Pioneer Cassette Deck for $15, Can We Revive It? | Vintage Hifi Revival 

I purchased on of these decks brand new back in the early 1980’s. I was in high school and this was my first cassette deck. It was a fortune for me the time but I loved it. Thanks for brining back some great memories. Wish I still had it today!

My uncle had one of these when I was a kid. He had a whole system together with a matching amp, tuner, phono deck, speakers, all highest end stuff for the time. The system sounded just amazing, like nothing I heard before. This brought me into being a Pioneer guy today, 40 years later. :-D

I remember looking at stereos of this design in the electronics department of stores as a kid in the early 80s. Playing with all the buttons and lights. This deck's design is clean and gorgeous. Great work on it.

Only for one resistor and a belt and he's playing like new again. Keep up the good work. It's a shame that the world is a "trow away" generation these days.

Awesome. The repairs I have been watching are more entertaining than alot of movies. I'm 55 I like learning about tape decks I had seen during that time period. Good Video 😎

Superb revival with so few money!!! In Patagonia there are no services left so we have to recycle them *sighs*. I was born in the age of valves and the invention of transistor :) Cheers from Argentina!!!

my dad bought one of these new, it was nice, but the most impressive thing was the quality of recordings it made. Loved that deck.

Your greatest skill IMHO is patience. Time to examine, time to reflect, and time to make an informed assessment, moving forward each step of the way. Without this essential qualities these machines end up in the recycling center or dump. I'm grateful and thankful this video was published for it'll help someone's precious gear stay functional. However there's plenty of El cheapo brittle junk plastic unfortunately designed into this deck and so the phrase built in obsolescence comes to mind. Sad that the bean counters at Pioneer ended up taking over from the design engineering department in the 90's. Either that, or this frosted 90's model was built to an exact price point. BTW, each one of those push up tabs made me cringe.

For what seems to be a basic auto reverse cassette deck, that mech is impressive. I wouldn't expect direct drive on both capstan and the spindles on this particular machine.

they are called take-up reels. instead of oil on the plastic to plastic contacts, you should use silicone grease because it will last much, much longer and will have the effect of restoring some of the plasticizer. when you clean up the rubber tape rollers, use diluted dish soap water (tiny bit of blue dawn to a bottle of distilled water) and clean it off with distilled water very well; alcohol on the rubber will have the effect of compromising the rubber's elasticity over time and the tape will slip on the rollers and get eaten

Nice to see a new tuber under 1k subs show up in my suggestions. Awesome, I hope you climb up the algorithms. Loved the explanations while working on the deck... and mix in a dab of humor.

Beautiful deck. Thank you for saving this engineering marvel from the scrapheap, and for such a fantastic, informative video!

Great video! I have some old decks I’d love to have repaired.

Man, my CT-7R had the same problem, I couldn't solve it, your video solved my problem, Thanks man, very good work

Integrity. So many levers and gears open up in my mind. I was once a tape operator in the entirety of the 1980's particularly working in post production. I touched 3/4" Umatic and 1" Reel record machines. I would make working copies on all the formats that were used for NTSC/PAL broadcasting. I saved a few video shoots knowing the ends and outs of BVW 300, 400, 600 and Digital ENG camera/recorders. I am inspired watching your interests to build back analog machines! KZ!

Beautiful work,

I had this very same cassette deck along with a matching stereo receiver. Loved that system. One of the Dolby chips went bad and cost to fix was more than a new deck.

Really nice job explaining everything. I learned a lot. Thx!

Ending was so funny it actually fits well!

wow, nice work. Always interesting to see what parts failed. I'm glad you stayed with, all that trouble shooting and understanding how it was built a different way. An having to fix the plastic parts too .

Nice find a great deck being it is all brushless motors ,superb repair .

What a fascinating mechanism! Peak 80s engineering. The deck looks extremely cool, too bad the front is all plastic.

Great production quality You have a new subscriber

Awesome job mate!!!

thanks for the great video and awesome work! I have repaired speakers, receiver, turntable and cd player, however tape deck is the most difficult part of the set, congrats.

