MINI DISC

Launched in 1992, Mini Disc seemed at the time, to be a very serious contender for the dominance of the portable record/playback market. It was portable to rival the cassette and most importantly it was 'digital', the holy grail of audio since the Compact Disc in 1982. Players were smaller than portable CD and cassette machines and by the late 90s with some more compression, the Mini Disc LP4 could fit collections of whole albums on one disc. In early 2004 Hi-MD was introduced and this superb revision of the existing system offered 1Gb on the same size disc. In 2013 Mini Disc was discontinued by Sony, it's creators. So what happened? The iPod or media player, along with download overtook it and left it for dead. But iPods are boring and nowhere near as sexy as Mini Disc!

Sony MZ-R 90 (1999)

This was the world's smallest recorder at the time! This was my introduction to the world of MD in 2003. A family member was given it and hated the whole concept and then I was given it. Jammy or what. I learned to love it and now I'm a due hard MD user!

Sony MZ-E707 (2001) (MDLP)

Now this is what I call small. Playback only, not even a DC in but it's slim and sexy and does an excellent job. You'll hardly feel it in your pocket. This was given to me by a friend clearing out his house. I also hit 50 discs with it, all for free!

Sony MZ-R410 (2003) (MDLP)

This is a superb sounding recorder, with LP options and a great adjustable EQ you will need if you decide to you the maximum storage capacity for songs.

Sony MZ-N420D (2004) (Net MDLP)

An eBay acquisition. This attractive player downloads from PC, but who wants to do that? I just like it the way it is for standard MD playback only.

This looks super-cool and has a great sound setting from low bass to sizzling

treble. A very attractive player indeed!

Sony MZ-N710 (2003) (Net MD)

The acquisition of this neat little player was by accident. A woman in a thrift store said she had a walkman for sale and I thought she meant a cassette walkman. She showed it to me and I was quiet chuffed when she said she wanted €10 for it, with case, rechargeable battery and disc! I grabbed it so fast I burnt my hand! It sounds fantastic and is in mint condition. Now that's the bargain of the century! 

Sony MZ-S1 Sports (2002) (Net MD)

Damn eBay, makes it so easy! I picked this up cheap and it's a superb machine. It's built like a tank with a kick-ass sound. It has Optical in, runs on a single AA for ages. It is a bulkier player than most but it's a collector's must have at this stage. They go pretty cheap now, but down the track I reckon they will get more expensive.

Sony MZ-R 500 (2001)

A record store find. This was in excellent condition and works a treat! While the design and cheap construction are nothing to write home about it's a great little player working on a Single AA cell.

Sony MZ-RH 710 Hi-MD (2005)

This is one of the cheaper of the Hi-MD players that records in Linear PCM, plays mp3, and can store 1000s of songs using ATRAC compression. It has Line In/Optical/USB, remote and it uses a single AA cell. A very neat and great sounding state of the art recorder.

 Sony MZ-E60 (2000)

This came in a box of 50+ blank discs I found in a junk shop. When I put a battery in nothing happened. I didn't give up at all. I noticed the inner battery spring was a bit rusty. I filed it was a mini grinder on a spindle until it was shiny. I popped in a new battery and it came back to life. It is a playback only which offers display only on a remote. Don't worry, I have three remotes. The sound, well it is superb and the digital Mega Bass at one is pretty funky while at two it's pure thunder. A headbanger for sure!

MZ-E62 (2000)

I liked the MZ-E60 so much I snapped this up as soon as I spotted it. It's the same player as the MZ-E60 but the different number means it's the European model. That pearloid effect is pretty cool!

Sony MZ-R70 (2000) Made in Japan

I found this very cheap on an online advert site and I thought what the hell, I'll have it! One of the better models with AA cell and you can use a rechargeable AA also which charges with the power supply. It must be one of the few Sony MD players with 2 headphone outputs. The sound again is excellent with plenty of socks from the MegaBass. The shell is all metal which adds to the build quality and better still it is made in Japan. Stock up on them I say!

Sony MZ-R70 (2000) Made in Japan

This is the same unit as the one above but in blue. This one has issues!

