Hello from Walkman searcher!

Hello everyone, I am just working out which Walkman to buy to play the 1000+ cassettes I have from the last century! For some reason, I chucked all my various players away, and now can’t play any of my cassettes!
The search is hard, I suspect you either need to buy cheaply and budget for a refurb, or buy a refurbed unit. Otherwise, I am worried about buying!
On this subject I have found a reasonably priced EX655, but it doesn’t have the remote. I found the user manual online, but it doesn’t say if you can control the unit without the remote control. I suspect you can, but it is £80, which is awkwardly between the buy broken and refurb and the buy repaired unit price, so I need to find this out before buying.
Can anyone help me with this?
Thanks if you can!

 

Welcome to the forum, Stevedean !

There are certain factors that need to be taken into account for finding the right walkman for you: the budget you have, the repair skills you have, with/without Dolby NR, wow&flutter, output power, etc.
Depending on the kind of music you will be listening to, wow&flutter can be an important parameter. This said, most belt-driven walkmans do not have exceptional w&f, except for the disc-drive ones which can get below 0.1% WRMS when properly refurbished.

The WM-EX655 may suffer from a broken clutch gear. I could not find a service manual for it, but in the service manual of the WM-EX655 I can see a mechanism similar to the WM-EX5.
You can read here for more deails: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/wm-ex5-tac-tac-sound-repair.7108/

Regarding the remote, if it has that proprietary connector, you will need an adaptor like this if you want to use it with other headphones than the original: https://www.ebay.com/itm/114268932878?hash=item1a9af58b0e:g:THgAAOSwbYdaxHEL

The WM-EX series are mostly good quality walkmans which don't need much in terms of repair, except for the ones with possible broken clutch gear.

You can also look at AIWAs, like HS-P202 MKII or MKIII if you want a small unit. I personally prefer more rugged units from the 80s, but your preferences might be different than mine.

 

Many thanks for your reply Valentin. The repair to replace the broken would be beyond my experience, and with the article advising I had a 50% chance of the EX655 having the problem, I think I will pass.
The remote connector appears to be a standard headphone socket, with the flatter entry point for the remote next to it. Both look separate, I presume the remote/headphone unit has some sort of combined jack. Are you saying I can’t just plug in set of headphones I already have?
I am moving towards getting a refurbished unit, as it appears to be the most likely successful option.
Thanks for your help with this!

 

I'm not 100% convinced that this unit has the mechanism I describe to be problematic, but in the service manual the pictures look very similar, so there is a risk. I cannot find a picture with the unit disassembled, so cannot say for sure.
If the connector also has a jack, you can use it with any headphones. There are some models which have a proprietary headphone connector, but from what you describe this is not the case for the WM-EX655.
A remote is not needed to control these units, you can do everything from the built-in buttons.

If you don't have good repair skills, then I would recommend to go with an already refurbished unit. But keep in mind that there are sellers who will call a unit that had its belt replaced refurbished.
In reality, depending on the model and its specific problems, the refurbish process can be much more involved than that.

Do you want a specifc brand ? Does it need to have Dolby or not ? Give more details, as I can make a list of units that are worth checking which don't have a lot of problems to begin with.

 

Thank you, a list would be so helpful. I am looking for Dolby. I won’t be doing much walking(!!) with the walkman, as will mostly either listen with headphones, or connect to a speaker. It doesn’t have to be Sony, and sorry for saying this, just needs to look cool. Most of the Sony’s do look good, I have not seen so many of the other brands. I won’t need to do any recording on it, just playback. Thanks again!

 

Oh, I see. That SONY WM-EX655 certainly looks cool. In fact, I bought WM-EX5 for that exact reason. The mirror-like cassette door and the fact that it opens sideways is something cool. But I have many walkmans and that's not the main one I use.
I will try to find more info on the EX655, maybe it has a different type of clutch gear. If I find anything, I'll let you know.

Given that, I must take some time to think, as most walkmans don't really look that cool. The DD series from SONY is to be taken into consideration if the center gear has been replaced.
Otherwise, AIWA, Pansonic, SANYO, TOSHIBA are all brands to be taken into consideration. Given the looks are so important, I suggest you do some reasearch first on other brands as well, see what you like and then ask about the reliability.

 

Don’t worry, I am easily pleased with a ‘cool’ description! All the DD’s look cool, but unless I find one in a junk sale and get it repaired, I won’t be getting on! I like the EX633 as well. Maybe I am liking the ones that can be powered by the gum stick battery, with Dolby, that narrows it down. The hunt continues!

 

I checked the service manual for the WM-EX633 and this one does clearly have a different type of clutch gear, which does not have any inherent problems. There are many in the EX series that are powered by gum-stick batteries, so there are plenty of options.
However, avoid the ones mentioned in my topic with WM-EX5, but keep in mind that the list is incomplete at this point in time.

And regarding the DD series, if you happen to buy a junk one, I can repair it for you. Feel free to contact me on PM for further details if you'll ever buy one.

Good luck hunting walkmans !

 

Thank you again Valentin! Happy weekend!

 

In the meantime a couple of videos on this subject
I hadn't seen the first one which I think is by a member of Stereo2go (although I don't recall his name) and includes some good vintage footage.




The problem now is that buying a personal stereo with features like Dolby is a bit like buying a twenty year old car.
Even if it is New Old Stock that doesn't guarantee it won't need new belts etc.
Go back to the most collectable units and you are taking about ones that are thirty or even forty tears old.

Personally, one of the best personal stereos I have is a simple cheap Aiwa but with Dolby that I bought new about twenty years ago mainly because was such a bargain.
I have had to rebelt it recently though. In contrast I have a WM-BF49 which I bought at a car boot sale and despite rebelting (the belt had turned to goo) there are still a couple of other problems with it.

