Vintage Technics RS-676 Cassette deck overhaul

This from what I gather is a rather rare piece. Considering that I have been servicing audio video gear since 1984 and I have never seen one before, until now!

[@friguy4444]

34:33 Yes. Everybody recorded with the Dolby on then played back with it off so we could hear the high frequencies. Nice and clear. I still feel like the sound I heard when I was listening to music with Chrome tape recorded like that and listening through a top system was better than the digital stuff we have today. I own and record live music using a full DAW studio. (Digital Audio Workstation). Meaning using a digital interface for the inputs to record onto my computer using professional software and some pro hardware for processing etc. Yet even if I have full equalization control and using Aural Exciters for high and Low frequencies etc etc. I still feel like the audio I used to get recording in the Analog Studios back in the day onto 2" Tape was superior to the absolute perfect digital I am using now. I actually use software that will ADD NOISE to the recording because it has been shown that the human ear finds that that noise is pleasing to the ear or brain or whatever it is that happens. LOL. I use a unit called the Ferric TDS which after adding it to the mix makes it sound closer to the old 2" tape I used to hear and was used in all the great albums of the past throughout the 50's, 60's 70's and some 80's even into a bit of the 90's but extremely rarely now. (Maybe Dave Grohl and a few like him).

[@AlessandroCussino]

I love the "klickiness" of that machine !!!

[@caribou3025]

I've got a RS-676US that I bought in Korea in '75. Used it for many,many enjoyable years and still have it. Pulled it out of service back in the early 2000's when while recording, a channel would drop out. I still have it and glad I stumbled upon your overhaul procedure. I'm retired now and have plenty of time. I'll check out your procedure ,tear it down. Keep you posted and thanks!

[@caribou3025]

BTW......I think I spent about $150......in commissary......back then........

[@minilab9030]

Beautiful unit! Have 5 x decks awaiting restoration (including Sony TC-U2, TC-U30 and TC-FX2) and find these videos enormously helpful. What a beautiful unit. So enjoying this excellent series of videos, made by a virtuoso engineer, par excellence.

[@teacfan1080]

That's amazing. All that electronics for a cassette deck. They made this a good one though. Screams of quality! When that person gave you this deck, he could be rest assured it would have a good home!

[@seacampal1425]

Thats my favorite video of yours! "This is a piece of art"

[@davecooke914]

Great tape deck all my hifi system is technics can't beat Japanese stuff love watching your videos keep up great work 👍

[@robwebster7406]

Great vid and they don’t make them like they used too 👍

[@tonycarrera69]

"A heritage machine needs to stay original"

[@craigstaggs8597]

Technics , not Techniques you putz .

[@musicnerd72]

Get over it dude.

[@TheGuitologist]

That was awesome.

[@12voltvids]

Vintage audio is awesome. Just did an AR ETL-1 Turntable. That was fun.

[@jacktorse2145]

What a beautiful piece of equipment. I had the big brother of those speakers Technics SB-7070...they were absolutely gigantic, and my wife hated them! They had 4 drivers arranged with "linear phase".

[@12voltvids]

Tongue hanging out drooling.

[@AThreeDogNight]

LOL on that one. Know just what you mean.

[@svenandaas8781]

Dolby Noise Reduction.....aka Muddy Sound Generator.

[@VintageElectronicsGeek]

In 1977 this deck sold for $599CA. Nice deck indeed! ~Jack, VEG

[@12voltvids]

Might not be a Nakamichi, but way more reliable. Nakamichi, and I know I am going to ruffle feathers may have performed well, but they were never regarded as very reliable. I fixed tons of Nak equipment. Their warehouse and parts depot for all of Canada was right here in Vancouver, and I used to order many parts from them. Main power transformers were a weakness on their amplifiers. Kid would have a party and crank it up. The transformer would warm up and blow the internal thermal fuse. Caching, that will be 300 to fix it sir, thank you very much. Couple of months later same unit back, power transformer blown again. Caching.,300.00. Customer is pissed. Response. Did I go over to your house, hold a party and crank the shit out of your amplifier and burn the power transformer out? No, well then stop bitching at me, here is Nakamichi's phone number, take it up with them! After seeing the quality of the units, I would never own one. (and yes I was an authorized Nakamichi servicer, they actually gave that out to anyone that bought parts form them. Call to buy parts, and they would say, want to service our stuff under warranty? Here fill out this application. They paid crap. Lower rates than Sony did, and Sony stuff was much easier to fix, but they did pay better than Yamaha, and some of the Yamaha stuff was brutal to work on.