Sony MZ-R505 (2002)

This was another advert site purchase. This is a budget NetMD with the plenty of features, such as SP/2LP/4LP, Optical/line in and rechargeable AA battery, remote and Mega Bass. The design is a bit arty like something modern from the 60s! It has a pearl tint when light hits it at a certain angle. I must say the build quality is pretty poor and this would be way down on my list of must have players.

 Sony MZ-E32 (1998) Made in Japan

Purchased on eBay for €6. The seller said it was untested as they had no gumstick battery to test it. I took a gamble and it's working perfectly. It takes gumstick or AA cell in the battery bay, which is great, and it takes a rechargeable AA, so you have three choices of battery power. The sound is good with a booming MegaBass on setting 2 that will blow you out of it. It has a Star Wars look to it with the magnesium casing looking tough and futuristic. There is a window and you can see the disc spinning! It works with a remote and backlights certain types. All in all the best €6 I have ever spent!

Sony MZ-R900 (2000) Made in Japan

I heard a lot about this recorder and some of the rarer colours are going for big bucks on eBay. So when the opportunity came to own one I couldn't resist. It was a funny method of payment though. I asked how much it was and the propietor of the antique store said he would swop it for twenty LPs and it would be mine. I ran home and dug out twenty old LPs that I never listen to, I have 1000s, so a bunch of worthless old LPs I would not miss. So deal was done, and he even threw in seven prerecorded MD albums. I have since put these on eBay as they are not my thing being Mariah Carey, Jay Lo, Lauryn Hill and a few classical albums. I kept one, ELO Greatest Hits! The player came with the remote, headphones, gum stick battery that still works and the AA battery pod. It has a lot of features, a good amount of EQ, mainly controlled from the remote I must add, the sound is similar to most of the Sony MD players from this time. The recording level is adjustable and there is stacks of features like disc memory, bleep alarm for daydreaming on the train so you don't miss your stop. It's a great player even though I'm not too keen on the jog wheels, but this is a minor complaint. 

 Sony MZ-R909 (2001) Made in Japan

This was the improved model of the 900 (above) and it does sound less muffled with it's Typre R software. this was bought as part of three players online and the seller said none of them worked. Well, they all worked! The best €20 I ever spent in a long time. This along with the 900 are highly sought after and fetch high prices now. 

 Sony MZ-E300 (2001) Made in Japan

Bare bones and ugly as hell this is the skinny of the MD world. No remote, no DC in and the controls look like they were designed by a toddler. All in all if you wanted a cheap no frills into to Sony MD, here it is! This is also from the job lot.

Sony MZ-R55

Bought cheap online this is a beat up model from 1997. It isn't perfect either with a few minor glitches. It seems to cut out on the DC when you move it. The battery compartment is also shoddy. The colour is cool and it's a nice addition. I noticed the battery caddy is a different type to the ones that came after it and I'm sure they were for 2XAA cells. I don't have one so I don't know!

Sony MZ-N510 (2003) (MDLP)

I found this in a flea market and bought it for €10 even though I had no way of testing it. Well, I tested it at home and it's working very well indeed. An out and out bargain if you ask me!

Sharp 831 (1999) Made in Japan

This is how the story goes. I was browsing in a second hand shop I visit once a month. The shop is an Aladdin's Cave of TVs, furniture, books, Hi-Fi, tapes, records, instruments, tools, the list goes on and on. It contains a mind-boggling amount of junk too and lots of crap that doesn't work. I saw the back of this unit in a glass cabinet. I looked at it and asked if it was working and how much it was going for. The seller said it was working and the price was €15 but I had no way of testing it. The rechargeable battery was in it but long dead. I offered him €10 as it was a risk on my part. He declined and said €15 or nothing! I just couldn't leave it could I, if it worked I'd be laughing and if it didn't I could sell it on eBay for scrap and get €10 back. Well, I plugged it into an AC adapter and by golly it works and not only does it work it sounds fantastic. The music is vibrant and the bass is a monster that kicks your head in at setting 3! I tested it to see if it recorded and it did that too with flying colours. The battery even came to life and charges. What a bargain and there was even a TDK blank disc in it! This Sharp 831 is a winner little indeed and with it's tough all metal bodywork it is heavy and built like a tank.

