Panasonic's rapid response to Sony's Walkman

[@Techmoan]

FAQ Q) You should send it to….they’d/I’d fix it. A) It really is not worth anyone’s time. This cost me £44 - bought as 'Junk' just to use in this video. The disassembly was recorded across two days. The section at the end where I throw in the towel was shot after I’d spent the afternoon of day two stripping down the tape mechanism to get the belts in place. This involved removing multiple split washers and e-clips the size of a pinhead. Once those parts were reassembled a couple of the vital ones were no longer securely held in place. It’s likely some microscopic, important and irreplaceable components pinged off during disassembly, never to be seen again. Whatever the reason though - the mechanism is a write-off. Whenever something broken appears in a video I understand the desire to see the thing fixed but this is a heavy, compromised personal stereo cassette player that even if functional would be destined to sit unused. Given that the mechanism relied on dried up rubber friction wheels it’s unlikely it would be trustworthy. I'd rather play my cassettes using something else. If anyone wants to take on the challenge of swapping the belts on one of these - the RX-2700 appears on eBay quite frequently. I believe other early Panasonic models are equally complex internally. If you bought one of these at least you’ll be starting off with a complete unit, with all the parts intact. You don’t want to go into something like this following on from someone else’s half-finished repair - you don’t know what damage has been done or irreplaceable parts lost. Rather than start with a bag of assorted bits, probably not all the bits, you'd be better to start from scratch with an unmolested example. Good luck if you do, but there are way way better personal stereo cassette players out there far more worthy of your time. MARCH 2023 UPDATE: The disassembly was shot a couple of months back and the remainder of this video was completed weeks ago. Since then I passed the bag of bits on to someone who wanted to have a go at fixing it. He couldn’t get any further and I believe it was stripped to use for parts to repair other machines.

[@safehouse8020]

Thanks for the video

[@Tommy-he7dx]

Some else might be able to get a video and content out of fixing it, and once a successful repair vid is out there it will help others in the future, TronicFix or StezStix Fix or one of the many others i'm sure would give it a go. It's value isn't intrinsic it what can be gleaned from it

[@ahayesm]

That device easily takes the cake for the most unserviceable electronic device I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure even the M$ Surface devices would be easier to work on and those have the entire machine locked behind a glued on touchscreen.

[@bencoleman5965]

At the end of the day it was originally put together by people like you and I. They just know what they were doing, and im pretty sure atleast someone out there knows exactly how this thing goes back together and what parts are missing from where (not me, i havent a clue and would have smashed it well before you gave up!). Im a mechanic. Occasionally someone will bring their car in having attempted the unsucessful repair themselves, and they usually sound just as defeated. And later that day when you ring them to tell them its repaired and it only took an hour, they almost dont believe it. I've been called a genius many times, to me its easy with 30 years doing the job!

[@TheGreatAtario]

I think probably the urge to see it fixed stems partly from a desire for a satisfying narrative, but also from a desire to see how well the device works

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

It's good that you show things don't always work out. If you only show your successes, people will assume that vintage audio repair is easy, because you keep saying you're not much of a mechanic, but even you manage to repair anything you lay your hands on. Sharing your failures as well demonstrates that things aren't always that easy, and there is a risk involved. Keeps people from overspending on broken devices in the hopes of an easy repair.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

The thing just makes Me think Starlord.

[@amnonhoppe]

Exactly and folks generally have no idea of how much time is sometimes involved... A labour of love, not of economics...

[@Hazdazos]

We've all taken apart something and then realized it was going to be a complete nightmare and not worth our time. Glad you didn't delete the video because it is still interesting even if it didn't get repaired.

[@OzRetrocomp]

I can see the RX-2700 being one of those rare devices where the Techmoan Effect is inverted. Good on you for showing that not every repair video on KZbin results in sunshine and unicorn farts, Mat.

[@joshbacon8241]

The ‘Techmoan Effect’ is where after something has been featured in a video on the Techmoan channel, that causes it to go up in value on the second-hand market.

[@StevieCooper]

@@joshbacon8241 I wonder if the Patreon community could be considered insider trading with their advanced knowledge 😛

[@TheBodgybrothers]

​@@StevieCooper the patreon makes profit!

[@TheRetroChannel]

Note to self: ditch unicorn fart effects

[@Cyromantik]

I admit I often run to the local Hard Off after watching Techmoan. Sometimes I even find a working device!

[@CaptainRon1913]

I was in college in 1979 and a friend of mine from Japan brought a Walkman back. I was blown away. I remember walking around my neighborhood at 1am listening to Allman Bros Band blaring away in my ears in full stereo with full dynamic range like my home stereo had.

