Nice boombox - where's the rest of it?
This is just a simple, easy to watch and relatively satisfying video about an unusual little cassette player. This is one of those rare occasions where everything just came together and nothing went wrong.
I really needed a video like this to come along after a run of bad luck with a few troublesome projects. However I'll be getting straight back to those now this one is done.
I hope you enjoy it, have a great week.
UPDATE: Had to make a quick edit and re-upload the video so any comments that were posted on youtube have unfortunately now disappeared, sorry.
Nice Boombox, where's the rest of it? - RetroTech: Technics M1 Co-Deck (YouTube)
Comments (33)
I noticed the public Youtube video is 1 second longer. Any difference to the video?
That's weird - it's the same one embedded above.
Nice video mate, well done. Although I spent the first half quietly pondering why a tape deck with no record function would have a built-in microphone, and then I got worried that you weren't going to mention it at all! The "intercom" feature seems like an odd and unnecessary addition, but I supposed people went about their music listening a bit differently back then, and headphones of the era were predominantly closed-back designs which didn't let a lot of ambient sound in (i.e. someone talking at you while you're trying to enjoy some music!). Interesting stuff, thanks for posting.
Great video as usual! Thanks again for the excellent content. I notice your pre-emptive answers to questions on YouTube. Some of those made me chuckle a bit.
Nice video. I had a couple of mini components from Radio Shack back in the day. Funny how this little guy so effortlessly outperforms consumer tape decks today. A lost art, really.
Very enjoyable, a look at yet another machine whose niche was too small to support a long lifespan. Matt: Have you ever encountered late 1970s-vintage flat panel loudspeakers? I recall a brand named Magneplanar, whose top-of-the-line model had quite stunning sound, even in the low range. I believe these speakers are the predecessor to the Magnepans which can be purchased new today. Flat panel speakers in general: A potential topic for future videos .... !
That’s definitely something I haven’t thought about. I’ll add it to the list. Thanks for the suggestion.
Hi, Mat, the very first Sony "Walkman" was in fact called the Stowaway. I know because I bought one. It was stunningly good. I wish I still had it (and the box) because I doubt many were made before Sony changed to the Walkman name and brand, it's probably got some extra value because of that. The V&A museum at <a href="https://is.gd/Stowaway" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://is.gd/Stowaway</a> says: "The Sony Stowaway TPS-L2 was the first-ever portable stereo, designed and produced by Sony in 1979. Stowaway was developed in response to the request from Nasaru Ibuka, founder of the Sony Corporation in Tokyo, for a stereo cassette player that could be carried around in the pocket. The stereo was marketed as the 'world's smallest stereo' and claimed to produce a quality of sound comparable to stereo equipment 100 times its size. The total weight of the Stowaway was 391 grams."
I’d forgotten about that little bit of history. Walkman was the Japanese name. My friend had one when they first came out. I remember being a bit disappointed at the time that the orange button wasn’t a record button. The idea of a tape player that couldn’t record just seemed weird. Interesting that the V&As model is labelled as a Walkman.
Nice deck, good find! It has the same form factor as two decks by Tandy (Radio Shack), if I remember it correctly. They didn’t have a handle yhough. I loved those decks, but never had the money..
That does ring a bell. I'll go and check my old Tandy catalog (I think it's 1987) to see if it's in there.
god we're like two old blokes in a nursing home trading maladies.. yeah... now i am thinking of puppets.. heh
This was a right fun video. glad it was work to get it righted but not migraine inducing stuff. I am curious, since you do patreon exclusive vids now and again, i wonder if it would be kool for you to look at a lot of the things you personally bought to use, and give a update of how it is panning out. I am curious if you still use that omni-directional done speaker, of the short throw projector, or any of the kitchen gadgets.
The speaker has just gone off to storage, it was replaced by a HomePod because the Mrs likes listening to Apple Music, the Short Throw Projector lost it's projector screen when the room was re-arranged so has sat on a shelf for a couple of years. I also had some eye problems so couldn't watch things for a while even if I wanted to. However I'd also got a 65" OLED 4K TV so didn't really miss the projector when I could see well enough again. As far as the kitchen gadgets go, well the Tefal Actifry got regular use until I stopped eating chips a few months back. So you see it's all just a bit too negative, probably not the kind of things people would enjoy hearing. It makes it sound like the videos about these things were a waste of time. So best not to dwell too much in the past, it's always a bit of a downer.
I can nearly guarantee that the wow and flutter issue is because of the main drive belt. The flywheel is substantial on that deck. I recently worked on two M-225 units (similar mechanism) and I thought the drive belt(s) were in decent shape. After putting everything back together and everything seeming to be fine, I found that as the tape progressed, the slight increase in drag would bring the deck to a halt. That was the first sign. If I checked the wow/flutter, it was also a bit high...but if I moved the deck, the speed would vary greatly. I ordered a new main drive belt and it fixed the issue on both. One other thing...the home units would run the motor if the unit wasn't even playing. So, there are countless thousands of those with worn out brushes causing all kinds of speed issues. This unit isn't like that, thankfully. Another great video!
"Awkward Silence" I own the British Original cut, which is so much longer and even more awkward. Inetresting little deck, I'd forgotten just how many little niche cassette machines there were in those days
The early days of a product category are often the most interesting to me design-wise, before things have settled down on the agreed ‘best way to do things’.
Very neat little device. I'd almost consider buying one myself if it had another set of RCA jacks and a record feature.
You fixed the sticker. You're my hero.
I thought you might enjoy seeing this, I own a complete Technics mini high end stereo system from the same time period, but it is only about 17 cm wide!! - also, there is a matching cassette deck not shown, as I am not using it at the moment. - <a href="https://i.imgur.com/ODz7ZBN.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/ODz7ZBN.jpg</a>
That's a very nice set-up and one I hadn't seen before. I do own a micro-hifi from the early 1980s that I will be showing at some point in a future video. These tiny Hi-Fis still fascinate me as much as they did back then.
What a great little video. Thank you very much.
I especially liked the description of how Sony went about designing the Walkman. It contrasted nicely with the Technics approach as shown - with the top off. Hooray!
Great video! I do admire your skill at dismantling and then reassembling these things. Whenever I’ve tried that, I either have enough bits left over to make another one or I just can’t get it all back in the case. Seeing the relatively high-end tape transport mechansim, I wonder how much they really saved by disabling the recording capability?
I suppose there's quite a bit more stuff you need to add in for the recording circuity, although this does have the air of a rushed product. Sony developed new smaller motors etc for their Walkman - this is more like - "right you've got one month to come up with a portable cassette player or I'm closing this entire department"
I love your PM6307. Philips instrument design is so timeless. Deck is nice as well. Maybe the Co stands for Compact?
I wonder why I didn't think of that - it makes more sense. - and yes that Philips W&F Meter is a beauty. I've been looking for a nice analog one for a while and that just turned up at a very good price. The real reason I went outside though is because it was picking up some interference in the house and the needle was jumping about even when it wasn't listening to a tape.
The secret detective image fading regarding the phantom button turned me on.
It did line up nicely. Like I say, this was one of those videos where things just worked out.
Is there a specific reason why you didn't clean the capstan and the roller? (Or perhaps you did but didn't show it on camera.) I tend to clean those as well as they touch the tape.
I cleaned them - off camera, a good proportion of that muck on the q-tip was from elsewhere.
I've had a similar run of bad luck with filming and projects, but it helps no end having a wee 'win' like this. Hope your other projects have better success going forward!
Yes you need a good result every now and then in order to convince yourself that you're not completely hopeless...until next week.