First of all, excellent job! One thing about this deck stood out to me; this is the first time i have seen low resolution meters, such as these, that have a peak hold function. Impressive.
This is a blast from the past for me. I saved up for almost a year of waiter work to buy this very deck. I loved it and it made some banging mix tapes.
There is something so satisfying in watching a piece of gear being restored. Excellent work! And those dairy products (milk, cheese, and yoghurt) analogies killed me🤣
Just did this job today on my Aiwa F450! Belts from Decktech......Yeah, the metal plate in middle-front kept coming off. I used a smidge of Blutack to keep it on. The retaining peg for a lever spring on top-right front had broken. I was very lucky to find a small screw that replaced that peg very securely. Into the 2nd hour of testing and it's playing very well. Proud of myself! First time to change belts on any kind of deck.
that was back ina eightees. Me got adf-770 and 660. Them are like Mendit mark-says: somebody puked a bucket load of spaghetti,down here!! Or a bird nest. But oh boee,they sounds greett!! Its AiwA,man.Thats why.
Aiwa always made very good cassette decks. Their top end decks were up there with Nakamichi. At the time these ADF-450 decks were really remarkable for the price. The only things lacking compared to more costly decks were 3 heads, fluorescent VU meters and Dolby S. To get such good wow and flutter and extended frequency response on a deck at this price was really not a thing. Dolby B C & HX PRO as well as a fine bias adjustment for a £100 machine won this deck many awards at the time.
Cracking video! I've just replaced the belts on mine with the same kit you used. Perfect fit. When I reassembled mine, I had a screw left over. Realised a after watching your video, it's from the eject button 🤦♂️ I gave the heads on mine a good clean and used a demagnetiser but stopped short of cleaning and reoiling the motor and Capstan. I don't have any of the equipment to test mine like you used at the end of the video so God knows how optimal it is but it does sound great, to my ears at least.
I'll be honest there is times when I've calibrated decks with equipment and they have actually sounded terrible, and I've tweaked the azimuth by ear. It happens, your ears know best!
Nice job on the restoration. Nice deck, too!! I remember these AIWA decks, they weren't quite low end, more of a mid-priced unit as it has Dolby B/C NR, HX Pro and bias fine tuning. in my experience, these mechanically basic cassette decks tend to be more reliable and easier to repair.
I've got one of those in the loft, still in all the original box and packaging. Hardly used it. Must have been there for around 20 years. Mine will probably just need new belts.
This reminded me of when my Nakamichi tape deck wasn't making good recordings after the belts got changed. It turns out the second capstan wasn't engaging. I had to open it back up and reseat the spring, after that it sounded amazing! I'm glad you were abel to fix this aiwa, it looks and sounds much better than when you first got it!
It's always good to save that type of equipment. Even tho that deck is a simple 2 header mainstream deck. I have had the Aiwa AD F600Z that unfortunately messed up the mechanism back in the day. I still got like 20+ tape decks but not Aiwas.
It’s great you saved this deck from being scrapped. I’m pleased you left the part in where it didnt play as it showed how the pinch roller should be fitted which is handy to know.
The Aiwa looks easier to service then my double-well JVC decks, though they are pretty simple as well. My TD-W354 and TD-W718 decks all needed new belts and pinch rollers, took me a couple of hours to figure things out, especially the darn springs on the pinch rollers. Later on I managed to get some brand new ALPS heads and swapped those in, took another few hours desoldering and transferring the ribbon cables over from the old heads, then aligning them. Worth the grief though, both decks now sound as nice as I could hope for with budget decks.
Double decks are really difficult. For servicing unless the owner is really attached to them, they're sometimes really not monetarily sensible to service. Double the deck, double the time and parts sadly.
@@pwrestoration True, though the reason I like my JVC decks are because they are cheap & plentiful on the used market, while potentially sounding really decent. Being relatively affordable decks, means the mechs & circuitry aren't too sophisticated, thus easier to get them restored.