[@tvcomputer1321]

As someone born in 1979 I have taken the personal stereo for granted my entire life hehe. Interesting to think about a time before that of course. I do recall having a similar moment though with mp3 making it possible to practically download high quality music over the internet for the first time

[@bennri]

Same experience, and I worked at Panasonic for ten years after that. How they have fallen

[@capoman1]

Born in 1979. Man did I love my tapes. Wasn't a cd fan, cause as a teenager I'm listening on the go, on my bike or skateboard or in a car. And all my friends with cd receivers in their car, the cd would skip if we hit a bump or the cd was dirty or scratched. Never had that problem with cassette or walkmans.... Long after cd's came out, I was still recording my favorite cd tracks to cassette. So you had the new Slipknot cd? Come over and we'll get high and I'll steal the best tracks to cassette.... I never bought one cd. I waited til cd burners were halfway affordable, I'd borrow every cd you had that I wanted and burned away. Had a huge collection of burned discs but never bought one.

[@RonnieBarzel]

Wow, I LOVE your idea to print out a photo of the back of the unit and then tape the screws to the appropriate locations! I’m starting to think they really didn’t want anyone to take one of these apart.

[@clarewillison9379]

It’s simple genius. Also include serial number etc. I reckon I’m going to have a photo session with all my things and bung it all in a folder.

[@Jason-lx3zu]

Totally agree, that is a brilliant idea

[@borandolph1267]

I agree! For larger bolts I've pushed them though cardboard in the proper pattern but this is genius because you see exactly where the screws go!

[@LordSandwichII]

I just draw the layout of the thing and tape the screws to that.

[@iggysixx]

I had the same response internally (:

[@Zerbey]

If nothing else, this video demonstrates that making difficult to repair electronics is a long standing tradition that continues to this day. I can only imagine the nightmare of a time the people who originally assembled this thing must have had. Thanks for sharing your failures, it helps others.

[@musicandfilms9956]

Those people were likely Japanese women sitting on an assembly line, doing the same operations day after day. The assembly would, as with cars or washing machines, be broken down into much simpler procedures than are apparent from this video.

[@swrzesinski]

Not really. Try to realign VCR mechanism. They are pretty complex. That's how they are. Repair technicians were more qualified in this analog/mechanical domain back then. At the time Matsushita manufactured player from this video, they probably still didn't manage to simplify the design - reducing cost and complexity. You don't get that sophistication in current mechanisms of Blu-ray players. Sony did similar things like showed in the video. I've repaired early 90' portable dictation machine from Sony, and to replace belts you need to desolder wires and take out PCB. For the counter belt, i didn't even tried to put new one in - it was deeply buried in mechanism. Also Sony tend to use very thin belts in their portable tape players, and they are harder to find.

[@deineroehre]

@@musicandfilms9956 Additionally, they knew all the steps and in which order to take these steps. (At least the one who put the assembly line with the women together knew, what had to be done in which order). If you repair this device, it would be only sucessfull, if you would 100% reverse this order - this is impossible and with the problem of loosing parts somewhere in your workshop it is basically impossible. This Thing is the opposite Definition of service-friendly...

[@johngaltline9933]

It is also, likely, much easier to put together the first time, with components, wires, and ribbon cables having long leads that are clipped off after soldering.

[@captiannemo1587]

The leads are something people forget about

[@slamcrank]

Hey Mat ... I work on vintage electronics all the time (mostly recording equipment) and I have to commend you on the patience you've shown here. There were a few moments where I would have probably just tossed the thing against the wall. Clearly, Panasonic had no intention of this little thing being repaired. It makes the Sony look like a breeze to work on. Good on ya!

[@davidjgomm]

Yep. Even just watching the repair had me thinking about my lump hammer...

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

At least it had screws and clips you can replace. Later on they used plastic tabs they twisted to hold things. Even a short 3-5 years those tabs were brittle. Break every one of them and no way to mount the parts. That's the units that were created as landfill materials. These days they just don't sell the parts or kits to block you from repairing stuff that's relatively easy to repair.

[@bobmclaughlin7276]

Yes, keeping cool without profanity or having the item become "airborne", is a must when working on things like that... As you were taking it apart, i could see that is was going to be a real 'bugger'in

[@nickwallette6201]

That has been my experience with a lot of 80s miniaturized stuff. Sony sure isn't above it! haha I've got one Sony player that I put on the shelf from the sheer number of wires that needed to be folded between case bits and PCBs and mechanisms, and I had no idea how they made it all fit the first time. I bought another one later, that I could use as a template (and parts donor), but haven't been foolish enough yet to try again.

[@KinoKonformist]

Amount of glue on plate looks like even Panasonic engineers at some point just give up)

[@soviut303]

I honestly struggled to imagine how they assembled this in the first place, especially with that short ribbon cable between the two halves. Given the nest of wires taped down on the back of the board, it really feels like this thing was kludged together to ship something as quickly as possible.

[@graealex]

Electronics engineering has come a long way. Back then they weren't particularly repairable because they didn't have the means to do a better job (CAD and EDA software, lack of smaller integrated circuits, only batteries with low energy density). Today stuff isn't repairable on purpose.

[@johngaltline9933]

This is just a guess, but if I were doing it, those ribbons would have extra long leads that could be poked through, then clipped off after soldering, like any other through-hole part.

