Hi there,

I show my main deck some time ago: a Dragon and recently I acquired for a bargain a SONY K909ES. I'm in love with that deck. The clean and stylish design is really cool. I've just had to change the belt and it works pretty fine, although two small problems.

And boy, it sounds pretty awesome. It has a impressive bass response. Better than anything I've ever heard. Really impressive.

It has almost all the controls for calibrate a tape to achieve a plain response:

I use the Yamaha KX 393 which also has auto tape tuning and play trim. Brilliant deck but I find I have to push the peak level a bit higher than spec'd to get good volume from chrome tapes. 

That looks as a pretty good deck. The volume issue seems to be related to internal calibration of the input or output. You can fix it with the service manual and a calibration tape.

I love the RX505. It's so cool.

My main machine is a Nakamichi CR-7. Very good performance. It's recordings sound great on my Sony WM-7!

My old rig!

http://REPLACEMENT ERROR/topic/walkman-recording-rig

I use Nakamichi CR-7 and my source is vinyl, what source do you guys use?

Mainly CD...I have an old Technics TT that I plan to revive so maybe some vinyl too.

I use mostly Sony TC-K555ESJ, where I can play with head azimuth adjustment screw.

The biggest pain of most walkmans is, that they have fixed azimuth. If the azimuth cannot be adjusted on walkman, it has to be done on the deck. The best deck for recording is the one, that has azimuth close to the walkman used. Other characteristics are not that important, as each mid-range deck has much better characteristics than most walkmans.

Marian

I use these. Connect them to everything with a line out; pc, laptop, boomboxes, cd players, the vz turntable, ipod and my ipad for radio streams. Also set them in series when I need more tapes of the same. Or to each other for tape copies. Sometimes with microphones as well.

The left one is the "master". Its is brand new. I use this one only to make calibration tapes for the rest of my audio; speed, 0 db level, head alignment etc. Its settings are based on the head azimuth of my primary dd9.

Im by now trained in fixing these, so don't assume I paid the normal epay prices for them

Can say they sound pretty good. At least to my ears

I use a mixture of vinyl,  and compact disc as my source. For vinyl playback I use a Linn LP 12 and for cd I use either a Naim CD-5 or a Sony CDP-333esD. If I am using the Sony then the deck I am recording on is normally a Sony TCK-75 or an Aiwa AD-F770. The Nakamichi CR-7 is in my main Hifi system. All of my vinyl is either recorded using the CR-7 or occasionally my Revox B77. ( I would use the Revox more but tape is getting a bit pricey.  However it is good for making high quality masters of mix tapes that can be dumped to cassette if required.)

Hey Seb968 looks like you have gone the Linn / Naim route, what cartridge do you use on your LP12? Arkiv. Do they still make the Arkiv?

Hi Toocool. My Linn LP12 has an Ittok arm with an Audio Technica OC-9 moving coil cartridge. It is an old (1986) deck but has had the Cirkus centre bearing mod and a Lingo power supply fitted. The amp is a Naim Nait 3. Speakers are Linn Keilidh's.I took the Linn Naim route about good 15 years ago, I still love it! Before this I had a Cyrus 1, Mission speakers, Thorens TD-160 turntable and the Sony CDP-333 (Still have the Cyrus 1, it's a great little amp.)

The OC-9 I remember being a classic good value moving coil cartridge cool.

My first amp was a Mission Cyrus 2, which I later added the PSX power supply. It is now long gone, it served me well for years before I upgraded it.

You can find my current setup here http://REPLACEMENT ERROR/topic...you-listen-to?page=2   

I use Pioneer CT-S740S and Technics RS-AZ7 decks. The Technics is unmatched on TDK SA, SA-X and MA and their derivatives. I am planning on getting something from Nakamichi but I haven't yet decided what. I already know who will perform the modification so DottorWalkman, be prepared!

But Hugo, the TC-K909ES is a fine deck indeed! It is essentially the same machine as the TC-KA6ES but with LA heads so in fact, it is better than the -6ES. The TC-KA7ES would be nice to have though!

I take my music very seriously, hi-fi is just a by-product of getting to good reproduction of the music.

If you are happy with your current setup no need to upgrade Seb968

It depends on my moods but,currently am using a Nakamichi CR7. Previously,i was using a Revox B710 and Revox B215. Othertimes i simply revert to my trusty Nakamichi BX300.

