Akai CS - M02

[greenhorn]

don't worry too much. The pinch roller, the belts, and the idler tires are wear and tear items, and you can expect them to be replaced a bunch of times during the life of the deck. As long as you can't hear any wow/flutter, who cares

 

[jay]

I saw a ad in olx some time back about a Akai deck with gx head (GXC 760D I guess). It had a white pinch roller.

Ok. Thanks.

 

[jay]

don't worry too much. The pinch roller, the belts, and the idler tires are wear and tear items, and you can expect them to be replaced a bunch of times during the life of the deck. As long as you can't hear any wow/flutter, who cares

Thanks a lot mate for your inputs.

 

[sarith]

Ok. Thanks.

No mention. Like greenhorn pointed out, I change pinch rollers, belts and possibly the heads if they are 'rotten' as I get my hands on vintage decks

 

[reubensm]

from my experience you can opt for Rs.10/- Indian belt and pinch roller replacements, but if you are looking at critical performance, you'd need to source the OEM ones. The local ones are of terribly low quality when compared to the OEM ones. However cost is the issue. To import an OEM rubber pinch roller, you may need to spend between Rs.1000 to Rs.2000. That's why people say, NAK spares are expensive. Its because one has to go for OEM spares as the local ones usually don't work on NAKs. OEM spares tend to last for ages. Our deck from the 1970s still runs on its original belt, pinch roller and other rubber wheels/bushes.

 

[greenhorn]

Reuben, how do you spot the good stuff? For Nak, you have authentic sources who will sell you belts and other parts matched to spec. But for other brands, the stuff I've seen on worldwide ebay site looks more or less the same as I've seen here, and 1000 Rs from abroad is a rather costly and inconvenient experiment for me to take care of the last 1% W&F on an Akai or a Technics deck, since the part may or may not match

 

[sarith]

Our deck from the 1970s still runs on its original belt, pinch roller and other rubber wheels/bushes.

It's good to see vintage stuff being well taken care of.

 

[reubensm]

Reuben, how do you spot the good stuff? For Nak, you have authentic sources who will sell you belts and other parts matched to spec. But for other brands, the stuff I've seen on worldwide ebay site looks more or less the same as I've seen here, and 1000 Rs from abroad is a rather costly and inconvenient experiment for me to take care of the last 1% W&F on an Akai or a Technics deck, since the part may or may not match

that is true, my opinion is that its only worthwhile using expensive parts on Naks, for the rest, the local shops would suffice. One exception to this rule is perhaps the Akai GX39D

 

[sarith]

One exception to this rule is perhaps the Akai GX39D

I will try to get one myself some day.

 

[jay]

from my experience you can opt for Rs.10/- Indian belt and pinch roller replacements, but if you are looking at critical performance, you'd need to source the OEM ones. The local ones are of terribly low quality when compared to the OEM ones. However cost is the issue. To import an OEM rubber pinch roller, you may need to spend between Rs.1000 to Rs.2000. That's why people say, NAK spares are expensive. Its because one has to go for OEM spares as the local ones usually don't work on NAKs. OEM spares tend to last for ages. Our deck from the 1970s still runs on its original belt, pinch roller and other rubber wheels/bushes.

The big trouble is if one source the original parts paying a fortune,buthe has to depend on the mechanic that the same original parts are fitted in the machine.

 

[reubensm]

The big trouble is if one source the original parts paying a fortune,buthe has to depend on the mechanic that the same original parts are fitted in the machine.

yes that's true. My father, brother and I had a disctinct advantage in that we never had to depend on mechanics as we did our own stuff.

 

[sarith]

The big trouble is if one source the original parts paying a fortune,buthe has to depend on the mechanic that the same original parts are fitted in the machine.

For the same reason, I too don't rely on mechanics. Though self taught, I manage to take care of my electronics well.

 

[jay]

Hi,

While I was trying to record some music in my Akai CS - M02 Deck I find the output which is getting recorded a bit subdued.I was recording from the FM Receiver and while the audio in FM is so clear and vibrant,the audio recorded in tape happens to be heavy on BASS and subdued.My head,pinch roller are all clean.

Can anyone suggest as what could be the issue here?

 

[reubensm]

Hi,

While I was trying to record some music in my Akai CS - M02 Deck I find the output which is getting recorded a bit subdued.I was recording from the FM Receiver and while the audio in FM is so clear and vibrant,the audio recorded in tape happens to be heavy on BASS and subdued.My head,pinch roller are all clean.

Can anyone suggest as what could be the issue here?

Well, its a common way for checking decks (even back in the old days). Record something and play back, if the deck is good, it would sound as good, if not better than the original. That's why I always advise to check out the recording before buying a deck.

The dullness can be attributed to many reasons. It could be the type of tape used, the age of the tape, a worn Record/playback head, it could be the pressure pad of your cassette tape, it could be the recording level setting on your deck, it could be the bias calibration of your deck (very important for recording), etc. If you are looking at it from a pure level perspective, then there can be differences as the line out of your cassette deck may be at a differential gain point when compared to your inbuilt tuner. In short there are many dependencies involved.

From my experience, TDK tapes produce some good results with recordings.

If you want to make your recordings sound bright, record with the dolby switch turned on and play back with the dolby switch turned off. Dolby boosts the highs during recording and rolls them off on playback. This is one way to make your recordings sound bright. You can also experiment with different recording levels (be careful not to overload your recordings). If your deck has an adjustable bias control on the panel, you can experiment with different bias settings.

From my experience, I have got a perfect replication (to my ears) of the source, while recording only on 2 machines I have come across. My NAK DR3 and a high end Grundig CF5500-2, 3-head deck.

Here is a pics of my NAK DR3 and the Grundig deck which I have referred to:

 

[sarith]

(be careful not to overload your recordings)

What does overload in here means?

 

[sarith]

That's why I always advise to check out the recording before buying a deck.

+1 to that. That's what I do too. Btw, Grundig CF5500-2 is really good and well constructed! I have seen their TV which is good for the age of technology and time it was released

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHjqUgMIyZI

 

[reubensm]

What does overload in here means?

if you raise the recording control way past the limit (when the LED bar level indicator starts hitting the red zone or the meter needle crosses the red zone), your recordings will be distorted (unless you use the limiter feature, which was a staple on the old deck of the mid to late 1970s)

 

[reubensm]

+1 to that. That's what I do too. Btw, Grundig CF5500-2 is really good and well constructed! I have seen their TV which is good for the age of technology and time it was released

Grundig cf 5500 and cf 5500-2 cassette decks - YouTube

Yes that Grundig deck was truly a master piece. If I did not own a NAK, I would have never let that go. Here's my write up on its performance vs my NAK. http://www.hifivision.com/cassette-...cf5500-2-cassette-deck-first-impressions.html

 

[Tanoj]

You may check if you have option to select the "Tape type", if yes check if you selected correct option

Hope you got this option in your deck ... and it helps

Tanoj

 

[Harmonix]

Hi Jay,

You may try recording by disengaging the MPX (FM) filter while recording from FM receiver and check the recording (if any) difference in SQ. Also possible the condition of the Rec/Pb head is worn out, coz M02 was produced in the early '80s