[@irtbmtind89]

It was probably put together "backwards" (if that makes sense) in a jig on an assembly line. Also remember all the boards and subassemblies would have been put together and tested separately (likely by subcontractors), before final assembly.

[@cjvilleneuve1566]

that my friend is sony and mostly all compact electronic pre 90's..a nest of wire that if deranged, give you a nightmare just to get it back at the right place ,and im not talking about the worry that one get pinched...

[@AmexL]

I think this Sony commercial explains it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2fMe6aafNCfapY

[@TrondBørgeKrokli]

Thank you for showing the attempted repair. Nice to know that we sometimes must accept that there are things made in such a way that it gets either prohibitively expensive or too difficult to repair yourself, unless one happens to run an actual advanced electronics repair shop. Good content, I like the way you share your findings. Thumbs up to this video as well as all of the others.

[@krzysztofczarnecki8238]

The advanced repair shop would probably tell you to run for the hills and listen to music from your phone. Or would put a prohibitively high price on it so that you bugger off. It only makes sense as a repair for your own entertainment, like making a ship in a bottle or a little train sculpted from the tip of a pencil. And even if you do change out the belts, the motor or the capstan bearing can be terminally worn out too. And good luck finding those for your specific Walkman, especially if it isn't one of the few iconic and thus overpriced ones. It will have speed and motor noise issues forever then. I'd now, after multiple such exercises in futility, get one with some form of servo speed control, or a brushless motor at least, for this specific reason.

[@lohihilo7884]

This sort of video is exactly why I have a membership to your Patreon. Albeit the entire universe might not be so pleased, but if you just constantly did old tech repairs/repair fails, I'd be a happy guy forever.

[@fluh2794]

I love videos that include a "failure" part. It shows us that everyone has their limits, which are not so easy to overcome. That's why I say thank you for this great video!

[@chihuahuaphil]

I had an early Panasonic "walkman" as my first portable in 1981, a gift during a long hospital stay. It was almost as therapeutic as the medical care. As I recall, it had the radio but no speaker. It lasted several years.

[@frglee]

I was working in the Middle East in the early 1980s, and one of the great pleasures was to wander around the tax free 'electric souk', have a look at all the new gizmos, and even buy a few. I do recall walkmen of all makes becoming increasingly sophisticated and thinner with all sorts of new features, such as a cassette you inserted that was actually a radio plug in. (Panasonic or JVC?) 'Peak walkman' seemed to be about 1984 or 5, a few years later CD versions came along. Cassette walkmans then went into a fast decline, but somehow a few cheap designs, often with integral radios, lingered on into the noughties, a sad shadow of their former selves. But thanks for an interesting episode - a reminder how frustrating fixing stuff can be. I'd certainly love to see more stuff on how sophisticated walkmans got!

[@xaverlustig3581]

The one with a "radio cassette" was a Toshiba KT-AS10 and AS15. I had one, its main attraction was that the player was actually smaller than a cassette (the cassette would stick out). Its audio quality was excellent. It broke down eventually in the 2000s, after lying around unused for years anyway. A couple of years ago I sold it on ebay as" parts only" Someone from Hongkong payed 100 euros for it even though I made it clear that it didn't work.

[@johntammaro]

I never get fed up of Techmoan. I'll watch all the way through thanks and will love every minute whilst doing so 😃 no skipping for me.

[@RichardRauscher]

I always admire your bravery when it comes to ripping stuff apart and trying to fix it. Honestly, seeing a repair not work out makes me feel a little bit better about myself :-)

[@magreger]

They can't all be winners but I certainly enjoy the journey. Thank you for sharing. I've definitely been down the rabbit hole of trying to repair something beyond my skill and I can relate to your frustration.

[@waisinet]

It even feels frustrating watching this. 😔

[@jkmac625]

My first personal stereo was a Sanyo M4440 from the early 1980's. This model had a couple of features I never saw in later machines. It had a built in microphone, not for recording as it was just a player, but so you could have a conversation with someone in the room without having to take the headphones off! The 2nd feature was a pitch control.

[@RJDA.Dakota]

The earlier Cybernet also had a microphone so you could hear the sound outside of the headphones.

[@cuthalion4281]

I've got the Panasonic RQ-J5 (similar to the RQ-J6 shown in the catalog in this video except it doesn't record), and it has the same microphone feature.

[@EmielRoumen]

Hence the push-to-talk buttons on early models!

[@MyIronHammer]

I have been restoring such equipment for many years, and I have completely restored many interesting devices as your National. Yes, this thing are very difficult to repair. I am writing this to the fact that it would be nice for you to find an experienced craftsman nearby who can handle such an apparatus. Having a fully working device like this is a great achievement.

[@wazza888]

Would be nice but don’t think it’s financially viable to get an expert to repair it, unless an expert is willing to sacrifice their time

[@donmoore7785]

He told us he doesn't have such a person available, and if he did the cost would be prohibitive.