As usual, another great vid. I’ve been using them to get my old faithful TC-K611S in tip top shape. But someone just sold me an AIWA AD-S950 that is dirty and dusty and needs belts. I was wondering if you ever worked on one of those and knew if the transport was the same as this F450. Looks like a breeze to remove and get access to the two pinch rollers and belts. I have a belt/roller/idler kit on the way, I just need to get an idea of what I’m up against with the AD-S950 (beautiful 3 head, manual calibration, Dolby S etc) Maybe another video request here? Thanks
Off the top of my head I'm not sure, but I would say if you're going to change the belts and roller, try and remove the capstan fully too so you can clean and oil it's rotational points. Always helps more than you'd think to get a deck sounding nice. A dot of oil into the motors too if access is ok 👍
Hii thanks for the video! I've just got my hands on one of these myself but its my first time and I've gotten a bit stuck at 7:53, I swear I've removed all of the screws and yet I can't seem to get it out that metal plate with the battery on it. Not sure what to do, any help or advice would be so appreciated.
I think mine was randomly stopping. I think I mothballed it in favour of a Denon deck. I'll have to have a look at it now and get it up and running. I think I bought it new in the 90's
i collect boomboxes, i have a lot of videos of them playing on my channel, they are a pain to repair, especially when the tuners die on them. i got one from japan a couple a while ago, put batteries in it because it's 100v, played great, then smoked, now i only get lights and low hiss, no power to the tuner, no audio, no vu's, i did look inside it but it looks too complicated for me so i left it, i did see a burned out resistor. i'm not even going to touch it any further because i have no idea what the heck i'm doing, the stereo is a Toshiba RT -S90, Search it up, it's a beautiful boombox, i wanted one for years, paid a fortune for it with money i didn't have.
I'm in the process of repairing one myself and it's been going on since about August. It's really dragged, there's just too much going on inside one small space
If it is not a lot of work for you when editing (as a professional video editor, i can understand), you should consider giving us a direct feed from the RCA output of the decks. Just a suggestion. And your editing IS getting a lot better the more videos you put out.
so much empty space inside, but that makes it a lot easier to service. dolby C is a nice feature to have, it is a big improvement over B. I wouldn't have expected bias adjustment on a modest deck like this. seems like a solid 2 head single capstan deck, and the capstan flywheel seems pretty beefy, I bet the W&F is decent.
A while ago i was having problems with my Nakamichi Cassette Deck 2 where it would randomly stop and was told cleaning the leaf contacts at the top of the drive could help and after seeing people repair decks from the 70's and early 80's i was surprised how empty the case was
I have one of these i de soldered the board to do the belt it was in the service manual to do it this way ,not so important to do it this way on this deck, but my wx 828 twin deck it is the only way as there is a leaf type switch that makes it impossible .These f450 must have been a big seller always loads for sale.
This is very far from the bottom of the barrel. Some decks are supposed to be better, and have plastic flywheel (or stamped sheet metal on plastic) while this one has a chunky, balanced aluminium flywheel. Yes, it would be nice to have a separate reel motor. But for what it is, its a nice basic deck with bias adjustment, sounds OK and quite reliable. But I would suggest to avoid the AD-F460, which is the exact same deck, but they "upgraded" it with a boombox-class head. You can buy the 460 if you have a source for replacement head, and convert it back to a 450. Or buy a cheap 460 as a parts machine for a 450. I also replaced the head wires to proper shielded cables in mine.
Considering that AIWA don't make tape decks anymore - yes, I would rescue it ( I f I could ) - Work your magic ! ( it always amazes (Disappoints) me, how there is not much inside - I have a AIWA XKS 7000 and its pretty jam packed inside )
@@pwrestoration I am willing to pay for the costs just to save the Akai deck. This deck belonged to my late dad. I do not think you need to pay import duties since it is for repair and destined to be returned to owner.
