You conclude with 'thank you for watching', I would say; "thank you for showing'! What a nice, clear, beautiful presentation. Clear explantion brought with patience. Many kudo's from me!
I once repaired one of these Kenwoods and got surprised about how good it sounded after almost half a century denoting a good engineering and manufacturing
I'm glad I found this video. I just bought a nice KX-910 from ebay. Seller said it's not working. I assume it will need belts. It's a similar set up, so it doesn't look like the belts will be too difficult to replace.
man Iove old cassette decks with vu meters. trying to find one but it's hard when everyone and there grandma snatches them up from goodwill thinking they got a million dollar item. cause "it's old"
I enjoyed your video and showing off the internals of this deck so well. I keep meaning to get myself some of those dental tools like you are using... I see a lot of repair techs using them! Please keep these videos coming, they teach me a lot! Thanks!
I had one of these back in the eighties and I really liked it because the playback was so clean and I did a refurbish on belts and tire and more belts under reels! It was worth fixing and I gave it to my Brother-In-Law he had it for a long time but then it wore out again! After that I didn't see it again!
Thank you so much for this video! It helped me repair my Kenwood KX-720 cassette deck, which is very very similar inside! Probably the same mechanism, but the electronics layout is completely different as well as the hidden screw being exposed.
Positively beautiful piece of machinery. I was curious how you’d be able to find a belt kit for such an old unit, of course I should have known you already had them in margarine container #47! Excellent video, some of the best content out there. Thank you so much for sharing your work!
@@DrCassette How to build a Dr Cassette-style workshop: Step 1: Save 100+ margarine containers, preferably Delikata brand! Step 2: Repeat Step 1 but with Ja! yoghurt cans!
Nicely built mechanism, those dentists tools make light work of that rather fiddly job. Mechanical design in consumer electronics is really becoming a lost art with digital solid state storage media.
I have a KX920 cassette player by Kenwood. Excellent machines. I recently maintained it to nearly factory specs. I have not adjusted the motor for wow and flutter at a 1Khz signal cause am missing a tape with a 1Khs signal. Ohh well ! Thanks for the video its been a pleasure watching it.
I purchased this new back when it first came out, lasted seems like forever. I tried to change the belts and could not get the ejection plate back on correctly. Finally gave up and retired it. It had great playback fidelity for it's day. I would like to find one that has been repaired back to factory condition!
I found one on E-Bay a while back that had been serviced with new belts and capstan roller. It sounds great and looks like a new one. I have several other cassette decks from Nakamichi, Teac, Sony and Technics. It sound as good or better than any of the
Remember I had the back plate with back bearing taken off during the repair for easier access to the flywheel? That's why the capstan moved while turning it.
@@seantweedie9268 DC actually did not measure W&F and the fact that he had to use 8 averages for a 1 kHz tone (W&F is measured at 3 or 3.3 kHz) is an indication it might be not too good.
The flywheel does have a bit of wobble, it's a problem of the cast metal, nothing I can do about that. Thankfully it does not seem to cause any audible W&F. I mentioned this in the raw video but cut it out later to make the video shorter.
I have a Technics deck that looks a lot like this, with the same problems. I was going to dump it, but I sent a picture of it to a radio DJ friend a couple of days ago to see if he wanted it, and would you believe, this video appeared on my notifications!
I have said things while talking to someone and the next time I'm on my phone I get ads for the things that I was talking about! It's getting to the point where you have to watch what you say.... So much for privacy.
This looks like an old Matsushita / Panasonic design of chassis. Kenwood must have bought some for a first cassette deck although they did make a none dolby version. I saw many Panasonic cassette decks and others when I was in the Hi Fi trade. As s buyer I would often open and item up ad have a look and the control mechanism and well everything about it screams Panasonic. They were nice basic decks more for playing than recording. Panasonic did sell a lot of replacement heads when people used chrome tapes on them.