[@rawr51919]

First view AND comment. What a lucky person I am tonight. And incredible that you found what could be NOS Technics equipment. A rarity indeed, Dave. It's age is the secret of life, the universe, and everything (bet you couldn't figure out what that references).

[@12voltvids]

This tape deck is probably as close to a NOS as one will ever find. It hasn't got a single scratch on it, nor does the big receiver I got at the same time.

[@zx8401ztv]

Colton Rushton, 42 ? :)

[@rawr51919]

Glad to see you got the reference :)

[@zx8401ztv]

Colton Rushton He was a one off, no one like him. Advanced beings that just happen to look like mice, on earth to study humans. That's just well outside normal writers imagination. Sorry ill shut up lol.

[@procsico1599]

I have Technics 673 from 1979 amazing sounding deck, similar to this one.

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

Rare vintage fine wine. What a beautiful piece of machinery!

[@wadehicks9270]

That's an awesome peice of gear I love old school.... That reminded me of a Harmon Kardon CD-91 cassette player that was gave to me years ago it's gonna need a little work it's a project for later on when there's time. The best of the best 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👌👌👌👌👌

[@markschmitt2641]

I have one that I purchased in1974 when I was in Germany in the Army. I need to replace the belts. I have never had it apart. Your video was quite helpful.

[@roberthorwat6747]

Record with Dolby on, playback with it off. Yes I did. Every time. Heh heh!! Watching this was pure joy! Thanks a lot.

[@dandinhofer9240]

Nice technical service bulletin. I'm into the same "hobby" and perform normal maintenance on my 18 or so decks. Here's a bit of trivia. The mid 70's Technics RS decks 630/ 671/673/676, and semi pro model RS 288 with the lighted horizontal tray compartments were ALL based on the TOTL full laboratory professional (2) chassis RS-9900US. I acquired one via Germany, which needed a major overhaul. It also came before the short lived metal tape revolution. However, This may sound crazy but but to my ears it easily outperforms anything built after from the late 80's and 90's. I too will never sell it...

[@dantx4545]

You sure scored they will never make equipment like this again it is really good that it went to someone who can repair and maintain it and appreciate it

[@12voltvids]

I was pretty happy to get this one. I have the matching receiver to go with it and the big speakers which I am already enjoying in the music room.

[@TheVCRKing]

Yo! That's a well built and lit deck! Wish all cassette decks were built like that

[@DoktorKoch]

great stuff...I am trying to learn more about the inner workings of Cassette Tape Decks and to fix a couple I have at home...could be something simple as replacing belts and cleaning heads...but I wanna know the general layout of a tape deck. By the way, do all tape decks have that speed adjustment screw in them? And what causes tapes to speed up or go to slow? Many thanks from London, UK! :-)

[@pliedtka]

Speed sounds OK to me, doesn't drift. I need older heavy duty capstan motor that lasts, so I can replace the Taiwanese junk in my Nakamichi. A lot of decks made after mid 80's just don't last. Interesting that many of 70's early 80's decks had many features that later machines lack, even microprocessor bias and level adjustment. I like the clicky selenoid noise. And a lot of attention to the way electronics was mounted, wow my 90's Nak 3header sucks comparing to some of the 80s machines, the quality isn't there. Tandberg was another manufacturer I remember, and German Tekefunkens from back then. I has very old Akai with switchable level indicators, unfortunately too beaten up to fix it, even the motors had worn bearings that only I kept main board for parts. Ah, Fuji DR-1, horrible tape.

