Late Boomer
Super Member
I have collected seven WM/FX players: three basic FX101 with single direction play and no Dolby, and four machines with auto-reverse and Dolby: (2) FX315, (1) FX425, (1) FX407. I understand that this is a family of cheap plasticky players that were manufactured in hundreds of thousands if not millions, these are not DD machines. Still, there should be some minimum of quality they deliver. But of seven items I have two basic models play more or less satisfactorily to my taste in terms of response and wow and flutter, but they have no Dolby, which I wanted. Yet, all the auto-reverse Dolby models are completely unusable because of the rubbery sound. I replaced the belts on two of them, one plays about as bad as before the replacement; another, which has its belt completely melted into goo, plays surprisingly stable in terms of wow and flutter, but in the reverse mode on channel is muffled and another seems to have some crosstalk, so I suppose the head got misaligned. The head is not supposed to be adjusted, so I am screwed with this one too.
This is devastating. I understand these are 25-year old machines, but were they all that bad? Can a slightly thicker belt cause extra wow and flutter as one seller on eBay claims? One of the FX315 with a new belt plays fine in terms of speed and pitch. I've read that the pinch rollers may get hardened and polished, and someone suggested using 800-grit sandpaper to bring back the grip. Should I try? Should I lube plastic wheels with silicon grease? Are there any electronic parts that may affect wow and flutter?
P.S. I get it that even in their heyday Dolby models were far and between, so I don't know how portable player owners listened to pre-recorded cassettes, they must have rung into their ears, sounding all wrong, just like they do on the basic players I have now. I switched to CDs in mid 1990s and had less than ten pre-recorded tapes.
This is devastating. I understand these are 25-year old machines, but were they all that bad? Can a slightly thicker belt cause extra wow and flutter as one seller on eBay claims? One of the FX315 with a new belt plays fine in terms of speed and pitch. I've read that the pinch rollers may get hardened and polished, and someone suggested using 800-grit sandpaper to bring back the grip. Should I try? Should I lube plastic wheels with silicon grease? Are there any electronic parts that may affect wow and flutter?
P.S. I get it that even in their heyday Dolby models were far and between, so I don't know how portable player owners listened to pre-recorded cassettes, they must have rung into their ears, sounding all wrong, just like they do on the basic players I have now. I switched to CDs in mid 1990s and had less than ten pre-recorded tapes.
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