THE DOTTOR WALKMAN HAS FIXED MY WALKMAN PIONEER PK-R7AW







This is a review of the service I had to my Pioneer walkman done by dottor walkman.











Dissasembly of Walkman & Initial Findings















The inside was very wet from liquid influx (I thought I was helping the process so tried to 'clean' the walkman before shipping it off to Leonardo) He was forced to dry individual components in order to perform a repair. At this stage he was also reorganising his workshop in order to more easily work with smaller pieces and to provides photos.







The belt needed to be replaced







The reverse rate was too high (at this stage he thought it was a mechanical problem).







The REC did not want to stay in place unsupported. (At this stage he asked me to provide him with the original manual in order to see if it was a normal function or a defect, prior to the removal of all the mechanical parts. Unfortunately I only had the manual for the model below this one, without the record function, so Leonardo had to struggle on unaided).







Photos ending in 240, 243, 246















Servicing and mending process















Initially, the first thing that was done was that all the parts had been cleaned and the liquid was removed.







The mechanism at this stage was functioning in FF. The REV speed was too high. This had to be solved along with the problem mentioned earlier surrounding the REC button.







This was duly dealt with and at this point the calibration of the audio output and the azimuth had to be configured.







The speed and azimuth were then adjusted to get a good sound quality in both FWD and REV even with Dolby B. At this stage calibration needed to take place so that Dolby was correct for both the left and right channels.







Photos were sent (283, 288) to show me that the wiring was now sorted out and that Sony adhesive tissue was used to put this all in place. In the first photo the soldering of the wires had taken place, but the welding was still messy. In the second photo the area where red paint had been used , was shown, over the screw locking the azimuth which had by this stage been calibrated.







These pictures (290, 291, 293, 295, 296, 297) show the captan and the reverse side of the pinch roller. The Pioneer had been incorporated only on this side of a plastic web guide. I was instructed to strech the tape with a pencil before inserting the cassette in the machine otherwise the positioning would be a little loose and in the wrong way therefore it would not work in the first REV cycle. I was giving the option, which I refused, of cutting the guides, this would have lost the Pioneer its originality.















Conclusion















The Walkman was working 100% at this stage.







This is the last photo that shows my walkman fully assembled and fully functional.







I was instructed that if I had chrome tapes or metal tapes recorded with a quality recorder (even with the Dolby B) you select the DOLBY ON and TAPE on METAL. The sound will be open and clear. You will not need to listen with the DOLBY OFF and TAPE on LH (normal). These are tricks that are used to walkmans low quality or are not well calibrated. (311)















Some Parting Tips and Observations















- Clean the pinch roller with the staple cotton soaked in petroleum naphtha. (Do not use alcohol). Skip first staple cotton soaked in the pinch roller. Then pass a cotton staple dry to dry well. If you do that the pinch roller will always be new.







- Clean the capstan and the read head for liquor alcohol or isopropyl alcohol.







- Do not leave batteries in the walkman when not in use for several days.







Remember to turn the Walkman, 2 times a month for a few minutes, when not in use.







Find the service manual and instructions for the PK-R7AW (what you have is the PK-R5AW) and keep them.







Your walkman is a belt drive and not has the walkman direct drive like the Sony. To get a wow and flutter acceptable, Pioneer uses a very thin belt, the more accurate but also more delicate. To achieve long the belt should avoid often use fast forward and rewind. If you really must use must use STOP as soon as the tape came to the end of progress fast forward and rewind. Since there is no automatic switch off, only to auto-reverse. If you leave the Walkman in power the belt suffer.







Even though the Walkman, has many seals, do not submerge in water!!!!















The Pioneer is very robust.







The mechanism is simple.







The wow and flutter does not reach values as the excellent dd9, dc2 and D6C Sony. But these walkman use of servo control circuits that control the speed from moment to moment. The Pioneer its accuracy relies only on the weight of wheels and thin belt. I had to do stunts to come up with a wow and flutter low enough to allow you to listen the piano.







It has an auto-reverse azimuth adjustment only for the first FVD. Even here I had to do other tricks to get a trace as possible the same in both directions.







Ultimately you can not get more from this model. I can also assure you that when this model came out from the shops, in his day, was not well calibrated. This I can assure you. Technicians manufacturers do not lose much time to refine the Walkman, otherwise prices quadrupled.







If together with the Walkman I had sent a tape recorded with your Nakamichi, with a frequency of 6300 Hz at-10dB, I adjusted the azimuth exactly equal to your Nakamichi. Instead I used a Metalmaster recorded with my D6C that has the same azimuth of the Nakamichi CR-7. It is probably equal to your Nakamichi.























The walkman PK-R7AW records only in FWD direction. In fact there is only one erase head on the right. The auto-reverse walkman that record in either direction (FWD and REV) have two heads of cancellation.







The audio quality is low because the PK-R7AW is not a hi-fi recorder (WM-D6C, WM-D3, etc.) but is designed for voice recording (not HI-FI).







How could you see what you hear is of excellent quality because I pushed to maximize performance.















I am extremely happy with Leonardo's work, he is a person who is striving for perfection in his work and it is evident that he has an acute eye for detail.  I would not hesitate to entrust Leonardo with my walkman again.

How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking? I have a few that I might need to get repaired.

Hi cooldude, not wanting to sound cryptic, each walkman is dealt with on a unique case by case basis. I sent it to Leonardo on the understanding that he would examine it thoroughly and present his proposal to me. I then had the choice to go ahead at the agreed upon price or to have it sent back to me for just the price of postage, All that I can say in dealing with him is that he aims to please and is very thorough.

A perfect mix of passion, perfection, expertise , enhanced communications (digital pics/email) and above all trust
When it comes to restoring an item you hold precious ,you want a person who treats it with equal if not better care... Here's hoping that Dottor Walkman becomes yet another trusted and loved 'Restoration Expert' of S2G.
Keep up the good work folks!