[@jmmbos]

Technics (RS) 673 was even more beautiful , same window and damped eject . This one had HPF heads which you can compare with the Ferric heads Sony used , almost indestructible . The 673 had SX heads and sold very well only 2 heads but with a lot of possibilities . It costed 1200 Dutch Gilders > 600 US Dollars , new from the store , also very heavy .. The sound is amazing even by todays standards . Sold from 1977 till 1979

[@marjanstefanovski5018]

I Have the same Deck, awesome machine !

[@robnoska642]

I have this unit and notice when listening to a 440hz tone on line in over the headphones (record button down) that it sounds clean and balanced. When listening to a playback of the recording I hear some hissing, more on the right side. I made the recording on a type1 tape with and without dolby. The hiss with dolby is a bit less on the left but the same on the right. It's almost as if the dolby switch has zero affect on the right side. I know the right and left NR switches are working fine. I suspect an issue with the dolby block board but not sure. I did replace on cap on that board which was bulging (also looked like it had been previously replaced) but no effect. I've also cleaned the heads. Let me know if you have any thoughts. I've been browsing through the service manual. I don't have lots of experience working on audio gear but trying to learn.

[@zahidonly7405]

I love that kind of cassette decks love Japan best engineering ever

[@JacGoudsmit]

Love the solenoids! None of this "Let me just turn this giant brittle plastic wheel around to move some mechanics" crap but simple "You touch it, it plays".

[@12voltvids]

Nothing beats the "plunger" type control. That is what the Japanese called them.

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

Having no piano keys in the 70s was pretty cool.

[@guyb7005]

34:27 -- Exactly!! With my mid-;ate eighties Realistic and Akai tape deck, chrome/Dolby B on (never C) to record, playback sans dolby. Cassette are a funny technology as the last mechanical audio

[@m80116]

I do remember when I had a telephone chat with one of those audio(p.)phile fundamentalists and when explained how I achieve a flat frequency response through EQ, both hardware via component or software via PC software EQ he rejected my method alleging it's invalid. Ha... like there's a contest and rules on how to achieve such goal. I mean, buy the topmost deck, use the best magnetic tape out there, hope that Mars and the Moon are aligned after you've done your BIAS, EQ and level calibration. With PC software EQ even cassette tapes you wouldn't normally use on specific decks for recording become perfectly naturally sounding after the treatment. Of course today we can do it with digital sources as we have the necessary headroom, I wouldn't even dare to equalize frequencies below 60 Hz or push the highs from certain old analog sources.

[@ju6452]

I own the RS 671 and I love it. Heavy weight super engineered. Had to fix right channek abd sand the idlers. Now all working except the auto stop, but U can‘t find the error🤔

[@MsCori76]

This Technics deck is the same age as me. It’s sure a well looked after unit for its age too.

[@draganraxrax7497]

Good age

[@MsCori76]

@@draganraxrax7497 Yep, it sure was. 👍🏻

[@jimmylienhard6273]

Working on this unit..alls working but the fast forward and rewind solenoid is not working..the relays under unit click when push controls..will work if I manually push in solenoid..any suggestions?

[@ju6452]

The autostop rattles. I wonder if the small idler on the right side misses the grip on the metal wheel underneath the capstan🤔. If I push the plunger by hand, it works.

[@michaellundsrensen2292]

Here is the information sheet for the RS-677US (the US version with remotecontrol) www.gromit.dk/technics/rs-677us.pdf

[@nickfatsis9607]

Beautiful tape deck, I love all that golden coloured metal inside, I own a Pioneer tape deck that has a similar loading method, CT-F2121.

[@ColdSphinX]

I have a Technics RS-B33W and the button array for the noise reduction selection has loos connections _inside_ the buttons. But it still runns fine.

[@weslysa]

Haha! And we still use the chrome and Dolby cheats today, especially with TDK D Type 1 Tapes! XD

[@mikemm03]

How does the brown plastic cover over the heads come off for cleaning?

[@wd3574]

Sounds rock steady! No wow and flutter I can hear.

[@timbeck7436]

Nice video and a great piece of history. Thanks for the look.