 

Many thanks Longman, I will give those a watch!

 

Welcome to S2G @Stevedean
I hope to help you with your question, so from my understanding:

- you have +1000 cassette so you need durable walkman
- your budget is about £80
- You like cool looking walkman ( who doesn't )


Panasonic :
Panasonic cool looking walkmans are difficult to fix and even if you install a new belt it wont last to play +1000 cassette you got, These are good for display nowadays, There are certain Panasonic models that are durable but bulkier and don't have the cool looking features
AIWA:
AIWA walkman units mostly suffer from weak capacitors and require excellent electronic knowledge to repair them. HS-P202 as @Valentin recommended is a good walkman but little bit over your budget.
-Sony EX series:
I do not recommend any walkman that doesn't allow you to use regular headphones or need adaptor which will cost you extra (most of Sony EX series)

So you need a Durable, reliable, good quality DD walkman and the only things come to that price range is a WM-F5 in yellow color, or probably black color
It will need additional $30 to repair the central gear. ( a step by step guide is available)

a better option is to wait till you save about $250-$350 to get a DD33 in good working condition.
there are ridiculous prices on Walkman units on Ebay , be little patient and find one like this sold last week and fix it:

This walkman is very durable, last for you for long time and you can always sell it higher that what you buy. It is cool looking to my opinion BUT if you don't like the look of this walkman then go back to EX series, again in my opinion EX615 is most beautiful WM-EX series walkman, Something like this:


I do not recommend any specific seller, This is just an example, make sure the seller is reliable. I placed it since it is very y much below your budget but it has a lot of cosmetic flaws.
and good luck

 

Many thanks Boodokhan, I saw a EX615 today in a shop, the seller sent me a pic (very old school!), I am going to look at it next week. I have got a 41 branch charity shop chain looking for ‘walkmans’ for me, which they say they get weeks. Will post on here if this turns up anything, and then get it repaired.
Will I be able to listen to a tape on the EX615 with a standard set of headphones that just have the 3.5mm jack? So not the remote connector? The EX615 look cool don’t they, especially in white! Slightly worried if no remote. Looks like headphones will plug in, but not sure if you need remote to switch on Dolby.
Thanks again!

 

I think cosmetic condition can sometimes be misleading. I am sure that some of the best condition Walkmans and Discmans were ones that stopped working early in their life, but were tucked away somewhere because they cost so much new.

Something I just thought. What are the 1000 tapes you have? If (for example) they are ones you recorded from the radio onto cheap cassettes using a cheap mono radio cassette recorder it would be pointless spending money on Dolby etc.

 

Good question about the tape quality. Only about 100 are pre-recorded(that I recorded from a music system), the rest are either purchased from music stores, or limited edition magazine tapes with rare recordings of top artists of the time. Tidying up my loft, and life. Must have 2-3000 CDs as well, plus similar vinyl records, but that is something for another forum and time! Big loft!

 

yes, You can use regular headphone jack

Red circle mark is for regular headphone jack and the rectangle one is when you use its original remote to play, stop ....
This walkman comes in white color only with 2 different color on buttons and Sony logo (Blue and Green). Personally I think this is best looking Sony EX series walkman.

 

Thanks Boodokhan!

 

Thank you Mister X! These are interesting times aren’t they!
But there must be an issue of demand and supply on the way. You can see that from the prices of vintage portable cassette players, but the alternative is currently rubbish from China.
In the UK, cassette album sales in shops was highest last year, since 2003, with all the top 10 being albums released in 2020. Sales were small at 157,000, compared to nearly 5m vinyl albums, but it is growing.
There seems to be growing number of new recording artists that don’t get enough financial reward from streaming revenue, if they can get a play, and they are releasing cassettes, maybe because it is easier to produce a decent cassette at home, and in reasonable volume.
Record decks have evolved in past few years, with very high quality Bluetooth decks, catering majority who want vinyl, but don’t want a big sound system, just high end Bluetooth speakers.
In similar way, but completely different, analogue photography has grown rapidly, but no one is yet making new film cameras. There is a guy in Finland who has been driving round Europe for a few years now, collecting film cameras, taking them back to Finland, repairing them, and putting them on sale for very low prices, sort of saving the European stock levels. His website is Kamerstore if you are interested!
No one is doing this for cassettes, unless everyone is buying the Ions and Super USB Cassette Capture machines?
Strange times!

 

There is a growing number of artists that are releasing on physical media, I see that on bandcamp. According to obsoletemedia.org, only pre-recorded cassettes are still produced and I find that to be true.
But the streaming platforms have grown exponentially, much more than the number of artistis releasing on physical media. That's also because of a consumerist culture, where people listen to some piece of music for one time and it doesn't make sense to own it.
Given the new releases are made only on type I tape with no Dolby, the demand for vintage equipment is a little bit overblown at this point (at least that's how I see it), because most listings on ebay with crazy prices don't actually sell.

Interesting story with the guy in Finland ! I lived with the impression that film photography has been dead for years...
My hope is I can contribute to saving some old equipment with the tutorials I make, but also realise that many will still end up in the trash. When I find walkmans in need of refurbish, I buy them for restoring and reselling, but it's not that common to find them at good prices.

I remember watching a guy on youtube, who has a channel dedicated to repairing vintage equipment, not repairing a mint condition TC-D5M with a burnt motor governor. In another video, he had a SONY TCD-D7 DAT walkman which he also ended up not repairing. Both were simple fixes.
The guy only repairs stuff that's very simple to fix, like a belt replacement or put a drop of oil somewhere. I was pretty pissed about that, but it is what it is...