I had a couple of these. They're very good decks for the money, given they sold for a little over £100 they performed as well as many decks costing twice as much. I ended up buying an ADF850 (the three head upgraded version of this) which was even better, but the 450 was still good as a playback deck. I think the early '90s was the high spot for affordable hifi stuff, they'd got to the point where they could produce stuff that performed well, cheaply, but nasty Korean/Chinese competition hadn't yet reached the level that forced the Japanese to cut corners everywhere. By the early 2000s it was already all shot to crap, and the less said about modern junk the better - I've just bought a £1000 Arcam amplifier, and while it sounds great I'll be surprised if it's still going in five years, let alone 20. Chinese manufacturing is just soooooooo shoddy - Samxon rubbish and those badly-fitting JST copy connectors they have to gum up with glue to stop them coming loose in transit, on a £1000 appliance? Please come back Sanyo and Aiwa, all is forgiven...
To be fair the higher end amplifiers and audio equipment from major name brands is actually pretty well made even for stuff made in China. I have an Audiolab Omnia and looking inside the components and build quality is excellent even though it's made in China. The Chinese can produce quality products but when they do they are just as expensive as European, Japanese and US made products. Of course the mass market cheap stuff they also produce can absolutely be garbage, just look at the basic low quality decks from Ion for example, or the myriad of portable cassette players that all use the same cheap mechanism these days.
Agree completely but your comment at the end needs to be addressed. The Sanyo and Aiwa brands still exist but they are not the old brands. Sony sold off Aiwa. It no longer has any connection to the old Aiwa. And Sanyo got acquired by Panasonic but some parts got sold off to Haier. If either brand came out with a new cassette product, it will surely be another Tanashin. Joy.
@@LatitudeSky Yes, I know. I was referring to the original companies of course. They're never coming back. Well I say that, Aiwa is still operational as an independent Japanese company (of sorts) and, I suppose, could come back with similar quality to the way it was, but it isn't likely.
@@pwrestoration Trying to decide if you have enough understanding explain the reason. I don’t think you do, having referred to fragile, which has nothing to do with it. Buddy.
@@pwrestoration It’s all about the oils in your fingers, which have a terrible effect on tape recorders. I can do without those skanky gloves. I used tape recorders for my living for decades, and cassette’s tiny parts were more vulnerable than the big 2” recorders. Gloves were the usual for a minute or two and I knew it was worth it.
First of all, excellent job! One thing about this deck stood out to me; this is the first time i have seen low resolution meters, such as these, that have a peak hold function. Impressive.
This is a blast from the past for me. I saved up for almost a year of waiter work to buy this very deck. I loved it and it made some banging mix tapes.
For the initial price of this deck in comparison to others, it's playback and recording is very good.
There is something so satisfying in watching a piece of gear being restored. Excellent work! And those dairy products (milk, cheese, and yoghurt) analogies killed me🤣
I don't remember the analogies now 😅 I'll maybe have a flick through and find them. A bit of humour makes the day go faster!
@@pwrestoration absolutely, and you have a great sense of humour with a straight tone, which makes it even funnier! Keep it up👍
Just did this job today on my Aiwa F450! Belts from Decktech......Yeah, the metal plate in middle-front kept coming off. I used a smidge of Blutack to keep it on. The retaining peg for a lever spring on top-right front had broken. I was very lucky to find a small screw that replaced that peg very securely. Into the 2nd hour of testing and it's playing very well. Proud of myself! First time to change belts on any kind of deck.
Good work! I think in the end i flung that plate in the bin
This was actually quite informative to watch. Gave me flashbacks from my TC-K611S not engaging the heads with the tape.
I think it’s the first Aiwa tape deck i see that doesn’t have a mess of wires all over the pcbs. Great work!
that was back ina eightees. Me got adf-770 and 660. Them are like Mendit mark-says: somebody puked a bucket load of spaghetti,down here!! Or a bird nest. But oh boee,they sounds greett!! Its AiwA,man.Thats why.
Aiwa always made very good cassette decks. Their top end decks were up there with Nakamichi.
At the time these ADF-450 decks were really remarkable for the price. The only things lacking compared to more costly decks were 3 heads, fluorescent VU meters and Dolby S.
To get such good wow and flutter and extended frequency response on a deck at this price was really not a thing. Dolby B C & HX PRO as well as a fine bias adjustment for a £100 machine won this deck many awards at the time.
