Pioneer CT-F700 Dynamic Recording Meter Issue

[Encyc Brown]

I just received my "new" Pioneer CT-F700 Friday from a e-Bay seller. It is awesome, I simply love the performance and audio qualify of this deck. I realize things can happen when shipping sensitive vintage equipment. This deck has a unique 3rd meter. It is not a VU Recording level meter, but a dual function meter. It operates as the meter to set Bias on the manual adjustment feature. It can then be set to be a Dynamic Recording Meter. Basically, if one keeps this dynamic meter from going in the red, then the VU meters follow suit and you can maximize saturation of the tape without overload. This dynamic meter functioned flawlessly the first 2 days of operation since receiving via shipment. Today, on the 3rd day, an issue developed with the meter. When I powered the deck on I noticed the meter did not stay to the far left. It defaulted to around -5 db (see pic). Now when I record or play, it goes way into the red. It has somehow shifted. The VU meters are still working fine. It is annoying to see this dynamic meter keep going in the red when it worked just fine for 2 days. I now set the meter on the bias function so it turns off when playing a deck. This issue does not affect the performance of the recording nor playback, but it is rather bothersome. I guess I will have to take this unit in now for service to see what happened to this meter. I am thinking something got jarred a bit during the shipment? I don't have an answer for this one. Maybe it will "reset" on it's own over time? Maybe wishful thinking on that one. The pic shows where the meter now sits idle with no program source. Once the program starts, the meter goes way into the red because it's starting point (default) setting where it sits with no program source as changed today. What is up with this? Finicky Vintage Gear normal day here.

 

[Encyc Brown]

The meter issues grew worse over 2 days. It started to sit @ around 6 DB + (in the red) when powered on with no signal source. Then, walla! I powered it on Tuesday and the meter "reset" itself and new sits to the far left @ -20DB and works fine in the correct range when played or recorded. Not sure what this anomaly was for 2 days. I, of course, hope the reset stays in place. However, if it acts up again, I am literally OK with it as long as she resets herself as she did this morning. Once again, finicky vintage high fi gear at it's best. I am a bit finicky myself with wanting the little things to work well. With the meter reset, this 40 year old Cassette Deck is back if fine form. I have a few decks. I have NEVER heard a cassette deck sound like this one does. It is truly "high in fidelity". The sound is amazing to even my ole ears. I have been using Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Half Speed mastered vinyl for the initial test recordings. Wow, this deck can handle the dynamic range. Hence, why it is important to me that this 3rd dynamic range meter continue to work in conjunction with the normal 2 VU Recording Meters. I really love this deck!

 

[Encyc Brown]

Darn,
The 3rd meter for Dynamic Level is acting up again and out of wack registering an incorrect range. I wonder if the shipping had anything to do with this issue. Something loose? The BIAS functionality of the meter is still working OK, nothing wrong when I set the selector switch to BIAS (instead of Dynamic Meter). Not sure why the meter is sitting as pictured when there is no source program material coming into the meter. Once I do have source material, the meter goes out the roof in the upper red region when that is not really where the level is at. I may be a bit OCD, but this meter is one of the reasons this is a unique deck. It kind of negates it all if it isn't going to work as designed. Something is amiss here and my lack of any ability to service such a unit leaves me stranded without much of an option. I have tried to find a service technician in my rural area that has the expertise and would be willing to work on vintage equipment. Every contact attempt as hit a big brick wall. No one out there in my neck of the woods will work on these units. It looks like it is coming down to the wire in regards to having to start thinking about shipping the units off for service and repairs. I hate to ship as this may be the root cause of the issue to begin with. It is work keeping these finicky vintage units up an running. I guess @ 40 years old, I am expecting a bit too much from them. I am ok with paying reasonable rates for service to keep all my components in top notch shape. I don't know why it is so hard to find someone in my area that is qualified and would be willing to take on the projects. One of the disadvantages of living in the mountains of this country, geez.