Hey everyone, pretty much my sole reason to be here for now, as I'm between jobs and trying to get two online platforms up and running, is to let ya know I found this beautiful old system that I bought new and had completely forgotten about, sitting in a 'memories' box deep in the garage. Well preserved but without power supply or connecting cables, so at this stage I'm unable to test! Complete system including cassette walkman unit and stereo mic, plus the extra EQ unit. Apparently there was a case that allowed these to be carried around as a 'portable' system, but I never had that, so not sure if it was an extra, or the shop I bought it from just never gave it to me (I would have been 16-17 when I bought it, with no idea) Any clues as to how the interconnects work? Theres a mini jack output on the amp and on the eq unit, so I assume it would need a stereo lead to go out of the amp to the eq, then from there would have been a split cable to send audio out to each speaker? I have very vague memories of something like that, but the cables are long gone. Easy enough to build but I can't find any information online about this system except what I've seen in this forum! PS should be easy enough to replicate from Jaycar and a modified power cable splitter, but any advice here much appreciated
Great find and I think your the first to say they bought one of these new! When I get a chance I'll pull one down and takes some photos of how they wire together, it takes a little bit to figure it all out since the speakers have their own internal power supply. Luckily you have the ribbon cable to connect the units. In the main thread for these one of the members mentioned a blown resistor, this seems to be a very common issue and you might have to do some work to get it running. It looks like you bought the expensive version with the CP-53 Tape Deck but it's missing the headphones which also have a headphone so you can sing along to your music. The tape deck probably needs a belt. These seemed to be sold a-la-carte meaning the parts were individual units including the stand options. I think you could buy it like yours, or there was the flight-case option and I've also seen a small shelf/stand option.
Thanks Mister X! yeah I left school for a full time job in local TV so had money to burn. Always loved quirky stuff, and this was my bedroom system for years.. I'll go back over that main thread, but I had a quick look inside and there's nothing obviously blown (not that I'm an electronics whiz, so that statement means absolutely nothing..) If there's any direction on what to look for and where, I'm dangerously confident enough to pull apart and test, but I have a buddy who's great with older tech who will be able to fix it (at an hourly rate....) I'd forgotten about the headphones! Got any images of those anywhere? I reckon I definitely had them. As far as the tape deck goes, it runs but yeah, the drive spindle works fine with no tape in there, but struggles a bit under tension at times, guessing thats the belt issue? Appreciate your time, and can't wait to see images of the hook up
I've got the original box for the CP-53 (tape deck) and it included the headphones which makes sense cuz it does MIC mixing and I'm unaware of other headphones with a MIC. They might have had more in Japan but here in the USA it was very limited due to FCC (government) regulations on the airways. I haven't looked at the headphones lately but there must be additional connections in the jack.
seeing the boxes earlier in the main thread was triggering! I think I even remember when they got thrown out.. even the original patch cables would have been dumped in a warehouse clean out (I had an AV company, and two big fruit bins worth of 'old' cables that were all one big mess.. hate to think now what else should have been kept
Here you go, good luck! I'll try to post the wiring shortly, just have to find a bundle. https://stereo2go.com/forums/thread...-ms-53-sc-53-the-mini-system-from-1980s.9312/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/242963289391919/posts/2158382701183292/
awesome, I was obviously looking in the wrong spot! So I pulled my unit apart and that resistor and cap seem ok, BUT, there is a section of the board that's obviously burnt out, and one solder join that seems to be completely melted away right next to it. See photo, its located under the 'super bass' and 'mode st/mono' switches, and none of the nearby components seem damaged to look at. outside of my paygrade to know what to do next...
Would also be interested to know if the two wires that run from in FRONT of the switches and then over to the board are original, or an attempt to bypass the burnt board track maybe?? I don't remember ever putting it in for repair, but I had a tech on staff, so its possible. Seems like a weird design if its original!
It's going to take some time to remember how to wire it up, I've got the following and there might be duplicates. 1. Wall wart 2. 2 x barrel to barrel (same size as wall wart barrel), I think it goes power to speaker then to the other speaker and then to the main unit. 2. 1x 3.5mm to 3.5mm 3. 1x short 3.5mm split to 2x 3.5mm 4. 1x long 3.5mm split to 2x 3.5mm (speakers?)
so with my basic knowledge of such things, would it be reasonable to suggest that the power could be split directly from one speaker with a 4 way power splitter rather than all the looping? Or is there some kind of conditioning/filtering going on in the speakers? My guess is that a single loop between speakers means they could be used separately with a single PS, then it just takes a 2 way split to power the rest of the system.. Do the multipins REPLACE any need for patch cables between the components? If thats the case there would just be 4. long split to the speakers needed from the Pre Out of the amp (or EQ??)? Jeez, I see what you mean!