I have this deck and the take-up reel is no longer working I believe. The deck plays for a few seconds and then auto stops. Any idea if that’s the case. All the other belts have been replaced, except that belt. It’s in a very tight spot.
@@DrCassette hey great to see you reply !! Been watching your videos since yesterday. Subscribed long ago though. Dear do you have NATIONAL PANASONIC GRAMOPHONE CASSETTE DECK? I want to see you repair it. I have that at home (1974 model).
Nice,very well built solid machine,,,as they were made to last as long as you do,,,with some tlc in keeping it clean,,replacing belts,,and lubricate the mechanism in a lifetime,,,and adjust the speed,,,and the azimuth head alignment,,,it will play well look aftered tapes as it should altogether. Ps,,,never had really seen 2 speed adjustment potentiometer controls on the motor,s circuit board b4,,I thought one of them is for the high speed recording/playback,,if it has high speed dubbing. I had repaired a teac tascam heavy duty studio,,stereo tape deck,,which had a normal/high speed tape selector switch,,,as it had 2 speed controls just like in your video.
Dual cassette decks with normal and high speed dubbing always have two speed adjustments per capstan motor, one for high speed and one for normal speed.
@@DrCassette Yes that,s right there,,,but the cassette deck u had fixed,,does it have a normal/high speed dub selector switch? As that is what I had found on a teac/tascam stereo tape deck model I had repaired back in 2018/19.
@@DrCassette Ah, I have a akai M50 and the belts look really good. Not sure if they were replaced before hand or not. Also what was the music you used on that cassette?
If you look closely unfortunately there is a slight wobble in that flywheel. It's a problem with the cast metal, nothing I can do about that. This wobble will certainly have a negative effect on the speed stability.
@@DrCassette I noticed the wobble in the pinch roller and then in the flywheel also, but then I thought well... The bracket that holds the bearing for the flywheel isn't in place so that explains why it's wobbling... Is the pinch roller still wobbling after you assembled it?
Interesting, at about @1:35, output amplifier noise is present even though the Play button is not depressed. Usually, there is a muting transistor circuit that deadens the playback amp at this stage.Maybe not present in this model? Same muting (and input circuit short-circuiting) required for most (any?) record and playback circuits for a typical two-head deck. Solid looking deck! cassettedeckman.blogspot.com
This mechanism still has a lot of mechanical contacts directly linked to it that do signal switching, I'm sure there is no muting transistor. Not sure though why the deck only cuts audio in rewind...
14:27 Hehe, for a second I thought you were being sarcastic because of the wagon-wheel effect on the camera making the fast-forward look slow (was sitting far away from the screen with bad eyesight).
hi to all go to 10.56 on the time line this deck is very ill there's a bend in the capstan pinch this deck will have bad audio could be fixed used i vice last time i had to bend in right
Remember I had the back plate with back bearing taken off during the repair for easier access to the flywheel? That's why the capstan moved while turning it!
@@DrCassette Sooner or later it will get loose ... in my opinion, if you changed one belt, you need to change all of them! Like capacitors, bearings etc etc
Well in not gonna change opinions heres. But I personally go buy a "if it ant broke don't fix it" sorta mentality. The exception would be a leaky capacitor (or other component) as well as those capacitors from those brands that just happen to all ways go bad.
hi start looking at cassette deck again i am a audio / video man you do real re-pair video's not the fake video's the man with the things he finds in no where kenwood was a deck made of parts from all makes a tv video tec told me i keep away from video monitors bob
These machines were popular in the 70's when i was in the navy they were perfect size to fit into a small lockers.
You conclude with 'thank you for watching', I would say; "thank you for showing'! What a nice, clear, beautiful presentation. Clear explantion brought with patience. Many kudo's from me!
Thank you :)
I once repaired one of these Kenwoods and got surprised about how good it sounded after almost half a century denoting a good engineering and manufacturing
Kenwood made excellent equipment back in the 1970s :)
Just re-visiting your videos. Great to see them again DrC!