[@swcrites]

great video!! :) i love the excitement you have about this unit, it shows how passionate you are about stereo repair. i share the same passion, but lack the knowledge you have. i very much enjoy hearing about the ways and reasons and how dolby/dbx/mpx filtering worked. it's that old school knowledge that i'm always after. anyways, great vid and i'm glad you found such a great tape deck. i'm jealous!!! take care, i hope you're well

[@12voltvids]

Actually it is called "acting" I am not as excited as I make it appear. I do like the vintage gear for music. I have 2 systems. A home theater in the TV room, and a 2 channel full tube system in the music room.

[@johnwbagleyIII]

mine has a bit of a buzz when playing a tape...any ideas...?

[@waltschannel7465]

Cold dead hands! That's when you give that one up!!! Really nice shape! Great score! Plus an education about Dolby. Thank you for that. Those solenoids! They probably do not use solenoids that big on automotive applications!

[@12voltvids]

Yes this one will have to be pried away. That is unless some audiophool offers me a ridicules amount of money for it. I had a nice Sansui "direct o matic" loader and I figured I would put it up on fleabay and see what happened. Some audiophool offered me 400US for it. As much as I liked the deck, I am not dumb. Away it went.

[@garyferguson9420]

Great video! Your deck is sending me down memory lane as I have the exact same unit and I’m trying to rehabilitate it. I found a local repair man who used to work on them and the belts have unfortunately succumbed to dry rot. He’s looking for replacement parts. Any idea where they can be had?

[@voivodOfficial]

I just found this deck for $19.99 in a thrift shop. I had the belts replaced and it sounds nice. Only thing is: It plays too fast The belts are available on EBAY. Just do a search.

[@eml3148]

FYI: you mention about it was difficult to clean the heads, There's a Plastic Head Cover piece, the symbol "HPF" is easily removable. If I recall you just push the plastic cover to the right and it exposes the heads, making it much easier to get to rather than the way you were showing in the video.

[@12voltvids]

Those plastic covers are brittle as hell now.

[@catsbyondrepair]

Do you have your mits on any klipsch speakers.

[@Washburn-rr5eh]

Very impressive vintage cassette deck!! The engineers were really thinking when designing this piece of equipment. I like the little stand offs for the capacitors.

[@12voltvids]

This was a cool unit. A keeper for sure.

[@Bushougoma]

I wonder if anyone ever made in IR receiver to plug into that back port? A remote would be a great fit considering the deck is completely solenoid actuated.

[@Synthematix]

I know tapes were pretty terrible but i still hold a special kind of nostalgia for them, but i think metal tapes were overrated i always preferred a good typeII, and i really have never been a fan of japanese speakers, always preferred american or English, type1 tape records higher than type II, chromes should peak at 0db on the philips recording scale

[@scaleop4]

tapes are not as bad as you think..if recorded and played back on a good system they can sound as good as CD.

[@12voltvids]

Synthematix I think I used metal tapes about 3 times. Fe-cr were my favorite tapes period.

[@scaleop4]

good tapes make all the difference. ( still using tapes to this day )

[@warrenmacdonald1372]

The MOL (Maximum Output Level ) on a Maxell UDXL-ii type II is +7 db, so peak input level is mostly dependant on tape type and manufacturer specs. Why would you say that " type1 tape records higher than type II " ? I've never experienced that.

[@Synthematix]

Warren MacDonald type1 handle more bass, type 11 do not they are mostly top end, a good type1 tape will beat some chromes actually though, maxell UK being the best, type II shouldnt be driven past 0db really, record a 400Hz test tone and you will hear the distortion past 0db, anything past the dolby mark is pure distortion and on a nak dragon the dolby level is zero db

[@jimmylienhard6273]

Well pause isn't working either..

[@johnbray6352]

Nobody around here works on vintage gear anymore, where are you located if you don't mind. I'm in southern Ontario and would like to get my old Technics deck overhauled,please reply thanx, paying customer.

[@12voltvids]

Vancouver

[@zx8401ztv]

That's what i call a tape deck, it reminds me of the old jvc vcr's, metal and solinoids :-D I have an old pioneer Ct200 tape deck that has push buttons/logic control, but it looks crap in comparison to that Technics lol.