That's right, but you didn't need to go top end decks from Aiwa, the ADF800 and ADF880 could rival them at a fraction of the price.
Cracking video!
I've just replaced the belts on mine with the same kit you used. Perfect fit.
When I reassembled mine, I had a screw left over. Realised a after watching your video, it's from the eject button 🤦♂️
I gave the heads on mine a good clean and used a demagnetiser but stopped short of cleaning and reoiling the motor and Capstan.
I don't have any of the equipment to test mine like you used at the end of the video so God knows how optimal it is but it does sound great, to my ears at least.
I'll be honest there is times when I've calibrated decks with equipment and they have actually sounded terrible, and I've tweaked the azimuth by ear. It happens, your ears know best!
Nice job on the restoration. Nice deck, too!! I remember these AIWA decks, they weren't quite low end, more of a mid-priced unit as it has Dolby B/C NR, HX Pro and bias fine tuning. in my experience, these mechanically basic cassette decks tend to be more reliable and easier to repair.
It does have HX, I forgot to mention that. I only realised when I looked inside though. Usually it's plastered all over the front panel! 😅
I've got one of those in the loft, still in all the original box and packaging. Hardly used it. Must have been there for around 20 years. Mine will probably just need new belts.
A great repair and well edited film. Well done
Thanks! My editing is improving.
I love how everything comes right apart easily and goes back together the same. Easy to work on!
This reminded me of when my Nakamichi tape deck wasn't making good recordings after the belts got changed. It turns out the second capstan wasn't engaging. I had to open it back up and reseat the spring, after that it sounded amazing! I'm glad you were abel to fix this aiwa, it looks and sounds much better than when you first got it!
It's always good to save that type of equipment. Even tho that deck is a simple 2 header mainstream deck. I have had the Aiwa AD F600Z that unfortunately messed up the mechanism back in the day. I still got like 20+ tape decks but not Aiwas.
It’s great you saved this deck from being scrapped. I’m pleased you left the part in where it didnt play as it showed how the pinch roller should be fitted which is handy to know.
Paul, you are like me😂. I can‘t stand dirt and smudge either. I clean and scrub the devices outside and inside like you do. Cheers👍🏻
Nice work! Looking forward to the next one.
Congratulations, Great job 👏
I have a very similar 410 model....they indeed sound good
A great video. Many thanks.
Great job! Saved another one.
The Aiwa looks easier to service then my double-well JVC decks, though they are pretty simple as well. My TD-W354 and TD-W718 decks all needed new belts and pinch rollers, took me a couple of hours to figure things out, especially the darn springs on the pinch rollers. Later on I managed to get some brand new ALPS heads and swapped those in, took another few hours desoldering and transferring the ribbon cables over from the old heads, then aligning them. Worth the grief though, both decks now sound as nice as I could hope for with budget decks.
Double decks are really difficult. For servicing unless the owner is really attached to them, they're sometimes really not monetarily sensible to service. Double the deck, double the time and parts sadly.
@@pwrestoration True, though the reason I like my JVC decks are because they are cheap & plentiful on the used market, while potentially sounding really decent. Being relatively affordable decks, means the mechs & circuitry aren't too sophisticated, thus easier to get them restored.
As usual, another great vid. I’ve been using them to get my old faithful TC-K611S in tip top shape. But someone just sold me an AIWA AD-S950 that is dirty and dusty and needs belts. I was wondering if you ever worked on one of those and knew if the transport was the same as this F450. Looks like a breeze to remove and get access to the two pinch rollers and belts. I have a belt/roller/idler kit on the way, I just need to get an idea of what I’m up against with the AD-S950 (beautiful 3 head, manual calibration, Dolby S etc) Maybe another video request here? Thanks
Off the top of my head I'm not sure, but I would say if you're going to change the belts and roller, try and remove the capstan fully too so you can clean and oil it's rotational points.
Always helps more than you'd think to get a deck sounding nice. A dot of oil into the motors too if access is ok 👍
Good job. Just about to start a similar effort on a higher end Aiwa
Good luck!
