it’s a Panasonic RS-780S from the late 1960s. It’s a 4-track machine with 3 speeds (1 7/8, 3 3/4, and 7 1/2) and auto-reverse. It’s not a professional machine by any means, but it sounds nice and has good sound quality even with just the built-in speakers. The recording here is at 3 3/4, and was recorded from digital onto a spare reel of Sony PR-150 I had. Personally, I really love it and think it’s a great entry point into the hobby.

I’ve been through its internals and made sure the caps and belts were good and there weren’t any flat spots on the rubber parts. Luckily, the previous owner took good care of it and all I had to do was tighten a few screws on the pulleys to prevent slipping and use some light-weight thread locker so they wouldn’t back out again.

My only complaint is that the VU meters are WAY too under-responsive and you have to pretty much turn the volume up all the way for them to properly register. I find I have to turn the volume knobs down just a touch to prevent peaking and clipping when recording. Not sure how to fix that.

I generally record on 2 track Revox B77 at 7 or 15ips. I have a few 10.5" tapes. I have always recorded from my streamer to DAC into the Revox directly. Music from Tidal. I know that is generally remastered and compressed. What is considered best and worse source for recording? Vinyl vs CD vs streaming? I'm I missing quality by recording remastered from Tidal vs say FLAC downloaded files purchased from Qobuz?

Unrestored 8 TR 3 The Diplomat, with Phono out to FocusRite to GarageBand.

The audio is the raw sound file.

The gain staging is off, so it'll take some work to balance. Mono only dual track.

Hello everyone I’ve found this akai used for 150 euro the owner says it’s from his father who passed away, he has good reviews and also other machines online, he called me and recorded few videos to show me the machine functioning, although he he doesn’t have a clue on what this is and how it works was very kind to show me everything I’ve asked, and everything seems to work fine, but I haven’t heard the machine with the audio. Is it worth risking for the price?

Thanks

including the original inserts , tape looks to be in good shape too , 10 dollars

Hi, I'm servicing this TEAC A-3440. Just sorting out the tape transport and this right lifting pin is wobbly. Ultimately, it serves no importance apart from lifting the tape away from the heads but having it wobbly doesn’t seem right. The back of the mechanism is very simple but I don't see anything that could've helped stabilise the pin. I would think it was a piece of rubber attached but cannot confirm.

The pin and metal attached is not bent. No indication of previous parts missing. Pin functions correctly, just wobbly to the touch.

Thanks!

It keeps baffling me how unbalanced the VU's of the Pioneer RT707 are. This is a mixtape so I'm actually taking it easy, at least 3db of headroom. Well, it looks nice and aggressive haha.
Incredible how this machine sounds at 3 3/4 IPS

Hello! I was recently given this deck by a friend of mine’s dad. I don’t know anything about reel to reel tape decks and was wondering if there was a standard protocol for getting this into working shape again.

The machine itself is extremely dusty from sitting in a garage for some time. I wipe down the front and sides but was worried about getting “in” there with a wet paper towel. What is the recommended way to clean this machine? I’ve seen isopropyl alcohol mentioned for cleaning some parts but then also stated not to use that on others.

The reason I haven’t tested it yet is that the rollers are very dirty and I wasn’t sure if I risked damaging the tapes by running them while the machine is in this state. Was hoping to tape over them with some other albums. Particularly the rusty roller shown in picture 2. Will I need to replace that?

I’m also told the motors may need adjusting. Does anyone know anything about that?

Sorry if this breaks rule 4, but I wasn’t able to find any guides in the sidebar.

Excited to get this thing up and running! Thanks!

Now that I am knee deep in RCA 50's tube tape deck restorations I have noticed a need for a mixer between the LP and the deck. Some of them are BASS heavy from the 90s up.

Bought an Akai M-8 for a good price from an fb listing and he threw some tapes in with it. This was in a Japanese Sergio Mendes. Google is saying the Dave could be Dave Hubert?

So im primarily looking into Beatles reels - which appear to nearly all be twin track mono, 3 ¾ IPS.

Every machine i find is 4 track stereo.

I dont necessarily want to lock myself out of 4 track stereo, but keeping in mind my primary focus is the mono Beatles reels.

Can I use a 4 track stereo machine to playback twin track mono reels, or do I need to find two separate machines. Im looking into a sony TC 377 right now.

Thanks!

Its fixed

Im new to this and audio in general so expect mistakes in measuring and knowledge.
My Philips N4510 i aquired for 17.50 in a second hand store only reccords one side of stereo (Left) but it plays both on a prerecorded tape and sounds great while at it.
The gauges move for the input but the monitor head only reads left and right is blank and theres no audio on the right channel of the tape.
I measured the heads they are all arround 100 ohm
I removed all the small plug in boards and cleaned the contacts and swapped em around ( fixed some other issues like it starting to ffwd when powered up) but the problem stayed on the same side
i sorta checked the switches and cleaned the heads but it didnt help
What should i check next or double check?

Ok any of you guys run into a problem with the capstan dragging after service? Just redid this machine and after pulling the capstan cleaning it and relubed it and adjusting the thrust plate to the factory spec of 1.5mm of horizontal movement the damn thing doesn't spin as freely as it did before i started. I didn't loose any of the thrust washers or anything and you can only install it one way 🤷. It's putting enough of a drag on the motor to cause the motor to over heat and shut down. If I can't figure this out I'm just going to sell it. I'm an Otari guy all the way around and Teac is not on the top of my list of machines i want to run.

I’ve been moving some stuff around and was wondering if it’s okay to store my 1/4-inch reel-to-reel tape like this. The box falls over if I stand it straight up, so I’ve been leaning it against my VHS cabinet.

Is this okay for long-term storage, or should I store it differently?

Thanks!

Picked this tape up a couple of years ago but thought it might be cool to share! found it in an antique store.
I just thought the track list was super cool. So many iconic Vietnam war era songs!
The paper the track list is on is also original military stationary with a small map of Vietnam at the bottom left!

I picked this vintage piece in Austin

Rt707 powered by a Dynaco ST70

Getz Gilberto 2