It depends, and having their remotes is a big deal. The NAD 5340, and Yamaha CD-1 are worth having the laser replaced. They both bring decent money in working condition.
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All over a cassette deck (Warning, long post)
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petes'picks
Super Member
You could sell just the Pioneer SX-x50's, Onkyo, Harman Kardon, Polk and Infinity stuff and use the funds to buy whatever TOTL cassette deck you want so your plan of finding a cassette deck worked, it just involved a lot more work than you expected. Start by getting rid of the speakers just because they take up so much space. If it were me I would keep one of the Onkyo receivers and A-8017, the HK 775 amps and a preamp, one of the Polk Monitor series and an Infinity Q. Even if you kept those and sold the rest you would still end up with enough funds to purchase a really nice restored deck. Heck even if you just sold the knobs you would get enough funds for that.
I agree with scrapping/selling the low to medium end stuff. Otherwise you’re going to have projects forever and never enjoy the stuff or have more space.
It can be someone else’s project or piece of metal and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It can be someone else’s project or piece of metal and there’s nothing wrong with that.
I've got a box of about 400 remotes, plus some new one's, matching them up should be fun.
The NAD 5340 has a tag on it saying it needs Laser p/n KSS-152A, the parts book seems to agree with that number. The laser was $42 in 2001 according to the old listing and I suppose that's a w/d price.
The note also says its a Sony built laser unit.
There's two shoe boxes full of Yamaha remotes, most are for CD players. There's a note on the CD-1 saying parts ordered 2/19/1993. It made me put that one on the shelf next to the bench because there's a good chance the parts are in this mess somewhere.
I see two problems with the idea of just dumping the lesser models because unless they're at least up and running 100% they won't sell here, even then vintage gear is a tough sell. It took me four years to even get a reply on a pair of JBL L100's and never did get a reply on another SX-450 I had a few years back. (Its still here, the highest offer I got on one that worked but had a minor thump or pop at power up was $25, and that buyer never showed up).
I finally sold the JBL's in a package deal/trade to someone that got me two pair of JBL XPL-200A speakers, with one set needing some work, and one pair missing the DX-1 crossover. The trade at the time, about 10 years ago, was the L100's which were 7 1/2's condition wise, a pair of Polk Monitor 10B speakers, and a pair of Epicure 400's that needed a ton of work.
Best of all he did the traveling, hauling his four speakers all the way from Nashville, TN to N.E. PA at that time.
I got a chance to open up about 9 of the tape decks, and other than two or three, all likely should have belts. Including the new in the box Pioneer CT-W801R dual deck, which looks like a ton of fun.
The Aiwa 3250, head Kenwood KX-7030, NAD 6325, and Harman Kardon HK 3500, all use flat belts, so those will likely need to be ordered. I have several huge assortment of square and round belts for the rest.
The Pioneer models look like the biggest hassle to work on, at least in the dual decks, as well as a few of the older single decks but the two CT-F900, and CT-F97 deck are all too far gone to save. The one 900 is missing its main display, the other looks like it was in a fire or got hit by lightning inside. All three have mechanical linkage missing off the tape transport. There's not enough parts there to even think about making a complete deck, its a few knobs, and maybe one face plate, a so-so cabinet and a pile of scrap metal.
For what ever reason I started messing with a Sears Fisher receiver that was on his bench, and it looked like he was halfway through replacing the power supply caps and both STK chips. I went ahead and replaced the caps, installed both new amp modules, and also replaced the two filter caps and a voltage regulator on the ps board and its up and running. After a quick adjustment once it was warm, I gave it a good throrough cleaning and other than a missing button on the power switch its 100% and sounded great. I'd guess it to be about 35 wpc or so. If nothing else its one less box of loose parts and I kind of liked the look of the thing.
The power button that it has is missing the very tip, it either had a threaded on end cap, or it maybe a lighted power button?
I ran through ten pages of various models but didn't find a single one to match this one. (143.92533800 is the Sears number).
Otherwise its absolutely perfect. By the look of the internals, and the style of boards it uses I'm going to say its likely first or second year Sanko built. Silver face, black dial, with a power button on the far left past the headphone jack.
With what ever part is missing off the button, its just too short to use the way it is. For now I cut a piece of tiny black rubber hose and pushed it inside the hollow button. The outside of the innner part is threaded, about 5/16" or so OD. I looked at all the other models and all the switches I found listed and none match this one. A web search only found one other, another one on here that was also missing its button about 8 years ago and one on some other sale site about 22 years ago.
After it played for a bit and I felt it was truly 100%, I hooked to to a pair minty clean XP-7K speakers that were with it, along with one of the 5 disc Yamaha cd changers and I let it play most of the day, or at least long enough to go through the five cd's.
If that were me, my goal would be to cut down the overall number of pieces within a month. Dump the undesirable pieces and concentrate on the good stuff.
I have a NAD 6325, it was both the third from the top of the line that year, and the bottom of the line. When I demoed all three models back then I really didn't see or hear any reason to buy the next model up. Personally I almost never use dolby, it always seems to take away too much of the music.
I replaced the belts on mine about 10 years ago, not sure what I spent but it was well worth it, and a fairly easy job.
I highly doubt any of the double decks will be anything worth keeping, but they won't sell not working, you likely won't even be able to give them away because the average guy isn't going to be looking to do the work himself, and the minute he gets an estimate for having it done, he's no longer going to be interested, not even for free.
I've got several buddies who are constantly buying old gear only to have it maybe last a few months before it craps out and dies, then they just buy something else. They never pay much, old retired guys aren't generally big spenders, (I'm certainly not).
I had a shop quote me $425 minimum to replace the belts on my old HK 2500, it sat around here for 10 years before I finally just bought the belts and did it myself.
If you can't do the work yourself, then more of that stuff is likely going to be just scrap, either part it out and sell the parts or give it away. I wouldn't waste much time worrying about what can be saved and what can't, if you have to ask yourself, then you likely already know the answer.
I have a NAD 6325, it was both the third from the top of the line that year, and the bottom of the line. When I demoed all three models back then I really didn't see or hear any reason to buy the next model up. Personally I almost never use dolby, it always seems to take away too much of the music.
I replaced the belts on mine about 10 years ago, not sure what I spent but it was well worth it, and a fairly easy job.
I highly doubt any of the double decks will be anything worth keeping, but they won't sell not working, you likely won't even be able to give them away because the average guy isn't going to be looking to do the work himself, and the minute he gets an estimate for having it done, he's no longer going to be interested, not even for free.
I've got several buddies who are constantly buying old gear only to have it maybe last a few months before it craps out and dies, then they just buy something else. They never pay much, old retired guys aren't generally big spenders, (I'm certainly not).
I had a shop quote me $425 minimum to replace the belts on my old HK 2500, it sat around here for 10 years before I finally just bought the belts and did it myself.
If you can't do the work yourself, then more of that stuff is likely going to be just scrap, either part it out and sell the parts or give it away. I wouldn't waste much time worrying about what can be saved and what can't, if you have to ask yourself, then you likely already know the answer.
petes'picks
Super Member
Its clear from the progress you have made that you have some knowledge about electronics and enjoy messing with electronics. The only way I would ever suggest someone buy a huge lot of vintage audio gear is if they really enjoy tinkering with vintage audio gear.
When I come across something that is a basket case that doesnt have enough value to fix or sell I will pull out all the hard to find parts like C clips, springs, retainer nuts on pots, pots, knobs, unobtainium transistors, hard to find components and then rip out the PCBs, alluminium sheet metal and xformers and put them in boxs until my next trip to recycler. Its a pain parting out items but its worth it to have 4 or 5 parts bins full of those obscure parts if you plan on continueing to play with electronics. Its amazing how much easier projects go when you have spare parts handy.