[@sepruecom]

look at the pinned comment, he says that he tried that, and they both came to the conclusion this thing was used for spare parts and thus it's impossible to repair with the parts the device contains...

[@yourfilmindustry]

This was definitely a nightmare to fix. As someone who likes to dabble in fixing stuff, the moment you showed that centimeter long ribbon cable, i thought that even this repair is beyond me

[@Pentium100MHz]

The ribbon cable could possibly be replaced, I probably would solder a slightly longer cable and a connector to the PCB. But yeah, this looks extremely difficult to repair. I have a Olympus SR-11 stereo microcassette recorder (with FM radio) and it also looks difficult to repair, especially since I cannot seem to find the service manual for it.

[@A0111.]

I would have used multicolor-coated single wires taken from an Ethernet cable.

[@gaiatree8958]

​@@Pentium100MHz I have just replace the belts and pinch roller on my olympus l200 this morning, not an easy job but doable 🙂 those little things (including this pany rx-2700) are not easy to fix but they are masterpieces of engineering back in days...for me they have to be saved

[@alextirrellRI]

I'm still going to give you props for attempting the repair. I remember how trepidatious you used to be about doing this kind of thing! Also want to mention (as evidenced by the pinned topic) that it's been such a joy to see a renewed interest in repairing old tech, and how many people have started to get into it, as well as modding and retrofitting, etc.

[@josephbolton5199]

I really appreciate seeing when things don't work out. That's how things are sometimes, and this is a good reminder for everyone that it's not only happening to them.

[@markjamesmeli2520]

You don't know how many hours I spent, at my father's side, as he repaired (and tried to) my audio components from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. You are a gifted repair technician and I considered it my privilege to watch this. Unfortunately, in the last 45+ years, my own ability to maintain information hasn't improved at all. I should have taken notes all those many years ago. I had to watch this video, through your using several processes of elimination, that shows that you have the gift. Thank you!

[@hadibq]

WOW, I love those types of challenging mechanisms... my biggest adventure I had is to reassemble an early 80s Hitachi tape mechanism that dropped off my hand on the floor and I had to chase all the springs and the pieces to guess their places back in the thing. it was around 11pm and I had to get it done before the morning, so my dad won't notice!! LOL.... lots of stress but so proud I was able to put it back with the same original issue :D

[@juanmanuelroman8377]

Smart hat prices in eBay are skyrocketing. That techmoan effect...

[@musicandfilms9956]

I have my SmartHat® patent pending.

[@bwagner23]

The people who designed tech and electronics back then were on some other level. It's hard for me to wrap my head around how they managed to fit that many components in such a small space. Good on you for trying to go up against that! I've tried repairing things that ended up the same way, and it's disheartening. But it's important to learn from those moments.

[@okaro6595]

It was the lack of speakers that was the most revolutionary thing in it. That was what caught my eye at the time. It made music truly personal instead of social like it previously had been

[@spazmaticaa7989]

​@@Spearca I don't think you're right. I feel like it helped with the creation of new genres of music, and allowed more people to get into it. Think about it, you can listen to what you prefer instead of what everyone else likes, and not be judged. Think about all the music snobs in metal, rock, pop, rap, etc. that complain about the people who listen tothose genres.

[@JohnKelly2]

​@@spazmaticaa7989what genres of music have been invented since 1979?

[@spazmaticaa7989]

@@JohnKelly2 good point. Just making a guess, but probably electronic and rap would be the immediate 2 I can think of coming after 1979. I still think having portable headphones/personal listening devices was an important part of the music industry. Maybe more beneficial to the indy scene with smaller bands being able to be listened to without people asking questions or criticism.

[@SofaKingShit]

@@JohnKelly2 Techno, Grime, Death Metal, Industrial, Jungle.

[@andrewhaines3259]

​@SpazmaticAA Rap was part of the Boom Box scene. (Watch Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing for example). I don't think it spawned new genres in music, but it was the start of people becoming more disconnected from those around us. You still get those who sit on a bus or train with the volume turned up so you have that not quite discernible sound emanating from the headphones. Ear pods have made it worse as it's difficult to tell if someone is listening to you or not. The mobile phone has cemented this trend.

[@philiplane3533]

I have a Panasonic RQJ6, bought from Lewis's in Birmingham. Its still in full working order. I used it to record live gigs very successfully. The mics worked well or if I was engineering a gig I would use the phono line ins from the desk. Also used it for demoing songs before recording in the studio. It had many uses and stood on its own as recording quality was excellent. Only downside was no noise reduction, it is quite heavy and it ate batteries. Other than that, the quality was remarkable at the time. It was certainly well built and a one off in design.

[@regametro8517]

Is impressive to watch a teardown of these devices, all of those mini parts compress in such a little device compared with what we have today is simply amazing. Thank you for your patience and love for these devices, having a working one is having a piece of art and hystory.

