Baby Yamaha KX-150 and Big Yamaha KX-530

[derek92994]

Hey all

I had this little Yamaha KX-150 donated to me the other day in return for a favor. Not thinking much of it I put it aside for a while and got it out the other day to power it up for a few basic tests. The speed was a little slow so I warmed the deck up and adjusted it using my test tone tape. A few other basic things like head clean/demagnetize/belt clean and it was ready to go. Had a quick listen to it and I must say for such a basic deck with 2 motor design, it sounds good for its class. It does not have anything fancy like HXPRO/Music search/Bias adjustment/Play trim like my big Yamaha KX-530 which has the Amorphous GF-40 head and 3 motors. The two decks have the same button layout so they look quite nice sitting together in the cabinet. Here are some Pics of them in the cabinet (Excuse the dust).

Here are some pics of the heads in both units. You will notice the KX-530 has the GF-40 HXPRO Amorphous head and the KX-150 has just an ordinary "stock" looking head.

KX-150:

KX-530:

I have made some changes to the Cassette deck section of my cabinet. Up the top are the two Yamahas, then the Denon DR-F7 and Nakamichi BX-1. I did have a Sony dual well up the top and Marantz SD530 down the bottom but the sound quality was not as good from these decks. The Nakamichi 480 deck is upstairs in the "naughty corner" as it is having problem after problem. Will look at that some other time when I am not as frustrated with it.

Finally here is a video of the KX-150 playing back a Tape I recorded in my JVC TD-V661 3 head unit, sourced from vinyl on the Thorens TD 160 Super. The cassette used is a Ferric TDK AD60. The video is a bit blurry due to my camera and lighting conditions, but the sound is great and very close to what I hear in the lounge room (Some pop/crackle from the vinyl source).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDl0fHnS71s&feature=c4-overview&list=UUYcS06faN2o3a6fgS5vgCIQ

Overall the KX-150 is a great, robust, basic deck with good sound, much more than I expected

Here is a video I did some time back of the KX-530 (audio/video slightly out of sync):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpW356Ky6uY

 

[Web Police]

Hey it looks like one of those decks was on the titanic judging from the corrosion in the tape well. I didn't know you guys had dust down there as I thought the US had a monopoly on it.


Nice looking decks though.

 

[derek92994]

Hey it looks like one of those decks was on the titanic judging from the corrosion in the tape well. I didn't know you guys had dust down there as I thought the US had a monopoly on it.

Nice looking decks though.

Thanks Web. It may not be corrosion, could be just the material they used in the casing. I have seen a few other decks with the same pattern. Either way no major issues with the decks. Both of them were donors.

 

[Web Police]

Great decks for donors. Can't beat that. I don't see too much quality gear here anymore as most of it is picked over by the time I see it. But then again I am not actively out there looking for any gear either.

 

[Elite-ist]

Derek: Thanks for posting the info and videos of your Yamaha KX-150 and 530. I always enjoy watching video clips of cassette decks at work. There are many 2-head cassette decks that get overlooked. And a number of dual-well cassette decks don't even get the recognition they should for good performance.

Nando.

 

[LightRadiant]

Derek, where is speed adjustment?

Hi. Thanks for posting. I have a KX -150 myself ; may be a sightly newer model. I've never adjusted speed before. Can you tell me what I am looking for and where to find it? Much obliged. Peace.

 

[laatsch55]

He'll be a few hours yet, LightRadiant

 

[speakerman1]

Hey it looks like one of those decks was on the titanic judging from the corrosion in the tape well. I didn't know you guys had dust down there as I thought the US had a monopoly on it.


Nice looking decks though.

Take it for what you may. I looked in my KX 580 and it doesn't look like that. That is corrosion on the head. Do you have deoxit? Wet a q tip and scrub it as good as you can. It may not mess up now. It will later on.

 

[LightRadiant]

Thanks!