You are welcome :)
I'm glad I found this video. I just bought a nice KX-910 from ebay. Seller said it's not working. I assume it will need belts. It's a similar set up, so it doesn't look like the belts will be too difficult to replace.
man Iove old cassette decks with vu meters. trying to find one but it's hard when everyone and there grandma snatches them up from goodwill thinking they got a million dollar item. cause "it's old"
I enjoyed your video and showing off the internals of this deck so well. I keep meaning to get myself some of those dental tools like you are using... I see a lot of repair techs using them! Please keep these videos coming, they teach me a lot! Thanks!
So much better than today's cassette decks in 2010 and 2020.
Nice service on a very nice looking seventies deck.
I remember those day, before the front loading decks came along, beautiful looking machines.
I had one of these back in the eighties and I really liked it because the playback was so clean and I did a refurbish on belts and tire and more belts under reels! It was worth fixing and I gave it to my Brother-In-Law he had it for a long time but then it wore out again! After that I didn't see it again!
Thank you so much for this video! It helped me repair my Kenwood KX-720 cassette deck, which is very very similar inside! Probably the same mechanism, but the electronics layout is completely different as well as the hidden screw being exposed.
Positively beautiful piece of machinery. I was curious how you’d be able to find a belt kit for such an old unit, of course I should have known you already had them in margarine container #47! Excellent video, some of the best content out there. Thank you so much for sharing your work!
Thank you :) Well, my collection of replacement belts takes up a bit more than just one margarine container...
@@DrCassette How to build a Dr Cassette-style workshop:
Step 1: Save 100+ margarine containers, preferably Delikata brand!
Step 2: Repeat Step 1 but with Ja! yoghurt cans!
You gotta love those violent eject mechanisms of the 70s.
a lovely deck..and a good repair.well done.
Thank you :)
Nicely built mechanism, those dentists tools make light work of that rather fiddly job. Mechanical design in consumer electronics is really becoming a lost art with digital solid state storage media.
Nice deck.... Really nice deck!!👌
Excellent as always!
Thank you :)
Really nice deck and repair!! Wish I could find something like that on recycling center. Usually there are 80s Technics or Pioneer....
That's still better than what I usually find at our recycling center these days. HiFi equipment is getting increasingly rare :(
DrCassette better than nothing I guess. Btw did you find that player from there?
No, I got this cassette deck off Ebay about 10 years ago.
I have a KX920 cassette player by Kenwood. Excellent machines. I recently maintained it to nearly factory specs. I have not adjusted the motor for wow and flutter at a 1Khz signal cause am missing a tape with a 1Khs signal. Ohh well ! Thanks for the video its been a pleasure watching it.
You can adjust the speed of a motor, but not the wow and flutter. That is an inherent property of the mechanism as a whole system.
Great repair man. Kenwood back to life
Thank you :)
I purchased this new back when it first came out, lasted seems like forever. I tried to change the belts and could not get the ejection plate back on correctly. Finally gave up and retired it. It had great playback fidelity for it's day. I would like to find one that has been repaired back to factory condition!
I found one on E-Bay a while back that had been serviced with new belts and capstan roller. It sounds great and looks like a new one. I have several other cassette decks from Nakamichi, Teac, Sony and Technics. It sound as good or better than any of the
Nice repair of a quality deck .
Thank you :)
Excellent work and nice video! Thanks a lot.
Thank you :)
Absolutely brilliant as always ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you :)
@@DrCassette your welcome
+5 points for the Cafe 80s tape.
The label on that cassette is old. This has just been a workshop test cassette for years...
Fantastic VU Meters on this machine.
I can see from the close up shots that the capstan shaft is bent.
Remember I had the back plate with back bearing taken off during the repair for easier access to the flywheel? That's why the capstan moved while turning it.
@@DrCassette Actually in the last test after fixing the motor pulley the flywheel does not appear to rotate evenly, that might affect W&F
@@enricoself2256 I feel if the deck had any bad or unusual WnF that DC would have mentioned when he was trying to set it to the correct speed.