Sharp MD-SR505 (2000) Made in Japan
The third from the stash I bought online. Sharp MD players sound very good and the bass is big, especially at 3. It's a heavy beast, pretty bulky, but well made and it runs well on one AA cell.

Late-comer To Planet MD

I was very slow to take up the format myself simply because I had a CD burner on my Mac in 1998 so burning CDs was good enough for me and I did not feel the need to shell out on expensive Mini Disc players and record in real time. I was doing that with cassettes. I admired it's small size, portability and punchy sound but it was not until 2003 I got my first player from a relative that was given one and didn't like it! The Sony MZ-R90 is a fine if a little finicky machine to use. I used to record with a mic for dialog but mainly from CD via an Toslink cable. How futuristic is that? I reckon I used it for about six months but then lost interest as it was easier to burn CDs and use a cheap Discman. I could even burn mp3 CDs and use them in the car and Discman. The Mini Disc player was put on the back burner, pardon the pun, until I got sick of iPods, the synching crap, plus poor sound that goes with them. The sound of the Mini Disc players I own piddle on the iPod, for

sound and sheer musical enjoyment. I won't be going back to iPod ever as

it cannot deliver the sound I demand as a music listener.

TDK MD-RXG

Alloy frame, clear plastic?

This is the MD version of the TDK MA-XG cassette!

 I must admit Mini Disc is a great technical achievement by anyone's standards but I still cannot help thinking that it is now a novelty format in todays world of audio. The iPod or Media Player is a far more attractive bulk file carrier but, it does not record and I have yet to hear an iPod sound as good as a Mini Disc. I personally sold my iPod and would prefer to mess about with Mini Disc that iTunes any day as I will not allow software or Apple to dictate my music listening pleasure.

Pioneer MJ-D707

I acquired this machine simply because I had a lot of Mini Discs in store and I never had a full sized player/recorder. It was a bargain and it sounds superb. There are three recording modes, Analog, Coaxial and Optical and stacks of other features for one to chew on.

A selection of discs made by various manufacturers

 You'd be surprised how little room a stash of discs takes up.
All these fit into an old whisky bottle box!

Then there are the purpose made boxes which are finicky!

A stash I bought from a private seller!

The ultimate stash!

This box of 50+ blank discs came from a junk shop. All discs are used, three have no sliders on them. They are nearly all Sony and nearly all 80 minutes. I made an offer and the MD player was thrown in for peanuts! 

Obsolete Format!

You heard it right, Mini Disc is now classed as an obsolete format so you will notice a lack of discs in shops. There are still lots to be found online, so spend the cash and pile the stash before it's too late. Now is the time to act if don't want to be shelling out big bucks to

cute sellers on eBay five years down the line!

My own sealed stash!

A reserve stash!

A nice display unit!

Disky Business

Here are some of my main MDs by the major manufacturers, Sony, TDK and Maxell.

I hate labels and write the artists name and album with a felt tip pen. This is easily

removable with contact cleaner and a soft clothe.

SONY

Sony disks are stylish but I wonder how 'Anti-Shock' the mechanism

actually is compared to other brands!

A bit of a dark horse!

Now this is a slick looking MD!

Tasty looking disc I must say!

 Amber Orange looks sweet!

 Alien scribble!

 Tasty Orange!

True blue!

Crystal clear Basic!

Sony Hi-MD

This was the last stand by Sony at utilizing the MD system ten years on from the original launch. The discs were high density 1Gb and players could record in Linear PCM stereo. This would be great for field recordings or those that wanted the highest fidelity from their portable. It could also store up to 45 albums on one disc using ATRAC compression. Great yes, and quite an achievement by any standard but the iPod was now a far more attractive option and I guess you could say it won the race. Unfortunately for MD across the board. 

 The beautiful blue Hi-MD

In it's wrapper

TDK

A great company that made amazing cassettes turned out classy MDs too.

The boss, the head honcho, the daddy!

Studio Pro looks almost identical to RXG. 

 The 'MD' on this design is kind of clumsy looking!

 A very feminine looking disc indeed!