[@12voltvids]

I thought my RSM275 was good. (actually it is very good for a 2 head deck as it has a direct drive quartz lock motor, but it uses a belt to operate the head raising cam, and that is it's weak point. The belt is almost impossible to change, and when it slips, well you can't engage play.) but as far as build quality goes this one is fantastic. Performance is not as good as some decks, as the frequency response is only good to 17KHz, but that is probably fine for most people over a certain age.

[@zx8401ztv]

Some people used to swear by using a sendust head, i bet it would be hard to find one now, and not worth upsetting the bias of that technics.

[@JamesE707]

I think the reason for the 19Khz MPX filter was to attenuate the FM pilot tone, so that the Dolby encoder on record would not be influenced by this 19Khz sinewave. Awesome deck, and great photography 12voltvids!

[@jormajaakkola3744]

Technics by Panasonic label.. amazing =)

[@alexherget]

Awesome unit! Looking forward to seeing the other stuff too.

[@grizzlyaddams3606]

Hmmm... Wonder if any of that tech will translate for my M7? Has a huge buzz coming out of it. Runs and plays though. Kind of.

[@snysnd]

My dad read scores of reviews before he settled on this model and we all used it throughout nthe 70's and 80's, but good things don't last. He gave it to me when the R/P switches wore out, and by then, Panasonic didn't supply parts anymore. (Yes, wore out! Cleaning no longer helped.) Sad day. Btw, all quality gear used 5% resistors by the mid-70's; it wasn't that big a deal. A better sign of quality was the semis & caps they chose. If you saw a lot of 2SC458s or C828s, throw it out.

[@richardkelsch3640]

Technically DBX was successful, as that is what was used for analog TV stereo.

[@12voltvids]

Yes and it was also used as the noise reduction system used on beta HiFi, 8mm and hi8 audio and vhs HiFi, bit just like with the VHS system which JVC stole from Sony, they tweaked it just enough so they didn't have to royalties to dbx Corp. It was used on the l-r channel on MTS tv audio as well as the sap channel.

[@billmcdonald2436]

Really nice. I had a technics system in the 90’s and I loved it. It had 10” woofers but it had better, more powerful sound than my friend’s fisher system which had 15” woofers.

[@wrathofbod]

not sure how i missed this video of yours, been a fan for a few years now, I just picked up the Technics RS-631, paid around $25, £20 in the UK perfect working, sounds amazing, only draw back the tape buttons are aluminium and have some minor pitting but still a fantastic deck & they have huge belts.

[@grassulo]

I have a really similar Aiwa AD-6500 deck weird front loader like yours and is it really worth restoring? it's absolutely massive and has a FeCr setting but it might not be solenoid control it's got big normal keys for it's functions. That being said it's a monster (30 pound cassette deck!!) and it seems extremely well built but needs belts and lubrication like anything from '77 would. IIRC it has a flywheel and motor in it like something from a reel to reel deck in there. Let me know what you think, and possibly where I could find a belt kit or info on belt sizes and types for it.

[@codebeat4192]

The construction wow, all metal. Do you know why all these vintage metals look brown/yellow, is it a special finish? Anyway, what is the name of your fancy cleaner you talking about? Nice video of an awesome product, love the construction.

[@12voltvids]

I am sure it is dipped in a corossion inhibitor as steel will rust. Cleaner is either deoxit or nutrol. Those are the only 2 i use. White can is nutrol.

[@codebeat4192]

@@12voltvids Thanks. Steel or Iron? Steel don't oxidate, iron will.

[@12voltvids]

@@codebeat4192 Steel certainly will rust. Stainless still won't

[@codebeat4192]

@@12voltvids You are right ;-)

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I have seen nylon ribbon used in drive belts on the Crown-corder but I suspect that the need for drive belts were killed of by the use of servo motors, I had a PHILIPS DCC900 which was servo motors throughout except for a single tiny belt which operated the tray loading but is now in need of recapping to get it to play analogue tapes as well as PASC(Precision Adaptive Sub-band Coding) encoded parallel tracks of which there are 9 one track was for the track and artist and possibly lyrics data.