You can tell that i listen to tapes a lot!

Hi! And happy new year for all you guys!

I'm still using my SONY K909 as I already explained in the begginning of this thread, but I recently received a wonderful Pioneer CT-F1250 which has been carefully and very profesionally restored and upgraded by ANT Audio in the Uk and I confess I'm in love with this deck.

Since the very first time I saw one, I was amazed of the design and the build quality. And now, by its sound quality.

After being totally cleaned and with a brand new ALPS head it now performs at the same level as my Dragon (except that it doesn't have Dolby C).

The Dragon also performs wonderfully and with these three decks I'm pretty happy.

Apart from these three, I also have a few more decks but I rarely use them. One is the AIWA AD-F800:

It sounds great too, but not at the same level of the previous ones. And it lacks complete calibration features (like calibration tones).

I also have a rather old and not totally working SONY K15:

One that I would like to have is my K909 in gold finish, that I find really awesome. A friend of mine has it and it looks eye-catching!

Here, with my K909:

And, soon I will add what will be probably my latest addition: a nice Nak RX-505. I'll post photos when I have it :-)

Nice looking deck Walkman Archive, kind of reminds me of Tandberg decks. 

Thanks TooCool!

I have added a nice RX505 to my stack recently and buy, it's so cool! Everyone that sees it wonders how far the technology went with tapes...

I bought two. One is like new; and it's being upgraded at this moment to perform even better than new, at Alex ANT-Audio's lab in London. The other was used and has some problems, but after going to an Nakamichi specialized technician here he restored it as being like new. Really. He even put a knob that was lost!

And it sounds really awesome. The one you see in this photos is the worst one (that I'll list for sell ASAP):

And here's my actual studio stack, which I use the most, almost always with headphones. I have another in the living room, but with an amplifier and speakers and two deck: my SONY K909 and a small ONKYO. 

In this photo cannot be seen, but there's also an Technics 12 x 2 band equalizer at the right, which I love and use for those old albums that lack some bass or anything else. I also have a Sansui SE-9 that I'm currently selling.

The BBE rack at top is awesome and it can add presence to the music to a level that it cannot be achieved in any other way. It's a must for every serious audiophile.

Cheers,

I'm currently using a technics Rs-az7, these are unique because of the thin film head they employ instead of a traditional head design. Also has auto tape calibration for easy set up for when you just want get on with the business of recording( your time is precious to you this does'nt stop the kids requesting your attention every other minute), also the end results are very good even when using a variety of chrome tapes. I have a good stock of Tdk SA-90's, Maxell UX-L2, Sony UX-S and Fuji DR2's all these sound very good on most of my Walkmans especially the auto reverse models as some of these suffer from a drop in treble due to slight azimuth misalignment. However i do own several other decks but my favourites are the AKAI GX-95 mk2 and AIWA XK-009 both are amazingly well designed decks, i just don't get much time to them but still cleaning and tinkering with them is all part of the fun of ownership.

BTW, I've just published a new video of the RX-505 working. It's an awesome deck!

(sorry, it's in spanish)

Walkman Archive I have always loved the way the RX range of Nakamichi decks play the reverse side.

Your poor Dragon under all that weight

Technics RS-B605. Had it for two years, and despite having barely any servicing done (cleaned the tape 'contact' parts recently) it has performed very well for a two-header.

My walkmans are dormant right now, I recently bought an Aiwa P303 which has a better, mechanically controlled transport than my PX610, but it needs a new set of belts so I hope to order them soon.

My "deck" for recording to my Walkman (WM-D6C) is the iBasso DX100 DAP:

http://ibasso.com/en/products/show.asp?ID=78

My source files on the DX100 are usually WAVs ripped from CDs with Exact Audio Copy (I have 128GB on the DAP), or sometimes lossless FLACs. I find this device more convenient for recording than loading a CD player.

By the way, the Schiit Audio Vali amplifier is a really sweet headphones amp to hook up to the LINE-OUT of a unit like the WM-D6C, and it performs *way* beyond its $119 USD price point. Highly recommended!

D6C, to preserver my walkyness

Now, a Technics-M02

My Technics 655 Makes wonderful recordings & is belt free direct drive