Like many of you I’m always on the lookout for a bargain Walkman and dream of finding one of the rare models for a good price. Well I think that just happened when I recently found a Sony WM-DX100 on Facebook Marketplace, advertised in good working condition for £125 GBP. I found the service manual online, reassuring to know in advance it was available. Unfortunately the sellers idea of working condition was, “the LEDs light up when I press the buttons”. The device looked in great physical condition, no signs of corrosion, battery adapter, remote headphones and case were present. I managed to get the price down to £85 but in the back of my mind I knew I was taking a risk, especially as I couldn’t hear the motor spinning. Back home and a close inspection under the lid revealed a loose drive belt that had stretched and jammed the motor drive wheel. I removed the belt and the motor worked smoothly and silently, lucky me! I then discovered it only played audio beeps from one earbud, the other measured open circuit. I replaced the driver with a similar unit, just for test purposes and the audio beeps were then clear in both ears. I couldn’t find a belt locally in the UK so ordered an equivalent (for a WM-AF57) from Decktech. Unfortunately it was a bit too thick at 0.85mm (original measures 0.63mm) but the deck played ok, albeit with some W&F. Decktech were very supportive and sent out a couple of extra belts to try and initial tests show the thinnest belt (49mm dia x 0.6mm) works well. After oiling the capstan bearings with a tiny bit of Moebius 8000 and cleaning the mech, the results were pretty good. Minimal W&F and very low noise compared with my other Walkmans. I’ve ordered a headphone adapter so I can try it with my usual IEMs. This will be a better test of audio quality. The DX100 seems to be a pretty rare Walkman with very little info about it online. I couldn’t find any for sale on eBay so I’m not sure if I paid a good price or not, but I’m happy with it anyway.
Matt 1970. That's a good looking unit. If you are happy with it that's the most important thing and congratulations on a job well done. Enjoy.
I have heard many horror stories about Facebook market place. If you are happy with the unit, you have paid the correct price. Enjoy your unit.
@Valentin restored mine and it also needed a new belt. He also includes hints and tips in his valuable threads, see his signature links on this forum.
@mihokm has the belts in stock at fixyouraudio.com btw A pity that the paint close to the controls on most units is a bit flaky. See the DD genealogy in my signature for info about the DX100, as part of the mechanism is DD, the other part traditional belt driven. More info also here: https://walkman.land/sony/WM-DX100
Thanks all for the replies. I was a bit impatient to wait for a belt from Mihokm, eager to know if the Walkman had any other faults. The drive wheel tyre looks a bit perished so I think Ill be ordering both a belt and a tyre soon. Mine has the flaking paint around the controls too. I rubbed it all off with a toothpick so it’s all one colour now and will probably respray it with a fine coat of dark grey paint. None of the raised lettering will be lost and shouldn’t be noticeable to the untrained eye.
The 3.5mm headphone adapter arrived today, £14 delivered from China in 11 days to the UK. Quality seems ok, fits well and works nicely. More importantly, sound quality from the DX100 with my IEMs is great… at least on side A. On side B, I hear a little too much W&F. The way this mechanism works is unusual. I have read that it can detect which side of the tape is side A by detecting a metal screw in the tape shell. Physically flipping the tape doesn’t play side B in forwards play, so side B on all my recordings sounds a bit wobbly! I will experiment with a bonded shell tape to check if this is really how it works. I suspect the tiny pinch roller for reverse play may be responsible, would appreciate any thoughts you may have on this. I’ll try to get some measurements done soon. I’m sure this mech should be as good as a decent EX670, or EX618. Overall though it’s a nice, solid feeling machine with good enough sound quality for my ears.
£85 is a steal mate. these are pretty rare and not readily for sale on ebay. I managed to get an amazing quality 3d printed battery cover for this delivered ftom china. Mines will need to go to Valentin for repair as i replaced both the drive belts but not happy with the performance.
Now I know it's all working I can consider it a bargain, but still was a risky purchase given that a seized motor would have rendered it useless. You're doing the right thing sending yours to an expert to service - hope Valentin gets it sounding the way you want it. It really feels solidly built with more weight than an EX range model and surprisingly powerful sound.
at that cash mate it was a no brainer! there is a good community on here and extremely knowledgeable and helpful guys. i thought mines was useless when i broke the battery cover but a member in china got me two made at a factory and they were absolutely amazing quality. dont think there is nothing that cant be sourced on here. i bought my belts from Mihokm and they were great quality. i might have made an arse of the belt that the motor spins on so thats why i will probably be sending it to Valentin. It works but just not happy with it,i like all my rare walkmans discmans and portable minidiscs to function.
I just checked the autoreverse with welded cassette and I can play side B by flipping the cassette over, so this mech really does sense the metal screw in the tape shell.
Indeed, the plastic pin protrudes through the deck, connected to a little switch. It goes in the square, angled cutout between the microcontroller and the belt.