[@orange_light_pictures]

surely though and maybe you can clear up something i've been wondering about for years. If you have have recorded with Dolby NR on, then, why would you still have it on whilst playing back. is that not, and excuse that popular turn of phrase. Doubling down on the amount of top end the tape won't have. Is that not how that works, or have i been using NR wrong all these years.

[@nathanmorrison4520]

Hello. I have an sanyo similar to yours.. everything works exellent. Belts, mechanical lights, meters all work excellent Meters pop up when turned on but The units output signal just went out. I cannot figure out why. Can I send you mine to fix ?

[@aegisofhonor]

so he just strait up GAVE you a pair of SB-7000 speakers at no charge?

[@12voltvids]

Yes he did, and this RS 676 and Technics SA5570 receiver, SL-1200 turntable, a Panasonic mini system and 3 Panasonic HIFI VCRs. The SL1200 was sitting in my garage. Hadn't even made a video of it, had one of my regular customers see it. Said he wanted it. I said I hadn't decided if I would keep or sell it. He pulled out a wad of 100 bills and started throwing them down. It was a deal I could not refuse. I didn't even know if it worked or not, but it was in pristine condition. Since I already have an SLM1 and a Thorens TD165 I needed another high end record player like I needed a hole in my head and that stack of 100's I couldn't resist. He wanted the speakers too, but I wanted them for myself. They sound wonderful on my tube amp. I won't say what he gave me exactly, only that it was well north of 1000 and he told me he turned around and pawned it off on someone else for a healthy profit within 2 days. People see old turntables and their intelligence just drains out of their body. I sold an old Dual 1214 for 460.00 a few months ago. Another one I got for free, lubricated and freed up seized mechanism.

[@johnstark5324]

Just got done with a Teac C-3X, normal bias Maxell UR tapes sound as good as what I recorded. But it's a three head deck with HX. Also I recapped it and did a full calibration with a re belt and a full disassembly and lube. Yes solenoid is a great setup. The C-3X is all solenoid as well.

[@vincentwoodruff3694]

I have the 650 version and mine when I push play,will play for about 10 seconds then stop.any ideas as to why?

[@DrDroogkloot]

To clean those heads the best thing is to remove the brown plastic cover above the heads. That will make head cleaning easier. I have done the same with my 671 deck. The loading system is the same as your deck. Btw... the power transformer of the 671 is placed in the top left corner. My deck has a slipping capstan. Do you know how i can fix that? The rubber seems to be in good condition. I cleaned the heads and capstan with alcohol.

[@HDXFH]

Picked up a good 88 model year yamaha deck, motors bearings are worn out, bit of 3 in 1 oil solved it well

[@alcadzbetz]

When I was a kid my father bought this Vintage Akai GXC-725D, I'd used and abused it everyday until it wear out. It sounds great same as your cassette deck. As an electronics/Cellphone technician I' always watched tutorial videos in Yt. I just want you to know that I've learned a lot from your videos and content, totally Awesome!! Mostly on your tips and tricks in troubleshooting. What is the song in 31:32 btw? Thanks for uploading this video and more power to your channel! A fan here from the Philippines..

[@keefebaby]

I would just never use Dolby, just decent chrome cassettes maxell or tdk and experiment with levels using my ear more than the level meters

[@jamesschwartz9311]

Can you explain how to remove and replace the main belt (underside)? I can't figure out how to get the old belt off. Thanks in advance!

[@DoNaSbaR]

Technics, my brand.

[@kyoudaiken]

It's sad that the song "Corporate Image" was removed from the Music Bakery. Are you also not allowed to use it anymore by the way?

[@mrpedrodrodriguezsr7628]

That was one of the first cassette deck build by Panasonic with the Technics name. Latter they dropped the " By Panasonic " moniker for Technics only !

[@theonetheonly2098]

I would love to have a lot of vintage elections.

