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Akai 4000DB

Thanks Tony, all of these work fully and a service by myself, I have a few others too (Nakamichi CR-4, Aiwa AD-F770, NAD 6155, Denon DR-M20) and some more waiting on service. I will be selling a few on when I have decided which ones I am keeping, I have spent far much more time servicing decks than listening to music recently and plan on doing more of the latter when I have completed the decks I haven't serviced yet.
 
Thanks Alan. A BX-300 is a very nice deck for not much money. The Kenwood KX-1100 is a real sleeper deck too - same Sanyo direct drive transport as the Nak CR-7, Amorphous heads, independent bias and rec.level calibration, good Sony Dolby IC's etc.

All Nakamichi's sound good in my opinion, they didn't make a bad deck.
 
Right place to ask I guess: I have a boxed Aiwa f770 cassette deck if anyone wants it? Postage would be at cost from Swissieland, probably 15-25 quid. Last time I checked it all worked, but main capstan flat belt had started to tear so needs replacement.

There are also a whole bunch of metal and chrome sealed name brand tapes on Ricardo.ch currently - I'm happy to purchase for anyone who wants some - but I've no idea of real value so you'd need to give me your max bid price, and pay for postage onto UK after.
 
I messed up, sorry folks, it's an AD-F810, not F777... And postage is coming out to £38!
 
Is it tidy and are the heads good? If so I'd like it please as it sounds fixable, my Sony 555ES, the only deck I have in my huge pile that works, has obviously worn heads (you can see/feel the wear!). I think my Sony came out of a studio which probably explains the wear.
 
I take proper photos of heads later - from memory it was barely used. And check full external condition. Here's a quick photo from last night;

35525020386_0da88ffd2c_c.jpg
 
Thanks, no need for photos, if the heads look good it has to be worth £40 and the cost of some new belts. I found a service manual too, not that it details how to change the belts very well! Just PM me how you want paying.
 
I spent alot of time finding belts that work well on the Aiwa dual capstan decks, I can send you a belt set if you like, or send the deck to me and I will service it for you. As far as I know all of the Aiwa belt "kits" you can get aside from the Marrs ones won't give decent results, and the Marrs ones are £30-40 for one set of belts delivered to the UK. I get mine from ASWO in France.
 
That is very kind of you, thank you. How easy is it to fit the belts? Looking at the service diagram it appears a case of removing the metal panel to which the motor and rear thrust plate for the large flywheel is attached and popping it in, though I haven't quite figured out where the second one goes yet (I assume it links the two capstans, but from the manual alone I can't quite figure out how!).
 
Yes you remove the back plate, clean and replace the belts. I would do more than that myself - remove the flywheels, clean, oil, replace, rejuvenate the pinch rollers, there is an idler tyre in there for the reel tables but that might be OK.

If you change belts you need to check/re-set the speed, there is a Windows program called WFGui to set speed and measure W+F and you then need a 3khz or 3.15Khz test tape. If you don't have a "proper" one something like this should be OK, or you can compare a pre-recorded tape to a CD to get you in the ball-park.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=292147718716

Someone used to sell these tapes made on a Nak Dragon which is Quartz-controlled so you know the speed is correct but I can't find the seller.

One belt is from the motor to capstan "A" (the longer belt), the other from capstan "A" to "B". After that is it a case of checking azimuth, head height, playback level, playback frequency response, bias/rec.levels and so on.
 
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If it wouldn't be an imposition I'd love for you to do that. It would be great to just have one cassette machine that actually works properly. My Sony ES sounds surprisingly good after demagnatising the heads, but it can't be 'right' as the head wear is as bad as I've ever seen. I've still got a bit of digitising of old demo cassettes to do, having a home studio we recorded hours and hours, not that all of it is worth preserving by any stretch, a lot really is junk!
 
I just checked the heads, they're barely used IMO. On pinch roller you can just see a tape mark on it, and black not brown. Belt kit, clean and relube and it'd be good as new - but note that I never even powered it on, so cannot confirm it is fully functional.

Cosmetically mint, just needs a clean. With original box and packing.

Let me know if interested via PM Tony, and delivery address :) And I'll drop you my IBAN in return and get is shipped.

Richard
 
Thanks very much Richard, I'll definitely take it, and if possble we can arrange direct shipping to DF above which should cut one journey out. I'll drop you a PM now.
 
That's fine Tony, least I can do for the owner of this great forum. It might be a couple of weeks before I can get round to servicing it. After we've got your Aiwa working the Sony could be worth looking at, it has Amorphous heads which are very hard wearing. David.
 
That superb, thanks David. I actually possess a whole cassette deck mountain:

16926734762_87bbba98ba_b.jpg


Looking at the pic the Sony ES is a 444 MkII, not a 555 as I initially wrote. All I actually need/want is one good quality working one suitable for mastering from, so once the Aiwa turns up I'll likely think about moving the rest on! That's not all of them either! I also have a really nice tidy Sony TC204SD, their first front-loader, which aside from the Aiwa (which I'd actually use) would be the only one I'd be bothered to keep as I also have the matching amp and tuner. The sad thing is I doubt it is fixable as I've already replaced the belts on it and it still won't wind/fast-forward which implies the idlers are shot, and they don't seem to be available (or I can't find any). It plays ok, though there isn't much strength on the take-up reel so I'd not trust it!
 
Yes the Sony 204SD is likely a single motor deck which usually means idlers, If the tyres can't be sourced a light sanding and Platenclene might work. The Sony 444 is a decent deck and worth getting working again, the (what I think is a) Sony TC-K6B is reasonably sought after for people with the matching amp and tuner.

I have a few decks which I will probably move on myself - Yamaha KX-1200, Denon DR-M20, Akai GX-65, Aiwa AD-WX888 and an Aiwa AD-F990. I need to service the Yamaha but the rest are fully working.
 
Yes, its a TC-K6B. Its not mint and as I recall it powers up ok, but doesn't wind properly in either direction so needs belts as a minimum. It came with the matching amp, which was mint but sadly blew up. The Technics double deck probably works fine, I've never tried it beyond establishing it powered up - it was part of my Quad/Tannoy 'radiogram' bargain buy it now on eBay (Tannoy Monitor Gold thread). It is a budget plastic thing. The Pioneer is a 6161 IIRC, and again needs belts as a minimum. An interesting deck as the tape goes deep inside at an angle, i.e. not a conventional front-loader. Aside from the incoming Aiwa I'll likely keep the Sony 444 and 204 and bung the other three in the charity room at some point. The hardest thing would be finding packaging for them!
 
If they were mine I'd keep the Aiwa and the Sony to use, for the 6161 and K6B you might get a £50-100 in full working order. If you are concerned about head wear on the 444 you need a calibrated frequency response cassette and an AC millivolt meter. I have an Abex 1Khz/17.5Khz playback tape to check this (10Khz is the "normal" check frequency but often isn't enough to detect head wear). I can't find the service manual for the 444ESii but the 555 doesn't have adjustable playback frequency response so the 444 won't have either.
 
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