He'll be a few hours yet, LightRadiant

Appreciate it. Bought a couple of those special screwdrivers that won't accidentally conduct electricity. Home Depot didn't have any plastic ones. I don't have another deck to record 4400 Hertz on and then compare to playing it on this deck. How about using a metronome to gauge speed? Play song (from CD) on my computer and compare to how it plays on tape in my deck. Bear with me. I am new to this and am new to do-it-yourself of any complexity in general.

Glad to have this as a resource. Peace.

- LR

 

[derek92994]

There is usually an adjusting pot inside the back of the capstan motor, this motor usually has the main belt coming off it going to the capstan flywheel. You will see a small hole in the back of the motor where you can put a flat screw driver in to adjust the speed pot, but the screw driver will need to be small. For speed I recorded a 3khz test tone off youtube onto cassette using a deck that I knew the speed was good on, then played that recording back in the deck I wanted to adjust the speed correctly through a software scope on my PC, carefully adjusting as close to 3khz as I could.

http://www.zeitnitz.de/Christian/scope_en

 

[LightRadiant]

The mystery continues

Derek,

Thanks for getting back to me. i don't know what a capstan motor is so I looked it up on Google images Looks like a silver cylindrical thing. I have a hole in the back of one which appeared to have a screw in it. However, it was just something rubber and had no resistance. It could, in fact, be pushed in and had no resistance. I could have sworn this is what we were discussing. I've taken two pictures and would appreciate anyone's feedback on where I should be looking. This is the interior, directly behind where the cassette would be placed. I'm assuming this is the general area we are shooting for.

Final thought. I have just junked two other models: a Technics and Kenwood. The former's belt wore out after about 1 or 2 cassettes of use. The other was recording distortion on higher notes and "s" in lyrics; even when the mix level on the player was at medium, the led bars on this recorder showed the levels as being through the roof. And it was something I could not adjust. Final thought. Cassette players seem touching: speeds vary, things wear out, etc. I love that they are fixable but not sure if I have the interest in spending so much time troubleshooting. I just want a unit that plays my music clenly and at the right speed. Too much to ask? Maybe I should just go online and buy one from an audiophile who has already serviced everything. Can't tell you how much time and money I've put into this cause of transferring my tunes from cassette into files for my mp3 player and possible burning to CD

That is all! I'll see if I can uplaod some pictures of where I thought the hole was and the back in general. Please click for greater detail.

 

[derek92994]

The speed adjustment pot is underneath that rubber thing, you will need a very small flat screwdriver to adjust it. You can adjust the speed using the test tone method I described or if you are not concerned about perfect accuracy you can compare a tape to a cd copy by ear to get an idea of where to set it. Yes cassette decks can be quite fiddly due to all the moving parts, there is quite a bit to them, hopefully once you get the speed correct there should be no more problems. Make sure the heads and rollers are clean too before you do this.

 

[LightRadiant]

Double-checking...

Derek,

Just to clarify. I push that rubber piece in but I'm not sure there is enough of an indentation on it for traction up against the tip of the screwdriver. I have one that will fit - used to adjust eyewear, but it is metal. Unsafe? The insulated ones I bought are a little hard to maneuver.

Have you been to the US? How does Australia differ? Always been curious. Is it true that Australian women love American men? Or has our foreign policy totally botched that?

Peace,

LR

 

[derek92994]

I have always used screw drivers with plastic handles but the screw driver tip part was metal, it can make the speed very fast or very slow if you touch the sides of the pot with it, you'll hear it as you are adjusting. You have to get the screw driver in just the right spot so it does not do this. So when you turn the screw driver it gradually increases or decreases the speed. Can be a little tricky but you will get it eventually. If you are worried about getting shocked use some gloves so there is no direct contact between you and the metal screw driver.

 

[derek92994]

You put the screw driver tip right through that rubber piece too, gently until it goes down into the adjustment pot, you may need to turn the screw driver a bit before it actually grips onto the adjuster of the pot to adjust the speed.

 

[derek92994]

Also, its a small flat type screw driver you want to use, not a phillips head.