I'd like to buy a high end Walkman that's been refurbished by someone with a great reputation for working on them. I was reading about Dr Walkman but it doesn't look like he's in the scene anymore. I saw that Retrospekt refurbishes these but doesn't seem to have any of the high end units in stock.
I can highly recommend (UK-based) 'Deb64' who is also a member here. She has refurbed a D6C for me and has also facilitated a Walkman-acquaintance of mine and we are both extrememly happy/satisfied with the service she provided.
Doctor Walkman is still in the game, he is just snowed under, as far as I know he is not taking on anymore work until he cleared his back log. I just pickup a DD9 he finished fixing for me after someone had messed it up badly.
Thanks Chris I'll get ahold of Deb64. Anyone have contact info for Doctor Walkman? Anyone to recommend in the US?
You can contact Doctor Walkman via the PM on this forum. The last thing Deb64 fixed for me is a DC2, she is very good at what she does. Search on this site, there is a thread naming a few repair places / people.
Thank you I will PM both. Does Retrospekt do good work? Which of these sounds particularly good? AF22 AF23/BF23 AF29 F2015 A12/B12 FX117
I know nothing about Retrospekt so can't comment. I also know nothing about those units so again, can't comment. If you have those units and if they work, I would recommend listening to them and let your ears be the judge.
Deb64 is very talented. She repaired my Sony WM-D6 a couple of years ago. The unit is 42 years old, and it works as well as it did when I bought it new in 1982.
Those are all very basic Walkmans. I have heard about half of those models, and I believe are all basically the same. Except for the FX117, I am not familiar with. That being said, I have never heard any Sony Walkman in mint or very good that condition sounds bad. I can't say the same for Coby, GPX, etc. Look at the heads and pinch rollers, the one with the least amount of wear of those is the one that will probably sound the best. Try putting batteries in and pressing play and listen to the silence (I'm guessing all of the belts are toast). Listen for buzzing or anything else odd, that could indicate bad capacitors, meaning they are probably not worth restoring. You might need to press play several times to get some noise, because the internal leaf springs can get oxidized with age. If it's completely dead from leaky battery acid, Walkmans at this price point are again probably not worth restoring. If you like the plastic chunky variety, I have always been partial to the WM-11/WM-22 - they sound very nice when in top condition. Also the WM-2 when lightly used sounds very nice, and looks like a bargain WM-DD, and also very historical as the first bespoke Walkman. But beware they can often need an extensive restoration. For maximum chunk factor, get a WM-1, which can also sound very good. If you just want a great sounding budget Walkman and don't care about keeping with that same aesthetic, I have found the WM-FX251, WM-EX170, and similar models that are a bit newer are easier to find a good sounding one. These are nice because they are new enough that they can work well on original grease, and belts often just need replacement, and haven't yet turned to goo that is very hard to clean off. You can get one of these in very good cosmetic condition for less than $50, and a have it sound great with just a belt change (get one from fixyouraudio.com or Mana Tree), not a real "restoration" like older models will all need to sound good and be reliable.
What is a high end refurbished unit? I have several that have been restored by @Valentin that perform like they are new (according to specs), some even ‘better’ with different capacitors and after several belt tries.
Oops, stereo2gorocks, I was replying to your recent post about the budget Walkmans and noticed your original post was asking about high end Walkmans. Have you checked eBay for WM-DD varieties? You can check a few listings that claim to be extensively refurbished and come back here and ask what experience people have with those sellers. Check the post here about DD geneology to get a good comparison for the differrent DD models. Note the "budget" DD Walkman line can be a good choice if the capacitors have been replaced. I have had a DD11 that sounded great, took apart and seemed of quality construction, had .06% DIN RMS W&F which is amazing, just slightly bulkier than a regular DD.
I'm luckier than most as I know an electrical engineer with fantastic skills who was born after most of my collection was made but he has expertly repaired everything from commencing with a DD33 to the most baffling Aiwas with full logic control transport that had previously been partially destroyed by well meaning amateurs. I'm in awe of anyone with the skills to remove and dismantle a hybrid module, locate a dud transistor, replace it and put the repaired module back onto the PCB. He has done 4 D6's for me. @Deb64 is the expert on D6 and D6C units. @Valentin also on S2G is also an expert repairer. I think they have big backlogs though.
