It is not a sony. I have opened a lot of sony walkmans and never seen such a design It is also not an AIWA. Everything in AIWA walkamns is so compact that you don't see any free space.
Apart from being a solid and sturdy unit, what i like about this model is the fact i see a lot of screws. Those screws can be extremely useful
And winner is..... HUGO and Radio Raheem Yes, it's old Panasonic RQ-R1. It's from early 80's (not from 90's) but it is not big, as Hugo said. It has one of the best mechanics I have ever seen but unfortunately, it has electronics with leaked capacitors. PCB is tiny film-type double layer. Copper traces were damaged and eaten by capacitor electrolyte so badly that I was not able to fix it even after several hours of hard work. I replaced all capacitors but fixing one issue uncovers another. I've fixed about ten broken traces but it still has so many problems that I gave it up. Marian
Ah yes the infamous flat flex film PCB. I have a terrible condition example of a National (Panasonic) RQ-R3. Opened it up once, saw the "PCB", nope. Never got the guts to even try to fix it.
Is there something that can be done in terms of using lomg lasting capacitors with better-made technology nowadays? Not to veer away from the topic but since you mentioned capacitors: I am actually also asking because I have several AIWA models (HS-PX303 and PX505 among others that need intervention). It is well known this to be an issue with many advanced AIWAs that also sport a very nice and delicate internal set of components.
You can replace the electrolytics with tantalums, but this might affect the sound on the audio path. Otherwise, replace with high quality, known brand electrolytic capacitors. The caps on my common list should be good in this regard.
ot to Damn, of course you have to live outside the US =( I am looking for someone who help me changing belts or capacitors to bring to life at least 20 Walkmans.
