OK... So I have a busted old panny 5010 that I'm trying to run a line in to to play an ipod through. I have completely bypassed the tape head assembly as this will NEVER be able to play a tape anyway. (the previous owner must have been a ravenous beast!) So any way, my line in (1/8 mini jack) has the 3 standard wires, but the panny has 6 wires from the head to the board? I have tried so many configs in connecting the wires from the line in to the board but they either just plain fail or sound like crappola. Any ideas?

Thanks guys!!

I won't do that if I were you.
The 5010 doesn't have something like a line-in ?

Input signal to the head pream is VERY VERY little and line-in signal is TOO LARGE.
To say something line-in is 200 times larger than the expected by the head preamp
Even when you can attenuate the line-in signal to match the head amp, you still have equ networks. That's: You won't get a clear sound.
Better chance to solder the head again and using an cassette adapter.


That you need is to feed signal at a place where line level are being used.
Tipically at head preamp's output or turner output (almost stereo panys I've seen had a dedicated board for the turner).
Depending on the levels feeding signal at volume/tone board could work too.
Feeding at the power amp will work fine, but you will lose the volume/tone because it's before in the signal path.

Also, most boomboxes do not have a separate on/off power switch but has instead a function switch Tape/Radio/Line. In the tape mode, the amp will not power on unless the play button is depressed, which also powers the cassette motor. With no cassette inside, some mechanisms will auto-stop.

BUT.... Don't panic just yet.... Disconnecting the motor usually corrects this. It will also reduce power consumption, preserve the motor in case you wish to rebuild the deck or to salvage for another radio. I don't have a circuit diagram for the RX-5010 but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Typically, the best place for you to splice your line-in connections to would be at the selector switch. If you follow the circuit traces from the switch, find out which traces goes to the tuner section -- rule that out as it's the tuner output. Also, any traces that feeds to the amp (probably an IC that has a heat-sink are the inputs to the amp. Avoid those too because they are the general feeds and splicing there would be make the inputs always active, even when the tuner is on. Rather, find the one that goes to the tape section. That will be a bit more difficult and confusing because there is going to be a line-amp which may consist of a smaller IC or a few transistors. Looking at a circuit board is not intuitive at all -- a schematic will make your life here 100 times easier. Once you've found this locations, Splice there and you should be fine.

Finally, a few things you should be aware... there is a left and a right to the amp, from the tuner, from the tape, etc so in other words, there will be a lot of traces going to the selector switch. You don't need to be concerned with all 3 of the line-in wires. The ground can be connected to ground. That only leaves the left/right signal wires.

A final and probably simplest way to find the proper place to input the line-in signal at the selector switch is to input a signal by probing the terminals at the selector switch until you find the correct one. I might not want to do this with an IPOD because the circuits might not be robust enough to survive probing but you can take maybe an old walkman, portable CD, or other device with a line out, and probe the outputted signal into the RX. If you want to try this, find the left/right traces that go the the amp module and ignore those. Then with tape mode selected and play button depressed probe the signal into the remaining terminals (only a momentary tap is necessary). When you've found the correct place, your RX will play that signal. One warning though: MAKE SURE YOU IDENTIFY ALL GROUNDS AND AVOID THOSE. To confirm, with unit off, use DMM and check resistance between all traces you intend to probe and the circuit board ground. Some continuity is OK. A dead short to ground is not. The alternative is to probe the signal through a resistor. Try 5k ohms, even 1k or less. This will protect the IPOD, CD or whatever from the small but still potential risk of damage. Just understand that if you probe through a resistor, the signal will be attenuated and you should expect that when you've found the correct place to spice to, the volume will be lower.

BTW, the head has 6 wires instead of 3 because the main head performs both the RECORD and PLAYBACK function.

You need the schematic an a lot of patience to connect a MP3 player in the PREAMP circuiton any BBX, you don´t try to connect directly to the little wires from the tape heads, because it is a input to a powerful preamplification circuit, you need to connect to the input of the main amplifier integrated circuit, but you need to study the schematics...

Well, I it to play but not as I had hoped... I get only one channel so no stereo, and thus there's stuff missing from my music... I need to find a diagram, I don't own a multimeter.

Please be specific. What did you do exactly to get to where you are now?