John L
Chief Bloviator
Today, Christmas Eve, my E-Bay purchase of one Dokorder 800X arrived via UPS. I was half way expecting a mess. However, up front, the packaging was bullet proof, wrapped in bubble plastic, and almost impossible to damage. For that I was grateful.
So, holding my breath, I began cutting away the bubble wrapping, which was quite thick, and up first was the wood cover, which had a couple of nice scratches, but looked quite acceptable. One look at the entire unit, and I knew that the pictures did not do the unit justice. the only thing that cannot be corrected is the missing lettering on the front face of the unit, but I was already expecting it. It is just that the case, bottom and back was so much better than the picture. Amazing.
Taking another deep breath, I pulled down my retractable ceiling electrical cord and plugged in the ole' gal, and inserted my Sony MDR V6 studio monitors into the socket. Then crossing my fingers, I turned the thing on. All the lights worked, none burned out. the jog dial worked just as it was supposed to, and the attached antenna picked up signals in AM and FM. Holy Cow!
Then I began to play with getting sound from the 800X, and boy was it rough. The balance and volume sliders just wouldn't work, some sound would come out of one ear, but not the other. Playing with all the switches made some difference, but I was finally, with continued use, able to pretty much confirm that there was both a left and right channel working. There was hope after all.
Not to be disappointed I took out what was left of my RS cleaner and shot the switches, sliders, and also hit them from the rear, by removing the case and bottom plate. Then I played with everything for a few minutes, and went upstairs to fix something to eat.
Later, coming back into the basement, I got serious with checking the switches out, and seeing if there really was two channels working, and proper power. There was! Eventually, almost all the scratching and sound drop-offs went away, and so did all the remaining spray cleaner.
Anyway, I am totally beside myself tonight. When I bid on this unit I knew I was taking a chance on it working. But the description, by the seller, was perhaps the most accurate description I have encountered from someone selling audio. Absolutely no embellishments, or inaccuracies. he was 100% right on the money.
However, he did not help himself with the photography. His pictures of the wood case were absolutely horrible.
If you look at the wood, you immediately think it is washed out with age and misuse, and a real ugly duckling. But it is nothing of the sort. Everything is in very nice shape, with two sets of scratches on the top and a little chip out of the right rear of the cabinet. That's all. My friend Michael looked it over and was really impressed with it's looks.
I have no idea why the seller would post pictures of this kind. But in honesty, the front facing, showing the missing lettering is totally accurate.
I have a parts 800X sitting on the downstairs fridge, so I will relpace the bad face with the one from the other unit. That should hopefully be all I need to do to get this old lady looking nice.
Oh, I will most likely reveneer the sides and top soon. But instead of just regular walnut, I will probably use some nice expensive burl, like Carpathean Elm instead. I love nice burls and they make things look so much more expensive.
Another interesting thing is that the unit came with it's two brass slider knobs. Finding replacement knobs are almost impossible, because the unit alone is so rare. The parts unit I have only has one brass knob, so if I ever rebuild another, I will have to go to a machine shop and have a second one built from scratch.
Anyway, I thought I would mention this here, and let all know that I am having my Christmas one day early.
So, holding my breath, I began cutting away the bubble wrapping, which was quite thick, and up first was the wood cover, which had a couple of nice scratches, but looked quite acceptable. One look at the entire unit, and I knew that the pictures did not do the unit justice. the only thing that cannot be corrected is the missing lettering on the front face of the unit, but I was already expecting it. It is just that the case, bottom and back was so much better than the picture. Amazing.
Taking another deep breath, I pulled down my retractable ceiling electrical cord and plugged in the ole' gal, and inserted my Sony MDR V6 studio monitors into the socket. Then crossing my fingers, I turned the thing on. All the lights worked, none burned out. the jog dial worked just as it was supposed to, and the attached antenna picked up signals in AM and FM. Holy Cow!
Then I began to play with getting sound from the 800X, and boy was it rough. The balance and volume sliders just wouldn't work, some sound would come out of one ear, but not the other. Playing with all the switches made some difference, but I was finally, with continued use, able to pretty much confirm that there was both a left and right channel working. There was hope after all.
Not to be disappointed I took out what was left of my RS cleaner and shot the switches, sliders, and also hit them from the rear, by removing the case and bottom plate. Then I played with everything for a few minutes, and went upstairs to fix something to eat.
Later, coming back into the basement, I got serious with checking the switches out, and seeing if there really was two channels working, and proper power. There was! Eventually, almost all the scratching and sound drop-offs went away, and so did all the remaining spray cleaner.
Anyway, I am totally beside myself tonight. When I bid on this unit I knew I was taking a chance on it working. But the description, by the seller, was perhaps the most accurate description I have encountered from someone selling audio. Absolutely no embellishments, or inaccuracies. he was 100% right on the money.
However, he did not help himself with the photography. His pictures of the wood case were absolutely horrible.
If you look at the wood, you immediately think it is washed out with age and misuse, and a real ugly duckling. But it is nothing of the sort. Everything is in very nice shape, with two sets of scratches on the top and a little chip out of the right rear of the cabinet. That's all. My friend Michael looked it over and was really impressed with it's looks.
I have no idea why the seller would post pictures of this kind. But in honesty, the front facing, showing the missing lettering is totally accurate.
I have a parts 800X sitting on the downstairs fridge, so I will relpace the bad face with the one from the other unit. That should hopefully be all I need to do to get this old lady looking nice.
Oh, I will most likely reveneer the sides and top soon. But instead of just regular walnut, I will probably use some nice expensive burl, like Carpathean Elm instead. I love nice burls and they make things look so much more expensive.
Another interesting thing is that the unit came with it's two brass slider knobs. Finding replacement knobs are almost impossible, because the unit alone is so rare. The parts unit I have only has one brass knob, so if I ever rebuild another, I will have to go to a machine shop and have a second one built from scratch.
Anyway, I thought I would mention this here, and let all know that I am having my Christmas one day early.
