Cassette Deck Tape Head Azimuth Adjustment, Simple Method, Heads Alignment, Play & Record HiFi AUDIO

[@hugobloemers4425]

Hi Michael, that is a nice tutorial.

[@MichaelYates]

Thanks Hugo, while its not 100% it sure will improve the sound if the heads are way off

[@raceingdemon6464]

Great Explanition Michael I Rember Back in The Day Repairing a Tape Deck in An Old Music Centre But Wondered Why it Sounded So Dull I Asked The Guy Did He Clean The Heads Yes He Said I Asked With What ? He Said With Sand Paper Theres One Born Every Minute he he Thanks For Uploading Regards mike.

[@MichaelYates]

Thanks Mike, one way of finding out that's not what to use Lol.

[@dannymormone]

Hello, great video, however I need help doing the same but on a tape deck that has auto reverse as I am not sure if the principle is the same? I have a twin tape deck where when playing in auto reverse, it sounds muffled and I presume it needs adjusting somewhere. There are two screws each side of the small head that I could adjust but I dont know which one to adjust. Any help would be great. Thank you.

[@MichaelYates]

The principle would be the same. I would thought 1 screw would do normal direction and other screw reverse I would check in manual or service manual which one does what direction. Though think you will soon find out after trying. Though suspect left screw do normal dircetion and right reverse. Also think you will find out after adjusting that one direction will sound a little better than other its just the way these both directions players/recorder are. I would set the normal direction as the best sounding. Try and take a picture where the heads are now and just slightly turn that way if you go to far you know where to go back to. Make sure heads are clean before trying.

[@dannymormone]

@@MichaelYates Thank you very much for your reply, appreciate it. What you said there is great and was going to follow until I hit a stroke of luck. So I observed what the head was doing (or wasnt doing).. Upon pressing auto reverse. the head wasn't fully spinning round to it's correct position so I tried my luck and sprayed a bit of Electrical Contact Cleaner underneath the mechanism and that solved the problem!! Hopefully it will stay that way now and if it does then I don't need to do anything else! Thanks again though.

[@MichaelYates]

@@dannymormone Excellent good to hear, glad you caught that before doing any head ajustments.

[@nadeem_mastan]

Very nice it's really helpful thanks

[@littledoodle5689]

beautiful video!!! i love you!!

[@standupstraight9691]

I adjusted by A/b comparison with a vinyl copy of the same album on tape. Get them as similar.as.possible.

[@MichaelYates]

Thanks for the info. That's a great way to do it

[@standupstraight9691]

@@MichaelYates . yeah, if the vinyl is in good shape.

[@tefltoulouse]

I think pre recorded cassettes are often all over the place with azimuth, and have major (almost half a turn of the screw sometimes) differences between A and B sides. Maybe use a tape you recorded on a trusty old deck instead?

[@MichaelYates]

This well could be the case depending on how good the company is in the duplication and maybe quailty of cassette tape mech itself

[@Louie_n_Poppy]

I used to connect to a mixer that allowed me to listen to the tape in MONO. I'd adjust the tape head until all the cymbals and high end were crystal clear.

[@haywirerc]

Could I just unplug one of my speakers or is it not the same?

[@Louie_n_Poppy]

@@haywirerc not the same.

[@andreybrodianski5596]

What should be the reason to adjust a factory adjusted head?

[@MichaelYates]

Over time the head can move out of allienment as most are a screw with a spring, the spring might get weaker or just moving the unit about. Not saying all will move, but for sure some do. I have done quite a few re allienments and the difference in sound can be emence.

[@MrSlipstreem]

You can't guarantee they're correct from the factory. Two of my brothers bought identical fairly expensive hi-fi cassette decks with consecutive serial numbers assuming they'd have been calibrated the same. They weren't. Not only were the azimuths different, but so were the Dolby calibration levels. They bought a professional calibration tape and a service manual and set them both up properly. Problem solved.

