT just 1 thing that fixes it.
      Good luck.
      -Philip.

      Reply ↓
  5. Jere Brewer

    Hi Phillip,

    Thanks for the fast reply. I am going to give the adjustment a try and see what happens. So glad to find your website while researching the problem. I too have already tried various remedies but with no success and it only does this in reverse play, no problem at all in forward play. On a bit of a different subject what is your opinion on replacing all electrolytic capacitors in a tape deck? My X2000R is probably my youngest tape deck and my oldest is probably fifty years old. The oldest one, I did recap and really can’t tell any difference in the performance of the deck, but every capacitor I took out showed much higher capacitance , on the capacitor meter, than what it should be. Also, it’s very time consuming to replace them all, I spent maybe a month working off and on when I had time. Some guys say if it’s not broke don’t fix it, while others say it’s a ticking time bomb to leave the old capacitors in there. Just wondering what your thoughts are on the subject. Thanks again for your help, and I will let you know if the adjustment helps fix the problem.

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip van der Matten Post author

      Jere,

      Glad you like my blog.
      Please check http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=43728 as well, lots of good info there.
      About the caps: I am not an authority on electronics, far from that, but there is truth in both views, as always. I could not agree with you more that it is very time consuming, and the fact that most values are off when you check. One sometimes wonders how it could operate at all.
      I usually let the internet speak: some models are known for their bad caps, or other problems, and that is then well documented in the community. So I foloow that.
      Fun fact: I have replaced caps in a 4-channel amplifier from ’74, but only on 3 channels. Replaced the transistors also. All with new good parts. Then I measured the thing: nothing I could distinguish channel 1-3 from 4. So what was all the trouble for? Maybe the ticking timebomb thingy. Anyway, I had fun.

      Reply ↓
  6. Rob Rivet

    Is there a place I can bring my X-2000R rather than try to fix it myself? Somewhere in the metro-Boston area?
    I am somewhat handy with most mechanical things but electronics require a gift I do not possess.

    Reply ↓
    1. Philip

      Rob,

      What is the problem? Sometimes it is easier to fix than you think.
      Best is to try the tapeheads forum, http://www.tapeheads.net/forumdisplay.php?f=4 , which is full of the most experienced people willing to help.
      You can browse through the posts or search in them and you should probably find a member in that area. If not, you can always make a new thread describing in detail the exact problem you experience with your recorder, and then the experts will jump in and help you eitherway.

      Good luck!

      Reply ↓
  7. Johan

    Nou Ik wilde er net een kopen ik blijf lekker bij de robuuste a 3300 serie. Ja ik moet zelf de de spoelen omdraaien is ook wel weer leuk om te doen.

    MVG Johan

    Reply ↓
  8. Spencer

    If the tape is drooping in only one play direction, it is critical that you observe the belt in operation– it should run on the ridge of one capstan pulley and the flat of the other in one direction, and when the play direction is reversed, the belt must shuttle on to the opposite ridge and flat. This creates a slight difference in speed of the capstans ensuring tape tension on the heads. There are a couple of reasons the belt might not shuttle– wrong size belt, either length or width. Also, there is a certain amount of play that is required in the capstans, which is adjusted with the nut and bolt on the thrust plate (the end of the capstan sits in the bearing on the other side of this bolt). If the clearance is too tight on one or both capstans the belt will not shuttle.

    If the tape droops in both directions, the capstans may have been reinstalled on the wrong side.

