Recent content by Skywavebe

Did you oil the capstan bearing and when I do with AMSoil the wow and flutter can be reduced further and I also oil the upper motor bearing with it too under the pulley. The oil I use make a huge improvement in all these bearings. BTW- the motor turning the wrong way can be corrected by takein...

Check for voltage at the capstan motor if it is there then the motor may be dead. turn it a little to see if it will start otherwise you will need a new one. The DC motors in these deck do not last forever and there might be the possibility that you will need to put a EG motor that is like the...

You are right- too many experts out there that never even changed a head. I have heard of the fingernail condemning a head and I tell people that most people witth the fingernail test are idiots- I never do that as it tells you nothing. Most cassette deck heads have to be examined with...

You could make a PCB to adapt a DIP IC on a stand up board to fit into a SIL pin out but it just adds to the cost of a restoration or repair. On this PCN then it might use an SMD part but if it were me doing it I would still use a DIP IC. You can socket these easier.

I don't think they make NE5532 in SIL neither does the LME49720 come in that package. If the use of these expensive Op Amps can not be noticed then why on earth put them in for peace of mind? I know in Tascam Mixers there were all these yahoos putting in NE5532 and other high frequency op amps...

Has anyone actually measured a resultant enhancement of performance or am I going to get the typical "It Sounds Better" response from this what they say is an obsolete NJM2114 IC.

It had been my observation over time to consult a guy like Alex Nikitin to see what he says. He had some head preamp section that were better noise wise using FET's but boosting the low end I don't think is all that important as what is there below 60 Hz but sounds from Pipe organ or some kinds...

Somebody sent me a bunch of Memorex tape for some reason and I used them to make play test tape out of them or speed tapes where all they need do is record 3KHz reliably well. I can't think that the only tapes I have gotten were their low end product so I am still waiting to see a good Memorex...

The tolerance of these parts have very little significance except for resistors in gain structures. 5% or 10% is good enough. The caps +20% would not cause any problems at all as all they do is pass a signal. The amount that all you guys worry about makes no difference at all. The caps that are...

The big question is why can you not get 400mV at output. The manual I have downloaded from Hi Fi Engine is terrible as it never gives a playback calibration procedure or tell you what the specified output is- you are all left to guessing. The 400mV at the specs is just the nominal level but does...

Why get rid of 10V and 6.3V caps? Well first they are old most likely and then these voltage type caps have a high degree of failure to them and often times this is what the problems in a system are. My shop does not use anything less than 16 V caps. I do not allow any SMD parts in except for op...

First you offer a section of diagram and no telling what device this is from. You need to get the outputs from the circuit rather than worry about meter display first. Lack of getting proper output or test signals can be attributed to wrong measure technique or not correcting for circuit decay...

Wurth are German made caps and they are not a problem part as long as I have tested and used them plus I put in 105*C parts most the time which are better than the 85*C parts. You do not have to put Japan parts in all the time and many late Tascam decks say made in Taiwan which is China. You can...

Here is another wives tale to put to rest- grooves in a tape head will occur from 50 hours to the end of life and most heads will operate well the entire life with out any worry about them. Those people that make a big deal with the fingernail test on any machine are clearly amateurs following...

Flouro tunes are easy to take off and put back. The only part that is delicate is the vacuum nozzle. This if broken means you need a new tube. I have taken tubes off to put in new drive IC's when needed not a lot but a few- it is no big deal to take them out.