About a month ago or so I saw a video in my YouTube feed about the Sony TCS-470 And after watching it I immediately needed to obtain one. So I bought the only one I could find on Ebay for a steal (16$), In fact most cassette recorders in the TCS line are very cheap compared to their Non recording cousins, I think it has to do with the fact they don't have the Walkman name attached to them. Anyway, Repairing mine was fairly easy, New belt, idler tire and capacitors for best possible sound. It works perfectly now except that the Auto-Reverse mechanism is kinda Janky on mine, Like it takes some fiddling around for it to play backwards properly. Now for a kinda Semi Review. The tapes I used to test were SA90's recorded using my Sony TC-K615s with Dolby B turned on, The tapes were recorded off of My AT-LP60 record player and a pioneer CD deck, My Headphones are also Sony MDR-7506's. For frame of reference In terms of features this little guy is jammed packed with Auto Reverse, Stereo Recording, Dolby B (playback only), 2 Built in mics and a Mono Speaker, Tape counter and to top it off a 5 Band graphic Equalizer. Build quality is Top Notch as to be expected with a full Metal body and high quality mechanism. It's small and can fit in a pocket easily, but is pretty Chunky and heavy Not Using the Equalizer it sounds pretty nice, Reasonably clear and highs seem a bit above average but while using The equalizer it sounds really good with relatively good W&F. This unit also seems to have a really good Dolby B Decoder, It doesn't dull out the sound like lower end players with Dolby B, So with Dolby on and with that EQ you get a really excellent listening experience, One thing I have to critique it on is that when playing it in the forward direction there is a bit of motor noise but it may just be a quirk with my unit. The speaker sounds okay but I give it a pass since it's barely bigger & thicker than a Dollar coin. I tested the recording function with a D60 and as you would expect It sounds like crap... but not total crap, I'd say It's listenable but it sounds about as good as an FM radio, Well maybe a bit duller than FM. It's perfectly good for speech recording though and I am definitely gonna take it to the next concert I ever go to I couldn't find my USB audio recorder but when I do I can put sound samples on this thread. In Conclusion this is a kick ass Walkman, well technically not a Walkman but for what it is I love it! one of the coolest Walkman's I think and it isn't even under the Walkman brand. Pros- Jammed packed with features, Excellent build and sound, small for 1985, Beautiful design Cons- Mechanism may be a bit Janky, May get some motor noise, lacking in cool Walkman logo On the back some of the paint rubbed off very thick as seen in this side shot The Ultimate listening experience kinda ... With a tape covered in glitter and star stickers my sister decorated. I couldn't find a listing on Ebay selling a belt specifically for this unit but this belt here works fine https://www.ebay.com/itm/BELT-FOR-S...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 If you want to replace the capacitors aswell here is a list of all the ones you'll need: 220uf 4v x4 100uf 4v x1 47uf 4v x6 33uf 4v x5 22uf 4v x3
Well Done, Thanks for sharing!!! Being a Naim-Head myself (as seen in my avatar) I tend to stay away from the features I do not need, like auto-reverse, mic, or embedded speakers... but this one looks real nice!!!
I don't even use auto reverse on I don't even use auto reverse on auto reverse units from generally azimuth issues and force of habit to flip the tape.
I'm not sure what the story is with those but they went for a staggering $301.00 when new, I think the year was 1992. I've got an AIWA that has very similar lines and that was about the time Sony aquired full ownership of AIWA, I'll have to look my little guy over a litte closer when I find it around here somewhere.
http://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/sony-tcs-470-manufacturing-year.2421/ this thread confirms it to be 1985 and at most 1986. The TCS-470 appears to use the same mechanism as models like the WM-F57, F77, Wm-55, etc. The WM-R55 looks the most similar mechanically speaking. It's surprising how many Walkman's had TCS/ TCM cousins WM-1: TCS-310 WM-4: TCS-350 WM-11: TCS-430 WM-7: TCS-370 For example. and it looks like I saved 285$ on mine. Swish!
most probably I have this model since it looks very familiar to me. These Capacitors info is very useful for future reference. Thanks
This is indeed is a very beautiful unit! I got mine from an ad with kinda crappy pictures, and was pleasantly surprised by the build quality and metal body when it arrived. Inside, it's quite unique as well, as a the equalizer PCB is attached to the back case and connected by long pins the the main PCB. So, to have to pull with some force to release the back cover. Just be careful to not bend the pins. The TCS-470 too have a TCM cousin. It's the TCM-57. And alomost identical overall design, but less high-end and less features. This time's it's plastic all the way. Still looks good though, not some crappy plastic. I have mint one with an interesting add-on I'll post about in the near future. Oh, and one more thing about the TCS-470 is the colors! I just love unites that are "colorfully elegegant". A sleek design with some nice color accents, and the TCS-470 is certainly this. The typical high-end combination of silvers and blacks with 3 bright color accents of blue, green, and red.
Wow! All those features in a pocket-sized recorder? All it's missing is an AM/FM tuner, and maybe some presets.