    Reply ↓
  9. ASIM MASOOD BUTT

    HELLO MY SELF ASIM MASOOD BUTT FROM AZIZ JEHAN BEGUM TRUST FOR THE BLIND WE HAVE TWO SET OF TEAC 2000 R BUT UNFORTUNATILY BOTH SYSTEM CAPTION MOTOR BELT ARE BRITALE AND NOT AVAILABLE IN LAHORE PAKISTAN SO TELL ME CAN YOU ARRANGE IF YES SO HOW TO PROCEED FOR THIS MATTER
    REGARDS
    ASIM MASOOD BUTT
    +923004255113

    Reply ↓
  10. ASIM MASOOD BUTT

    HELLO MY NAME IS ASIM MASOOD BUTT I REPRESNT AZIZ JEHAN BEGUM TRUST FOR THE BLIND AND WE USE TEAC 2000 R SPOOL TAPE RECORDER BUT UNFORTUNATLY BOTH SYSTEM CAPTION MOTOR BELT IS BRITTLE AND NOT AVAILABLE IN LAHORE PAKISTAN SO CAN YOU ARRANGE IF YES SO TELL ME HOW TO PROCEED
    REGARD
    ASIM BUTT
    +90-300-4255113

    Reply ↓

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Installing new Ortofon 2m red cartridge in the Technics SL-1900

7 Replies

Yesterday I received my new cartridge: the Ortofon 2m red. It came with a brush, some screws and a little screwdriver. All in the package for €84,-

2M Red Verso hifisiteI couldn’t wait for a day off to try it so I installed it yesterday evening. I have never before installed a cartridge, and I must admit the thought of doing so was a bit daunting.

I had read a lot about installing and adjusting phono cartridges in the past few weeks so I understood the basics. I had downloaded the Technics protractor from vinylengine.com, printed it and checked the scale of the print. But now it was time to put the theory into practice.

headshell_old

My old-style head shell

I soon realized that this new cartridge wouldn’t fit in the headshell I had designated for it. This is an old style Technics head shell with one screw on the top.

Although only one screw is visible in the picture, it has an additional mounting bracket underneath that should fit the 2 screws necessary to mount normal cartridges. But my Ortofon needs to have the heads of the screws on the topside and that is not supported in this headshell.

But fortunately I have two headshells, the other one is the newer type which has the normal two screwholes at the top. Using the screws which were provided in the package I was able to quickly attach the cartridge provisionally to the headshell.

 

new style headshell

new style headshell

So that was fairly easy. Next was the task of adjusting the ‘contraption’ 😀 I took my protractor and put it on the turntable on top of a record.

I soon learned that when I moved the cartridge all the way to the front of the shell that the needle followed the ‘arc’ on the protractor perfectly. Yes!

IMG_20131219_212926

using the protractor

But when I tested the alignment of the cartridge on the two gridline patterns on the protractor, I found that it was not perfect in line. So I adjusted it very slightly to the point that it was in line on both patterns and then secured the screws. Pfew! Job done!

 

 

yes-90125

Yes – 90125

 

Then came the testing. I must admit I was a little but afraid, or better anxious. I tried it out with a record from Yes – 90125.

I put the needle down very very carefully.

I put on my headphones.

But as soon as the first tones from the song (Owner Of A Lonely Heart) were played, I relaxed. It sounded very very good!

IMG_20131219_212756

The Ortofon happily playing in my sl-1900

There is a lot of definition in the sound. There is also a lot of ‘punch’, which I like. HF tones are also ok. Bass is tight and well defined. Overall, I have never ever heard a record sound so clear. True, in the past I have not had good quality turntables. In fact, they were rubbish. But I never thought a record could sound like this. It is so close to a CD. I’m also very glad that I treated my records carefully in the past, I didn’t play them a lot (I immediately recorded them onto tape) so that I now have old, but ‘like new’ records that sound wonderful!

I continued to listen to albums from ELO, Marillion, Tchaikovsky and 12-inch’s from Chaka Khan, Unique (What I Got IS What You Need). Those were the first records I found for grabs. It was a good experience. I am pleased. In the coming evenings I will listen to some other albums.

I was surprised how quickly and how easily an inexperienced person like myself could do this task. It took me a little over an hour including the adjustments. I can recommend it to everyone.