Nice work! Reminds me of an early 80s Nakamichi deck (LX3, BX, etc). And that tape transport design is pretty novel, i love gear from this era, when manufacturers were still actively innovating!

Отличная дека!👍 В коллекцию бы такой аппарат!)

Just repaired one of these a few days ago. Same symptom... playing very fast like it were fast forwarding. I replaced the belt, which was just as degraded and gooey as yours was. That 100% resolved the issue.

I fixed one of these as well. No resistor problems just melted belt and some lubrication needed for the rotating head section. I was also amazed that they jammed all those boards into the mechanism "brick". Mine has been working well for over a year. Paid $50 for mine.

wow that thing looks like a tech's dream to work on. all the functional units have their own little boards that look like they come apart easily. i have only seen one other deck with a transport that comes out as one module that easily. i think it was a sansui, but don't take that to mean all sansuis are designed like that because i have one that's been in pieces on a shelf for a couple of years when i gave up on it because it was too much work to get everything apart. i had done it a couple times already and each time there was still a problem although it was a new one each time. second time was an idler and i think it still need some sort of clutch mechanism but i couldn't find the service manual or it didn't really explain it that well and i was dreading taking it apart and putting it back together again. i can't remember, so maybe it's time to get it back on the bench and look at it with new eyes. you really want to take that transport apart to clean all the belt goo off. the first nakamichi i ever got i paid 50 bucks for not working. the only problem was the main capstan belt was totally melted.it got into the smaller gears and other places. everywhere it was took forever to get all that goo off but once i did and replaced the belt and cleaned it up a bit i had a nak CR-3A that worked perfectly and looked like a new machine. i think i spend 4 hours at least getting all the goo off and i should have worn gloves like you because it was on my hands for a few days. but that 50 turned into 350 pretty easily and i see they are selling for more now. edit... i'm still only 7 mins in but i'm gonna guess that the problem is still that belt goo is all over the inside of that mech and it's fouled up so much that is why you are having those issues.

These vintage hifi systems are becoming expensive and I love it

Instant subscriber since you're showing things I grew up with. I'm 56. This tape deck came out in the 80s and was the start of the decline of the tape decks. The 1970s Silver Face stereo audio gear was an era that you just had to be there!

wow your a master tech!! i had the ct4 base deck in 1981ish

Man, that belt goo... You'd think that they fixed it eventually, but they had the issue from the 60's until the late 90's, when the quality of the belts was the smallest of their issues.

Very nice looking device, the design still looks somewhat current.

I had this deck when it was new. Not finished with the video yet, and I hope you restore it, but it was not that good. :) -- 1 year later comment. Well done, man what a job, and cool mechanism. I remember the head never really aligned on each reverse. Well edited video, enjoyed it, hope you decide to make more in the future!

Also had one of those - Pioneer CT8R. Cost me about R900 (South African Rand) back in about 1982. One of the motors stopped working in the late 90's and ended up throwing it out as no spares were available. At that stage CD's were in anyway, so had no use for it, but it was truly an excellent machine and still miss it.

I have one of those that needs to be repaired so this is a good video to randomly show up in my recommendations lol

prefect done job !

nice job. appreciate the narration and walkthrough...sub'd

Still have my working CT8R and SX5 receiver and record player, loved that style

This reminds me of my dad's CT-4 he bought brand new in 1981. The power transformer quit in about 1985, my dad bought another deck and it was given to me. I put a transformer in it and used it for about another year or so.

Great video !👍

Thanks for this - I picked up one of these over the summer at an estate sale whose belts have also turned to goo and I was hoping someone had made a video about how to get into the transport. I’m shocked it’s direct drive. I guess after the CT-F series in the late 70s Pioneer was as sick of multiple belts, idler tires, and slip clutches as I am from working on my CT-F900’s.

So nice!

When soldering in new component that have excess length of legs that require cutting off, it's best practice to trim the length before soldering. That way you seal the soldered joint and leave no easy access for a corrosive element to get into the soldered joint.

I had a Pioneer SX-4 Computer controlled receiver! That cassette deck was a matching unit!