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

Search thrift stores, you'll be surprised at what shows up. Tomorrow I'll probably buy a top of the line Pioneer cassette deck from the later 70's, one with analog meters, probably in the $40 range. Needs a knob or two I think I can find. Ive found a very nice Akai reel to reel, an autoreversinf Akai cassette deck from 1980, top model that was $600 new, and a pair of in the box Infinity mid size bookshelf speakers with little dust on them, all in original plastic wrapping and instructions. It's out there.

[@wadehicks9270]

Tell about some really good lubricant it's called liquid bearings that stuff will slick up those bushings and allow them to run super free.

[@robertstorey9606]

dude you saved my British arse with this vid..just got given one and thought get it working and put it in the studio ,saved me a lot of beef there!!!

[@miguelsala143]

Nice to see an old yewel back to live. I would know wich kind of spray you uses for cleaning contacts, a simple oil spray?. I got an Marantz tape forgotten on a shelf waiting for digitallize some tapes and I think it will need maintenance.

[@StillCloser]

Come on guys, be realistic! I understand that this may bring a sense of nostalgia to those who worked with these tape decks, but by today's standards it's a piece of junk... - The tape transport makes more noise than a microwave oven - No dual capstan, the take up spool looks dodgy, there's a reason why this type of tray was abandoned and replaced by vertical load... - I don't like that REC button that can be pressed by accident - Two heads only so, no tape monitor, this thing probably has ferrite heads which magnetise easily - Dolby circuit doesn't seem to work properly - it has a cutoff frequency around 13Khz - It sounds much better with that crap turned off... - Who cares about MPX calibration? The tone is 19Khz unless the radio station has its tone out of frequency. These tapes barely reach 16Khz, the pilot tone can't even be recorded unless you use a modern tape deck with a metal tape - No XLR plugs - All those solenoids have been replaced by electronic IC switches or relays, much more reliable, with less distortion - Those caps are probably leaking or with a high ESR.. - No Metal Tape bias (in fact, no bias adjust whatsoever) - No Dolby C, S or HX Pro...

[@12voltvids]

You are missing the point of the mpx filter. It has nothing to do with the tape recording the 19khz tone. What it does have to do with is the bias oscilator itself beating with the 19khz tone and the 38khz sidebands that will also be leaking through. That itself will cause a tremendous amount of noise.

[@StillCloser]

I don't think i've miss the point - I've worked on a radio station for many years and they had a 24-hour system to record the broadcast for legal purposes. At first they used an old Revox that run with at a very low speed, then they upgraded to a Philips VHS with Hi-Fi stereo. This is how things worked - They had a NAD Tuner tuned at the frequency of the radio station, then the signal was fed to the VHS. Stereo tuners and receivers already have filters to cut the 19kHz pilot tone, which makes the MPX filter pretty much useless. Like I said, most tape recorders from the 60s and 70s can't even record signals above 16kHz, let alone 38K. For a moment I thought you were talking about the dbx filter or the FM compressor, that works basically like a loudness filter, to emphasize low and high frequencies and reduce the noise, but, once again, since most tuners already compensate for this "compression" I don't see the relevance of another de-emphasis system, just saying...

[@12voltvids]

@@StillCloser Not all FM tuners have a 19khz mpx filter in them. Your vhs HiFi recorder didn't need one because it recorded as an FM signal not a direct recorded signal. It is the bias oscillator that was the problem and older tape decks this was not a very high frequency. 30khz was common. 30khz - 19khz would result in a sun and difference tone of 49khz and 11khz. Now 49 is far above the capability of tape but 11 is easily recorded and then you get an 11khz whistle in the background. Go put a scope on the output of a tuner and tune to a stereo fm carrier with no program audio and you will more than likely see it. Some tuners have it built in and others do not. Mono radios definitely do not, so if recording from a mono radio an mpx filter is most certainly needed. Of course if you really were an engineer you would already know this.

[@minder95]

Nice Video and a superb bit of kit, if it was mine I'd wrap it in cling film, love all the technical details of the video top drawer.