@@seantweedie9268 DC actually did not measure W&F and the fact that he had to use 8 averages for a 1 kHz tone (W&F is measured at 3 or 3.3 kHz) is an indication it might be not too good.
The flywheel does have a bit of wobble, it's a problem of the cast metal, nothing I can do about that. Thankfully it does not seem to cause any audible W&F. I mentioned this in the raw video but cut it out later to make the video shorter.
Is there any way to find the coupling disk or how to make or find a replacement?
I have a Technics deck that looks a lot like this, with the same problems.
I was going to dump it, but I sent a picture of it to a radio DJ friend a couple of days ago to see if he wanted it, and would you believe, this video appeared on my notifications!
Technics RS 263
I have said things while talking to someone and the next time I'm on my phone I get ads for the things that I was talking about! It's getting to the point where you have to watch what you say.... So much for privacy.
This was a welcome post on my feed. I'm now having second thoughts about dumping it, and I've seen some of the Ebay prices as well!
@@davidbrown5646 M263 is a good deck. The start to decent decks due to bias.
ha i watched this video exactly on the 44th birthday of this tapedeck
You are Great ! And Great !video I always love it to watch 👍📣🎵
Thank you :)
Nice top loading deck
This looks like an old Matsushita / Panasonic design of chassis.
Kenwood must have bought some for a first cassette deck although they did make a none dolby version.
I saw many Panasonic cassette decks and others when I was in the Hi Fi trade.
As s buyer I would often open and item up ad have a look and the control mechanism and well everything about it screams Panasonic.
They were nice basic decks more for playing than recording. Panasonic did sell a lot of replacement heads when people used chrome tapes on them.
Interesting, thanks for the info.
I have a cassette player just like the one that you're working on May I send it to you and have it repaired?
Sorry, I don't do commissioned work.
I have the Trio badged version. Unfortunately mine suffered a bad pinch roller and a hamfisted repair bent the bracket. One day I will revive it.
Great video as usual
Thank you :)
im trying to take the eject mechnism off, how did you manage this?
It's even harder to put back on!
I have this deck and the take-up reel is no longer working I believe. The deck plays for a few seconds and then auto stops. Any idea if that’s the case. All the other belts have been replaced, except that belt. It’s in a very tight spot.
Gracias excelente video aprendí mucho de ese modelo
An interesting video. Have you work on a different model of this deck because I swear Ive seen you work on this deck or one of it other models.
This cassette deck has been in my collection for almost 10 years now, so I'm sure you have seen it before in one of my videos.
Well done! Thank you, Like.
Muy bien video gracias
Great video.
Thank you :)
@@DrCassette You're welcome.
Your videos are really good :)
Thank you :)
@@DrCassette hey great to see you reply !! Been watching your videos since yesterday. Subscribed long ago though. Dear do you have NATIONAL PANASONIC GRAMOPHONE CASSETTE DECK? I want to see you repair it. I have that at home (1974 model).
@@DrCassette if you have time please do reply :)
You love your job, thank you very much ...
there always seems to be another screw or two.. and they are hidden..maddening at times..
Nice,very well built solid machine,,,as they were made to last as long as you do,,,with some tlc in keeping it clean,,replacing belts,,and lubricate the mechanism in a lifetime,,,and adjust the speed,,,and the azimuth head alignment,,,it will play well look aftered tapes as it should altogether.
Ps,,,never had really seen 2 speed adjustment potentiometer controls on the motor,s circuit board b4,,I thought one of them is for the high speed recording/playback,,if it has high speed dubbing.
I had repaired a teac tascam heavy duty studio,,stereo tape deck,,which had a normal/high speed tape selector switch,,,as it had 2 speed controls just like in your video.
Dual cassette decks with normal and high speed dubbing always have two speed adjustments per capstan motor, one for high speed and one for normal speed.