 This is a fantastic looking disc.

I like it, I do!

Fine with 80s style green scribble!

A slightly different version!

These are black and dense!

I love the MD logo on this!

Studio Professional 

 The Pro from TDK

The oversized case is very cool.

Maxell

Good old Maxell churned out some classic discs in it's day.

 I'm not too keen on this dark disc.

 That artwork is strange.

 A tasty looking disc.

 Another fancy disc.

Other Brands

The good, the bad and the MD!

A Maxell in disguise!

Under Wraps

A selection of sealed MDs!

 Sony Colour range. Nice discs.

 Sony Premier range. Nicer discs!

 Sony Premier 5 pack in lavish gold wrapper.

 Sony Basic for Japan market.

  Sony Basic for Japan market.

 TDK RXG in tasty wrapper.

 TDK MD colour range similar to Sony.

 TDK RXG 5 pack with weird spooky wrapper.

 Maxell MD with late 90s style wrapper.

 Maxell Colour range. Very nice discs indeed.

 Maxell XL-II. Hmm, that was a Type II cassette way back!

Maxell XL-II Pro. These had dark shells that are

a bit dour looking!

HHB Pro from Korea

Sharp MD 80 pretty in pink!

Maxell Colour series with fancy artwork!

Maxell Colour series with fancy artwork!

  

HI-FI MANIA

HI-FI

 Collecting vintage Hi-Fi is a funny old game, and while there are a lot of separate units available in the line of amps, CD players, cassette decks, etc, you can be sure a lot of them will be clapped out. You can pick up units very heap but try go for quality brands that still work, so you don't end up with a shed full of junk. Remember, it will be difficult to get spares or repairs done on some time-ex units. Blow is my current gear line-up which I set up in different configurations in different locations.

The 'main' one!

4 Cassette Decks, 2 CD Players, 1 MD player, 1 Tuner, 

 Expander and 1 amp! A pair of Bose 301 and a pair of Goodmans Speakers 

Music for Master Bedrooms!

Sony CD and MD, Kenwood Amp, Pioneer Cassette Deck, Pioneer SACD/DVD,

Rega Planar 2 Turntable, Mission M73 Speakers.

CASSETTE DECKS

Technics RS BX404 (1991-1993) Made in Japan

This a 2 head machine I picked up very cheaply and while it is a bog standard deck it is a pretty sturdy belt driven ship with a nice simple design. It sounds good and I love the two mic inputs which are ideal for making guitar/vocal one take demos! It's a pity it does not have a volume control on the headphone socket. When I cleaned the heads I was amazed to see that they had barely any use at all, they almost looked like new. 

Pioneer CT-S430S (1996) Made in Malaysia 

In the mid 90s my Technics double deck had burned out, no I actually burned the heads off the unit and I needed a replacement. I went for a middle of the road single well deck with Dolby S. Enter CT-S430S. While not the greatest sounding deck in the world, plus clickety-clack controls that are pretty noisy and annoying, it makes decent enough recordings thanks to Super Auto BLE. There is a 'Flex' button for older duller sounding tapes on playback which is useful for running dialog tapes to PC. I don't like the way the door does not line flush with the face, a thing that was readdressed with the newer models that came after. It still works perfectly well for a deck heading for twenty.

Pioneer CT-S810S (1992) Made in Japan

This recent acquisition is big leap up the tape deck ladder and a mighty 3 headed monster. This is my first ever high end deck and a beauty it is too. It has all the features a 'deckhand' would want, Dolby B, C and S, Super Auto BLE, smooth controls and superb sound. It's well made too, heavy and classy. There are a few things I don't fancy and that is the 'timer' switch, a thing I'd never use and the electronic door, even though very sexy, is a thing that can fail, but I guess these things were pricy in yesteryear so companies had to give customers all the creature comforts to get their money, but now I feel, if something does not enhance the sound, get rid of it. With certain tapes it's hard to tell the difference from the source and it warms the coldest digital recordings to some degree. A killer! 