Coming up next: cleaning the records with a LP cleaner

7 thoughts on “Installing new Ortofon 2m red cartridge in the Technics SL-1900”

  1. Pingback: New arrival: Technics SL-1900 turntable | Tapehead

  3. Pingback: New arrival: Technics SL-1900 turntable | www.reeltoreel.nl

  4. Joel Turner

    The picture at the top of your post is for the 2M Red Verso (bottom mount model). But it looks what you have installed is the standard 2M Red (top mount).
    I have the same turntable and bought the 2M Red and am wondering if the Verso would actually mount on the SL 1900 standard tone arm.
    Alternatively, I’ll need to go down the path you did, which is to use a top-mount headshell.
    Can you let me know which cartridge you actually used?

    Reply ↓

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New arrival: Technics SL-1900 turntable

2 Replies

This week I picked up a Technics SL-1900 turntable

1900

Technics SL-1900 (image borrowed from internet)

I was actually looking for a more high end model, like the Technics SL-1600Mk2, SL-1700Mk2, 1800Mk2 or even an SL-5300. But, those are hard to find, and when found, are very expensive and could cost more than €200,-. I found a very inexpensive SL-1900. It still had the original Technics 270 cartridge installed. And it came with an additional 270 cartridge without a needle. So I thought ‘oh, what the heck’, and I went to get it.

I was not disappointed. Not at all. In fact, I was very impressed. For the last years I have used a Dual cs-607, so that was my reference. And although the Dual has more definition, this one is more agreeable to listen to because….well, it has less definition. It doesn’t reveal all the noises and scratches and clicks and pops from the record so much as the Dual does. Compared to the Dual it lacks highs though.

UPDATE:

Please read the next post on how I installed an Ortofon Red cartridge in this turntable. https://www.reeltoreel.nl/blog/?p=364

Some information from internet:

Description

The Technics SL-1900 is a 2-speed, direct-drive turntable with fully automatic single disc playback. A one-chip IC, incorporating 321 elements, controls motor speed for superb accuracy with servo control. The tonearm mechanism gives convenient automatic set-down, lift-off and stop. Memo-repeat control permits up to six repeated plays of the record, or continuous play. The heavy monolithic bas and isolator system protects against external vibrations. The SL-1900 comes complete with an EPC-270C-II moving magnet phono cartridge.

Some specs:

  • Brand: Technics
  • Model: SL-1900
  • Manufacturing year: 1977
  • Made in: Japan
  • Colour: Braun
  • Power: 4,5 Watt
  • Dimensions: 137 x 430 x 334mm
  • Weight: 7,2 kg
  • Original price ca.: $400,-
  • Direct Drive
  • Fully automatic operation
  • Platter: 310mm aluminium diecast
  • Speeds: 33 and 45rpm
  • Wow and flutter: 0.03% WRMS
  • Rumble: -73dB
  • Tonearm: universal, static balanced
  • Effective length: 230mm
  • Overhang: 15mm

und auf Deutsch:

Technische Daten

  • Antrieb: Direktantrieb
  • Motor: Gegenelektromotorische-Kraftfrequenz-Generator Servo Gleichstrommotor
  • Drehzahl: 33 1/3 und 45 U/min
  • Gleichlaufschwankungen: 0,03% WRMS (JIS C5521), ±0,042% bewertet Null-zu-Spitze (DIN 45507)
  • Rumpelgeräuschabstand:
    • DIN 45539A: 50 dB
    • DIN 45539B: 73 dB
  • Plattenteller: Aluminium-Spritzguss, 310 mm
  • Betriebsart: Automatisch oder manuell
  • Pitch: ±5%
  • Tonarm: Rohrarm, statisch balanciert
    • Nadelauflage: 0 – 3 g
    • effektive Achslänge: 230 mm
    • Überhang: 15 mm
    • Kröpfungswinkel: 21,5°
    • Reibung: 7mg (horizontal und vertikal)
    • Spurfehlwinkel: Innerhalb + 3 (145mm vom Mittelpunkt), + 1 (55mm von Mittelpunkt)
    • Gewichtsbereich für Tonabnehmer: 5,5 – 9,5 g
    • Gewicht des Tonarmkopfes: 9,5 g
  • Tonabnehmer: Technics EPC-270 C-II (MM)

