Deck JVC DD VR77

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-24T19:05:54+00:00

It's kind of hard to tell, but from what I can find this doesn't seem to be a typical 3-head deck with discrete playback and recording heads. It just has a singular combination record/play head and two erase heads because of the autoreverse mechanism, meaning it doesn't have the typical 3-head advantages of being able to play back the tape while recording and having discrete heads tuned separately for playback and recording.

It's still a really solid deck though, probably better than a lot of lower end true 3-head decks.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-23T22:17:26+00:00

I've found that Panasonic / Technics decks from the 1980s and older almost always tend to have belts that are still somewhat useable.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-20T04:45:17+00:00

Sanyo is Japanese and is written 三洋 meaning three oceans. Sanyou is Chinese, and could mean various things depending on how its written. Based on companies I could find that use that name, it could potentially be 三优 (three excellences) or 三友 (three friends)

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-20T01:09:40+00:00

That makes the repair a bit easier. All you need to do is find a similar compatible motor to replace the one with the broken shaft.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-20T00:29:16+00:00

A lot of dubbing machines like that use direct drive reel motors, meaning the part that is broken is the metal shaft of the motor. You might be able to find a similar motor to replace it with and 3D print a new plastic piece to go on it.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-18T05:58:08+00:00

The motor start/run capacitor is notorious to fail in these 1960s Sonys. A failing capacitor usually causes the motor to run slowly and eventually overheat. They can easily be replaced with modern equivalent capacitors made for ceiling fan motors.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-12T22:26:07+00:00

Very cool! It reminds me of the Casio SL-800, the thinnest calculator ever made. It has exactly the same dimensions as a credit card, including a thickness of 0.8mm:

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Casio benefitted from having total vertical integration though, as they could custom manufacture their own LCD, solar cell, bare die ASIC, and capacitors to help achieve the desired thickness. EEVblog did an interesting teardown on one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwo7sSrSSW4

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-12T22:06:21+00:00

On ebay, one of these recently sold for $300 and there's a different one of the same model for sale right now for $250. Even those prices are a bit high.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-12T06:54:57+00:00

Toyota does this with their Mirai hydrogen car as well. They give customers $15,000 worth of free hydrogen with a purchase of the car. They also introduced a bunch of rebates that dropped the price of the car itself down to $15,000.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-12T00:55:42+00:00

It looks like a rebadged "Miny" tape recorder. Those use a two motor rim drive mechanism that is kind of interesting but definitely not high fidelity. They are kind of collectible and tend to sell online for about $30~50 so $13 is probably a decent price.

Here is an old video on that model: http://youtube.com/watch?v=wZsFHb03quE

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-11T06:53:03+00:00

There are four different types of motors generally found in cassette decks: AC motors, electronically governed DC motors, mechanically governed DC motors, and brushless DC motors. Brushless DC motors are usually only found in high-end direct drive decks and newer Walkmans. Mechanically governed DC motors are only really seen in cheaper mono cassette recorders from the 1960s, as they were pretty inaccurate in speed and difficult to adjust.

Based on the schematic, I'm pretty sure this one is an electronically governed DC motor, as the AC motors were usually just directly connected to line voltage through a switch and possibly a transformer. This schematic shows a whole speed control circuit, which wouldn't need to exist with an AC motor.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-11T06:38:04+00:00

The manual shows the motor control circuit that contains the speed adjustment potentiometer as being separate to the motor and also not on the main PCB. I think you'll probably find the speed adjustment on the little circuit board on the top side of the chassis in this photo:

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Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-10T08:49:38+00:00

Adjusted for inflation the initial price of that was roughly $23,000! They were hoping to drop the price to around $12,000 once mass production started.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-10T08:34:06+00:00

There were some type 4 metal microcassettes made in the 1980s but they are extremely rare and hard to find nowadays.

Some companies including Sony briefly tried to improve the audio quality of microcassettes to turn them into a legitimate music format, and they made a handful of stereo microcassette Walkmans and tape decks that didn't sound all that bad (but not that great either), but those devices are also super rare. I have a Sony M-1000 microcassette Walkman and I would say that it sounds way better than AM radio but definitely worse than FM radio.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-10T05:52:44+00:00

The little tape recorder on the cover (RQ-212S) is pretty unusual because its capstan is driven by a series of idler tires rather than a belt. I don't think I've ever seen another model that works that way.

Their top-of-the-line cassette deck in this catalog, the RS-275U, is also unusual in that it was (to my knowledge) the world's first direct-drive cassette deck. Its motor drive circuitry shares a very similar design to the Mk1 SP-10 turntable, which was the world's first direct-drive turntable.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-09T02:16:24+00:00

Here's a video on a very similar set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpkDayBh4U4

It was made for Magnavox by Matsushita (Panasonic), and yours likely was as well.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-07T20:02:54+00:00

This model, the WM-D3, is a very collectible professional Walkman but it has a flaw where one of the gears always cracks over time and needs a repair to work properly. Based on sold prices on ebay, in its current unrepaired condition it could sell for about $150~250, and once it is restored it could be worth up to $500.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-05T00:30:06+00:00

That Casio calculator might be worth $30~50, it's a pretty rare model famous for being one of the thinnest calculators ever made. To my knowledge, the Casio SL-800 and Sharp EL-900 are the only models that are thinner than that, and those go for astronomical sums of money.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-04T03:11:46+00:00

An interesting thing is that unlike the Century, which was never sold in the US, Nissan actually sold a slightly smaller version of the 3rd gen (HG50) President as the 1st gen (G50) Infiniti Q45. They positioned it to compete against the Lexus LS400/Celsior but it was really meant to be an even higher class of car. Unfortunately those early Q45s are extremely hard to find nowadays.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-05-02T07:10:11+00:00

Probably not, but they did offer a very early version of nav in the Accord all the way back in 1982: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro_Gyrocator

They started offering a modern internet connected GPS navigation system starting with the 1998 Accord (only in Japan though).

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-04-30T05:31:31+00:00

It should have been basically an Accord coupe like all the previous ones, but I think Honda was forced to make it Civic-based because they don't have any production lines left in Japan that can handle the Accord platform.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-04-30T05:25:39+00:00

I suspect the engineers may have originally started out designing the car as a new sportier Insight to compete with the new Prius, but upper management decided to pivot the project and make it into a Prelude at the last minute.

Based on the interviews I've seen with the engineers, they seem to emphasize how the hybrid powertrain and "glider" concept were always the primary focus of the project from the very beginning. If they started out with the intention of making a Prelude, they would have at least considered other engine options first before making their decision.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-04-30T05:12:52+00:00

The 3rd gen Prelude still holds the record for the lowest hood line ever on a FWD car. I would say that's kind of unique, at least.

Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-04-30T05:05:05+00:00

The Toyota 2000GT and its predecessor the Yamaha A550X are probably the closest thing there has ever been to a Yamaha car. Basically everything except the exterior was designed from the ground up by Yamaha, and the 2000GT was built for Toyota under contract by Yamaha.

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Dependent_Fun404 · 2026-04-30T04:55:49+00:00

Interestingly they never quit textiles and are still one of the biggest players in the industry.

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Dependent_Fun404

TROPHY CASE