When I come across something that is a basket case that doesnt have enough value to fix or sell I will pull out all the hard to find parts like C clips, springs, retainer nuts on pots, pots, knobs, unobtainium transistors, hard to find components and then rip out the PCBs, alluminium sheet metal and xformers and put them in boxs until my next trip to recycler. Its a pain parting out items but its worth it to have 4 or 5 parts bins full of those obscure parts if you plan on continueing to play with electronics. Its amazing how much easier projects go when you have spare parts handy.
I do have to cut down the overall number of pieces. If for nothing else just my sanity here. I'm still looking for one cassette deck that I know is here somewhere, because I took a pick of it. Its either on one of the shelves, in a stack somewhere, or it got take upstairs and put in another pile by mistake.
On top of all of the sorting and checking out to see what works, what's junk and what can be just sold as is, the lot size increased again today. I got a call from the girl at the action house who tells me that the seller found more stuff somewhere in the house, and that it goes with the lot. I told her I wasn't going to drive all the way back there for a few pieces that may well be trash.
She tells me that she's got a mini van and will pick them up for me around noon.
She showed up here at about 3pm with a 3/4 ton chevy van packed to the roof with more equipment. At least I had help unloading it all.
Basically its more of the same with a bunch of these items being in black plastic trash bags which maybe why they were overlooked before. They were not in the garage or the rafters above it there, they had to be elsewhere in the house, because we stripped the garage and the basement stairs to the bare floor and walls that day.
Realistic STA-2250, this makes four of these now.
This one plays but needs some attention with some deoxit.
It took a lot of messing with the controls to get both sides to play cleanly but its spot clean cosmetically.
I'm not a big fan though of the digital readout versus a real tuning dial.
By the sound of it, it seems to around 50wpc or so, but its nearly as heavy as its larger cousin, the Sta 2100.
For me the end of real receivers was a few years earlier than this thing. Once they started to get digital displays, I loose interest.
This one will likely make someone a fine garage radio.
It did some good on a pair of Advent 5002's though.
Pair #5 of Advent 5002's, this one missing their badges. most likely someone has replaced the grill cloth at some point.
More Sony pieces, a DVD changer, and a couple more tape decks, that likely need belts.
A working HK 560, which makes three of these so far.
This makes 4 HK 3500 tape decks and two HK 2500 decks, this one here works and even had a tape in it.
I hooked this to the HK 560 above and hd it playing through two of the Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers that were atop the one stack of speakers.
At least this gives me a taste of what the HK3500 sounds like, and I think these may be keepers.
Design Acoustics PS-10
Not much of a pic but these were atop the stack and easiest to get wires on while we were carrying stuff upstairs in the garage.
This load pretty much packed that upstairs area, at least not unless I don't care about having a path down the middle of the stacks.
These make four pair. This is the second pair that looks to have new foam surrounds on the woofers, and the other two pair had foam kits with them. These things actually don't sound bad at all, but I don't think they're supposed to be used 8ft off the ground atop a stack of speakers in a garage.
What I did up there for now is to lay some sheets of plywood on the floor so the floor doesn't get torn up, and I have speakers stacked in rows about 5ft tall tops, then I put carboard atop each speaker and then I can stack a few receivers with maybe CD or Tape deck on top for now. With this load, its a matter of just getting it inside all along trying not to bury anything so bad i can't get at it if I need to. I'm carrying my pocket camera so I can snap picks of each stack so if I need to remember what's behind something I'll have a visual reference or inventory of where its at. The garage is only 30x24, with an upstairs apartment or guest room. My basement is shelved out as well but until this lot, there were no electronics down there, now i started putting some items down there as well.
Nothing comes into the house without first having the cover pulled off, and it being cleaned out, wiped down, and tested to at least turn on. I dedicated one back bedroom for storage for the nicer items, its mostly just a spare bedroom, and i flipped up the bed against the wall and put up a dozen wire shelves for the nicer items that I'll likely be keeping.
That list is only about 40 or so pieces so far. Mostly the big receivers, the pro amps, a few Realistic, Pioneer, and HK receivers, and anything I found that looked interesting. Because this stuff is heavy, I put the shelves over top a supporting wall downstairs and put down 1" plywood under the row of shelves.
This last lot also buried my work bench in the garage, at least for now. I'm really regretting selling a bunch of job carts I had here taking up space a few months ago. Each of them was about 4x6ft and would have taken up a bunch of this stuff on the bench.
I've got a guy bringing me some P racking like they use in Home Depot, this weekend's goal is to build a shelf area above the workbench so I can stack some of this stuff up there out of the way and still have my bench.
I need to find a deal on more of the smaller P slot shelving like I got from the auction, I could still use a few more sections and a few extra shelving panels too so I can better arrange things for easier access.
There's also a good many small, early 70's receivers like this, most are Criterion or Sansui branded, but I've counted about a dozen of them so far and a few tuner/amps in this same style. They measure only 16" wide, sort of a mid size I suppose. They have good weight but are mostly all 5 to 10wpc tops, and the few I've checked area all missing a channel.
On top of all of the sorting and checking out to see what works, what's junk and what can be just sold as is, the lot size increased again today. I got a call from the girl at the action house who tells me that the seller found more stuff somewhere in the house, and that it goes with the lot. I told her I wasn't going to drive all the way back there for a few pieces that may well be trash.
She tells me that she's got a mini van and will pick them up for me around noon.
She showed up here at about 3pm with a 3/4 ton chevy van packed to the roof with more equipment. At least I had help unloading it all.
Basically its more of the same with a bunch of these items being in black plastic trash bags which maybe why they were overlooked before. They were not in the garage or the rafters above it there, they had to be elsewhere in the house, because we stripped the garage and the basement stairs to the bare floor and walls that day.
Realistic STA-2250, this makes four of these now.
This one plays but needs some attention with some deoxit.
It took a lot of messing with the controls to get both sides to play cleanly but its spot clean cosmetically.
I'm not a big fan though of the digital readout versus a real tuning dial.
By the sound of it, it seems to around 50wpc or so, but its nearly as heavy as its larger cousin, the Sta 2100.
For me the end of real receivers was a few years earlier than this thing. Once they started to get digital displays, I loose interest.
This one will likely make someone a fine garage radio.
It did some good on a pair of Advent 5002's though.
Pair #5 of Advent 5002's, this one missing their badges. most likely someone has replaced the grill cloth at some point.
More Sony pieces, a DVD changer, and a couple more tape decks, that likely need belts.
A working HK 560, which makes three of these so far.
This makes 4 HK 3500 tape decks and two HK 2500 decks, this one here works and even had a tape in it.
I hooked this to the HK 560 above and hd it playing through two of the Design Acoustics PS-10 speakers that were atop the one stack of speakers.
At least this gives me a taste of what the HK3500 sounds like, and I think these may be keepers.
Design Acoustics PS-10
Not much of a pic but these were atop the stack and easiest to get wires on while we were carrying stuff upstairs in the garage.
This load pretty much packed that upstairs area, at least not unless I don't care about having a path down the middle of the stacks.
These make four pair. This is the second pair that looks to have new foam surrounds on the woofers, and the other two pair had foam kits with them. These things actually don't sound bad at all, but I don't think they're supposed to be used 8ft off the ground atop a stack of speakers in a garage.