Hii thanks for the video! I've just got my hands on one of these myself but its my first time and I've gotten a bit stuck at 7:53, I swear I've removed all of the screws and yet I can't seem to get it out that metal plate with the battery on it. Not sure what to do, any help or advice would be so appreciated.
OK I managed to open it, I think it might have been held in place with some adhesive...
Get a screwdriver in and give it a wiggle they get stuck
Great work!. Informative and entertaining to watch, especially as an amateur trying to repair my first deck.
Thanks! Stick with it and work through logically. Don't force anything and shout if you need anything!
Nice job! I really enjoy your videos! 🙏
Thanks, it's really appreciated!
I've got one of those. Good deck.
I think mine was randomly stopping. I think I mothballed it in favour of a Denon deck. I'll have to have a look at it now and get it up and running. I think I bought it new in the 90's
i collect boomboxes, i have a lot of videos of them playing on my channel, they are a pain to repair, especially when the tuners die on them. i got one from japan a couple a while ago, put batteries in it because it's 100v, played great, then smoked, now i only get lights and low hiss, no power to the tuner, no audio, no vu's, i did look inside it but it looks too complicated for me so i left it, i did see a burned out resistor. i'm not even going to touch it any further because i have no idea what the heck i'm doing, the stereo is a Toshiba RT -S90, Search it up, it's a beautiful boombox, i wanted one for years, paid a fortune for it with money i didn't have.
I'm in the process of repairing one myself and it's been going on since about August. It's really dragged, there's just too much going on inside one small space
If it is not a lot of work for you when editing (as a professional video editor, i can understand), you should consider giving us a direct feed from the RCA output of the decks. Just a suggestion. And your editing IS getting a lot better the more videos you put out.
Thanks I meant to do that but keep forgetting!
@@pwrestoration if you need any help with the editing let me know!
so much empty space inside, but that makes it a lot easier to service. dolby C is a nice feature to have, it is a big improvement over B. I wouldn't have expected bias adjustment on a modest deck like this. seems like a solid 2 head single capstan deck, and the capstan flywheel seems pretty beefy, I bet the W&F is decent.
A while ago i was having problems with my Nakamichi Cassette Deck 2 where it would randomly stop and was told cleaning the leaf contacts at the top of the drive could help and after seeing people repair decks from the 70's and early 80's i was surprised how empty the case was
On a lot of nakamichis the older control motors develop flat spots, which causes those symptoms. Did your leaf spring fix work?
@@pwrestoration Yes thank god i had some flat cotton wool buds and gently cleaned them with some isopropyl and it's worked fine ever since 🤞
Encore une vidéo génial 👍🏻
I have one of these i de soldered the board to do the belt it was in the service manual to do it this way ,not so important to do it this way on this deck, but my wx 828 twin deck it is the only way as there is a leaf type switch that makes it impossible .These f450 must have been a big seller always loads for sale.
I'm glad I didn't have to!
👌Good job! Rubber rejuvinator... what do you use? What's it called?
Just listed under rubber rejuvenator.. but don't tell anyone, I use fabric softener! Same chemical compound but smells likes
@@pwrestoration Thanks, PW! I'm in Denmark and having trouble finding this stuff. Fabric softener .... okay :)
I bought this very deck from a refurbishing company last December I wonder was it this one
Haha I wonder! This had a few marks on the front. Not sure what I did with it, eBay I think
Some one on Ebay is trying to get 150 euro for one of these, did they even cost that new lol
This is very far from the bottom of the barrel. Some decks are supposed to be better, and have plastic flywheel (or stamped sheet metal on plastic) while this one has a chunky, balanced aluminium flywheel. Yes, it would be nice to have a separate reel motor. But for what it is, its a nice basic deck with bias adjustment, sounds OK and quite reliable. But I would suggest to avoid the AD-F460, which is the exact same deck, but they "upgraded" it with a boombox-class head. You can buy the 460 if you have a source for replacement head, and convert it back to a 450. Or buy a cheap 460 as a parts machine for a 450. I also replaced the head wires to proper shielded cables in mine.