Yamaha KX-530 (1990) Made in Japan

This came used from a second hand shop. It works well and it's a nice deck with some nice features. An amorphous head, tape length display, Dolby B and C, trim control that adds treble to dull tapes and Bias control. The L and R channel recording meters are controlled with two separate dials and then a master fader controls both. Looking inside the unit I noticed chips from various manufacturers including Sanyo and Sony which is on the Dolby chip! The feet are the small crap, plastic type, which is funny as I've seen this deck with big silver feet. I have a spare set and very soon they are going to be nailed on this unit, simply because it's worth it. Another thing I noticed is that the length of the unit is 435mm which is 15mm longer than my Pioneer units. Playback is great with that rich, detailed fiery Yamaha sound. I recorded with the NR and on playback the trim can add back any lack of sparkle the NR takes out. A very nice deck indeed. 

  Sony TC-R503ES (1987) Made in Japan

This rather excellent Sony deck came to me in a buy and sell site. I was looking at another deck the seller had on offer only to find he had sold it. He said I should consider the Sony, and am I glad I did. I was never an Auto-Reverse fan, and more so in this day and age simply because there is too much going on and then you have the rotating head, unstable azimuth and all that malarky, plus I still have a pair of hands to change the cassette when I need too! Now this deck is probably 27 years old but when I gave it a little clean and gave the heads a good clean, it ran like a little dinger. The sound was bright, punchy and exciting. This deck was an attempt by Sony to make a top class Auto-Reverse machine. It also has Bias and record calibration which is rare for Auto-Reverse decks. I'm glad I listened to the seller and more glad I overcame my negative outlook on Auto-Reverse in general. Hey, I just figured, I never had a Sony deck. Well now I've a pretty good one and this deck was pretty expensive back in 1987 retailing at around $500, so it's hardly a middle of the road deck. Recordings are superb, the musicality sparkles with detail and rumbles with punchy tough bass. This is a great deck by any measure.  

COMPACT DISC PLAYERS

Pioneer PD-S702 (1993) Made in Japan

I shelled out a small fortune for this in early 1994. It is a thing of beauty with it's simplistic design and ultra-cool 'Stable Platter Mechanism' which demanded that you flip the CD and place it label side down on a beautiful aluminium, rubber-matted mini turntable platter. This was all very cool back then and possible started CD player envy. Then you had the sophisticated 'Legato Link Conversion' which added predetermined high frequencies to the CD bandwidth's algorithm cut-off. Do ask me anymore, as I don't know!

Anyway this player gave a bit of trouble in the last few years but after giving it a good clean, hey presto, it's back in action. I also had the 701 but that machines laser

fell apart and it was sadly scrapped.

Pioneer PD-S701 (1992) Made in Japan

This model does not have Legato Link but Pulseflow conversion. It is not as attractive

as the 702 but it's still a decent machine. I always felt the play button is a bit long! It has optical out which is ideal for Mini Disc recording.

Pioneer DV 747 (2005) Made in Malaysia

Ok, so this is a DVD player, but, and it is a big but. It also plays CD, SACD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-V, DVD-A, in other words all discs of the CD size. So you can watch a film, watch your own PC burned films, play CD-R with mp3 files on them for non-stop music round the clock. The high quality Super Audio CD that now have almost died out. What is the sound like? Absolutely superb. In the SACD setting the music is rich, beautifully detailed and very warm sounding for a digital unit. This is my main CD player and I love the fact it  shares the same numeric name as the Boeing 747 Jumbo jet!

Sony CDP-XB720E (1998) Made in France

I picked this up on an advertising site. It is in good condition for it's age and sounds really nice. It's a basic machine with nice tidy controls. The jog wheel is a bit odd for track selection. I would have preferred two buttons instead. The player is pretty heavy, which is surprising all the same. There are Coaxial and Optical sockets as well as analog. What I find good about this machine is that it plays CDs from the 80s with new clarity and depth, as I find a lot of these masters were a bit dull and bland sounding. It has enticed my to pick up some more used early CDs as it really opens them up sonically.