What I did up there for now is to lay some sheets of plywood on the floor so the floor doesn't get torn up, and I have speakers stacked in rows about 5ft tall tops, then I put carboard atop each speaker and then I can stack a few receivers with maybe CD or Tape deck on top for now. With this load, its a matter of just getting it inside all along trying not to bury anything so bad i can't get at it if I need to. I'm carrying my pocket camera so I can snap picks of each stack so if I need to remember what's behind something I'll have a visual reference or inventory of where its at. The garage is only 30x24, with an upstairs apartment or guest room. My basement is shelved out as well but until this lot, there were no electronics down there, now i started putting some items down there as well.
Nothing comes into the house without first having the cover pulled off, and it being cleaned out, wiped down, and tested to at least turn on. I dedicated one back bedroom for storage for the nicer items, its mostly just a spare bedroom, and i flipped up the bed against the wall and put up a dozen wire shelves for the nicer items that I'll likely be keeping.
That list is only about 40 or so pieces so far. Mostly the big receivers, the pro amps, a few Realistic, Pioneer, and HK receivers, and anything I found that looked interesting. Because this stuff is heavy, I put the shelves over top a supporting wall downstairs and put down 1" plywood under the row of shelves.
This last lot also buried my work bench in the garage, at least for now. I'm really regretting selling a bunch of job carts I had here taking up space a few months ago. Each of them was about 4x6ft and would have taken up a bunch of this stuff on the bench.
I've got a guy bringing me some P racking like they use in Home Depot, this weekend's goal is to build a shelf area above the workbench so I can stack some of this stuff up there out of the way and still have my bench.
I need to find a deal on more of the smaller P slot shelving like I got from the auction, I could still use a few more sections and a few extra shelving panels too so I can better arrange things for easier access.
There's also a good many small, early 70's receivers like this, most are Criterion or Sansui branded, but I've counted about a dozen of them so far and a few tuner/amps in this same style. They measure only 16" wide, sort of a mid size I suppose. They have good weight but are mostly all 5 to 10wpc tops, and the few I've checked area all missing a channel.
BilboBaggins
Addicted Member
Well, it is clear you know your way around electro-mechanical devices. That is fortunate. You are going to need those skills. I agree. You need to get rid of the junk quickly to make room. Your rule of thumb weight assessment is exactly correct as well. If it has weight, it is probably worth a second look. If you have a dual well cassette deck that isn't working, I would junk it, based on your assessment of your area. Not worth the time or the effort. Your situation makes me think it might be worth your while setting up a stand at a large community garage sale and offer the lesser stuff for $50 each. Whatever is left at the end of the sale, drop off at a thrift store. Savers or some such place. Check all the non working units for blown or leaky capacitors. There were a number of issues with poorly manufactured caps in the 90s being installed in most electronics.
Anything Sony "ES" is worth a second look. Anything silver faced is also worth a second look. Turntables without dust covers are difficult to sell in my experience. Take them to the garage sale. The duals may just need a new steurpimpel. It generally is the reason the tonearm acts funny. Read about them.
Do you know about Deoxit? Read about it on an AK thread. If you don't, it might clear up a good number of problems you have. Clean every switch and control with it. Even switches in the back.
I have an HK TD-4200 for sale without even a nibble. I also have a Sony TC-K71 for sale with no nibbles. And I even have a Sansui SC-1330 for sale with no nibbles. These aren't the best of times, either. I like tape decks though, so I tend to pick up decent ones when I find them.
Good luck! You are organized, so I'm sure you will do well. What I loved about those days was I always had cash in my pockets. Just keep your prices low and maybe sell a bunch on ebay. Read about the challenges on AK first if you aren't aware of them. It could save you some money.
Anything Sony "ES" is worth a second look. Anything silver faced is also worth a second look. Turntables without dust covers are difficult to sell in my experience. Take them to the garage sale. The duals may just need a new steurpimpel. It generally is the reason the tonearm acts funny. Read about them.
Do you know about Deoxit? Read about it on an AK thread. If you don't, it might clear up a good number of problems you have. Clean every switch and control with it. Even switches in the back.
I have an HK TD-4200 for sale without even a nibble. I also have a Sony TC-K71 for sale with no nibbles. And I even have a Sansui SC-1330 for sale with no nibbles. These aren't the best of times, either. I like tape decks though, so I tend to pick up decent ones when I find them.
Good luck! You are organized, so I'm sure you will do well. What I loved about those days was I always had cash in my pockets. Just keep your prices low and maybe sell a bunch on ebay. Read about the challenges on AK first if you aren't aware of them. It could save you some money.
I've had good luck selling Pioneer twin cassette decks here over the years but they don't bring much and they have to work.
Most thrift stores here won't touch old electronics, some won't touch anything electronic. I suppose they got tired of their drop off sites turning into a dump for dead items. The one place used to have a small fenced in area where people could just drop off things after hours, that area became a mountain of dead tv's, cassette decks, vcr's and turntables that they had to pay to get rid of.
Even the municipal trash pickup now scans for electronic waste, they installed scanners on the trucks where if it detects anything prohibited, the truck is able to regurgitate the contents of the bin back into the can and they leave you a warning. Three warnings and its a fine. They ban recyclables, electronic devices, batteries, organic matter as in leaves, grass or branches, and auto parts.
The only way to get rid of a dead item is to take it to the city recycling center and they charge per item. They allow residents a set number of items for free each year. All its done is made many just dump items in the woods or along the road. The scrap yards won't touch an appliance without proof its safe to accept. Freon, lead, and other elements must be abated or they won't touch it.
Although this was mainly to deal with things like refrigerators and washing machines, they extended it to all household electronics after the glut of CRT monitors started turning up when they ended analog TV broadcasts in 2012. Since then its impossible to get rid of an older TV or monitor. Most people dumped them off at Goodwill or one of the thrift stores who became flooded with useless TV's they couldn't give away.
When I cleaned out my parents house 10 years ago, there was already no place that would take old TV's without a fee. I can say that they make great target practice, and the remains, if properly damaged, can't be identified by the trash truck scanner. The rest can be buried with a back hoe.
Cassette tapes have been making a bit of a comeback lately, vintage tapes have been bringing decent money on the auction site but shipping kills the deal on most components unless its a higher end model.
A local electronics store had a dozen 1990's model dual deck Pioneers about 12 years ago, they had been off the showroom floor for years and just sitting in the store room. I bought them all for $10. In 12 years I sold two of them here after replacing the belts, which were all turned to goo despite them being sealed, new in the box.
Having worked on many brands, Pioneer is one of the more difficult brands to work on when it comes to tape decks. Sony can go either way, the lesser models are easy, the better models more resemble the Pioneer models.
Belts can be bought in bulk. despite what those hawking $10 belts, they're not all that specific per model, nor is the length.
While they are not rubber bands, they are not some custom sized or fitted belt. They just have to fit the pulley, and not be too tight that they damage the bearings or bushings, and not so loose they slip or stretch to much.
Flat belts are a bit more precise but there are only so many sizes of belts made, they have to be snug enough to not slip but not so tight they are over stretched.
I wouldn't disregard any clean tape deck, although they won't bring top dollar, they will eventually sell, but 'eventual may mean years not days.
CL and FB have been a waste of time lately, most contact there lately here are just those compiling email and phone number lists. Despite having over 200 listings, neither has produced a single sale or legit contact.
Money is tight, but not for everyone. The issue there is that for those who want these items are either well enough off where money isn't an issue, or they're retired and its all they know. Those with money to spend either want what they couldn't afford when they were younger, or they want exactly what they had back then, regardless of it being good or bad.
