Your first Walkman.

Does anyone still listen to the very first Walkman that you bought? I still listen to my WM-4 that I bought back in 1982. A very loud wm with 30mw+ 30mw output. Feed it a well recorded tape and listen through some descent headphones and to my ears it sounds very good. As good as when I first bought it.

 

I still have mine, a Sanyo M-G11 bought in John Lewis in about 1983 for about £30. When I last tried it about a year ago it still worked O.K.

I didn't actually use that particular personal stereo much. Just a year or two later I picked up smaller, auto-reverse Sanyo with Dolby at an Amateur Radio rally "spares or repairs" for a couple of pounds. Fixing it was really easy; a piece of stick on shielding on the PCB had moved and stuck onto one of the pulleys. Before the likes of eBay such rallies were one of the main places where catalogue returns, stock that couldn't be sold (like CDi players) etc were sold.

I can't say I was anything like as excited about buying a personal stereo as I was my Sony CS45L Boombox in 1979. I spent months researching those and when I got it it also acted as both Tape Deck and Tuner for my home stereo. In contrast I really only bought the Sanyo to find out what the fuss was about. It was useful to take on holidays though.

 

Yep, my first, second and third I kept.
The first (WM-FX403) no longer works and the plastic belt clips has snapped. Not interesting enough to revive.
The second (WM-EX618) works with a new belt, but looks like a mess. I bought a second unit that still needs to be fixed recently, looks great though.
The third (Aiwa HS-EX2000) works, and with the battery fix I posted (and others too, prior to me) it is nice!
However, they can’t compete with properly restored D(D) units.
@Mister X - please remove the duplicate thread in the boombox area.

 

Mr X, Longman, Emiel. Good to see the first ones are still being used. Carried the WM-4 in a large pocket. Never trusted the belt clip. There is just something about the sound from these early units that I like. My other favourite from 1985 was the WM-75 Sports Walkman but someone very kindly stole it. Emiel the slim EX models are very nice sounding. I have the EX-615 that I use outside or the MZE-900 mini disc player. Longman what output do your Sanyos have? Mr X- my wm-4 also has been through the mill so to speak but still working fine at the moment

 

I have no idea. The box, instructions, and original headphones disappeared years ago. The date on RadioMuseum is ten years out, so I wouldn't trust any information on that.

 

I had a wm-4 when i was young,remember vividly going out walks listening to Paul Young and Billy Joel on it.Thought i looked the ticket with the orange strap around my shoulder!
I purchased the exact same colour one a few years back and restored it.
still evokes great memories in me from my childhood,kids just dont get that opportunity nowadays which is actually pretty sad.
I just mean the physical taking the cassette out putting it in the player,pressing a physical button and going for a walk with your music on.
Now its a spotify playlist of Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion!! FFS!
I am glad i am old!

 

My first Walkman was the original FM stereo one and I still have it. It works perfectly and is in its original box. I did upgrade the headphones recently to a nice pair of Sony headphones
and it sounds phenomonal still.

 

Hi Thomas. Did you just have to replace the belts or do something else. My WM-4 has just had to have belts replaced 2 times since 1982. Still sounds as good as when I first bought it. Regards, Derek.

 

My first and only Walkman was the venerable WM-D6, which I bought new in 1982. I had it serviced by Deb64 last year, who brought it back to like-new performance. Who would have thought 40 years ago that I'd enjoy recording and playing tapes on my D6 40 years later?

 

No I don't as I don't have it anymore, my first personal stereo I bought with my own money was an Akai PM-R2.