Technics SL-P200 (1988) Made in Japan

This is an amazing CD player. Yes, totally amazing and brilliant. Why, it's very old. It's almost 26 years old? It's old technology. I agree with all of the latter, but it is still working! That's right, it's still working! This was the first CD player I ever bought in August 1988. Friends actually congratulated me, believe it or not! Insane but back then the CD was thee big thing. All the other people had to make do with tapes and records but the cognosinti had the Compact Disc which gave us faithful reproduction of the digital image! Such a load of baloney now but this was the late 80s and the CD was

the zenith of digital excellence. This player came without a remote would you believe it, and after buying it and two CDs I was broke and could not afford a ticket to see Michael Jackson's Bad concert, until my girlfriend subbed me the money for the second night's show. I got a CD player and saw Jacko. Now that's not too bad at all! 

Cambridge Audio CD4 (Early 90s)

This is another hand over job from last year. It works but does skip from time to time. The sound is noticeably very good and it must surely be well over 20 years old at this stage. While I do like minimal design, I find this a bit too minimal and the small window and daisy style track display is small and a little confusing at a glance. There is no headphone socket either so stand alone bedside use is out of the question!

AMPLIFIERS

Yamaha AX-396 (1996)

This was used in a restaurant for almost ten years and was going in the bin. I interveined and now it is rocking like a motherf**er. The powerful, fiery but detailed sound is what you can expect from Yamaha amps. The controls are under the letterbox front panel but even remaining flat, they never seem to need fiddling about with for all kinds of music. The detail is superb and the kick mighty. It is a remote amp, I don't have the remote, who cares, I love Yamaha gear and this one is a keeper!

Kenwood KA-3020 Special Edition (1994) Made in Japan

I cannot remember where I got this but as far as I can gather, it was given to me for free  about twelve years ago, along with a Technics CD carousel (things I absolutely hate by the way) by a person that was moving house. It's a fine amp and still works well delivering a well placed soundstage with plenty of bass and detail. I replaced it at one stage with a far better sounding NAD amp which packed up soon after! The Special Edition means it is an upgraded more powerful version of the previous 3020. A good old workhorse that plays anything you can throw at it.

Aiwa KA 006 (1993) Made in Singapore

This amp is a powerful beast but I always kept it purely for back-up. There is a good growl from it and it is in pretty good nick for an amp over 20 years old. It needs a good old clean up as some of the dials are a little crackly. While it is not the best amp I have ever heard it does entertain mainly because it hams up plenty of bass.

Pioneer A-303R (1993) Made in Japan

This is a nice amp that delivers clear detailed sound but it has no real balls. The controls are slight and flimsy too. It is remote control but that's something I'd never use with an amp. It's clean, uncluttered design is appealing but it's got no real muscle. This amp was bought recently on an advertising site as is in very good condition.  

Marantz PM26 (1987) Made in Japan

This baby is on the way out I'm afraid. It is old and has too many miles on the clock. I don't know too much about these amps but it looks like it's from the mid 80s.

SOLD FOR PARTS!

MINI DISC

Pioneer MJ-D707 (1999)

Another recent purchase, this Mini Disc player/recorder has all the features you could need for that now dying format. I never had a full sized unit only a Sony portable so this is a bit novel. What I don't really like a bout Mini Disc is the gurgling that happens before a disc plays. This is less noticeable with portables but part of the TOC reading that discs go through once activated. I guess when you are used to CDs smooth and quieter loading this is a bit annoying. Still this machine sounds great and looks pretty slick.

 Sony MDS-JE530 (1999) Made in Japan

I picked this up on an advertising site. It is a basic MD recorder that uses Sony ATRAC-DSP Type-R. The sound is good and the mechanism is pretty fast and efficient. The jog wheel is a bit too sensitive and can slip all over the place when trying to do simple functions such as erasing, naming and editing. It has pitch control and can record in mono as well as stereo. It has the three record modes you would expect to have with a player of it's time. It's not as pretty as the Pioneer and I was never keen on the chamfer on top and bottom of some of the Sony range from this era. All in all it's a nice, easy to use player that sounds pretty good. 

