Hi there,

I'm an amateur sort of tinkerer (mainly meaning i break a lot of the time whatever I intend to use) and I have a moderately dysfunctional tape deck, receiver and cd player. they turn on, and can play sound, but the sound is washed out or otherwise very poor. I'm hesitant to toss more electronic waste to eventually seep into groundwater or be torn apart by some south asian child in search for rare metals, so I'm wondering what might be some interesting ideas/projects to make out of these? Admittedly I dont know the first thing about radio tech, but I figure if they're busted anyway it doesnt harm to try and make something out of them.

Relevant subreddits would also be appreciated, as im sure theres some kinda tech-reuse type sub i could ask around at.

off the top of my head, the most basic usage would be reutilizing their casings for storage, but that seems inefficient.

SONY TC-WR730

https://preview.redd.it/cdovm4ntk7yd1.jpg?width=685&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43036f1b5bf1e0b9afdb951549377b12536ede34

I picked one of these up at a local thrift store for $30. The only issue is that the doors open a bit rough like they need lube, and the B deck is making a slight high pitched sound when the motor is running like something needs lube in there as well. Is this deck worth pulling apart to service everything? I was able to find a service manual online in PDF. I am fairly handy with electronics, just inexperienced servicing cassette decks.

I just gave my deck a clean with some 99% isopropyl alcohol (for the pinch roller I used some rubber renue) and on the middle tape head the writing seems to have been rubbed off? (It used to say Sony with some other letters and numbers on it) I noticed the q-tip I was using had some black on it, which I presume is the ink/paint coming off the tape head from the alcohol. Is this anything to worry about? Since it’s not on top of the tape head I’m assuming it’ll be fine, but I’m no expert.

Also I’m aware of the golden specks on the tape head, it was like that before I’d bought it but apparently they’re not removable. I still gave the tape head a good clean with that isopropyl alcohol, hoping it’s fine.

Completely new to cassette decks but wanted to get one and I found a Realistic SCT-31 3 head deck in my late grandfather's garage. It powered on, but the belts needed to be replaced. Other than that I couldn't tell what else needed to be done.

I did not trust myself in the undertaking, so I took it to an electronic repair place that had good reviews fixing vintage stereo equipment. He charged me $100 for the repair.

Today he calls and says they found electronic and mechanical problems. He listed them in detail on the phone but I can't remember them. One effect I remember he said is that the sound isn't clear. So that may give you a clue as to what is wrong. I think I remember something about the cams being offset, but not sure.

He said that they would need $450-$550 more to fix. When I hesitated, he brought the price down to $300 more. I told him a tentative no and said I'd pick it up tomorrow.

I know that some refurbished decks are going for prices like this and I know without more accurate specifics it may be hard to provide a definitive answer, but at this point does that sound like a fair price for repair?

Value is subjective I realize, but I'm interested in opinions on whether this is a deck worth paying that much to refurbish or would I be better served putting my money elsewhere?

There's a couple of other repair stores I also thought I might try to get a second opinion over the weekend. So that's an option.

Anybody into this band? Never heard it before, but liked the artwork.

I have a record and cassette tape collection and have decided to upgrade. I have an old box cassette player and stand alone record player, and I’m hoping to find a cassette and record player. Would love to have something Bluetooth so that I don’t have to deal with stereo wires, etc

I was doing a search came across the new Victrola systems and they look pretty cool. Anyone have suggestions? Would like to spend mess than 1k. Thanks!

This has probably been asked a thousand times but I was just on letterboxd and I was wondering what everyone uses to catalogue there cassette collections visually? I've concidered making a instgram many times, just square posts of cassettes.

Please don't tell me discogs.

Hey! I've been looking forward to getting something for my ever-growing tape player collection. Something portable that could play both cds and cassettes (especially with type 2 support, I record a ton of these). Now, I'm a proud owner of a Sony CFS-DW30L (pictured with his walk-child) and CFD-S28L, the first one fulfilling type 2 cassette requirement, the latter fulfilling the cassette/cd hybrid wish. Does anyone of you have an idea of something at least-half decent that wouldn't be an absolute giant to carry around? I know I'm probably asking for much but I'm trying to aid my research. Thanks!

(This may be more suited for r/circuitbending but I thought I'd post it here as it's extremely specific)

So I fucked up, I was adjusting the speed control on the motor of my cassette deck (Rotel RD 830) and I think I stripped/otherwise damaged the potentiometer, because no matter what I do, it's stuck at a very low speed. (I'm a total noob at electrical and cassette stuff so I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the case and I'm just doing something wrong, but eh...)

My question is, would a PWM dimmer installed on the motor circuit be enough to adjust the motor back to a usable speed? My main concern is that the motor would have to be at a usable speed in the first place for the dimmer to work properly. Again, I'm a noob at this stuff and have very little idea of what I'm doing. Thanks in advance for any advice given.

On the left is the 2020 UK release of Eminem’s Music to Be Murdered By, and on the right is the 2024 US release of The Death of Slim Shady. The UK one seems to be using higher quality tape, was recorded WAY hotter and had much better high frequencies doing so.

Picked these up yesterday, in particular the Stalling and Velvet Underground tribute are the ones I’m excited about — Frampton and Knebworth just part of the nostalgia valve; things I used to own way back, seeing the covers triggered me (in a good way)

hey guys I'm planning a lot of trips away camping this summer and have been thinking of getting a cassette player for a while now, but i want to write my own cassettes (mixtapes and albums for cheap).

does anybody have a good dual purpose cassette player/writer? preferably with in-built speakers. I'm not an audiophile so as long as it sounds half decent i'll be fine. even if anyone has a decent priced writer and then a decent player that would be great, mainly looking at amazon, australia.

cheers guys

Technics RS-B505... Sounds miles better than my previous deck - and those vu meters...

new label launching next month - first release from Woo (Mark & Clive Ives)

https://woo-music.bandcamp.com/album/music-to-watch-seeds-grow-by-001-woo-sweet-peas