Timewarp's Collection

They all have Dolby B but only the SW50 and SW55 have a Dolby switch on the unit itself.
They all have LCD remote controls and VMSS - Virtual Motion Sound System - except for the SW50 which only has S-XBS bass boost.

 

These models run on gumsticks, and I like the battery door. It's a good mechanic design: It has an ergonomic design to rest your finger on the lock switch, you slide the lock in one simple movement and closing is just as easy. Better than most Sony's battery doors.

 

The back sides are all very similar, mostly a rubberish material with a metal plate in the middle surrounded by the touch controls.
It feels solid and sturdy, until you push a button and discover that the whole panels moves a bit, which spoils the feeling of a super robust device - Panasonic should have designed this a bit better.
The rubberish stuff doesn't age so well, but at least it doesn't become sticky goo (just yet, who knows in another 30 years or so)

 

Pretty small and cute tuner display!
Another subtle difference: This RQ-SW55V has the VMSS wording embossed in the metal, just like the SW55, wheras the SW77 has it printed and features slightly different metal.
Overall the SW55 looks a bit more high end than the SW77, and I think it was supposed to be the other way around.

 

This is the lid itself. Metal and very solid. I think this is the part that gives the whole device a tank-like feeling, very solid and matching with its exterior. Even though a large part of the body is actually plastic.

 

The eye-catcher of this series is the lock for the cassette lid.
It's a big knob you can twist to open the door.
Opening and closing it feels good and rewarding, with a good click. It's a nice design!

 

That wraps up the SW55/77 Shockwave series.

If you're into a rugged - and therefore a bit larger - design, and you don't need it to be watertight, it's a good alternative to Sony Sports walkmans.
You can get them in Japan for just a little money, probably also because repair is less straightforward, but to me it feels they're underrated as they're actually pretty nice machines.

 

I really like those Shockwaves. The orange one is so cool! I have a blue and yellow RQ-SW20 with the original vibrating VMSS headphone. I find it a very special experience to listen to that It's one of my favorite walkmans for lofi tapes, mainly because its so bullet proof.

 

Really nice to see!

On WML we only have 2 (at this moment), and these pictures will come in handy one day when we are expanding this series!

 

I noticed the WA-8000 does not have the Staar license message, while the ZX7 does:

 

It seems STAAR is originally a Belgian company from 1920, with a track record in making electronics. From 1965 onwards they were involved in cassette mechanisms.

Theophiel Staar filed a number of patents such as this one:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4338644A/en?inventor=Theophiel+C.J.L.+Staar

There's not much to find about the company online.
The source RadioMuseum says:

Appareils Automatiques Gustave Staar
108 Chaussee de Ninova, Bruxelles (ca. 1920)

Gustave Staar S.A.
566 Chaussée de Waterloo, Bruxelles (1949)
Rue Vanderstichelen 62-64, Bruxelles (1961)

Staar S.A.
19-21 Rue des Ateliers, B-1080 Bruxelles (1985)

Tourne-disques, enregistreurs.

Production en France sous licence : Stare (Star), Courbevoie
Production in Great Britain: Star Electronics Ltd., London


In 1965, Staar developed a slide-in cassette player mechanism for car radios. It was introduced in Japan in 1966.

In 1971, Staar had a joint-venture with Faraday (USA) for the development of a player for their "Cartrette", a mini-version of conventional 8-track cassettes.

Staar was represented in Japan by Philips Industrial Development & Consultant Co., Ltd. (1973, probably earlier).

A new version of the slide-in cassette player, "MP", was introduced in 1973 (with over 800k units built in 1973/1974) and succeeded by the "RS" mechnism in 1974.

My guess is that STAAR had some inventions related to optimizing the cassette transport, and every device that used it had to mention the copyright just as with Dolby. But I have no clue what the STAAR IP claim was.

 

I got curious and scanned this STAAR patent.
It's unlikely that this is the one we have seen in our walkmans, because as far as I know this concept has never been realized.

It is a really logical and cool idea though: It described a memory inside the cassette, in the area where we normally have the holes for record protection and tape type, with pins connected to the cassette player itself to read that memory.



So we have an EEPROM or similar memory inside the tape...



And contacts there. The patent describes how the memory and AMS/number memory can be implemented.

I think it was a logical idea by itself to enhance tapes like that, but it's always a trade-off between the extra functionality and the cost increase of the medium and the player.

 

This is another patent with very limited public information available - from the picture it looks like Theophiel Clement Jozef Lodewijk Staar patented entire cassette mechanisms, which explains why some manufacturers would use some of his ideas under license:

 

Not completely clear to me yet.
The ZX7 is disc driven, like the DDs, and the WA-8000 is a regular belt driven unit.
So the mechanism after the disc must close enough to the Staar design in the ZX7 for Sony to mention it.
The WA-8000 features auto-reverse - are there auto-reverse units with the Staar text on them?

 

Staar je er niet blind op Emiel.

 

Cool! Really nice that you had this article, it clarifies everything.
I also remember those slider mechanisms in car radios, I used to repair them regularly back then, but never realized that the original design concept was a Belgian invention.

Very nice, thanks for sharing Mister X from Scotland Yard!

 

I have a question... what do these walkmans have in common?