Rebuilding a poorly serviced Sony TC-K950ES

[@JeHaVe]

You really disassembled this deck to the last screw and after revising even the smallest part you rebuild it. This video shows not only your expertise and knowledge but also the love for these high end machines...Awesome! 👌

[@julesbekkers-mx5lk]

Great video! Nice job on the editing. Blowing up capacitors is always great to watch. Sony made great stuff in the 90's. Good work on the refurb. Keep it up!

[@abud5524]

I have not met such a great work for a long time. Say that you are a professor, probably offend you. You are much higher !

[@SerafimSvensson]

I'm far from it, but thank you very much for the kind words! :)

[@abud5524]

@@SerafimSvensson I would really love to send you my deck for healing but unfortunately we are in different locations

[@Phraseblaster]

Awesome Video! I'm working on a Sony TC-K790 at the moment. The electrolytic SMD caps on my direct drive board are leaking as well.... Just ordered new parts. Very nice music for testing. This gives me motiviation to push through. :-)

[@SerafimSvensson]

Thank you very much! The TC-K790ES is a very nice machine, I had one a bit back but never got around to make a good enough video with it. Best of luck with the repairs! :)

[@michelrichert9052]

Wow .. that is by far the best restoration work I've ever seen on any electronic product .. and this deck deserves it .. what a beautiful elegant device ! I love Sony decks .. because I own one 😊 .. a TC-K611S .. it looks and sounds (the motorised door mechanism 🙂) a lot like yours, appart the fact that your deck is a high end one .. it worked perfectly during about 20 years .. but now the belts are gone, they turned into sticky goo .. so I dismantled the tape transport mechanism, tried to find a way to access the belts .. but it's really complicated for a non pro like me .. and after seeing your video, I guess the belts are not the only thing that should be replaced .. so for now, I didn't touch my deck for months, I don't want to brake anything .. I will try again for sure, but I have to admit that this doesn't smell good for my beloved Sony deck 😢😢❤

[@m80116]

You can cause a lot of trouble on a deck like that if you don't know what you're doing, but replacing the motor belt if you use caution should not be too difficult once you get the transport out, and since you're there you get the capstan board out, lube the capstan bearing (don't lose the dust cover on the other side) and reinstall it. And don't forget to clean the capstan before you put your first tape in.

[@RUfromthe40s]

i bought maybe in 2007 a completelly restored TA-F920QS and notice it was equal to the second model of the TC-K611s, and his working perfect, but the keys are automatic but make a lot of noise like the cheapest sony deck released in 96 ,i also bought new in 87 a TC-K777ES mkII but that one is very good and doesn´t make any noise when pressing the keys automatic ones, the system is silent while in the last i bought from sony is very noisy but works perfect, playing or recording but not used that often because i have better decks, it was for my garage system, that as a wall in plexyglass to separate the litle living room where i can do whatever i want at any hour and receive some friends but the wall is there so the cars can be seen but not open the door so no one asks me to see a old car at 5 in the morning very high or drunk, that with my age i often do

[@RUfromthe40s]

@@m80116 yes,i´ve done that with a technics direct drive from 1979, thank you for the help

[@Sonnell]

Well, great work with the deck! The video was also good, but I had to pause it many times :) That was a bit frustrating.

[@SerafimSvensson]

Thank you very much! I totally agree - the pace is far too high if you're seriously interested. I had kind of a hard time choosing between making a long++ video without syncing the images to the background music (many would probably lose interest), or the other way around. :/

[@Sonnell]

@@SerafimSvensson True, for the ones who are not that interested this is fine. I would have loved to watch the details :)

[@robertomicheleg2782]

WOW, what a work done!

[@adamus000]

Beautiful deck👍❤️💯

[@thomasluhert6426]

wooooow !!! absolutely outstanding work !

[@VintageAudioTech]

This is a great video, and also a very nice deck

[@3Raymond2]

In one word.....Brilliant

[@3Raymond2]

Myself I own the K970ES, K990ES, K790ES, K808ES (brand new) and the WR835S (brand new) and they all need work besides the belts, yes even the new ones:)

[@SerafimSvensson]

Thanks! It's really quite impressive finding brand new ones still out there, 30-ish years after they were manufactured! :)

[@rockking7162]

Unbelievable dedication and amount of detailing. You are professional 🤙😎 What is name of your 2nd song that starts at 08:10, please. Tnx for video, very inspiring. I want to do similar overhaul on my 950es last many years🤣😎

[@SerafimSvensson]

Thank you very much! It's DiscoVision by the Norwegian artist Anders Enger Jensen. :)

[@talbar1960]

Serafim, you're GREAT! Best video repairs i ever seen! Where i can purchase a good caps good for audio? Thank you for advice.