I found that if you price it cheap, you get cheap buyers with no cash. Price it for what its worth, and let it sit.
You gain nothing by giving it away, and those buyers tend to be more trouble than their worth. The price is the price and hold to it.
Discounts are for Walmart.
I can list Technics SL-1200 turntable on CL here for $50 and get zero replies but it'll sell in a week or two on eBay for six times that amount. Never have I sold any items locally, everything goes long distance, most items have been shipped at least 1,000 miles.
In the past five years, even yard sales and flea markets have been dead with few buyers.
They had a street wide fleamarket here back in late May, it was advertised in the newpaper, on CL, and FB but most saw fewer than five or size people all day and no one sold anything noteable, other than a couple lawnmowers and some old clothes.
No one even looked at any electronics that were for sale, unless they had cell phones or video games.
Vintage hifi is catching on, but among who is the big question.
For the most part the general public is unaware of this trend. We're still in the minority although it is growing in popularity.
The cassette tape return is happeing because many performers have been releasing music direct to tape and cd lately.
Whether or not that continues may depend on there being affordable cassette players available
With very few cassette decks still being sold, those lesser models may still have a market.
The last I looked a new deck, and a black plastic one at that will run yuou upwards of $400.
That price tag isn't going to entice many first time buyers but a $200 used deck just might.
Those of us here don't always see it because this is a small sample of the overall market out there and dumping or destroying the lesser or entry level equipment may be hindering the trend.
Also, keep in mind that not everyong out there knows the difference between a cheap and high end tape deck, for those who just want what they had before, anything that will play tapes will suffice If they never find the first deck they will never look for something better just the same.
My first stereo back in the early 70's was a $99 Pioneer AM/FM/8 Track receiver with two speakers made from what was likely pressed cardboard with a Pioneer logo. I still have it, it was crap but its was my first receiver. The speakers became compost long ago.
My first upgrade was a pair of Radio Shack Nova 5 speakers, that led to a realization that the receiver was crap, so I saved up $69 and bought a new Sears Fisher in 1974, that with the two Nova 5 speakers, and later a Sears tape deck that was around till the 90's.
The Fisher receiver, which was maybe 40 wpc gave way to a used Harman Kardon HK 630 which I had for about 20 years. I still have the Sears Fisher, it was recapped and a failed Stk module was replaced about 15 years ago just to have it working again, I'm still looking for two woofers to fix the Nova 5 speakers that had their woofers replaced numerous times long before the internet made new foam available.
What really got me into this hobby was finding a pair of large Advents and a pair of Boston Acoustic T830 speakers at a flea market back in the early 90's for $5 a pair. The T830's sat in the attic for 10 years till the internet made finding the right, original woofers avaialable, and by that time the Advents also needed foam. Fixing those and putting them into my system is what made me start hunting new pieces and upgrades and each upgrade led to the need for another and that will never end.
If someone never gets started, they never see the need to upgrade. Its hard to get some one into a hobby if it they can't afford to get started, thus the need for those cheaper models.
If we look back 30 years or so, those silver face receivers that we all love were something many couldn't wait to get rid of.
Believe it or not, someone will feel the same way about the black plastic items of the 90's. Its already starting to happen.
Most thrift stores here won't touch old electronics, some won't touch anything electronic. I suppose they got tired of their drop off sites turning into a dump for dead items. The one place used to have a small fenced in area where people could just drop off things after hours, that area became a mountain of dead tv's, cassette decks, vcr's and turntables that they had to pay to get rid of.
Even the municipal trash pickup now scans for electronic waste, they installed scanners on the trucks where if it detects anything prohibited, the truck is able to regurgitate the contents of the bin back into the can and they leave you a warning. Three warnings and its a fine. They ban recyclables, electronic devices, batteries, organic matter as in leaves, grass or branches, and auto parts.
The only way to get rid of a dead item is to take it to the city recycling center and they charge per item. They allow residents a set number of items for free each year. All its done is made many just dump items in the woods or along the road. The scrap yards won't touch an appliance without proof its safe to accept. Freon, lead, and other elements must be abated or they won't touch it.
Although this was mainly to deal with things like refrigerators and washing machines, they extended it to all household electronics after the glut of CRT monitors started turning up when they ended analog TV broadcasts in 2012. Since then its impossible to get rid of an older TV or monitor. Most people dumped them off at Goodwill or one of the thrift stores who became flooded with useless TV's they couldn't give away.
When I cleaned out my parents house 10 years ago, there was already no place that would take old TV's without a fee. I can say that they make great target practice, and the remains, if properly damaged, can't be identified by the trash truck scanner. The rest can be buried with a back hoe.
Cassette tapes have been making a bit of a comeback lately, vintage tapes have been bringing decent money on the auction site but shipping kills the deal on most components unless its a higher end model.
A local electronics store had a dozen 1990's model dual deck Pioneers about 12 years ago, they had been off the showroom floor for years and just sitting in the store room. I bought them all for $10. In 12 years I sold two of them here after replacing the belts, which were all turned to goo despite them being sealed, new in the box.
Having worked on many brands, Pioneer is one of the more difficult brands to work on when it comes to tape decks. Sony can go either way, the lesser models are easy, the better models more resemble the Pioneer models.
Belts can be bought in bulk. despite what those hawking $10 belts, they're not all that specific per model, nor is the length.
While they are not rubber bands, they are not some custom sized or fitted belt. They just have to fit the pulley, and not be too tight that they damage the bearings or bushings, and not so loose they slip or stretch to much.
Flat belts are a bit more precise but there are only so many sizes of belts made, they have to be snug enough to not slip but not so tight they are over stretched.
I wouldn't disregard any clean tape deck, although they won't bring top dollar, they will eventually sell, but 'eventual may mean years not days.
CL and FB have been a waste of time lately, most contact there lately here are just those compiling email and phone number lists. Despite having over 200 listings, neither has produced a single sale or legit contact.
Money is tight, but not for everyone. The issue there is that for those who want these items are either well enough off where money isn't an issue, or they're retired and its all they know. Those with money to spend either want what they couldn't afford when they were younger, or they want exactly what they had back then, regardless of it being good or bad.
I found that if you price it cheap, you get cheap buyers with no cash. Price it for what its worth, and let it sit.
You gain nothing by giving it away, and those buyers tend to be more trouble than their worth. The price is the price and hold to it.
Discounts are for Walmart.
I can list Technics SL-1200 turntable on CL here for $50 and get zero replies but it'll sell in a week or two on eBay for six times that amount. Never have I sold any items locally, everything goes long distance, most items have been shipped at least 1,000 miles.
In the past five years, even yard sales and flea markets have been dead with few buyers.
They had a street wide fleamarket here back in late May, it was advertised in the newpaper, on CL, and FB but most saw fewer than five or size people all day and no one sold anything noteable, other than a couple lawnmowers and some old clothes.
No one even looked at any electronics that were for sale, unless they had cell phones or video games.
Vintage hifi is catching on, but among who is the big question.
For the most part the general public is unaware of this trend. We're still in the minority although it is growing in popularity.
The cassette tape return is happeing because many performers have been releasing music direct to tape and cd lately.
Whether or not that continues may depend on there being affordable cassette players available
With very few cassette decks still being sold, those lesser models may still have a market.
The last I looked a new deck, and a black plastic one at that will run yuou upwards of $400.
That price tag isn't going to entice many first time buyers but a $200 used deck just might.
Those of us here don't always see it because this is a small sample of the overall market out there and dumping or destroying the lesser or entry level equipment may be hindering the trend.
