This has just sold for £155 . I have noticed these WM-22 are selling often for more than £100 often without headphones either /or original box I don't get it as if I recall correctly they were the first reasonably priced Walkman made for wider consumption although well constructed with all the main functions one needed Sony Walkman Cassette Player WM-22
This has been discussed before several times e.g. http://www.stereo2go.com/forums/threads/fancy-the-deal-of-the-day-wm22.969/page-3#post-8691 A comparable story about cars which probably won't mean anything to people outside Europe...... My first car was a MK1 Ford Escort. The second was a Ford Capri About three years ago I was chatting to a young chap with a nice Capri. He said that the car he had really wanted was a MK1 Escort but couldn't afford one so had settled for the Capri as the next best thing. Back in the 1970s and early 80s most Escort drivers dreamt of having a Capri "the car you always promised yourself" according to Ford. Back to Walkmans I think the brightly coloured WM22s might be the best looking Walkmans ever made. They just look so 1980s. I have a black WM25 here (the next model up with Dolby). Despite using the same case it doesn't have the looks. Sound quality is also supposed to be very good despite the bargain price when new.
They're probably going the same way as the TPS-L2 since they look very 80s, as Longman said. I've been lucky enough to get one in all 4 colours at a fairly reasonable price and I would agree that the sound quality is very good for a budget model.
They do look 1980's but 155 notes I can think of many other Walkman's I could spend 155 Squids on and they have a D in the name. But everyone to there own and the market does govern prices.
Sorry Longman . I did not know this had come up before.I must have missed it. I was starting a family in the 80's and the look must have passed me by although I am making up for it now with my collection but I did have a couple of Walkman then .one was the AIWA with a graphic equaliser on the front lid and it was of metal construction and pretty good sound as I recall but for the moment I cannot remember the model number by the way what was the 80's look ! all shoulder pads and hairdos ?
Chunky angular looks. Bright colours and bold graphics featured diagonal lines A car from the same era with 3 out of 4 of those was the Ford XR3. The lines are angular enough. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=f...ILzAD#imgrc=0t5dVr3dMHEDJM:&spf=1512424003034 Away from cars everything from textiles to compilation record covers had similar graphics.
Longman I had never realised the link between the cars and the Walkman .I have always considered myself aware of fashions trends but never linked them such as this. I had the first Golf GTI with twin headlights and I always thought the German cars were more stylish, well built and reliable than the British cars. I could never envisage the British constructing a cassette player as well as a Walkman or Aiwa . It was not in our Psyche or am I so wrong. How do the Japanese zoom in on our style or did they have an influence somehow even then on our car construction which in any case is American de facto?
Thinking on I am amazed that The WM-22 does not indeed look dated . It has clean lines bright colours was reasonable priced and had good sound quality. However, I do not think the cars of those times for the ordinary consumer look so good now save for the Ford Xr3 or the Golf GTI but that is another debate. Think of British Leyland Ford strikes the 4 day week ! Japan would never have tolerated such things .Oh happy times
Just before posting my reply I was reading about the Lamborghini Countach, which while designed in the 1970s is more associated with the 1980s, possible due to an Athena poster. http://retromash.com/2017/09/08/how...-the-amazing-80s-lamborghini-countach-poster/ That car was famous for having lots of angular panels. I think my view on car styling was shaped by a metalwork teacher who once said that "In the Olden days they had difficulty making sharp corners in metal so cars ended up looking like the Morris Minor and VW Beetle, but now technology has progressed so we can have stylish cars like the MK4 Cortina. Remember how when the Sierra was introduced it was derided for its Jelly Mould looks. Hyundai even had an advert about it. GM Vauxhall didn't as the Astra was about to go from boxy to Curvy. Nowadays curved car bodies seem to be the norm. An example from Japan would be the MK1 and MK2 Toyota MR2. To try and keep on topic, exactly the same happened with Boomboxes with the angular designs of the 1980s changing to Eggs in the 1990s.
Hi I am not a designer but I see where you are coming from but I prefer the curved cars which take me back to the E-type .What more beautiful car can there be. Well I can think of some but we digress .Who dictates Form And Function.Are we all so easily led Who knows. Is Apple a better product but it has style and function but the music does not exist . There is no feedback no touch no enjoyment. Is it an improvement > Sorry the last glass of wine stares at me !!!!!
I have always been quite partial to the WM-28. Next step up, with dolby and a nice gold design. Back in the day, it was the most affordable Walkman with NR. A good one these days probably only needs new belts and a recap to get rid of the motor wine. But I would never pay anything more than 30 quid for it. Its a competent player, but certainly not enough to warrant those prices the 22 seems to be garnering at the moment. However, its a sellers market and those prices are all because people seem happy to pay them. It comes as no surprise really.... I say that because since I opened my shop (facebook.com/analogueoctoberrecords proper site launches soon), I get a lot of people asking if Im willing to sell any of my collection. This is no doubt because I stock a lot of new cassettes from Burger Records and Sub-Pop. These kids want to be able to play them on something nice. I would not be at all surprised if these same kids are driving up the prices. The same thing happened with the DD9 and TPS-L2. Once priced very sensibly, the Ebay market just saw an exponential rise in the prices, with each sale setting a precedent for the next. Same with the DC2 and other DD models. The only model that currently seems to enjoy sensible pricing is the Aiwa HS-P202 and versions thereof. I pretty much have all the walkmans a man wants (as opposed to needs), so I am now nothing more than a casual observer of the market, and not participating. But a Friday night browse of the auctions just leaves me shaking my head and wondering who these sellers and buyers are.... because both are playing a huge part in making a once affordable hobby very very expensive. A shame really....
Interesting what you say about fixing the 'motor whine': As the owner of a WM25 (again, like the WM22 but with Dolby) I'd love to get the buzzing noise fixed - is it a simple repair if I took it to one of the repairers listed within this forum? I know it's only a basic model but the one I have is a replacement for the first Sony Walkman I ever bought so there is a sentimental attachment. Interestingly the original model I had in around 1987 developed the fault within the first 12 months and it took Dixons an age to fix it. I'd be more patient now
Do you have an idea of what caps need to be changed ? I was going to recap mine, but all caps checked fine, well within their specified tolerance (even the big 220 uF). In the end i kept as it is, it not my daily driver, it is just a collectable piece.