[@SerafimSvensson]

Thank you very much! That's very flattering, but to be perfectly honest I'm just a kind-of amateur with a touch of OCD. :) Anyhow, regarding the choice of capacitors I had a long discussion with a friend of mine (credited in the opening of the video) who is a true electronics wizard, as this was new territory for me. The best choice would probably be to use one of the bigger manufacturers audio-grade capacitors for the signal/audio-path and general purpose-grade for everything else. I used Nichicon UFG and UKZ for the signal path, but it seems Nichicon have discontinued these. :( I got a notification from Mouser (where I bought them) about this some time ago. I can highly recommend Mouser - if you can find what you need in stock, just do a Google-search for "mouser audio grade capacitors" and click on the first result. Otherwise, there might be other suppliers who still has them in stock. And of course, there are other brands such as ELNA with their SILMIC-series. But you're probably better off asking (or Googling) someone else with deeper knowledge of current alternatives I'm afraid. :)

[@talbar1960]

@@SerafimSvensson Thank you for your answer

[@tobiaszpasterski481]

Probably a same voice/men like in Koto-Dragon's Legend :). Beautiful deck/Excelent job=Full satisfacton !!

[@TTVEaGMXde]

I wouldn't have installed electrolytic capacitors in series (+ to +), but would have measured the real offset (+ or -) beforehand. Otherwise, the circuit diagram says that the TC-K555ESG version has better semiconductors (NE5532P has no place for me), and the output resistance is extremely high (1760R). An ideal device for a TV engineer.🙂

[@honestguy7764]

I own a tc-k 555 es MkII

[@yurets3400]

Hi, the best results would be use non polarized, polimer one capacitor instead two polarized and of cause with proper V range

[@TTVEaGMXde]

@@yurets3400 I think a modern low ESR electrolytic capacitor is sufficient. When Sanyo introduced polymer electrolytic capacitors in 1985, normal electrolytic capacitors were still bad. Today you can hardly tell the difference between low ESR electrolytic capacitors and polymer electrolytic capacitors. An OPA 2211 with an adapter board as a head amplifier IC, and minimizing the output resistance seems to be more important to me.

[@SerafimSvensson]

I actually totally missed this (the recommendation to replace polarized in series with non-polarized) while compiling the replacement BOM. This was my first major recap job, and it drove me almost insane double/triple-checking every board while browsing through Mouser finding suitable replacements for every capacitor. :D Regarding the NE5532P - this is interesting! Could you please elaborate? I thought this was a kind-of highly regarded op amp. What would be a suitable/better modern replacement? Probably not going to change them, but just out of curiosity...

[@TTVEaGMXde]

@@SerafimSvensson Better Low Cost: LM4562 DIP, Best Dual low noise: OPA2211 + adapter board for SO8 housing, NE5532 only has 30-300 KOhm input resistance (100 KOhm typical) to "ground" (operating voltages) and loads the source. OPA1612 is a cheap OPA2211 with more (too much at 1000x amplification) offset voltage.

[@honestguy7764]

labor of love

[@ukrainehamradio]

Good job! I hate dealing with decks. Too many mechanics and obsolete parts.

[@shon3i]

Wow, Game on sounds perfectly :)

[@SerafimSvensson]

I think it's a kick-ass tune, when you're in the mode for some action. ;)

[@piotro9994]

Excellent work! ;-)

[@русланхоменко-ь4у]

👍👍👍

[@guitarshred863]

hello , awesome restoration, although your video is a year ago. I want to know if you do restoration? I'm in california - southern part.

[@SerafimSvensson]

Thank you very much! :) Unfortunately no, but it sure would be fun! I'm located in Sweden and combining the shipping costs with my kind of slow pace it would probably cost way too much. :/

[@peterdoig1371]

I can hear that you are over saturating the heads/tape, Paul. A bit like using a compressor? Love the sound, anyway..

[@YannickRemungol]

super travail

[@bbfoto7248]

Beautiful Deck and painstaking work! I love to see these decks being refurbished. 👍 The sound quality between the source and tape monitor seemed very similar. 🙂 Do you have any experience with the Akai GX-95 v1 3-head decks? I was just wondering how this one might compare to your Sony ES? I have a beautiful GX-95 that was professionally refurbished and works flawlessly, but I've always loved the high-end Sony ES 3-head decks as well. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to visit Sweden yet, but I've worked a lot as a Gaffer/Lighting Designer with my good friend Mikael Jansson who is a Swedish fashion photographer/director, and he keeps bugging me to come to visit.

[@SerafimSvensson]

Honestly, it was way to much work, but the result was very satisfying! :) Unfortunately I have no experience with any Akai machines whatsoever, but head over to the Tapeheads forum and look/ask for opinions there. It's a gold mine for cassette related information. If you should visit Sweden, I would recommend doing so during the spring, summer or late summer/early autumn. The rest of the year it's really depressing. November until late March is usually a pain weather-wise with short and cold days. :/

[@bbfoto7248]

@@SerafimSvensson Thank you for the reply and helpful information. I'll go take a peek at the Tapeheads forum...thanks for the tip. And yes, I would definitely want to visit during the warmer season. ;) I hope your beautiful Sony deck gives you years of satisfaction. Cheers.