[@TheRailroad99]

A E S T H E T I C ... :D Great deck, most electronics of the 70s is great because it's built to last and still very mechanical (solenoids, buttons instead of MOSfets), but already quite complex. In the 80s they started to trade off at the built quality regarding home entertainment. (Plastic instead of metal/wood, less tactile "click" buttons etc. But also SMD caps which can leak onto the board and other crap which can be hard to fix)

[@roetsj]

Very Nice deck,but those purple electrolytics do not age well.Reminds me a bit of my TEAC A-450

[@The8TrackChap]

I love my Pioneer CT-F1000. Even one of my Nakamichi decks doesn't always sound nearly as good as the Pioneer.

[@rajandransinnappan335]

mmm the oil base caps are better than the water base and now we have some idiots design

[@12voltvids]

I have to laugh when I get comments from some that say "why didn't you replace all the caps" or "If I were working on this I would have replaced all the caps" This is pretty obvious that it is coming from someone that has little experience in electronic servicing, or has gleaned information from the internet from others that have no real knowledge of components. For those of us that have been around for awhile, and myself I finished my apprenticeship in electronic diagnostic engineering 35 years ago, and started my career that same year in 1983 with Sony of Canada, and for the next 20 years made a living repairing audio and video equipment. We know the old capacitors didn't have a high failure rate, and when they did fail it was usually an isolated issue that could be traced many times to improper installation. Perhaps installed backwards at the factory, and taking 10 years to blow. (try that with a new cap and see what happens) The old wax paper types on vintage, and we called those ones vintage back in the 80's too. Those had to go, just like they do today, because they would break down electrically and become leaky. In the high impedance tube circuits where they were used as blocking, and coupling capacitors this would mess with the tube bias and would burn out tubes. In the low impedance solid state circuits this wasn't as big a deal because t he voltages were much lower, and the move was made away from low value high voltage caps, to low voltage caps.Late 60's and 70's had very reliable and dangerous caps. When I say dangerous, I mean environmentally. Many contained the now banned PCB oil. Once PCBs were banned they went to using natural oils, fish oils in many cases, and then made the move to water based electrolytic. The reliability took a serious hit in the 90's as ar as capacitors went. They have always been the most likely component to fail, but the older ones were very reliable compared to many on the market today. Every so often one will fail, but that doesn't justify replacing all the others just in case. Unless we are talking some medical life support equipment, or some critical piece of equipment that can't fail. But in those cases, if something is that critical, the owner of it wouldn't mind spending several hundred dollars to replace every part that might fail down the road. For the average person with a piece of consumer equipment, all they want is to get their piece working again for the least amount of dollars.

[@nikodemus1able]

I HAD THE SISTER AMP TO THIS CASSETTE UNIT......WITH THE WOOD FINNISH ............DON T KNOW IF I STILL HAVE IT OR WHAT THE MODEL NO IS

[@lefkaditis1964]

Very nice presentation! I have exactly the same RS 676 AUS model, very good machine, I'm even looking for the Technics SB 6000A speakers to fill my vintage system.

[@ElectoneGuy]

That's a lot of wood... Don't make 'em like that anymore.

[@StreamT34]

Hello! Stopped deck Technics RS-676. I can not find the size of the rubber belts to give the deck for repair. Could you tell me the size of the belts? Google translation, if crooked, be indulgent. Thanks in advance.

[@12voltvids]

Don't know the size sorry.

[@StreamT34]

@@12voltvids Clear. I'm looking for more.

[@12voltvids]

@@StreamT34 have to measure

[@Kowinaida]

I suspect tapes played in this deck would suffer with spools dropping to one side. I'd like to see you overhaul a Nak deck...

[@idahofur]

Ah yes. When you put tape in and the unit is so heavy it does not slide off the back of the shelf.

[@leeanncotrone8369]

Ohh I love it thanks posting I liked subscribed

[@andypalm7061]

that's impressive ! I wonder how far off the caps are now. just for the hell of it. It really does look great! AND clean.

[@rwl-pj4kh]

Awsome machine. Love it. Good clean up. Wish they made something/anything of this quality anymore. Cant beat stuff built to last

[@chrisbarnsey3956]

Man I wish you lived near me I have 3 cassette decks that all needs looking at

[@shaun9107]

This thing is too good for audio file egg heads , they use CDs , yuan . lol