@@DrCassette Yes that,s right there,,,but the cassette deck u had fixed,,does it have a normal/high speed dub selector switch? As that is what I had found on a teac/tascam stereo tape deck model I had repaired back in 2018/19.
It seems these kenwood decks last a long time, though the belts always seem to go but thats per ususal.
Belts are a very common point of failure on any type of cassette deck.
@@DrCassette Ah, I have a akai M50 and the belts look really good. Not sure if they were replaced before hand or not. Also what was the music you used on that cassette?
The music is license free background music generated by the ScoreFitter program.
Well I guess that I'm off to fleebay for some dental picks....
That is a very heavy duty fly wheel on that deck. Speed stability should be fantastic.
If you look closely unfortunately there is a slight wobble in that flywheel. It's a problem with the cast metal, nothing I can do about that. This wobble will certainly have a negative effect on the speed stability.
@@DrCassette I noticed the wobble in the pinch roller and then in the flywheel also, but then I thought well... The bracket that holds the bearing for the flywheel isn't in place so that explains why it's wobbling... Is the pinch roller still wobbling after you assembled it?
No, the pinch roller is perfectly fine after reassembling the back plate.
DrCassette excellent!
Interesting, at about @1:35, output amplifier noise is present even though the Play button is not depressed. Usually, there is a muting transistor circuit that deadens the playback amp at this stage.Maybe not present in this model? Same muting (and input circuit short-circuiting) required for most (any?) record and playback circuits for a typical two-head deck. Solid looking deck!
cassettedeckman.blogspot.com
Forgot to mention - excellent photography!
At around @13:40, good point about the crown of the pulley! I had a belt which was too tight, and they really do veer off!
Grub screws are easy to obtain on ebay. Great video!
This mechanism still has a lot of mechanical contacts directly linked to it that do signal switching, I'm sure there is no muting transistor. Not sure though why the deck only cuts audio in rewind...
@@DrCassette Of course, silly me. This is a circa 1976 deck - I had forgotten!
What would make the tape stop automatically during playback?
When the take up reel (right side) is not turning, the auto stop will engage.
Thank you 🎵
14:27 Hehe, for a second I thought you were being sarcastic because of the wagon-wheel effect on the camera making the fast-forward look slow (was sitting far away from the screen with bad eyesight).
hi to all go to 10.56 on the time line this deck is very ill there's a bend in the capstan pinch this deck will have bad audio could be fixed used i vice last time
i had to bend in right
Remember I had the back plate with back bearing taken off during the repair for easier access to the flywheel? That's why the capstan moved while turning it!
what size of the belt used for playback, which connects the capstan, i have one like that, but the belt was gone
sorry, my English so bad
and belt for the counter too,
i have a kenwood kx 7010 and it works but it slows down over time and then it just stops
If this deck still uses an AC motor, that could be caused by a faulty motor run capacitor.
I have a Panasonic unit that is quite similar. It works, but it needs repair.
What happened to your old osilliscope?
What old oscilloscope do you mean?
I think you should have changed all the belts. Thanks for share.
As I said, there was nothing wrong with that belt. It felt like brand new.
@@DrCassette Sooner or later it will get loose ... in my opinion, if you changed one belt, you need to change all of them! Like capacitors, bearings etc etc
Well in not gonna change opinions heres. But I personally go buy a "if it ant broke don't fix it" sorta mentality.
The exception would be a leaky capacitor (or other component) as well as those capacitors from those brands that just happen to all ways go bad.
I only repair what is broken or is just about to break. I don't have time for braindead exercises such as bulk replacing capacitors.
hi that would do it i used to have alot of video as you know eyes are all over the place bob
I want the motor off this mechanism, 'cause the newer ones are total garbage
bravo
I had a sony that looked a lot like this one, but someone managed to brake the part that holds the capstan bearing, so it was beyond repair :(
hi start looking at cassette deck again i am a audio / video man you do real re-pair video's not the fake video's the man with the things he finds in no where
kenwood was a deck made of parts from all makes a tv video tec told me i keep away from video monitors bob