[@m80116]

Excellent job... they weren't finished all that well from the factory, oxidation of the metal chassis is quite common on these top of the line K ES decks. I am wondering if you could point out which caps you used to replace the original ones. I have this very machine and all of the Duorexes have not leaked, yet... apparently. I was wondering if I should leave them in place as long as I can before I change permanently the sound signature of this deck.

[@SerafimSvensson]

Honestly, I'm no expert on this matter, but AFAIK the general recommendation seems to be to replace them before they start leaking. Have you removed the PCBs to make sure there are absolutely no leakage whatsoever? Mine actually looked quite OK from above (as seen in the video), but underneath was a totally different story. :/ I wasn't overly concerned with the sound signature, as I had no other choice but to replace them. :) For the signal path I used Nichicon UFG and UKZ. But it seems like Nichicon have quite recently EOLed most of these, as I got a notification from Mouser about this some time ago.

[@m80116]

@@SerafimSvensson just removed for the tune. Replaced main filtering caps and capstan board caps. They are perfectly dry on the bottom. Will look into into the next year, I noted your caps. Thanks for the info.

[@SerafimSvensson]

​@@m80116 No problem. :) On my unit the worst leakage and corrosion was (probably) from the two Duorex caps located at the very back on the playback board. No guarantee of course, but if these looks fine from underneath (if you remove the board and have a look under it), you're probably in luck. Let's hope you are! :) Also, all non-Duorex caps (except the two SMDs on the capstan board) was in quite good shape, and with no leakage whatsoever.

[@m80116]

@@SerafimSvensson capstan board was a mess, I had to intercept the traces. I usually replace SMD with SMD.... I had to fashion a 4 point bend in one of the legs of the regular 10uF 16V elongated caps.

[@rico5870]

Awesome job mate!! I'm restoring and repair wo Dual C-844 and I know what you can find inside a tape deck😁 Subsc

[@honestguy7764]

8:10 discovision!!!!

[@122sport]

hi! good video CONGRATS! i have a question... i just replace pinch, new belts. but its a bit slower when you hear other original tapes. but if i record and play in this deck it is perfect. at 3 khz shows 2.960 what can i do.? the model is sony k950ES many thanks. can i fix the capstan speed a bit? i know that it is locked quartz. many thanks bye. i just want perfection just like you! bye!!!

[@SerafimSvensson]

Hi there! That's odd, I've serviced quite a few TCM-200D and never seen one being that much off (apart from those being DOA). :) Usually - when I've encountered some more tricky ones (in my case, when the speed is below 2990 Hz), I just take everything in the motor assembly apart and begin from scratch, cleaning/re-greasing/lubing/checking everything one more time. So far this approach has solved all my issues, but we're talking about a change of at most 10 Hz... :/ I assume you are using a proper speed test tape from a trusted source?

[@maksmaslakov5165]

Что трек на видео?

[@secretplayer6070]

DiscoVision - Anders Enger Jensen

[@DarrenGlen]

holy crap. How long did that take...im guessing 3 months

[@SerafimSvensson]

Haha, "holy crap" is without a doubt the correct description of this madness. :) Honestly, it took more like a year with extremely slow initial pace - since I lacked both the skills and proper tools. Nowadays, perhaps a month during my free time (excluding the paint job, that was a real pain) would be totally doable, if nothing unexpected would occur. :)

[@thebirima91]

@@SerafimSvensson My respect!

[@fractology23]

Your transitions after text displays were a bit too fast - consider slowing them down so we can read the text.

[@Alphadec]

yes here we have those caps "elna" why did sony use this company. ?

[@m80116]

Because of reputable company? And it has probably the nicest sound image of any K series, most probably to large extent for the Duorex capacitors... at least those sold in EU.

[@robertomicheleg2782]

Where are you located?

[@bbfoto7248]

He is in Sweden.

[@acefrehley3797]

DO YOU KNOW WHERE: "E.S." STANDS FOR.

[@gixxerboy555]

Elevated Standard

[@acefrehley3797]

@@gixxerboy555 MORE: "EXTREAM SONY." IN JAPAN IS A TEAM OF NINE SPECIALISTS. AND THEY CÁN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT. AND THEN YOU GET SKIHIGH PRICES. BUT A STEREO SYSTEM YOU NEVER WANT TO CHANGE.

[@m80116]

and there was QS also... which I believe meant Quality Standard but I am not too sure about that now.

[@acefrehley3797]

@@m80116SONY IS IN EVERY PRICE LINE. QUALITI STANDARD.

[@robertrutkowski628]

It would be great video if you could TALK.

[@SerafimSvensson]

:D

[@ЭдуардВасильченко-х9я]

Класс!👍

[@backtrack8094]

You revers voltage plus on minus on capacitor, minus on plus. Did you you that on the mainboard, thanks

[@SerafimSvensson]

Hi there! All polarized capacitors in series were replaced as-is, i.e. no change to non-polarized caps. Maybe for another project (or day)... :)