[@MikeSmith-sh3ko]

I used to fix things like that in a repair shop and even then the real labor time had to be reduced because then the customer wouldn't want to pay for the hours spent . Now it just wouldn't make sense to fix it even if you could. Good for you Techmoan for giving it your best effort and also for telling the true story 👍

[@SardiPax]

I'm surprised you went as far as you did, well done. As for the ribbon cables, if you did want to re-assemble you could just use individual flying leads with enough length to allow you to move things around. Heaven knows how you establish the belt path.

[@dominicfong6341]

Have enjoyed this video immensely dear Techmoan, glad you hadn't deleted it.

[@the_holy_forestfairy]

How complicated should the Maintenance/Repair be? Panasonic: YES!

[@ThePapaja1996]

Apple: invent new screws to fuck everone to try to rapir it.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Watch videos of camcorder repairs.

[@compu85]

Using a photo of the device as a screw organizer is a great idea!! It beats some of the hand drawn maps I've made in the past.

[@marctronixx]

i rarely comment on any of your videos and you'll likely not see this due to the sheer number of comments, but i loved seeing you attempt to repair this. i am glad you did not delete it. i actually like when you are doing these types of repairs and i love your accent and vernacular.

[@libertyordeaf]

It's actually surprising that Walkmans didn't appear until 1979, given that reporters and secretaries had been using similar mono dictation machines for years. I really think Sony, Panasonic and the like got distracted by the whole boombox craze around. It was all about carrying around a big, loud player that people could share rather than individuals shutting themselves off in headphones. That change has clearly pushed the industry (and society) in a different direction.

[@vylbird8014]

Headphone technology. Until the introduction of neodymium magnets, headphones had to be gigantic ear-muff things that clamped over your head to support their substantial weight.

[@igorszamaszow171]

I'm too young to remember this, but I'm pretty sure that boomboxes became popular after the walkmen

[@libertyordeaf]

@@igorszamaszow171 Sadly I'm not too young to remember it. The big ghetto blasters were certainly a thing of the '80s but mid-sized battery-powered portable stereos were around when I was in school in the 1970s. They were very expensive though and out of reach of most people. I think the big players were solely focused on making that kind of product more accessible and therefore missed the boat on walkmans, at least for a while.

[@libertyordeaf]

@@vylbird8014 The headphones that came with the Walkman didn't have neodymium magnets but they weren't the closed ear jobs either, they were open-back with the foam earpiece covers. Sound quality was crap by today's standards but OK for back then.

[@humorous-departure]

Why would anyone want to skip the best part of the video? I've always enjoyed watching you repair devices.

[@mikemclintock3893]

I'll take three Smart Hats, please!

[@daniel-marcinkowski]

Actually.. You could put it speakers and Bluetooth in it. Boom, you've got a speakerhat and nobody will be looking at you in a funny way! Maybe. Oh, idea! You could put 2 or three vibrating devices in it and the hat could give you directions while you're walking. Or it could warn you when you try to walk while the traffic light shows red (has to be disabled for new York city)

[@gabix7488]

Panasonic shockwave was my fav cassette player ever. Strong build up, great sound.

[@padraigcollins6525]

It’s fascinating how complicated that technology is. A look at the manufacturing process used to put them together would be very interesting I think. Is this something you could do, Mat? Or can you link to some site where this had been covered? Thanks for your great work, as always.

[@Jef_Vermassen]

Love that you showed us the nightmare that is opening this device. Hopefully no one else gets caught off guard thinking it be an easy fix!

[@Thejamescaseyshow]

"Techmoan: Going to the trouble of dismantling and failing to put back together things, so you don't have to." Joking aside. All fascinating.

[@wlukemeyer]

I get more from the history of the item, and the historical context, than i do seeing the item operate, so I am very happy!

[@dimitarlazarov2094]

There are quite good suggestions in the comments about where to send the unit off to get it fixed. Also that would make a good repair video. Alternatively you can send it to me. I was one of the major restorers of vintage audio equipment on eBay UK up until recently. I moved to the Czech Republic a year ago and the duty charges are stopping me from dealing in the UK. I'd be happy to do the work free of charge if you promise that you will do a video on the working unit. In fact I'd be happy to service both of the units

[@bend1483]

Get this man to the top of the comments!!!

[@TheRealColBosch]

@@bend1483 If you read the top of the comments, you'd already know that Mat sent this off to someone to have a go at fixing it, and they failed as well.

[@dirtnapphoto]

Bollocks! Always a delight to watch you disassemble and reassemble products, and in this case I can understand why you couldn't get it back together. What a cluster-F. Many thanks!

[@66meikou]

My foray into the Walkman type device started just after Sony released it in the US. Toshiba released a model that was about the same size but came with a cassette radio tuner. You just popped it in and tune to a station. My dad bought it but I used it most of the time. I was in a JVC phase a bit later and I bought a mini boom box where the cassette player part would pop out and you could use it as a walkman. When I moved back to the UK, Pioneer were the sponsor of my footy team. I went down to London and bought one of their all weather sealed walkman's. I loved that thing. Ear buds, auto reverse, etc. I got back into National/Panasonic/Technics in the early 90's and bought a fantastic Panasonic walkman. Black aluminium clam shell case, wired ear buds with a remote on the wire. I played the crap out of that device. Then the cd walkman's started coming out. Memories.

