Hello people! I dunno f this site has visitors anymore but if there is someone there, please help me! I have a Panasonic RQ-SX33 walkman and it has a problem... the wow and flutter on the front side is too big. The reverse side siounds okay. I know you guys probably hate the SX series but it has a real value for me... a sentimental value. It looks brand new. Not a scratch. If you could help me fix it or do it for me, I'd be really grateful and generous. Thanks!

Hi, i don't hate the SX series as i find them a superb sounding unit but they are difficult in terms of repair as i just took apart the SX33 and repaired the SX44. Never again as it took me forever but done it. Panasonic are generally good walkmans but once they are gone they are destined to the bin i'm afraid. Now i stay clear of panasonics if i can but have two units left of the S21 and S11 which are working superbly.
Hope this answers your question a little bit.

Colin

Like the previous post said, I love the sx series for their refinement and finish but sadly after dissecting three of these walkmans I have discovered that the wow/flutter is caused due to the smaller fly-wheel that drives the forward direction. in some models this is also made of plastic, the problem with it is that the belt forms two kinks if not used for sometime and the plastic wheel cant compensate well enough. you can open it up and change the belt easily but you should be quite handy with a soldering gun and there is a plastic ring in the center of the mechanism. it is very fragile and will almost certainly break upon the slightest pressure being applied on it. so be careful if you're trying to repair it and put some grease on the slip gear also.

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looks brand new. Not a scratch. If you could help me fix it or do it for me, I'd be really grateful and generous. Thanks!

This is very interesting! Thanks guys for all the advice but I don't think I would succeed even if I tried. Also, I don't know where would I be able to find the belts that I need. So you guys don't hate the SX series? That is good to know because they do sound wonderful to me though I was not very impressed with the newer model SX73. It is very unfortunate Panasonic didn't make them more repair-friendly. I also have an SX3. Sounds even better but has the same problem. this is terrible but thanks anyway!

Regards
Toni

hi..i have a panasonic RQ-SX35. i agree, the sound is excellent. mine is near mint and plays like it too. i feel kinda bad knowing that when the belt goes it is done for. hopefully it has a few years left on it as i don't know when they were sold. i guess it will go to the box marked dead and for parts only. better yet,,try to fix it and end up with a bag marked "rest in peace"

panasonic makes great sounding electronics. most of the hi-end sony minidisc players and hd series walkmans used panasonic dacs and amplifiers.

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Originally posted by rerooted:
hi..i have a panasonic RQ-SX35. i agree, the sound is excellent. mine is near mint and plays like it too. i feel kinda bad knowing that when the belt goes it is done for. hopefully it has a few years left on it as i don't know when they were sold. i guess it will go to the box marked dead and for parts only. better yet,,try to fix it and end up with a bag marked "rest in peace"

Hi! Yeah I agree, the SX35 was really good. I had an SX75 which was the best of them all. It was clear, warm and had a huge soundstage. The SX75/SX35 were made 1998/1999. I had a Panasonic catalog back then. SX33 kind of reminds me of the SX75... Does anyboidy know why did they switch to 18kHz range in the SX series versus 20KHz in the early SX series and S series? I guess the heads must be fifferent.

thanks much,,i had no idea that they were quite that late. i found out the other day that the remote from the rq-sx35 will run a rq-nx60v. i get the felling that it will work fairly well on a few other also.

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Originally posted by rerooted:
thanks much,,i had no idea that they were quite that late. i found out the other day that the remote from the rq-sx35 will run a rq-nx60v. i get the felling that it will work fairly well on a few other also.

You are welcome! Yeah, the SX75 and the little sister SX35 were basically the last of Panasonic high-end models. Then cam e the SX85 which was made in Japan but nowhere near the SX75/35 series. Sounded dull and boring. And then came the SX91/71 which were made in Taiwan. SX71 sounded better than the SX91 btw... less fatiguing and treblish. I had an SX75 but someone stole it! A real shame that was. I remember it having superfast access time. When it started to rewind, there was a sound like when an airplane takes off. Very fast and in that respect, it was almost like an md player. Soundwise, it was even better. But I am curious... Does SX35 have this 4x hi-speed access? I remember that catalog saying that it does. Those two were basically the same. There was a difference in remote control and some additional functions in the SX75 like intro scan, repeat and blank skip. Also, it could go up to 9 tracks at a time.

IMO SX75/35 was very underestimated. For example, Sony Wm-EX7 from the same era was more expensive and more stylish but it was inferior in sound and functionality. EX7 sounded good but it was clear that Sony had better models in the past while Panasonic gave it all they had. Crazy little machines.

I also liked the SX3, very cohesive and transparent. SX33 had a better bass but was somewhat lacking in midrange.

Though I love the SX series, nothing quite matches the WM-DC2. It outperforms my home deck tc-k511s easy.
But of all the more modern machines, I'd take an SX75 every time over Sony.

hi..when i got this rq-sx35 all i got were the player and the remote. on the player there are 3 little holes that light up if you press the white button next to them. the first 2 are base boosters but to me they both sound the same. the last one is just the dolby digital noise reduction. the remote will also change the 2 base functions but to my ear they sound the same.

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Originally posted by rerooted:
hi..when i got this rq-sx35 all i got were the player and the remote. on the player there are 3 little holes that light up if you press the white button next to them. the first 2 are base boosters but to me they both sound the same. the last one is just the dolby digital noise reduction. the remote will also change the 2 base functions but to my ear they sound the same.

That is interesting. To me s-xbs sounded great (much better than on Sonys) but the TRAIN position sounded just plainly horrible. But can you tell me what is the ff/rew time for a 60minute tape (30min per side), It used to be about 40 seconds on the SX75. SX35 should be just as fast.

Also, can you guys tell me what is a fine-gap head? I guess it refers to the proximity of the magnetic flux field in the head... but can you tell me how much is that in micrometers (microns). Also, to what did they refer with the twin-rotor motor? That is all very fascinating to me!

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Posted Wed August 05 2009 04:31 PM Hide Post

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looks brand new. Not a scratch. If you could help me fix it or do it for me, I'd be really grateful and generous. Thanks!



This is very interesting! Thanks guys for all the advice but I don't think I would succeed even if I tried. Also, I don't know where would I be able to find the belts that I need. So you guys don't hate the SX series? That is good to know because they do sound wonderful to me though I was not very i

Hi guys! I just took the SX33 apart. I have managed to desolder the pcb from the unit. It is the first thing I desoldered and it took me forever. Now that I have taken it apart, I am a bit disappointed... lot of plastic inside and you were right. The smaller wheel is plastic too. The belt i s really loose and it is no wonder it cannot move the tape. Now I need to get some belts. So do you know any good websites I could get them?

Also, may I assume the SX series uses the same mechanism and therefore the same belts so I can order half a dozen of them for my collection. I have recently acquired an SX20 in mint condition... needless to say, it wows the same way the others do.

Also, I will be posting pics of the inside of the SX33. PCB is really a pain to desolder...