TURNTABLES

Rega Planar 2 (1995) Made in England

This is a very special part of my music playing arsenal. The story goes like this. May 1996, I saw an add in a local shop and rang the number. An old man with an American accent answered the phone and we arranged a meeting. Next day I called to his house and he told me he was moving back to the USA in one week and unfortunately he had packed his amp away so I could not audition the Rega. I knew if something looked this good it has to sound good too. He said "trust me, you'll love it". I paid him, took it home and plugged it in. Wow! I could not believe my ears. Not only was the sound incredibly detailed, the bass was warm and strong and it definitely sounded better than CD overall. This is one of my treasured possessions and my reference turntable. I can record from vinyl to PC with superb quality and I 'know' the sound of this after 18 years. It's a masterpiece

of Hi-Fi design no less. 

 Technics SL1210MK2 (1989) Made in Japan

There is nothing I can say about this legendary piece of equipment, that hasn't already been said, except that it is the Mercedes - Benz of turntables. Ask any DJ that used them and there will be nothing but praise and affection. These were, and still are peoples lives! They are over-engineered. Just open one up, I have, to fix bulbs, etc, and there are no crap parts, what you will find are high quality components. I have four in total, two 1200s and two 1210s. I was thinking of fitting an RB250 tone arm to this one as the original arm is half shot and needs replacing.

The same deck in dry dock. This needs a good clean and more than likely a new tone arm.

There are no short cuts when fixing these over-engineered turntables.

SPEAKERS

Mission 762i (1992) Made in England

Remember these? When people say the upside-down design of the 762i it was a controversial affair. You can of course turn them upside-down, or sideways in a book shelf and they still give you a nice flat sound. These are British made and date back to the early 90s. A fine and solid pair of speakers indeed.

Goodmans Maxim (Mid 80s) Made in England

I was given these over 20 years ago by a friend that was about to dump them. They are small, sound good and are pretty powerful. I'm glad I still have them and they are very hand as monitors for recording music on a PC. These are pretty old and must be heading for 30 years old. I recently masked off the front of these and sprayed the cabinets glossy black. They now look great and shiny clean.

B&W (1985) Made in England

These were saved from the same skip. Another great pair with a nice thump. They are still functioning well. I have no model number so I don't know much about these. These also got sprayed up and now gleam gloss black. I will work on cleaning the rusty screws soon. Upon opening one up I found a label that was date stamped 21 March 1985 and the unit reference was BZ 150.

Bose 301 (1990)

An odd looking speaker with it's clothes off I must say. These were popular in the late 80s and early 90s and why? Well Bose make great speakers and these are now a classic pair indeed. The reflex may be novel but it gives another dimension to the sound in a room. The sound is precise and the bass punchy and strong. Detail is great and these serve up music from all sources with great ease. 

Mission M73 (2003) Made in Malaysia

These have been my main speakers since 2003 when I bought them. I like tall speakers, (like the song goes!) and these deliver a nice crisp flat sound with good bass that's not over exaggerated. They can be filled with sand bags to make them give a heavier thump. I never did that for fear of making a mess!

TUNERS

Pioneer TX-540L Made in Japan

I was also given this analog tuner last year. It sounds fine but I do not listen to the radio, so it's a hi-fi ornament I guess.

Sony ST-SE300 Made in Japan

This came as part of a deal. I didn't really want it as don't use tuners at all but who know one day I may tune in to radio gaga!

EXPANDER

Pioneer EX-90000 Dynamic Expander (1988) Made in Japan

A lot of people say that expanders and graphic equalizers only make the sound worse, or after a few times messing with them you end up not using them at all. I like a natural sound myself without having to do a lot of tweaking but I will admit the novelty value of the flashing meters on this is well worth the price I paid for it which wasn't that much at all. It does pack a punch sonically and is a nice piece of gear to have. These were all the rage in the 80s for the old 'Hi-Fi envy' game! 

DECKS APPEAL

DECKS APPEAL

Three heads are better than two!

