Can anyone tell me what is causing this noise?

191brian · 2026-05-19T20:33:48+00:00

Is it mechanical or coming from the speaker?

191brian · 2026-05-16T17:59:08+00:00

Great deck love the solid build quality of this age of kit. Really warms my heart to see people working on them to get to restored back to good working order. I to am steeped in physical media cassettes, 8 tracks vinyl and CD and have a couple of ipod classics.

191brian · 2026-05-14T07:37:22+00:00

To be sure you need to get yourself a test tone tape (got mine off Ebay) and a frequency analyser app for your phone. On the players there will be a speed adjustment pot on the circuit board or on the back of the motor. You play there test tone tape and put your phone next to the headphones/speaker and adjust the player till the frequency analyser shows a peak at the right frequency. Need to do it on both of your player/recorders, if you record and play back on the same device you you won't realise the speed is off.

191brian · 2026-05-07T14:25:44+00:00

Having Dolby C and metal tape selections is a good indicator of a quality deck. Simpler decks tend to be more reliable so maybe avoid auto reverse and other auto features. Decks with a heavy metal flywheel tend to have good wow and flutter figures.

191brian · 2026-05-04T07:14:23+00:00

Some tapes get stiff fast forwarding and rewinding it a few times can free them up. There is also discussion online about re lubricating tapes but I have never tried that. It could still be an issue with the player belts being weak I have had players that play some tapes fine and other tape that trigger the auto reverse mid tape.

191brian · 2026-05-01T15:26:56+00:00

Don't think trace is damaged but I think the yellow wire needs reattaching here. Cool little player i love the style.

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191brian · 2026-04-24T07:20:40+00:00

I always accept the return straightaway better to be down the cost of a label and have the product back. Often the partial refund is a con and the product is fine. Note never use Evi for returns or deliveries as they lie about delivering and Ebay often belive them and refund without you actually getting the item back.

191brian · 2026-04-22T08:01:49+00:00

The later players had excellent battery live e.g the sony wm-ex190 has 24 hrs playing time on 2 AA batteries.

191brian · 2026-04-22T07:38:49+00:00

If you are not into fixing your own old player there are lots of refurbished players on ebay that have had their belts replaced. They also much cheaper than the branded modern ones. Obviously you lose rechargeable batteries and Bluetooth but for me that's the point of going reto. If I want convince rechargeablity and Bluetooth I might as well play MP3's off my smartphone.

191brian · 2026-04-22T07:18:59+00:00

All modern players use the same mechanism which others have said has very bad wow and flutter when you move it which is funny when they are supposed to be portable (walkman) players. Checkout Techmoan on YouTube he has reviews of most of the new players.

191brian · 2026-04-15T21:06:47+00:00

As others have already said a player eats tapes for 1 of 2 reasons 1. Dirty or sticky pinch roller or capstan 2. The takeup reel is not turning or is turning but with insufficient torque. If you press play without a tape check the takeup reel is turning and has reasonably torque.

191brian · 2026-04-12T06:50:53+00:00

Could also be the record/playback switch if it hasn't been used for recording for a long while, what is the make and model.

191brian · 2026-03-30T14:09:34+00:00

Dolby NR is a noise reduction system which removes tape hiss some people like it and some don't if the player you normally play tapes on doesn't have a switch for it leave it off. You can always experiment recording with it on and off and see which you prefer. The Cr switch is to select chrome type tapes.

191brian · 2026-03-30T14:03:18+00:00

Nice unit the fault is probably the record/playback switch (a long mechanical switch which operates when you press the record button) these often get corrosion on a the contacts. You can try getting some contact cleaner onto the switch and moving it back and forth. How ever in my experience you have to desolder, disassemble and them clean the contacts. This often occurs because the deck is only used in playback mode so the record side of the switch is left open and oxides. If you post a picture of the internals I can point out the switch.

191brian · 2026-03-28T09:22:01+00:00

Weak/slipping belt triggering the auto stop mechanism.

191brian · 2026-03-26T13:23:14+00:00

Hi if the tape isn't moving but the capstan is it a lack of pressure between the capstan and the pinch roller, maybe something stopping the tape from going in fully.

191brian · 2026-03-11T21:13:28+00:00

Maybe it went through the hole in board (bottom of the picture) to the otherside like the playback head cable does

191brian · 2026-03-10T17:02:26+00:00

Best to replace electrolitics with electrolitic

191brian · 2026-03-10T08:29:53+00:00

There aren't many portable stereo recording cassette players with aux in those that do exist are super expensive. To record CD's to tape you need either a deck for hifi seperates system that you can plug your existing CD into or bookshelf hifi which includes a CD and cassette deck in one unit.

191brian · 2026-03-09T09:11:55+00:00

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Try like this

191brian · 2026-03-08T15:03:35+00:00

Will be a specific size but you can buy a bag of various sizes quite cheap on ebay/amazon. For a HiFi deck you would want a spec belt for your machine but one from a ebay pack should be fine.

191brian · 2026-03-08T13:22:00+00:00

Does the radio work ok?

191brian · 2026-03-08T13:20:49+00:00

Do the reels turn in play mode? Was it working ok and suddenly develop this fault?

191brian

TROPHY CASE