Also, keep in mind that not everyong out there knows the difference between a cheap and high end tape deck, for those who just want what they had before, anything that will play tapes will suffice If they never find the first deck they will never look for something better just the same.
My first stereo back in the early 70's was a $99 Pioneer AM/FM/8 Track receiver with two speakers made from what was likely pressed cardboard with a Pioneer logo. I still have it, it was crap but its was my first receiver. The speakers became compost long ago.
My first upgrade was a pair of Radio Shack Nova 5 speakers, that led to a realization that the receiver was crap, so I saved up $69 and bought a new Sears Fisher in 1974, that with the two Nova 5 speakers, and later a Sears tape deck that was around till the 90's.
The Fisher receiver, which was maybe 40 wpc gave way to a used Harman Kardon HK 630 which I had for about 20 years. I still have the Sears Fisher, it was recapped and a failed Stk module was replaced about 15 years ago just to have it working again, I'm still looking for two woofers to fix the Nova 5 speakers that had their woofers replaced numerous times long before the internet made new foam available.
What really got me into this hobby was finding a pair of large Advents and a pair of Boston Acoustic T830 speakers at a flea market back in the early 90's for $5 a pair. The T830's sat in the attic for 10 years till the internet made finding the right, original woofers avaialable, and by that time the Advents also needed foam. Fixing those and putting them into my system is what made me start hunting new pieces and upgrades and each upgrade led to the need for another and that will never end.
If someone never gets started, they never see the need to upgrade. Its hard to get some one into a hobby if it they can't afford to get started, thus the need for those cheaper models.
If we look back 30 years or so, those silver face receivers that we all love were something many couldn't wait to get rid of.
Believe it or not, someone will feel the same way about the black plastic items of the 90's. Its already starting to happen.
foundsound
Member
I just spent nearly an hour reading through and trying to picture what a load like that would look like here, on top of all that I've collected over the past 45 or so years.
Having done huge cleanouts in the past, but not audio gear, I do know what a big haul can look like and how much hassle it can be to organize it. I've done it mostly with auto parts and other collectibles and when a buy maxes out your storage it can either cripple you or force you to either expand or learn your limits. I always expanded but now as I get near my retirement years, the thought of what to do with it all or how to go about it is a big concern. Mainly because I no longer plan to keep up the buying and selling, partly because I certainly am feeling my age these days and partly because the money is no longer there. What used to be fairly easy money has become like pulling teeth lately when it comes to turning anything into cash. Those that see the value of such items are often the same age or older and thinking the same way. Those who are younger, even maybe only 10 years younger don't see the value in vintage items and they don't look back to what came before the same way. What my generation sees as history or nostalgia, they see as obsolete and worthless. A good bit of this comes from how they've been taught these days. They didn't get their likes or interests from their parents they got it from some teacher who themselves were brainwashed into a throwaway lifestyle and taught all that we believe in is wrong.
When I think about what those in their 20's today will see as nostalgic, they likely won't be able to re-experience it in their later years because the tech will be gone, or non functional. I certainly don't see ipods and vintage cell phones being made new again and being put back in use. The tech is dead, the networks have moved on and music today isn't owned, its rented from some streaming service that once they stop paying, its gone.
In my younger days I got to experience how a recording studio worked and how music went from artist to a tape, cd, or vinyl.
Radio play sold music, it made people go out and find and purchase that music they heard on the radio, today that doesn't happen, radio stations have changed, very few play much of a variety and many smaller market stations are gone. Its web based only at best.
Cars no longer have tape and cd players, so without a streaming service or a ton of music stored on your phone, you don't have music I guess. At best you get the fine quality of an MP3 file.
Its only a matter of time before they realize that you didn't use to have to pay to listen and once you bought a tape, CD or record it was yours to do with as you wished.
I find that the hardest thing to sell here is higher end audio gear, unless its absolutely grail piece, it won't bring any more here than a run of the mill tape deck of CD player. The number of people who know the real difference between the best and the so-so type gear are few and far between and apparently not shopping on CL or FB here.
Lately, regardless of what it is, the top dollar amount for a sale on CL or FB is about $20. Any more than that and they don't have it or will just buy something made in China instead.
When ever I come across a decent looking tape deck, regardless of age, but lately, newer looking or more modern sells faster than vintage here, I grab it, usually I don't spend more than $5 or $10 tops. They always need belts, figuring that most decks which have made to the fleamarket or auctions these days are over 25 years old now, they ALL need new belts and many need some new caps.
With newer gear, (By newer I mean anything after about 1982 or so with digital displays and such), there are certain IC chips that have issues age wise. Most are from Toshiba, but I've seen others as well. There are also a few transistors that have issues both with reliability due to age and corrosion.
There's also issues with proprietary components which after 40 years are either expensive or just no longer out there.
What I would do is pull the covers on each item, take a good look for visible damage, if it looks like someone dragged and arc welder across the power supply or main board, its toast, call it parts, strip it, bag and tag the parts and toss it. If you sell it for parts it will take a year, no one will want to pay for shipping, and you'll have to deal with storing and maybe boxing and shipping it if it does sell.
The parts with take up less room, they will sell easier than the whole piece and shipping is simple and cheap.
I found there's far more money in parts than in selling complete units.
For the items you feel you want to fix, find a source for wholesale parts, buying off fleabay or scamazon will make the repairs far too costly. A belt assortment from a wholesaler will cost less than one belt off the web. I think the last bag of belts I bought was about $5 shipped for about 1kg of belts, sure half will never get used but the hundred or more that will has saved me hundreds buying them individually. I even did the same thing with TT belts but some brands have very specific belts, both in width and thickness, (Dual), so keeping hundreds of TT belts is hard to do but even so I keep the 10 or so most common one's on hand.
Some laser units can also be had in bulk wholesale and if you really look up a good many of them, other than Panasonic/Technics, most use Sony laser units, which have been available aftermarket for decades thanks to the patent likely having run out and them being cloned by so many over the years. That KSS-154A mentioned is in a lot of CD players. You will also foind that the acttual laser itself is often the same between many units if you have the patiences to disect the laser assembly and swap out parts.
Using an optical lense meant for jewlers and watch makers and having the right tools the laser can often be repaired but if you can't do it yourself, its certainly not cost effective at today's labor rates. That is if you can find someone who can do the work. A shop will make more money just selling you a new $150 laser assembly then they ever will repairing, or atempting to repair one that may or may not be repairable.
For me, I do it because I enjoy the challenge but only on my own stuff. I have zero interest in working on other folks gear. People will pay for parts but always begrudge you for the labor you charge. I just as well not deal with it.
If you not careful, you will end up in a business that likely will never be truly profitable, epecially these days.
Having done huge cleanouts in the past, but not audio gear, I do know what a big haul can look like and how much hassle it can be to organize it. I've done it mostly with auto parts and other collectibles and when a buy maxes out your storage it can either cripple you or force you to either expand or learn your limits. I always expanded but now as I get near my retirement years, the thought of what to do with it all or how to go about it is a big concern. Mainly because I no longer plan to keep up the buying and selling, partly because I certainly am feeling my age these days and partly because the money is no longer there. What used to be fairly easy money has become like pulling teeth lately when it comes to turning anything into cash. Those that see the value of such items are often the same age or older and thinking the same way. Those who are younger, even maybe only 10 years younger don't see the value in vintage items and they don't look back to what came before the same way. What my generation sees as history or nostalgia, they see as obsolete and worthless. A good bit of this comes from how they've been taught these days. They didn't get their likes or interests from their parents they got it from some teacher who themselves were brainwashed into a throwaway lifestyle and taught all that we believe in is wrong.