Besondere Ausstattungen

  • Aufsetztpunkt: Einstellbar für 12″,10″ und 7″ Schallplatten
  • Memo-Repeat: wiederholtes Abspielen von ein- bis sechsmal, oder dauernd wiederholendes Abspielen einstellbar
  • Schwergewichts-design: Schweres Polymer-Unterchassis auf Viscoelastisch gedämpften Stahlfedern
  • Motor-Rotor ist direkt mit dem Plattenteller verbunden (war damals von Technics entwickelt worden)
  • Elektronisch gesteuert mit damals revolutionärem One-Chip-IC AN 630
  • hochempfindlicher Tonarm mit Kardan-Aufhängung in Präzisionszapfenlagern. Damals ebenso aussergewöhnlich.
  • Viscogedämpfte Tonarmsteuerung und Anti-skating – damals ein Novum ebenso wie die dicken, kapazitätsarmen Phonokabel.

Information about the cartidge:

Allgemein

  • Hersteller: Technics
  • Modell: EPC-270C-II
  • Baujahre: zum 1976
  • Hergestellt in:
  • Farbe:
  • Gewicht: 6,0 g
  • Neupreis ca.:

Technische Daten

  • Prinzip: MM
  • Frequenzgang: 20 – 15.000 Hz (±2 dB)
  • Kanaltrennung:
  • Kanalbalance: 2 dB (1 kHz)
  • Übersprechdämpfung: 25 dB (1 kHz), 20 dB (10 kHz)
  • Ausgansspannung:
    • 1 kHz, Höchstamplitude: 3,2 mV
    • DIN 45500: 6,4 mV
  • Abschlusswiderstand: 47 kOhm – 100 kOhm
  • Induktion:
  • Nadeltyp: Diamant elliptisch
  • Empfohlene Auflagekraft: 1,75 ±0,25 g
  • Nadelnachgiebigkeit: 12x 10^-6 cm/dyn

2 thoughts on “New arrival: Technics SL-1900 turntable”

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Checking out dbx encoded discs (vinyl)

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The other day I received two dbx encoded 7″ singles, demonstration discs by Technics. These are supposed to have superior dynamic range and almost no noise/hiss/rumble whatsoever.

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First some background:

dbx was also used on vinyl records, from 1973 until around 1982, and over 1100 albums were released with dbx encoding, which were known as dbx discs. When employed on LPs, the dbx Type-II system reduced the audibility of dust and scratches, reducing them to tiny pops and clicks (if they were audible at all) and also completely eliminated record surface noise. dbx encoded LPs had, in theory, a dynamic range of up to 120db.[3] In addition, dbx LPs were produced from only the original master tapes, with no copies being used, and pressed only on heavy, virgin vinyl. Most were released in limited quantities with premium pricing. [wikipedia][

Well, the accompanying sheet suggest that you hook your equipment up to a dbx capable (cassette) deck, but I didn’t. Instead, I connected my dbx model 150 unit. Better!

On all 4 sides was music, mostly jazz-like. On side A of the first disc was an impressive dynamic piece with flute and big drums. I was very surprised when the drums reached full power! And they go very loud! It is an extremely dynamic experience. Even on headphones.

Clicks and pops  and other vinyl noise are so unnoticeable, the whole listening experience is very, very enjoyable. Even the dropping of the needle was hardly audible. Now, I need to find me some other dbx encoded discs!

edit: while writing this down, I’m thinking about what would happen if I record this on a tapedeck with dbx encoding.
Or better: skip the decode and encode step, and record the disc as-it-is on tape, and the play it back through my dbx unit….interesting experiment. I should try that some time.