Can u do a video about headcable chielding swap?? I got adf770 and also 660.
Considering that AIWA don't make tape decks anymore - yes, I would rescue it ( I f I could ) - Work your magic ! ( it always amazes (Disappoints) me, how there is not much inside - I have a AIWA XKS 7000 and its pretty jam packed inside )
Shame that you are not taking deck from outside UK
Costs too much for shipping and import tax I'm afraid
I am willing to pay for all the cost just to save my beloved Akai deck@@pwrestoration
@@pwrestoration I am willing to pay for the costs just to save the Akai deck. This deck belonged to my late dad. I do not think you need to pay import duties since it is for repair and destined to be returned to owner.
Well done from a skip to ..tunes you can skip to..
I had a couple of these. They're very good decks for the money, given they sold for a little over £100 they performed as well as many decks costing twice as much. I ended up buying an ADF850 (the three head upgraded version of this) which was even better, but the 450 was still good as a playback deck.
I think the early '90s was the high spot for affordable hifi stuff, they'd got to the point where they could produce stuff that performed well, cheaply, but nasty Korean/Chinese competition hadn't yet reached the level that forced the Japanese to cut corners everywhere. By the early 2000s it was already all shot to crap, and the less said about modern junk the better - I've just bought a £1000 Arcam amplifier, and while it sounds great I'll be surprised if it's still going in five years, let alone 20. Chinese manufacturing is just soooooooo shoddy - Samxon rubbish and those badly-fitting JST copy connectors they have to gum up with glue to stop them coming loose in transit, on a £1000 appliance? Please come back Sanyo and Aiwa, all is forgiven...
To be fair the higher end amplifiers and audio equipment from major name brands is actually pretty well made even for stuff made in China. I have an Audiolab Omnia and looking inside the components and build quality is excellent even though it's made in China. The Chinese can produce quality products but when they do they are just as expensive as European, Japanese and US made products. Of course the mass market cheap stuff they also produce can absolutely be garbage, just look at the basic low quality decks from Ion for example, or the myriad of portable cassette players that all use the same cheap mechanism these days.
Aiwa rules. Got 770 and 660. Way to go.
Agree completely but your comment at the end needs to be addressed. The Sanyo and Aiwa brands still exist but they are not the old brands. Sony sold off Aiwa. It no longer has any connection to the old Aiwa. And Sanyo got acquired by Panasonic but some parts got sold off to Haier. If either brand came out with a new cassette product, it will surely be another Tanashin. Joy.
@@LatitudeSky Yes, I know. I was referring to the original companies of course. They're never coming back.
Well I say that, Aiwa is still operational as an independent Japanese company (of sorts) and, I suppose, could come back with similar quality to the way it was, but it isn't likely.
Now recording wit my ADF-770. Soo much very good gizmo. Miss em all Back!!
Pratim tvoj rad ali slabo znam engleski jezik. Jel postoji mogućnost da se ubaci automatski prevod na srpski ili hrvatski jezik?
I'm not sure but I'll look into it!
VU's LED's not working correctly by the looks of it
Nope, all good
Gloves while touching any transport parts.
Nahhhhh it's not that fragile buddy
@@pwrestoration Trying to decide if you have enough understanding explain the reason. I don’t think you do, having referred to fragile, which has nothing to do with it. Buddy.
@@artysanmobile maybe you just love gloves. It's ok. Everyone has secrets, buddy ❤️❤️😉😉
@@pwrestoration It’s all about the oils in your fingers, which have a terrible effect on tape recorders. I can do without those skanky gloves. I used tape recorders for my living for decades, and cassette’s tiny parts were more vulnerable than the big 2” recorders. Gloves were the usual for a minute or two and I knew it was worth it.
The heads probably need a really good Boogee..lol
👏👏👏
Same mechanism like AD-F410
the bin is the best place for most Aiwas
😅
Yes fit for the bin as cassette tapes are laughable in 2024!! 🗑️👎
Cheer up!!
Top comment would read again 11/10
🔔🔚🤔 why are you watching if you don't like cassette tapes ? 🤡
Sucker.