[@EsotericArctos]

If you have an FM tramsmitter thing that tramsnits stereo, like those ones designed to play a cassette via a radio, you might be able to find out if the speaker plays both channels or not via FM Stereo. It is a shame you couldn't get it working, but that was the drawback of minimising size back in the day when components were still too large for proper minimisation.

[@LynxSnowCat]

I'm glad someone said it. Though it would amuse me to see he rigged up some sort of mechanism to manually drag the tape across the head instead.

[@michaelmcchesney6645]

My first exposure to a Sony Walkman was a gift from my uncle in the early 1980s. He was a runner and decided either to upgrade his walkman or that he didn't like the one he had. I forget. But he gave my siblings and I his SRF-40. This walkman didn't have a cassette player and in fact only had FM radio. But I was blown away by how amazing music sounded through the Sony headphones. The gift was intended to be shared by 5 kids between the ages of 5 and 14, so unsurprisingly there were arguments over who got to use it when. I was both the biggest and oldest of the kids, so I usually won the arguments. In addition to listening to music, I would also listen to Dr. Ruth Westheimer's late night radio show, Sexually speaking. That was a show I didn't think my mother would have approved me listening to and I was fairly certain she would object to me listening to where my siblings could hear. I know it's hard to believe a 14-year-old boy would be so interested in sex, but somehow I doubt I was the only one. I see from Wikipedia that Dr. Ruth is 94 and still alive. According to the article I just read, the 4 foot 7 inch sex expert is a Holocaust survivor that was trained as a sniper by the Israeli army. She is an amazing woman. But reflecting on that Walkman has me thinking about buying an SRF-40 on eBay. Apparently they are available for $50 + shipping. The only issue is I don't really listen to the radio anymore.

[@Morganstein-Railroad]

Ah Well, Not everthing is easy, or even possible. Them's the breaks, as they say. Enjoy your videos, Matt. I've done some repairs on Sony MD Decks as a result of your video about eject mechanisms with a good degree of success, so thanks for that. Keep 'em coming, as Your videos are interesting and informative.

[@nicc5122]

This was my first entry into portable stereo, attracted by the stereo radio and the record capabilty. I took out finance, being a poor student (it was about £105 in 1981 or that was the finance amount after deposit) Prior to that I used my ITT RC500 (mono) adapted with a 1/4 inch headphone socket (wired for mono!). The supplied headphones were not great so I got some Sony MDR50's, bit more bass. Thanks for this video, while I know where my RX2700 is, I can see it is not worth repairing, which is a shame. It has a permanent magnet erase head. I later bought a Sony portable stereo radio cassette, I'll edit this comment with the model and I used that for some field recordings, and I used a bit of card to stop the erase head making a noise on blank cassettes by holding it off the tape! I've had other Technics cassette decks (RSB-100) and amps (SUV10X) which can't be serviced or repaired either due to not being able to get the components. Seems to be a running theme with the brand family.

[@moserfugger6363]

I just love the honesty of your videos. If something doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. That's reality. But even if you're "unsuccessful", it's still always fun watching you doing your thing. Techmoan is my feel-good-channel. I'm ending every video with a smile on my face. Dankeschön! :) Greetings from Germany

[@NetworkXIII]

Great video Mat, as always.

[@laoma4131]

Yeah i agree, doesn’t always need to be a success, the story behind the device is great.

[@ramilcrisostomo7176]

I have a coulple of these. It’s a pain to replace the belts but doable. Worth the effort.

[@6581punk]

The airpods look weird because they look like wired headphones that have just had the cable cut off.

[@randomnickify]

No, a person looks like an alien with antenae sticking out of his head :)

[@theeniwetoksymphonyorchest7580]

Or pressure release nozzles

[@mockier]

Good to have a video out there for anyone looking to repair one of these. Rest in pieces

[@NoHumansHere894y7HUIEO]

What the magnificent details and quality of workmanship for these audio devices from mid-80 and mid-90. They are so beautiful!

[@simonhodgetts6530]

Panasonic made some fine sounding Walkmans - I had 2 - the excellent RQ-P303, which was an early ‘chewing gum battery’ type - and which sounded superb, and a later RQ-S11 - both were of extremely high quality, and gave Sony a run for their money. I seem to remember that both Walkmans won ‘What Hi-Fi’ awards when launched.

[@AuroraMills]

HI Mat! Your frustration with this type of repair is universal! I repair a lot of electronic gear and when someone asks me to repair a device of this type, the answer is always...maybe, but you can't afford to have me even try! However, there are people who actually want it repaired at any cost (some profound nostalgia?) Even with a carte blanche budget, they are warned it probably is NOT repairable. The only way these are repairable is to install ribbon cable headers (sockets), pull one of the pulley's off its shaft, and then cut a chunk out of the case and cement it back. All that to say, you did a great job! Well done!