[@salusamu]

I have a problem with my Nec k 537e, which is a three head cassette deck. When I try to adjust azimuth with a tape that sounds good in my other decks by turning the scrw, i find a good position where sound become good for this tape, so i think that the job is done.. But, when i put another cassette, which sounds good too in my other decks, i can't get a good sound with the Nec cassette deck until i turn the screw another time.. And so on.. When i change a cassette, i must change azimuth!! Why this is happening with this deck? What can be the problem?

[@MichaelYates]

Sounds an interesting problem. Once you have done one cassette in the NEC all the others that follow should sound good to. So not much idea why they are not. I would pick out 3 or 4 tapes and do one first get that sounding good , then the 2nd and that sound be nigh on perfect but may just neen a slight adjustment and then onto the 3rd and 4th after some very small tweeking they should be all ok. You might get some that play 100% perfect and other 90% say as it will also depend on how good the manfacture of the recorded tapes equipment was. Another idea whould maybe make a recording of your own on the other deck first and use that tape to calibrate the Nec

[@darkclaw82]

I have a technics rs m02, the left channel sounds good, but the right channel has a low volume and sound muffled, the brightness is almost gone. Bad cap? Bias adjust?

[@MichaelYates]

If you have cleaned the heads, then I would maybe next check if its the head or head alignment, but before doing this I would use a pair of headphones or connect to an amp on low volume then if you can put the deck in play mode, then with a screwdrive tap the head connections at rear of head there will be two wires each with 2 wires one wire will be ground the other the signal tap both and one will make a buzzing sound when tapped. do this for both channels, and both channels should sound level. if you cant get to the wires at rear of head then find were they go on the circuit boad and you should be how to do it from there. if the right is still lower then the problem is on the circuit board , but if both the same then it would be the head, then try aligning the head. If the problem is on the board, then clean the tape rec/playback switch first, then if still the same it could be a transistor or cap in the pre amp. sorry hard to explaine in words. this video shows me reapiring and tapping the head input on a reel2reel might give you some idea of where to look kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXKnZqGZjrmNlbM

[@darkclaw82]

@@MichaelYates Thanks for taking the time to answer, line and headphone output have the same problem (left channel not bright enough), both contacts in the head buzz but yeah, left channel sounds different, a bit muffled. I also aligned the head but just the right channel reach bright sound. So I guess I'm gonna try to follow the cables and see the service manual to find the problem, I feel somewhat relieved, capacitors can be replaced, but a quility head I don't think so, its got an "SX" sticker and I understand that those heads were very good.

[@MichaelYates]

@@darkclaw82 At least the head is ruled out, could well be the caps or a leaking transistor, dont think there is to many in the pre amp so hopefully pretty straight forward. Please let me know how you get on as always helpful for me or others that may come across the same problem.

[@jasonwilliams6005]

When done, do you put anything on the screw to help keep it from moving?

[@ssnoc]

@@MichaelYates- Great old-school method, nice to see a practical approach not needing tons of expensive equipment. I’d bet your methods come equally as close as those using surgical equipment :) Thanks👍

[@Vjper82hn]

When I push play, head doesn’t move up touch the tape. How can I fix it?

[@MichaelYates]

Most decks are mechanical so when you push play it pushes the tape head assembley forward. So it could be jammed or part broken. A service might help, but for these faults it helps to find some pictures or video of one working so you can see whats no happing with yours. Sorry I can not help further without having the deck in front of me and trial and error

[@Vjper82hn]

@@MichaelYates Thks for your supports. I'm using Beosound Century (the deck is made by Philips WT01 RER 5. I already changed new belts and cleaned. The motor does not spin. No gears broke. It probably due to Belt or motor?

[@MichaelYates]

@@Vjper82hn I would check that the motor spins freely using your fingers, if it does the check there is voltage getting to the motor when in play position by using a volt meter across the terminals, if there is then the motor must have failed

[@Vjper82hn]

@@MichaelYatesi already checked. Motor is not dead. Even i supply voltage directly to motor, the motor spin but the Head still not move.

[@MichaelYates]

It sounds like the mechanics are jammed or broken part. Dont know if it has a solenoid that moves it into place if it has worth checking that out. Other than that without it in front of me hard to tell the problem

[@ryukisai99]

"dead center-ish" 🙃