Something very special looking at part’s in older technology compared to newer.

About oiling the pinch roller pins: they were not lubricated from the factory. The combination of materials make it already a dry bushing itself as it was also the case with several examples of dry plastic/metal couplings e.g. rear capstan shaft. If you oil it you need a very small amount to seep in. Mineral oil while it can stay is not suitable for long term application on plastics, Ideally you could grease it and it could be very appropriate since it could handle up to 500 grams but in the long run it will dry up and tend to jam the bearing. It could technically benefit from high quality PAO lithium grease but if one spends 15 bucks on a cassette decks I highly doubt that is on the list.

Grande lavoro !!! Complimenti!!🎊

Nice video, I have an elderly who has been hoarding cassette decks since the 80’s. I mean that literally, he has two of these decks and I hope convince him to trade them to me for labor on rebelting some other units.

Wow I remember picking up the matching amp years ago at a car boot sale , my mate still as it I think, such quality stuff back than.

Nice video! Super complicated tape mechanism!

Legend 💕

Interesting motor design here. Reminds me of Fisher's Studio Standard direct drive turntable where the platter was part of the motor. I never had one of those turntables so I never heard one, but I was kinda of amazed that a switching magnetic field much closer to the turntable's cartridge did not seem to cause any ill effects of the sensitive cartridge's magnetic field thus causing frequency anomalies. Same thing here, with three of these direct drive coils closer to the actual tape heads. Apparently they didn't cause frequency anomalies with the tape head either. Your video makes it fairly obvious the weakness in all tape decks besides anything electronic. The plastic parts. Makes you wonder about plastic parts in general. I mean how many times have we all broken a CD jewel case at the weakest link which would be the two hinge ears? I doubt many remember, but Recoton made a replacement jewel case that was truly superior. It had some qualities of rubber being able to flex. Those cases seemed to disappear fast as I guess Recoton couldn't get the volume needed to turn a respectable profit on those. That said there must be ways to make really durable plastic parts (I'm thinking polycarbonates) and it's a shame that better plastic gears and other parts weren't mandatory if quality metal ones were out of the question. I will note I don't like any tape machine where the tape heads physically move. Alignment issues often come up, especially when playing on another deck. I've often wondered with the knowledge gained by techs working on these old machines and technology of today what kind of truly great cassette deck could be produced. It seems cassette deck technology ended sometime around the last several years of the eighties. Blank tape formulations about that same time. Today if there was a market I believe a cassette deck could be made that would better even the last great Nakamichis. As a cassette lover that's a lament I think about. I thoroughly enjoyed your repair here and I think you definitely have the mind and skills to run down sneaky problems. Color me impressed.

Great video. Thank you

Muy buen trabajo. Felicitaciones

I had this model. Cost me something like $700 NZD at the time. A die-cast lever broke in the cassette mechanism around 1988 and I ended up throwing the whole thing out

16:02 Direct drive has better performance (wow and flutter is lower). That's a brushless, coreless motor

Spiral gear usually associated with the tape counter.

The rec/play head looks like the previous owner used metal tape.

Thanks ji 🙏

OMG! I used to have a deck like this. I was very happy with it. Not sure what happened to it

I had the same unit back in the 80's

6:33 counter belts are supposed to be loose, as to cause minimal drag to the take up reel

Great video. I believe those flat coils are actually the sensors for the Field Effect (FET) transistors in that circuit...I would assume it's related to monitoring tape speed (or something lol)

Not many are aware that these 1981- Pioneer SX Cassette Decks, actually sound better than the previous Generation of Pioneer Cassette Decks by leaps and bounds . . .

The fact that I instantly knew "tape counter" shows that I've fiddled with too many old tape decks at this point

I had the higher model with the tabe bias calibration circuits and three heads. The reverse head mechanism disintegrated unfortunately and was beyond repair at the time. I believe it was the Achilles's heel of these decs. The performence was great though. I used it wit the Pioneer SX-838 reveiver.

That would go really nicely with my PL-L800.