So after digging out the tapes, you play them back on your cassette deck, that's if

you still have one and if you're like me, an obsessive that wants to hear tape at it's best

you get very curious indeed. Enter the world of the 3 Head deck! I never owned one

to be honest and I hear that they are better than 2 head machines. Why? Because It has a dedicated record head and a dedicated playback head and you can hear immediately what you record and compare it to source as you record. Now the market is still ripe with vintage decks from the 80s and the early 90s, but 3 head decks are becoming very rare. I checked out the local advertising websites as I would never buy a deck from overseas without hearing it first. This cannot be done unless you travel, and if you can afford to do that, you would spend far more than the deck would cost! Postage is another expensive addition as a courier is required. So I found a Pioneer CT-S810S 80 miles away and the seller said I was more than welcome to test it out at his house. I sped off and bagged it. I must say this deck sounds amazing. I have never heard a tape sound this good I have to admit. The clarity and detail is very impressive indeed. It is equipped with Dolby B, C and S, HX Pro and Pioneer's Super Auto BLE (Bias, Level, EQ. This ship dates back to 1992 and was a
considerable sum back then.

Hey, Don't touch the meter!

Buying an old Deck

When buying an old deck remember if it is more than 20 years old, it may have a lot of miles on the clock, just like an old car. You will have to take a bit of a gamble unless the owner kept it as a museum piece. Always turn it on and test it out. Check for pitch fluctuations during playback and wow and flutter means the belt might be knackered or even worse the motors. A lot of decks from around 25 years ago will have microprocessors in them and these may give trouble that cannot be fixed. Check the heads visually, if there is excessive wear walk away, a gleaming deck that looks pristine is no use if it has worn out heads, capstans and rollers. This will not only sound poor but could also chew your prized

vintage cassettes, so beware! Electrical goods from quarter of a century ago were never meant to run forever, then again I bought my first Technics CD player in 1988 and it is still working. Made in Japan, just like a Toyota, and they seems to run forever!

3 Heads and Dolby S no less!

Things to avoid

I am going to be very biased here. Avoid decks with Auto Reverse, there is no need for this and while it means that you may not have to turn the tape over, the heads may move out of alignment causing sound to deteriorate. There are of course some excellent Auto Reverse decks out there, take the Sony TCR-503ES for example, I even own one but for getting started, keep it simple but good. Forget most of todays decks, unless they are from high end manufacturers as they will more than likely be rubbish crammed with silly features that make no difference to the sound. Sound is the most important feature when it comes to tapes not flashing lights! The better the sound the happier you will feel when listening to your favourite music. Most modern decks will have lots of plastic parts and will be poorly assembled. Avoid them. But on the bright side, great cassette decks, like the tapes they play, are now consigned to the music listening publics dustbin thanks to the boring and sonically challenged old iPod and only people in the know hunt them down. 

Going Mobile

So you get a 3 head deck, it sounds fab, and that old Maxell XLII-S you just recorded sounds turbo charged. You're dancing again and you love it so much you want to take it with you when you leave the house, so what do you need? A Sony Walkman. A What? You heard me, I said a Sony Walkman. I picked this model up on a local advertiser, I met the guy. I put in a battery and it gurgled. Bad news. He just handed it to me for free out of sympathy. I opened it up and ran it on a DC power supply for a few hours and what the hell it came back to life. It even runs on a battery. The sound? It sounds amazing with tapes recorded on the Pioneer CT-S810S deck of course. The treble detail is incredible, mids are engaging and lifelike and the bass big and tight without a hint of distortion. In fact I had forgotten what real analog bass sounds like from listening to iPods over the last few years. The sound from this blows any mp3 player out of the water and it gets to my gut. What I mean by that is I can feel the music and it makes me feel warm inside, mp3 leaves me cold. Comparing the two side by side the mp3 sounds aggressive, raspy and lacks serious detail. It's hard to believe millions worldwide seem to enjoy such lo-fi sound. I'd love to do a blindfold test on a few iPod heads. There argument would probably be that they have all there music in their pockets but personally I'd rather the sound of a pocket to an mp3 file!

The sleek and sexy WM-EX552

Loaded with a Sony Esprit II cassette!

The not so sexy controls!

Vintage Sony Earphones

I can remember buying these in November 1988 and they were pretty expensive, but they sounded great. I have had them ever since but I didn't used them for years. I dug them out and low and behold they still work fine. They go with this Walkman perfectly well taking me back to the days of

analog odyssey! 

Anyone ever hear of Sony Twin Turbo earphones?