I guys, I just bought my first Walkman a few days ago and while it's on its way, I was questionning myself about quality of the sound. I knew it didn't have any advanced features like NR and quartz tuned motor but I wanted to start with a classic and not a yellow sports walkman. I saw some youtube videos with bad sound quality and lots of wow and flutter and this stressed me.. Anyway, I didn't find much info on the internet about it so I was wondering what was your experience with it!
I have one also. Not the most sought after Walkman but don't let that deter you. Wow and flutter happens on all Walkmans. My DC2 still had some of it until I cleaned the capstan rubber ring. Will depend on the condition of the belt. The one I have has a very old belt so the wow and flutter is apparent. Once you get yours you will have a better idea. You can still get belts on ebay or contact Marian on this forum.
WM-2 is a classic walkman, the first miniaturized walkman that eventually became the template for all DD series walkmans. Any gear can break or crack but the term "central gear" i do not think that applies to this model since this walkman is a belt driven walkman and not a direct drive Walkman.
the WM-2 series (WM-2, F2, R2 and WM-5) do also have that "hybrid"-kinda center-gear, but for some reason they never break. unfortunately you can't use WM-2 series center-gears for DD-series as diameter is different (...on the other side it's fine, because otherwise you wouldn't find WM-2's anymore as they would serve as junkers !) i personally love those units - especially WM-2 in all colours (silver / black / red - yes, there was a transparent one, but only one !) and my favourites has allways been the "underdog" WM-5 for that beautyful volume-window ! your WM-2 is a great unit to start a collection, congrats !!!
Thanks for the info guys! Can't wait to get it and hop in the walkman community! Maybe some day I'll get high end stuff but for now, my "hobby money" goes almost all in the music instrument department
I bought a replacement belt on ebay from the guy in Slovakia to replace the actual one to help remove a little wow and flutter. Also will check the motor speed with a calibration tape. I have almost zero experience in electronics appart from soldering cables but I am confident. I stripped appart a JVC double tape deck not long ago but the straps were too lose so I tried puting them back on for several minutes only to find that they were just too old
@lewistapehead : you are one step behind me, the only difference is that I got lucky and a few weeks ago bought my first-ever Walkman as WM-D6 (not C!). Being a teenager behind the Iron Curtain, any Walkman was out of my reach :-( !!! Its funny how my second-fav Electronic music (first being Bruckner and Ligetti) sounds soooo much more engaging in analog... Why is that??? Its a f@$&-ng EM! It is totally digital!!
Hey, so I'm also curious about sound quality on this unit. I have the opportunity to. Pick one up that's had all belts replaced and been lubed up for a fair price. I know there's no dolby, but how does audio quality compare to other more lusted after models? Thanks!
I have a WM-F2 and it has the broken central gear. According to the other thread they are the same gear. I ordered one from Marian, I will let you know if it fits when I get it. It looks exactly the same in the online photos.