[@n2n8sda]

I read the update that it was parted out but for anyone else (or you if you ever buy another one!) the cassette mechanism on these can be removed from the front without having to split all the boards apart to service and change the belts once the appropriate screws have been removed. It's been over 10 years since I last worked on one of these but there is no need to completely strip it unless you want to hunt down and change any capacitors etc.

[@rvman3359]

I really enjoyed the attempted fix. Really takes me back to my repair days. Thanks for sharing.

[@vwlssnvwls3262]

I still have one of those first Sony Walkmans in a box somewhere. I remember my father bought it for me because I did well in a basketball game in high school. I was not an athletic person, so he told me if I ever made a basket he would by me one... and I did. A really hard shot too. :D

[@ArachmadiPutra]

idc if its has bad ending, i've satisfied enough about how you neatly disassemble this old brick

[@trance_trousers]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video, as I do ALL of yours. I've been a subscriber for the past few years and I watch everything you release, regardless of subject or outcome. I just love old tech and the way you present it. Yours is the only channel I've got set up to actually notify me of new videos. Regarding the failed repair in this one, if you'd like to send it to me I'm happy to see if I can reassemble it for you? If I manage to do so I'll send it back to you. No charge at all for the attempted repair 🙂

[@kennethmendenhallii1598]

TechMOAN has never been more appropriate as your channel name! I could feel your frustration as soon as you got that front cover off haha!

[@bkohatl]

My dad served in Naval Intelligence as a 20-year-old at the end of WWII. On a business trip as a Mead Corp Exec in 1972 he went back, through a friend and connection he brought me home a Sony Cassette Player, long before it was put into production in 1979.

[@bobbabai]

Oh, that Panasonic RQ-J6 was a beautiful thing. Stereo recording, really nice recording and playback sound quality, small enough to carry around at the time, nice headphones.

[@tenorman]

I would have given up with the screws. You are still a better man than I.

[@1975Loeven]

Gonna nick that idea of tape the screws on a photo of the device, i do this kind of repair a lot and supriced i haven't even thought of doing that myself! Another great and interesting video as usual (and yeah, i watched the entire repair attempt session) 🙂.

[@bigbeast103]

I'm only 24, but have always been interested in old tech such as this. Your uploads are always a cool glimpse into the past!

[@bardofhighrenown]

You're a champ for continuing past the "de-solder" stage of disassembly. If I need to de-solder anything. It just goes into the recycling or to a thrift shop if I can reassemble it, that is.

[@stvlu733]

In 1977 I used to walk around with one of those mono dictation recorders in my denim jacket large inside pocket that looked like a Walkman blasting music over the small internal speaker wishing it was in stereo and I could use headphones while walking around. Before that I even used used a small portable stereo boombox with a shoulder strap, cassette, and 8track combo with smaller over the ear stereo headphones on outdoors with one home recorded 8track and one cassette inside I took with me. It was the closest thing to an 8track Walkman too LOL. It could have also been the first dual cassette player boom box with the 8track to cassette adapter I added to it. I'm sure that this was thought up by many users of portable stereo transistor radios before it was a thing.

[@thomasw6169]

Respect for trying. It takes a lot of patience and time do fix something like that.

[@SamLowryDZ-015]

My father had one of those National portable tape player/recorder in the early 70s. It was a great novelty to record and hear your own voice. And could be used with a home hifi to do 2track bounce downs as the mono head would combine both channels. And it had a level needle dial on the top so you could avoid distortion.

[@kynetx]

Failures are more instructive than successes, so thank you for sharing with us.

[@masudashizue777]

I was a salesman when the Sony Walkman first came out. The original Walkman cost $199.99--rather expense at that time--but we couldn't keep them in stock.

[@vincen4943]

Wow,what a palaver!I've got the RQJ6 and thankfully it's a simple task to change the belt on that model,back comes off easily and the belt is easily accessible.

[@derrickzanni1762]

I have a Panasonic RQ-J11 and love it. While the sound quality is a bit muffled it still sounds pretty good, it’s super easy to service and disassemble, and it’s built like a tank. I have to replace my headphone jack since it’s worn out but all I’ve done to it is put new belts on it.

[@millerrmann]

My first (and only) portable personal cassette player was the Panasonic Model RQ-J50 that I bought new in '83 I believe. I owned it for about 8 years before I passed it along to a younger cousin and it was still working fine. Listened to a lot of music on that little machine. I replaced it with a Panasonic SL-NP1 XBS (I think) portable CD player.

[@MrMoogle]

I get annoyed changing belts in full size decks. Just watching that repair attempt was giving me anxiety. Good on you for taking it as far as you did and still making it interesting. And for not smashing it with a hammer, haha.

[@axelvetter]

If a failed repair attempt results in an entertaining and interesting video it's a win. Like this one.