When I think about what those in their 20's today will see as nostalgic, they likely won't be able to re-experience it in their later years because the tech will be gone, or non functional. I certainly don't see ipods and vintage cell phones being made new again and being put back in use. The tech is dead, the networks have moved on and music today isn't owned, its rented from some streaming service that once they stop paying, its gone.
In my younger days I got to experience how a recording studio worked and how music went from artist to a tape, cd, or vinyl.
Radio play sold music, it made people go out and find and purchase that music they heard on the radio, today that doesn't happen, radio stations have changed, very few play much of a variety and many smaller market stations are gone. Its web based only at best.
Cars no longer have tape and cd players, so without a streaming service or a ton of music stored on your phone, you don't have music I guess. At best you get the fine quality of an MP3 file.
Its only a matter of time before they realize that you didn't use to have to pay to listen and once you bought a tape, CD or record it was yours to do with as you wished.
I find that the hardest thing to sell here is higher end audio gear, unless its absolutely grail piece, it won't bring any more here than a run of the mill tape deck of CD player. The number of people who know the real difference between the best and the so-so type gear are few and far between and apparently not shopping on CL or FB here.
Lately, regardless of what it is, the top dollar amount for a sale on CL or FB is about $20. Any more than that and they don't have it or will just buy something made in China instead.
When ever I come across a decent looking tape deck, regardless of age, but lately, newer looking or more modern sells faster than vintage here, I grab it, usually I don't spend more than $5 or $10 tops. They always need belts, figuring that most decks which have made to the fleamarket or auctions these days are over 25 years old now, they ALL need new belts and many need some new caps.
With newer gear, (By newer I mean anything after about 1982 or so with digital displays and such), there are certain IC chips that have issues age wise. Most are from Toshiba, but I've seen others as well. There are also a few transistors that have issues both with reliability due to age and corrosion.
There's also issues with proprietary components which after 40 years are either expensive or just no longer out there.
What I would do is pull the covers on each item, take a good look for visible damage, if it looks like someone dragged and arc welder across the power supply or main board, its toast, call it parts, strip it, bag and tag the parts and toss it. If you sell it for parts it will take a year, no one will want to pay for shipping, and you'll have to deal with storing and maybe boxing and shipping it if it does sell.
The parts with take up less room, they will sell easier than the whole piece and shipping is simple and cheap.
I found there's far more money in parts than in selling complete units.
For the items you feel you want to fix, find a source for wholesale parts, buying off fleabay or scamazon will make the repairs far too costly. A belt assortment from a wholesaler will cost less than one belt off the web. I think the last bag of belts I bought was about $5 shipped for about 1kg of belts, sure half will never get used but the hundred or more that will has saved me hundreds buying them individually. I even did the same thing with TT belts but some brands have very specific belts, both in width and thickness, (Dual), so keeping hundreds of TT belts is hard to do but even so I keep the 10 or so most common one's on hand.
Some laser units can also be had in bulk wholesale and if you really look up a good many of them, other than Panasonic/Technics, most use Sony laser units, which have been available aftermarket for decades thanks to the patent likely having run out and them being cloned by so many over the years. That KSS-154A mentioned is in a lot of CD players. You will also foind that the acttual laser itself is often the same between many units if you have the patiences to disect the laser assembly and swap out parts.
Using an optical lense meant for jewlers and watch makers and having the right tools the laser can often be repaired but if you can't do it yourself, its certainly not cost effective at today's labor rates. That is if you can find someone who can do the work. A shop will make more money just selling you a new $150 laser assembly then they ever will repairing, or atempting to repair one that may or may not be repairable.
For me, I do it because I enjoy the challenge but only on my own stuff. I have zero interest in working on other folks gear. People will pay for parts but always begrudge you for the labor you charge. I just as well not deal with it.
If you not careful, you will end up in a business that likely will never be truly profitable, epecially these days.
Bone Yard
Super Member
Wow but that's how it goes sometimes. Those HK Decks are killer, I've never seen one up close but they look neat for 1978. Yes I love tape decks, I've got a bizillion surrounding me right now, most are small Walkmans but there's some big gems.
I get belts from Turntable Needles, most of these places get them from Russell. Some equipment takes a couple hours to change so I don't want to waste time with a crappy almost fits, but it was cheap belt.
One of my local vintage audio shops says any working tape deck flies off the shelves, BPC decks might not be worth a lot but it still sells.
I get belts from Turntable Needles, most of these places get them from Russell. Some equipment takes a couple hours to change so I don't want to waste time with a crappy almost fits, but it was cheap belt.
One of my local vintage audio shops says any working tape deck flies off the shelves, BPC decks might not be worth a lot but it still sells.
I have no intention of making this a business, maybe a retirement hobby but no business. I just never thought it would go from a hobby to hoarder in a matter of a few weeks. If half of it was suddenly just gone, it would still be look like a hoarder situation.
I started opening bags to see what all is n them this morning and its as mixed up as the first mess was.
The number of receivers went up by over 80, and the list of tuners from rack system components from the 80's doubled.
Plus a dozen or more pairs of speakers and some beer boxes full of parts and speakers. A few that looked decent were another pair of Polk Monitor 7's, a pair of 'Sonics AS-447's, a pair of Radio Shack Mach Two's, and several pair of small, Onkyo three ways speakers, and another pair of Boston Acoustics T830's. This pair in dark cherry.
Best of all was another STA-2100D receiver, making the total count for those four so far.
STA-2100D
Plus 5 more various Sony dual cassette decks, and a few CD players, a few dated as late as 2003. (They too need belts).
I gave this one a try, but I didn't realize hey still sold Panasonic branded receivers?
The manual, remote, and face plate are all Panasonic vs Technics.
Its also an odd bronze color vs the black shown fro the Technics version of that part number.
I started opening bags to see what all is n them this morning and its as mixed up as the first mess was.
The number of receivers went up by over 80, and the list of tuners from rack system components from the 80's doubled.
Plus a dozen or more pairs of speakers and some beer boxes full of parts and speakers. A few that looked decent were another pair of Polk Monitor 7's, a pair of 'Sonics AS-447's, a pair of Radio Shack Mach Two's, and several pair of small, Onkyo three ways speakers, and another pair of Boston Acoustics T830's. This pair in dark cherry.
Best of all was another STA-2100D receiver, making the total count for those four so far.
STA-2100D
Plus 5 more various Sony dual cassette decks, and a few CD players, a few dated as late as 2003. (They too need belts).
I gave this one a try, but I didn't realize hey still sold Panasonic branded receivers?
The manual, remote, and face plate are all Panasonic vs Technics.
Its also an odd bronze color vs the black shown fro the Technics version of that part number.
Bone Yard
Super Member
Hook up with the local used record/audio shops, they might consign or buy equipment off you. Even a credit for "free" music would be sweet. Most would love a few cool components.
I've got the ultra-cool early 90's Panasonic SU-CH10 Mini Stereo, all the chips are branded Technics inside and in some markets, there is a Technics Version. I think it depends on the market/country, Technics were usually sold in audio stores, Panasonic was sold everywhere.
I've got the ultra-cool early 90's Panasonic SU-CH10 Mini Stereo, all the chips are branded Technics inside and in some markets, there is a Technics Version. I think it depends on the market/country, Technics were usually sold in audio stores, Panasonic was sold everywhere.
freeisforme
Member
I just spent almost an hour reading through all these posts. While its no doubt a major score, its likely going to hang around for a long time whether that was your intention or not.