Parabéns pelo belo trabalho...e ajudou muito com meu aparelho

Awesome

Great video and in depth explanation. Not sure if I can see the tape selector light on at the end of the video. I assume this was a normal bias tape but light for the normal tape wasn't on. Or it is the angle of the camera? Those DD motors everywhere are really cool engineering design one would not expect from the commercial devices like this in early 80s until you see their price compared to competition of the same time. This is why (pre 90s) Pioneer was underrated at the time. Yes, people who knew what is under the hood they appreciated the brand but average buyers were turned off by high price not realising the quality and engineering built into it. And I think Pioneer designer team had different ideas from their engineering team. Their products looked very commercial and simplistic outside and other brands put a lots of bling outside while cutting corners inside...

hi the price of used decks is going up because there's alot fixing them now in the uk one day there will be just to many decks for the tape fans

That was pretty cool. Am sure that was a frustrating process to find that resister. Do wonder if grease of some kind would be a better lubricant for the buttons than an oil.

Instead of super glue, you might try using plastic model cement since it sort of melts the plastic, creating a strong joint. And for the moving parts, it would be better to use a dry lubricant since it won't attract dust and dirt to gum things up.

This deck is so packed with stuff. Compared to this, fixing up my AKAI DX-47 tape transport was a breeze lol

Love your channel. I was so impressed with how you brought this tape deck back to life that I went ahead and bought a similar model( ct-7r) on E-Bay with the intention of repairing it myself. I was wondering who you bought your belt kit from? I am having a hard time finding these belts at a reasonable price. Thanks.

Well done, Time to replace 15$ sticker with 350$ 😍😍

OMG! I use to own that deck around 1982 or 83. It had the same problem. It has a feature button to fast fwd to the next song like a search but it never worked. It would just fast fwd either direction. Very frustrating. I wouldn't be surprised if that was my mine.

Top showww 🙌🎵🎼

did you find out what that corrosion on the tape heads is caused by? i have the same kind on my yamaha kx300s heads. still sounds as great as ever though

You could also try superglue and baking soda to glue those button posts.

8:12 remove the flywheels and clean!! Windex works better than IPA

Hifi engine has free service and owners manuals.

worked on those when they were new, and under warranty, Pioneer supplied entire new mech under warranty

I just picked up a dual cassette deck. On both sides, when you push play, it just fast forwards. The tape head doesn’t engage like it did in your player here, it just fast forwards. Have you ever seen this? Seems to me it would be a singular thing in common and not so much an issue with each head. Any idea what might cause this would be greatly appreciated.

👍👍👍👍👍

Direct Drive, nice For speed calibration 3kHz or 3.150k works the best

You'll find similar motors in a Nakamichi CR7 I know I just serviced one

what's the song you played at the end? been slowly making a playlist of random indie/folk/alt songs I like to record onto a tape and this fits the bill

Hi, good job! Was wondering what app you used for the speed calibration with this? thanks

Re The tape head try polishing it with toothpaste to get rid of the corrosion and then remove the traces of toothpaste with Isopropyl Alcohol.

Great video i have the same tape deck and i followed your video and now í need the belt replacements can you help on this

That type of plastic can be fused using standard modeling cement FYI.

Where are you getting this equipment from? I was never able to find something for $20-$40...

you touching those copper motor wire coils at 15:58 made me recoil xddd the slightest scratch can ruin the motor speed forever Tape heads can be repaired by "lapping" them if they are corroded i heard, never done it before tho and as long as it plays good i dont see why u should repair the head too much sewing machine oil btw xddd ur supposed to use a needle to apply a drop of oil, you practically flooded the place, may leak and damage the plastic or rubber lole other then that great video!

High Fidelity for Humans. Had a CT-9R back in the mid 80's along with the matching integrated amp and tuner. I thought that I was really something with that. Dumped that for a Nakamichi Dragon, Linn LP-12 and Sonic Frontiers tube amp and pre amp in the 1990's. That Pioneer stuff that you show was really popular with the military overseas. Does your model do 120/240 50/60 hz?

the little part that fell out is for the counter mech.

Very nicely done. What was the song at the end?