-Philip

 

5 thoughts on “Checking out dbx encoded discs (vinyl)”

  1. Scott Strang

    I did actually try recording a dbx LP undecoded onto a cassette and decoded the tape on playback. It worked well as long as good blank ( hi bias or metal) cassettes were used. I worked at a radio station where we used dbx type2 on carts for music, liners, spots, jingles, etc for on air playback. I took a few of those carts and recorded them undecoded onto cassettes. I would then play them back on my home cassette with an outboard dbx type 2 unit and dumped them into my DAT machine. Some of the carts had dropouts and of course dbx exaggerated them. Overall they sounded pretty good.

    I also devoted dbx type 1 encoded tapes on my cassette deck and external unit and they sounded useable.

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  2. wangdidi

    I started collecting dbx vinyl records a few years ago and now have about 100. I used both unbalanced and balanced dbx decoder playback, and the listening effect was great! There is little information in this regard, and I hope to communicate with dbx ethylene record users.

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  3. Bacek

    DBX 150 is Type I noise reduction. For DBX Disc you need Type II decoder (like 12,122,124, 22, 222, 224, nx40)

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Solving famous cracking sound problem: replacing all transistors in mainboard Philips N4520

A few months after my purchase of the Philips N4520 tapedeck, it developed a nasty fault: during playback there would be cracking sounds coming through the music, or even when not playing at all. Also when touching the knobs, there would be pops and clicks.

An intensive internet search revealed that there were more decks affected with the same symptom. Fortunately, a remedy was also given: replace the transistors on the main circuit board with new ones. Gulp. All 19 of them.

I have some experience with soldering, but this was a completely new level for me. I happen to be in possession of a very good soldering station with temperature control, and I have used litz wire once or twice, to remove solder of the component you want to remove.

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So, I ordered the necessary components on-line:

 7x BF245A : TS2 TS5/TS105 TS4/TS104 TS3/TS103
 1x BC547 : TS11
 4x BC548 : TS8 / TS108 TS9 / TS109
 2x BC549 : TS1/101
 1x BC557 : TS10
 2x BC546A : TS6/106
 2x BC556A : TS7/107
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My new friends

Total number of transistors: 19 pcs.
Total cost: around € 10,- excl. transport.

Then, the scary part started.

Taking apart the biggest monster in taperecorders known to mankind.

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Well, almost. And, as I found out, the bottom part slides out fairly easy to the front. And it is connected to the rest of the machine with connectors. So in the end you have the bottom part which contains the ‘mainboard’ as I call it as a separate unit on your workbench.

Locating the components on the printboard was difficult, but doable. Then soldering started. Using the litze wire to remove the solder from the board, I was able to remove the components.

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Don’t shake!
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My old friends. Well, not my friends anymore!

Working methodically through all components, I replaced all 19 of them. Double-checked the joints for good contact. Cut away the excess pins. And I was left with this:Then it was time to test. To do that, the mainboard had to be reinserted into the recorder and reconnected.
And?

It worked! Yay! I now have a N4520 that plays back and records beautifully! It took about an afternoon’s work and about ten euro’s, but Then you have successfully restored a very very nice machine.

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The glorious Philips N4520 in action 

See a video of this beast in action on my YouTube channel:

Update 20210116: I also made a handy ‘layout quick reference guide’ for the audio main board (also better known as Panel 1) which comes in handy when you are troubleshooting or calibrating the deck.

Picture is below, you can download it here in PDF format.

20220415: Another updated version is here in PDF.
And here is a diagram of the faceplate. Also handy!

BETTER STLL: visit the Quick Reference Guide section of my website, for new and updated QRGs all the time.

https://www.reeltoreel.nl/QRG/

Sennheiser HD-600 review

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Yesterday I finally got my brand new Sennheiser HD-600 headphones. They look amazing, but they sound incredible!

Sennheiser HD-600

Sennheiser HD-600 new in box

I can really recommend these to any audiofile out there!

One thought on “Sennheiser HD-600 review”

  1. knoxville banners

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    When I look at your blog in Firefox, it looks fine
    but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.

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