I used to do cleanouts for a local real estate broker here and the number of huge hoards was astounding but rarely were there any real home runs in the mix. I found that its about impossible to unload older electronics and that most of us who love this stuff are broke and rarely spend more than a few dollars to by anything. The only outlet is fleabay and there you have to deal with the Item not as described shenanigans and those who buy a prime piece and ship back a box of rocks for a forced refund. A woman around the corner here used to sell weekly on there and got burned for a Sansui receiver she listed 'As Is'. It went for $155, the seller said it didn't work, and wanted his money back, when she said no refunds eBay stepped in and ruined her perfect 3k plus perfect feedback and gave the guy a refund the instant the return label got marked as delivered. She got back three red bricks glued to a couple sheets of cardboard.
With Sansui written on the top of it.
I've made some killer deals on CL but if the situation was reversed, there's no way I'd have sold any of it that cheap.
I keep reading about how vintage tape decks and turntables are in demand but haven't been able to get more than $20 for a good Turntable here and never once got a reply on a tape deck.
In this area, we had a few sort of nearby vintage stereo shops, most were mostly selling old albums with a few TT's for sale and the occasional receiver but all of those were short lived. The high cost of rent likely far surpassed any profits. I sold a few piece to one guy a while back but later ended up going to the auction that was liquidating the whole store and it was like the sale here, no bidders offering more than pocket change. One guy bought all the electronics, another all the 12" records. The rest went unsold and was on the curb for 'free' the day they hauled it all away and began remodeling the place into an Mexican food market.
Having messed with this stuff for years I long since realized the only way to unload what you don't want is either pay to get rid of it, or take it apart and selling piece by piece in small boxes on fleabay and plan for it to take a year or more to sell most items.
Don't let anyone underestimate those Realistic receivers, I've had one now for four years that I got for cheap on CL, the guy told me it had a dead channel and he sold me the STA2100D along with two Optimus T-100 speakers. It turned out that the one speaker had a bad tweeter and the other a broken wire right at the crossover that made it completely innop. The receiver was fine, and still is today. I fixed both speakers and they and the receiver are still here today. I even considered selling my Pioneed SX-1050 and keeping the Realistic, but after seeing how little they bring here I just let it sit there as a spare.
Sound wise I felt the Realistic was a bit cleaner sounding.
I'd definitely put that one on the keeper list.
The HK 560 is also a decent piece worth hanging on to along with the matching Tape decks.
Although I scored a cheap Nakamichi Dragon a few years ago for cheap, and will likely never look back, with good tape and getting to know your deck and what worked best that HK 3500 can make some really good recordings. A long time buddy who left me his when he passed 10 years ago swore by it and I still have a cabinet full of custom tapes he recored on Realistic Metal tape back in the day, off of albums no less so he could play his music in his van on his Nakamichi TD 500 deck in the truck. Most of those tapes rival the sound from many CD's when played on a good deck. Which is something I was never able to recreate on any of my lesser model decks over the years. While a lot of it was him knowing his tape deck and knowing the right settings for each tape and source, he was able to make some really clean recordings off CD's on that HK 3500. I'm still learning how to properly use the Nak Dragon four years after finding it.
I used to do cleanouts for a local real estate broker here and the number of huge hoards was astounding but rarely were there any real home runs in the mix. I found that its about impossible to unload older electronics and that most of us who love this stuff are broke and rarely spend more than a few dollars to by anything. The only outlet is fleabay and there you have to deal with the Item not as described shenanigans and those who buy a prime piece and ship back a box of rocks for a forced refund. A woman around the corner here used to sell weekly on there and got burned for a Sansui receiver she listed 'As Is'. It went for $155, the seller said it didn't work, and wanted his money back, when she said no refunds eBay stepped in and ruined her perfect 3k plus perfect feedback and gave the guy a refund the instant the return label got marked as delivered. She got back three red bricks glued to a couple sheets of cardboard.
With Sansui written on the top of it.
I've made some killer deals on CL but if the situation was reversed, there's no way I'd have sold any of it that cheap.
I keep reading about how vintage tape decks and turntables are in demand but haven't been able to get more than $20 for a good Turntable here and never once got a reply on a tape deck.
In this area, we had a few sort of nearby vintage stereo shops, most were mostly selling old albums with a few TT's for sale and the occasional receiver but all of those were short lived. The high cost of rent likely far surpassed any profits. I sold a few piece to one guy a while back but later ended up going to the auction that was liquidating the whole store and it was like the sale here, no bidders offering more than pocket change. One guy bought all the electronics, another all the 12" records. The rest went unsold and was on the curb for 'free' the day they hauled it all away and began remodeling the place into an Mexican food market.
Having messed with this stuff for years I long since realized the only way to unload what you don't want is either pay to get rid of it, or take it apart and selling piece by piece in small boxes on fleabay and plan for it to take a year or more to sell most items.
Don't let anyone underestimate those Realistic receivers, I've had one now for four years that I got for cheap on CL, the guy told me it had a dead channel and he sold me the STA2100D along with two Optimus T-100 speakers. It turned out that the one speaker had a bad tweeter and the other a broken wire right at the crossover that made it completely innop. The receiver was fine, and still is today. I fixed both speakers and they and the receiver are still here today. I even considered selling my Pioneed SX-1050 and keeping the Realistic, but after seeing how little they bring here I just let it sit there as a spare.
Sound wise I felt the Realistic was a bit cleaner sounding.
I'd definitely put that one on the keeper list.
The HK 560 is also a decent piece worth hanging on to along with the matching Tape decks.
Although I scored a cheap Nakamichi Dragon a few years ago for cheap, and will likely never look back, with good tape and getting to know your deck and what worked best that HK 3500 can make some really good recordings. A long time buddy who left me his when he passed 10 years ago swore by it and I still have a cabinet full of custom tapes he recored on Realistic Metal tape back in the day, off of albums no less so he could play his music in his van on his Nakamichi TD 500 deck in the truck. Most of those tapes rival the sound from many CD's when played on a good deck. Which is something I was never able to recreate on any of my lesser model decks over the years. While a lot of it was him knowing his tape deck and knowing the right settings for each tape and source, he was able to make some really clean recordings off CD's on that HK 3500. I'm still learning how to properly use the Nak Dragon four years after finding it.
I'd like to congratulate you on what is one of the greatest scores I've ever heard about. Cub Cadet TRACTOR??? Damn.
Yes, it's work. Yes, it might be awhile to sift through.
But good GOD, man. I been doing the math in my head, and I'm counting 5 figures, easy. Yes, that auction site is your friend, but there is real WORTH in that mad pile.
I'd take the lesser, functioning things and perhaps offer in a college circular/website "free to good home" type situation. You never know who might be over the moon for a humble little system. Just a thought, and I'm certain someone will tell me that's a bad idea, but hey, I'm a dreamer. I'm not the only one.
Yes, it's work. Yes, it might be awhile to sift through.
But good GOD, man. I been doing the math in my head, and I'm counting 5 figures, easy. Yes, that auction site is your friend, but there is real WORTH in that mad pile.
I'd take the lesser, functioning things and perhaps offer in a college circular/website "free to good home" type situation. You never know who might be over the moon for a humble little system. Just a thought, and I'm certain someone will tell me that's a bad idea, but hey, I'm a dreamer. I'm not the only one.
The sale was for the contents of the garage, garden equipment, tools, mowers, and everything within the four walls and on the steps.
