most reliable walkman ?
rochester21 - 2012-09-16 23:47
Hello. First of all, i would like to say that i`m happy to have found this forum. It`s wonderful to see people still enjoying listening music to these "old" machines, that others chuck to get a digital piece of...well, best get to the point. I would like to know what are the best walkmans in terms of reliability. I know the DD series are among the best, but these also have their issues. I have several walkmans at home, and i`m afraid that the rubber belts that drive the mechanism will fail at some point and i won`t be able to find replacements 
walkgirl - 2012-09-17 01:42
get a sanyo m4440 or a tosiba kts1 
ao - 2012-09-17 03:17
Great question.
I've repaired a few hundred Walkmans over the years but I've never had a WM-22 with anything but cosmetic issues. It's fair to say, the simpler the better and they don't get much more simple than this....
It aint pretty but you find me one that's buggered
bub - 2012-09-17 04:52
To me, the easiest to repair, are the later slim sony models like the EX1-5 series, EX500, EX600 series. They share a common belt that is simple to replace, and with nearly no electrolytic caps, longer lasting electronics.
On the other hand, they have weak headphone amps and fixed head azimuth, which means that if your machine is not perfectly aligned, azimuth adjustment is impossible. Some have plastic flywheels as well.
rochester21 - 2012-09-17 05:05
Great answers, thanks a bunch. i actually do have a ex500, an ex20 and i`m going to buy a ex900 in the next few hours- apparently it doesn`t work, but i`m getting it for 6 usd). I know it`s very easy to acces the belt and replace it, but replacements are not that easy to find. I should have guessed that some early models are reliable too, since the mechanical part is simple, and the belts they used were probably chunkier than the ones one recent models.
nak.d - 2012-09-17 06:57
Great question.
I've repaired a few hundred Walkmans over the years but I've never had a WM-22 with anything but cosmetic issues. It's fair to say, the simpler the better and they don't get much more simple than this....
It aint pretty but you find me one that's buggered
I know what you mean. I regret selling mine now. When I used it, it was almost whisper quiet (must have been a low hours example)...however it can still be viewed! WM-22.
I sold it to the museum of technology in Hemel Hempstead about 4-5 years ago whilst at the NVCF. You say not pretty but I think it's lines are clean and unpretentious. It'll never compete looks wise with a Mid 80's AIWA though!