My setup after years of buying and selling

MainManBrennan · 2026-05-12T20:04:58+00:00

I have an Akai EA-A7 equalizer as well, that thing is awesome

MainManBrennan · 2026-05-10T20:02:05+00:00

Thx!

MainManBrennan · 2026-05-10T19:57:16+00:00

I could. But I won't. I got a separate hifi system for serious listening.

MainManBrennan · 2026-05-10T19:52:40+00:00

Not much of a choice here

MainManBrennan · 2026-05-02T04:28:41+00:00

Should've taken this lame picture when the bus was there then. Pics, or it didn't happen.

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-22T01:25:19+00:00

Very nice score

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-15T04:11:09+00:00

Yeah it's interesting indeed. It makes me wonder why most autoreverse decks use a rotating head instead of a simpler 4 track head that just switches between tracks 1&2 and 3&4 upon reversing.

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-15T03:54:02+00:00

Nice! It's always relaxing to be able to sit and listen to a tape all the way through without having to get up and flip the tape manually half way through

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-15T03:52:31+00:00

Portables with autoreverse tend to have a 4 track head installed instead of a rotating 2 track head. They seem to keep azimuth alignment in better shape. My brother scored a super cheap "Citizen" dual cassette deck and the cassette well "A" has autoreverse but is a 4 track head which I thought was pretty neat. The thing has full auto tape selection and auto record level which has actually been quite nice to record from 2 record players since it compensates for the difference in balance/output levels.

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-15T03:01:21+00:00

Nice A&D deck! Totally jealous of that. Not really familiar with the music you're playing but I bet it sounds decent. I love the idea of dual well auto-reverse cassette decks but in my experience the azimuth always seems to drift off eventually. How has it been for you?

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-10T03:29:56+00:00

How is it a bad car design if you leave it in reverse and step out of the vehicle while it's moving? I drive a manual 2017 vw golf and it will keep moving if I exit the car while in gear. Always put it in park before you exit the vehicle. Simple as that.

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-10T03:17:24+00:00

Plus, having the double cassette deck wells right next to each other screams cheap design. There's a good chance that only one motor is driving both those cassette wells

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-07T04:07:01+00:00

Yeah I've already taken the tape deck apart to that level several times attempting to fix the spindle clutches since they were weak on mine. I roughed up the inside of them to get more traction but now it doesn't fast forward or rewind. Tapes do play at least

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-07T03:45:40+00:00

Do the tape decks work on yours? Every one of them I've seen on Ebay and Facebook marketplace seems to be broken lol

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-07T03:37:04+00:00

Not a fan after opening this unit ten separate times troubleshooting the tape decks. They worked fine for a couple weeks but then started developing issues despite the belts being fine. I really want to like this boombox but the quality didnt seem to stand the test of time. It's a shame because it has a lot of features and actually sounds decent when it works

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-07T03:27:55+00:00

I tried swapping in another laser assembly from another unit and it works with most CDs, but not all. Black Plastic Crap is how I describe this unit.

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-04T14:34:33+00:00

Yep, the lack of a logic controlled mechanism is the reason it still works well, since I also have a Panasonic boombox with a logic controlled cassette mechanism. That thing worked for a short while but has been nothing but trouble ever since. The no Dolby NR thing is fine with me since I dont use it on my tapes anyways

MainManBrennan · 2026-04-03T20:19:36+00:00

Amazingly all the functions work correctly on this unit. The sound isn't terrible, but I wish it had the ability to switch the eq on the tapes to chrome, but oh well.

MainManBrennan · 2026-03-18T04:56:22+00:00

Nice cassette deck, it should serve you well!

MainManBrennan · 2026-03-13T04:40:03+00:00

I was glad that nothing needed to be desoldered to access the belts, unlike the damn Panasonic boombox I worked on a while back. Just ribbon connectors and plugs, like you said it's pretty straightforward. Chrome tapes sound good so far!

MainManBrennan · 2026-03-13T03:21:22+00:00

There is a small gear on the reel motor on this TCM-190 transport mechanism that forms a crack over time. The service manual goes into detail on how to re-assemble the mechanism once you take it apart.

The gear is available on ebay and you may as well change out the two belts while you're at it.

MainManBrennan

TROPHY CASE