With the second load, apparently it was for everything that is remotely related too.
Today the same woman from the auction came buy with 14 more tape decks, all 90's dual decks, Pioneer, Technics, and Sony models.
Wanting to see what shape those in the boxes were in I pulled out one of the CT-W801R decks and opened it up, as with all the others the belts were melted to the consistency or road tar.
Figuring now that there's multiple of each model, it let me tackle all that one model at the same time, or at least one after the other.
Starting with the new one, I pulled the covers, removed the tape transports and started cleaning pulleys and fitting belts. After the the fourth one I got pretty fast at them. Now there's 8 Pioneer dual decks with new belts.
I did find some dates on them, it appears that the CT-W404R models are newer, with the earliest one I have here being from 2/1994 and the latest one being from 4/2000,
It looks like they made them from 1994 to 2012.
The CT-W801R is from 1992.
After going through all the the first batch, I left a few play through some old tapes, and they're not horrible for just listening to factory tapes and they do make decent copies, at least the CT-W801R does. I couldn't tell the difference between the original and the copy I had made using an erased older Maxell XD II tape I found in one of the other decks that had some unknown horrible recording on it.
(Quite a few had tapes still in them, the one 101 disk CD changer was full of discs, it was completely dead and I guess no one bothered to retrieve their CD's when it died. I now have a complete 'As Seen On TV' Country Classics set of CD's, 22 Best of type albums of just about every 50's and 60's country star, and the movie soundtracks to about 25 movies. What ever killed that one left it electrically dead with the LED readout lighting up random segments all over it. There's no motor or laser action, ad no attempt at any movement and no response to the remote control which was stuck to the side with velcro.
CT-W801R
CT-W404R
With as many units that were in boxes I'm wondering if this guy owned or worked at a store somewhere.
The more I think about it, how else would he get stacks of new or near new decks.
The lot today included two more of the same model Sony bpc receivers, two more of the same tape decks, and a dead DVD changer.
There seems to be a lot of CD and DVD units with bad lasers, I never knew laser failure was so common?
The last load hurt the most, just when I thought I had it all sort of put away I've got more stacks to figure out where to put since the shelves are filling up fast. For now they got stuck on the last remaining shelves, closest to the door and about a dozen pieces got checked over real quick and stuck down stairs and up int he attic.
I'm dealing with these lesser models first mainly because they're a bigger question as to what to keep, and I really can't see putting them on a shelf not working, nor can I see doing one of a certain model today, then jumping to a different model or brand, and then coming back to the rest later. Its far easier to do all the same or similar decks at the same time.
Besides, I have belts for these, most had belts ether in envelopes taped to the covers or in his parts bins tagged by model. I have enough belts to do all the Pioneer and Sony models. I'll have to order belts for the better machines and those he had marked 'for parts'. So far everything he had marked as 'For Parts' or 'Junk' turned out to be an easy fix.
I tried to find a working DVD player today and so far, only a few of them actually will play a disc.
I grabbed the newest DVD player, a 2000 model DVD-611 Samsung, figuring that a unit that new would be able to play CD-Rs, but despite loading, spinning up the disc, and going through all the paces it wont read a disk. It shows NO DISK if I load a CD-R or DVD-R.
I can see the laser is lit, it moves up and back, sees the disc and but after two minutes of just saying 'loading' it turns up with zero tracks showing and won't play.
Five others spin but don't show any laser activity. Even a player that they said was in his living room with a disk in it wont read a disk. Of the one's that do play, one has an SD card slot that it doesn't seem to be able to read or find for some reason. The other has no display and there's no way to
With the second load, apparently it was for everything that is remotely related too.
Today the same woman from the auction came buy with 14 more tape decks, all 90's dual decks, Pioneer, Technics, and Sony models.
Wanting to see what shape those in the boxes were in I pulled out one of the CT-W801R decks and opened it up, as with all the others the belts were melted to the consistency or road tar.
Figuring now that there's multiple of each model, it let me tackle all that one model at the same time, or at least one after the other.
Starting with the new one, I pulled the covers, removed the tape transports and started cleaning pulleys and fitting belts. After the the fourth one I got pretty fast at them. Now there's 8 Pioneer dual decks with new belts.
I did find some dates on them, it appears that the CT-W404R models are newer, with the earliest one I have here being from 2/1994 and the latest one being from 4/2000,
It looks like they made them from 1994 to 2012.
The CT-W801R is from 1992.
After going through all the the first batch, I left a few play through some old tapes, and they're not horrible for just listening to factory tapes and they do make decent copies, at least the CT-W801R does. I couldn't tell the difference between the original and the copy I had made using an erased older Maxell XD II tape I found in one of the other decks that had some unknown horrible recording on it.
(Quite a few had tapes still in them, the one 101 disk CD changer was full of discs, it was completely dead and I guess no one bothered to retrieve their CD's when it died. I now have a complete 'As Seen On TV' Country Classics set of CD's, 22 Best of type albums of just about every 50's and 60's country star, and the movie soundtracks to about 25 movies. What ever killed that one left it electrically dead with the LED readout lighting up random segments all over it. There's no motor or laser action, ad no attempt at any movement and no response to the remote control which was stuck to the side with velcro.
CT-W801R
CT-W404R
With as many units that were in boxes I'm wondering if this guy owned or worked at a store somewhere.
The more I think about it, how else would he get stacks of new or near new decks.
The lot today included two more of the same model Sony bpc receivers, two more of the same tape decks, and a dead DVD changer.
There seems to be a lot of CD and DVD units with bad lasers, I never knew laser failure was so common?
The last load hurt the most, just when I thought I had it all sort of put away I've got more stacks to figure out where to put since the shelves are filling up fast. For now they got stuck on the last remaining shelves, closest to the door and about a dozen pieces got checked over real quick and stuck down stairs and up int he attic.
I'm dealing with these lesser models first mainly because they're a bigger question as to what to keep, and I really can't see putting them on a shelf not working, nor can I see doing one of a certain model today, then jumping to a different model or brand, and then coming back to the rest later. Its far easier to do all the same or similar decks at the same time.
Besides, I have belts for these, most had belts ether in envelopes taped to the covers or in his parts bins tagged by model. I have enough belts to do all the Pioneer and Sony models. I'll have to order belts for the better machines and those he had marked 'for parts'. So far everything he had marked as 'For Parts' or 'Junk' turned out to be an easy fix.
I tried to find a working DVD player today and so far, only a few of them actually will play a disc.
I grabbed the newest DVD player, a 2000 model DVD-611 Samsung, figuring that a unit that new would be able to play CD-Rs, but despite loading, spinning up the disc, and going through all the paces it wont read a disk. It shows NO DISK if I load a CD-R or DVD-R.
I can see the laser is lit, it moves up and back, sees the disc and but after two minutes of just saying 'loading' it turns up with zero tracks showing and won't play.
Five others spin but don't show any laser activity. Even a player that they said was in his living room with a disk in it wont read a disk. Of the one's that do play, one has an SD card slot that it doesn't seem to be able to read or find for some reason. The other has no display and there's no way to
REMINGTON700
Well-Known Member
Curious why the original owner had so much non-working and project gear in his garage....maybe he bought out a repair shop?
Wow,what a haul. / score !
on the recycling side, I gave up fixing an old cassette deck.
I found a local recycling company that takes any electronics with a power cord.
at no charge. I did an internet search.
have fun .
on the recycling side, I gave up fixing an old cassette deck.
I found a local recycling company that takes any electronics with a power cord.
at no charge. I did an internet search.
have fun .
- Status