I’ve looked around a bit here already and haven’t found any threads to help me with the questions below. I know they exist and I’m just not looking in the right place but if a new post in the right place is worth a try then please direct me which area of forum to direct my questions to. looking for recommendations on what to look into whether it be walkmans/decks/boombox that are good to start with, price range is up to 200 if I can make that work. suggestions on what’s best to start with for listening with a group and recording mixtapes are welcome. If I can use one thing for both listening and recording that’s great if not that’s ok. Not looking for the best audio just something that is hopefully better than the new junk I’ve been reading about and will have that cassette style feel to it. I think the best description of what I’m looking for is basically whatever was widely available at the time cassettes where at they’re peak. Not super high grade and not the bottom of the pile. also what’s the best way to make mixtapes? Digital straight to mixtape through aux? I’ve heard this isn’t ideal Cd to tape? or tape to tape? I don’t have a collection to pull from.
Look for Aiwa home tape decks, most of them are good. Just make sure it’s serviced and working. Don’t do tape to tape, they degrade from generation to generation. Get yourself an integrated amp with a tape loop, do your recordings that way from whatever source you choose.
deck: a 3-head AIWA AD F880 or F800; or a JVC TD V562 or similar. I have this and they sound great. There are apparently better models that cost multiples more but are they multiples better, I'm not so sure. boombox: I'd try and find a JVC RC m50; or m60. A cheaper but close to m60 model is the 656, it has biphonic mode and sounds great. Maybe also Aiwa TPR 950 or so, but I have no experience myself. If you want purely good sound and not fussed about chrome, then look at black plastic from the 90s - you can import an Aiwa CSD SR8 or a Panasonic DT8 from Japan for this price range, and they are top of the line boomboxes for sound from the 80s - I have both and each is amazing, and they can even do decent recordings. If you import from Japan, you might need to use a step-down converter or power them via DC directly. Walkman: Aiwa HS P202 - if you don't use Dolby C, like me, I don't use Dolby at all, I think this is a great model for price vs quality. as pointed out, all need to be serviced with oiling the mechanism; new belts; maybe new rollers. Servicing the walkman IMO is the hardest and needs a specialist because these require recapping. Each of these is about 200; so it will add to x3. But it's worth it. For the deck and walkman, you need good headphones too: I have seen Sony MDR v6 and v7 recommended and tried both. The made in Japan early versions - amazing sound and easy to drive. If you buy a JVC RC m70, you could skip the deck as this boombox is said to make good recordings, if it's just a couple of tapes. But if you are going to build up tape collection (10+), then a 3-head deck. Tapes: TDK SA is generally a safe option and cheap and most decks and boomboxes come calibrated to it. Finally, music source in this modern age, I use good quality digital source, lossless format, sound from the laptop USB with a portable DAC such as a Red Dragonfly; from the DAC, into the Aux In inputs on the deck/boombox. Interestingly, when transferred to tape, the music sounds better. Not sure about the integrated amp with tape loop; need to do some research. I don't have separate speakers at home but all the listening is via boomboxes or headphones, so don't have any amps. You could browse the Walkman archives, there are recommendations on boomboxes and portable players and decks and all the questions you have; also some of the articles are here on this forum too.
Thanks for the help. this will def give me something specific to start looking for. Lots of research to be done still. any recommendations on buying from Japan? I am familiar with sites such as yahoo auctions/buyee. Anywhere else to look?
Buying from Japan I use Buyee but there are at least 2-3 other sites; no issues at all and always use protective packaging just in case. If things break, it will be in the domestic mail within Japan. On these apart from Yahoo, you can also search Mercari, this one has just fixed prices and less choice. JVC there is called Victor. You can search for past auctions in the last 6 months to get a feeling of the prices. You might need a VPN to access it: https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/closed...=utf-8&aq=-1&oq=&sc_i=&p=victor+m70&x=26&y=20 another good search aggregator is this one: https://www.hifishark.com/ Ideally you'd buy serviced stuff from another collector from this forum or other similar forums; otherwise you need to learn how to service and while it's good fun, you will break the first couple of machines, almost guaranteed. Servicing by an experienced restorer can often cost the same as the initial item. If buying from Japan, there is corrosion to watch out for due to the salty and humid air. Watch out for rust and corroded chrome/aluminum and screws because this indicates corrosion also on the mechanisms. Victors generally have resistant heads. There is one seller there who sells restored decks - miyahiro1101 another one with restored walkmans. Last time I checked, the Victor TD V711 (which is a good recorder they say) could be found very cheap and restored but best to get your decks with local power voltage. But it might be easiest to find a restorer in your part of the world and check with them. Sometimes they will have extra machines for sale and that's the best thing you can get - a machine touched by a good a restorer - you can be prepared to pay premium but will not look back.
I don't know if this member is still on here but he's in NJ https://stereo2go.com/forums/thread...basement-full-of-audio-video-equipment.10019/ If your listening with a group but need a portable, definately a boombox, if they're coming over to your home, a component tape deck (but you'll need a amp, speakers, etc). Personally I used to find a ton of JVC Tape Decks and would lean towards these but I have many others that used to work great including AIWA who was also cranking out millions of units. You might find a newer (usually black) deck will work fine, For $200 your kind of limited unless you hit garage sale season coming up and get lucky, I used to find tons of equipment, it's still out there but not as easy to find. I've uploaded tapes to digital but never gone the other direction, in the old days it was vinyl to tape but I'm sure it would be pretty easy to go computer to tape deck with a headphone to RCA splitter. VWestlife on YouTube might have some ideas for you.
And don't forget that members here have a lot of great boomboxes to sell. When you research a few models you might want... post a thread here asking if anyone has one they might want to sell etc., Better than buying random broken junk on e-bay
I would say buy from your own location, why risk buying from a foreign country. Voltage issue is just one of the problems you will come across.
I do electrical work so figuring out voltage issues with a foreign unit isn’t an overwhelming task for me. But it would definitely still be easier to just have something that’s plug and play. Portable would be what I’m mainly looking for. Been asking people I know if they happen to have any stored away so hopefully something might come up that way. I see a lot of different players for sale locally, is there a good way to determine which ones to avoid? They are on fb marketplace so I can typically go take a look before buying.
I'd check all functions; especially the sliders or pots for volume, balance, highs, bass. If it has been restored, there should be no crackling and all functions should work - tape play, rewind etc; program search. Look closely at the speakers for any tears. If it's been sitting for a while in the basement, the tape won't work but you should be able to hear the motor running; and there will be oxidation and crackling, then it's normal. Overall there is no warranty because these are 40+ yo. Some people sell the faulty ones they can't fix - if some parts work but not all, then this can be the case. There's also an element of luck.
Such a great question. I would start with an integrated amp so you can connect up to 2 tape deck. For example, I bought a Sony STR AV-710 for $40 at a local Goodwill. A nice matching tape deck I use with that is the TC-K615S (paid about $200 on eBay). It has 3 heads for playing back your recordings while its recording, and if your a fan of Dolby, it has the last version of Dolby as well (Dolby S). Other good alternative tape deck for about the same amount on eBay is the Pioneer CT-616DR. This has Digital Noise Reduction, a feature that virtually elliminates tape hiss. The disadvantage of these tape decks is that if you wanted to play it on a boombox or walkman, I know of no unit that plays back Dolby S or Digital NR. But you'll get the best sound out of any cassette tape it's capable of.
