This is one of those stories that starts off badly but ends well!! After a huge delay in so called 'Shipping' (I see no ships between here & Kent) along with a tightwad seller - Hope he isn't a member here I'll be here all week etc etc!! This delivery finally arrived yesterday badly packed & sustaining a couple of scratches & a small chip that wasn't there before it was posted Described as 'Immaculate' & probably was before posting, the seller snapped the handle while packing which wasn't a good start!! I agreed to still take it & so glad I did now........... On testing, the cassette deck did work but very slow playback & to top it off, the head azimuth was so far out it was possible to clearly hear the B side of the tape backwards a first for me!! Time to get it apart & firstly grab the handle pieces, get the gel glue out & carefully repair it - two very clean breaks thank god & after a few hours leaving it to cure, the repair was successful Next look for my tiny allen key to fit the bloody stupid azimuth adjustment screw (Can you guess what make it is yet??) & firstly adjust by eye till head was straight looking down on the head/roller block! Decent chrome tape in & fine adjust the head until a very good treble was achieved using the TINY adjuster hole - so fiddly but very gently & patiently achieved..... Now for the motor speed - belts & rubbers in superb shape so can only surmise that it was always this slow from new or maybe just used for the radio, who knows.........As is often the case with these, a small separate sub board with motor servo lurked just adjacent to the motor, so a quick tweak using a CD as reference solved the problem Reassemble then time to try her out........ Bloody Hell, these stereo's are excellent when working! An 8614 it isn't quite but it is really good, I love it The looks style & Led's along with beautiful blue woofers horn tweeters compliment the really decent sound especially with pumping dance tracks It is of course a 'Philips Powerplay D8514' & I love it despite the initial problems it is now a proper Boomer & compliments my D8614 perfectly!! I must see a doctor about buying too many Philips stereo's - we all know they often come with issues & I an thankful that this one was not only enjoyable to sort out it's a great machine!! Love it & here are a few pictures from start to finish
Jeez Nick. Was that box ever used? There's no wear marks anywhere! I did get a little worried when I saw newspaper as shipping padding. That stuff is utterly useless for packing material. At least there was foam and bubble wrap. Great job on the quick restoration Nick. Your skills are much admired from across the pond!
Sadly last year the usual Philips rot caught up with the gears within & this radio went in the scrap cupboard! Trying to dismantle the nightmare of a deck more cogs simply disintegrated into virtual dust....... Rest in peace - was a nice sounding stereo!