[@davidcrowther2633]

Thanks for sharing this video Mat and a great effort as always, sometimes unfortunately they just can't be saved. This has been really useful for me as I've owned an RX-2700 for last couple of years now and although the tape deck is still working, rewind and FF don't have much torque, so I did attempt to service and re-belt the thing myself a while back, but once I had taken the front and back covers off I got completely stuck! I ended up downloading that same service manual you have, however I threw in the towel as soon as I discovered all that de-soldering / soldering would need to be done! I came to the conclusion that it was too intricate for me and I would probably end upmaking matters worse, seeing your video has re-affirmed this so when the belts finally do give up it shall live on only as a radio!

[@lenonel3286]

this must've taken so long! just know we appreciate your efforts for the almighty content

[@oc2phish07]

Thoroughly enjoyable video Matt. The fact you were not able to fix it did not detract from the video at all. More like this one please.

[@KozmykJ]

I took one of these, and two other Panasonic units, with me on my trip to India 40 years ago. I sold the other two shortly after arrival but kept the 2700 with me until just before I came home, a year later. Served me well it did.

[@kevinfarley6981]

Thank you for sharing your repair attempt. We all benefit from your experience when you do.

[@mikerobins219]

I had a Panasonic RX2700, in about 1981 - chosen very carefully for the features - stereo headphones plus a speaker plus a radio. It was a lovey bit of kit and I used it all over the place in my travels in oil exploration. It finally died after a day at the beach led to a lot of fine grained sand in the tape mechanism.- I did try to service the mechanism and this video shows exactly why I gave up !

[@joshhoman]

Panasonic RX 2700: Repair man's hell but project builder's heaven.

[@moviebod]

I do remember being a cassette buff at the time and my best friend and his girlfriend turned up with walkmans for our coach trip to the South of France for a holiday and I was so envious. I mean sooooooooo envious. I didn't let on of course :)

[@JessHull]

As hard as it looked like it was to replace the belts. The cassette mechanism looks amazingly high quality. If I had the time, I coudl totally see taking that mech out and building a custom dedicated cassette component deck around it. To put in my Hi-Fi setup.

[@danielturner127]

This is what real reality media looks like. Sometimes we don't get near our outcome we aimed for. Loved the video mate.

[@camlegs2423]

You are an amazing guy. It is good to see and make people understand not everthing is easy to repair. I have a Toshiba. KT-AS10 that needs a new belt! I'm trying to pluck up courage to strip that down, and I have the service manual lol.

[@mattmaddux]

Mat: “This next section goes on for a while. You might get fed up.” Me: “I can’t freakin wait!”

[@maxrockatanksyOG]

My Nan (Grandmother) still has an early 80's Panasonic AM/ FM/ Cassette player that she won from a local rasio station in the early 1980's from the local radio station 2TM (single speaker, and has 240v + a number of "D" Cells to make it portable). Still works well- my Uncle replaced the speaker with a better Kevlar type speaker, gave everything a clean up, had to replace a Transistor and made a new 240v cord. Tape, AM & FM work well, and she still has great selection of cassettes

[@tranmere292]

Valiant effort, Mat. I'd have given up after the first lot of screws. What a lot of work must have gone into manufacturing them. I suppose it would be easier these days if anyone could be bothered producing a good quality cassette player. I have a lot of cassettes but only one ageing player from the 80s that still works.

[@FunzieOne]

If it means anything, I'm a big fan of the "maybe it works maybe it doesn't" angle, so these videos are always a pleasure. Gives people like me who are thinking about dipping their toe into the retro tech scene a good idea of what to brace myself for, good or bad. Thanks for the video

[@RJDA.Dakota]

The first so called “Walkman” that I ever saw was something called a “Cybernetic” and made by a Canadian company back in the very early 1970s, probably 1972 or 73. It wasn’t very small either but would fit on a belt, but still very bulky. It was in stereo and sounded very good with it’s supplied mini headphones. It was very “substantial” in weight and played cassettes only.

[@craigcousins6718]

My heart goes out to you after spending so many hours I've been there done that springs flying out clips pinging off etc.. My ending probably would have been hitting the whole lot with a hammer!

[@recklessroges]

Thank you for showing how hard you work on your videos and how much effort you share with us.

[@kh-ro5su]

crazy how much stuff they could engineer to fit in electronics back in the 80s yet now most phone manufacturers can't even be bothered to fit a 3.5mm jack in their phones anymore just because they think most people are using bluetooth earphones

[@petrichor259]

It is not that space doesn't exist. They just dont want you buy wired earphone.Instead buy their own flagship tws

[@mcribs7811]

You have the patience of a saint. I’m not exactly sure where I got deterred. I thought taping the screws to the picture was brilliant. It wasn’t the desoldering that got me because I have a machine not as good as yours but I normally do 16 spot ribbon cables without a problem. I suppose it would’ve been the belts if I would’ve hung in that long. Thanks for the upload and the screw taping idea. We’re always learning.