The All-Plastic Sony Surprise cassette deck - TC-W365 

Can only imagine that some engineers were handed wow & flutter specs and a tiny budget, and miraculously managed to put something together.

I bought this tape deck with money I saved at Service Merchandise when I was 15 in 1992. I still use it today. It’s not anywhere near as nice as my other components, but it just keeps working. Great video! I need to replace the belt in deck 2, but will do both while in there, so you’re doing the research and finding that part no. helped me out big time. Thanks!

"It's kind of like a Mercedes with a manual." I'll take two please!

For such a cheaply constructed deck, I'm honestly surprised at how good it sounds, and now I'm gonna have to look up the disco group Cassette as their song is now stuck my head LOL!

I had a nice Sony deck with Dolby S from the 90s that I bought new in J&R music world. I used it for about 15 years and put it in storage. Then when I went to take it out and use it again a few year ago, the belts were completely melted. It was like somebody just dumped roofing tar all over the inside of the machine. I just junked the machine, but regret it now. The tapes that I recorded in that deck still sound really good. Would have been good restoration project.

To remove the goo from v shaped pulley, cut cardboard q-tip sticks in diagonal. dip into acetone and swipe down the track to scoop some goo out. Repeat as needed. PS: Buy a few packs of 500 q-tips, always with the cardboard stick, not plastic. That cardboard can sometimes be used on spinning capstan to unstick hard residue that won't come off only with the cotton ball on the swab. paper is more abrasive but won't damage the capstan!

You gotta love how they try to make each LED on the VU meters look like two separate LEDs lights.

When looking for used Sony audio gear, I always will look for the ES in the model number. The ES is Sony's Hi-End brand and often looks like the same as the lower-end stuff. The thrift stores don't know the difference and will sell it at the same price.

A few years ago, I found a Sony cassette deck on the side of the road… I don’t remember the model number, and although it looked really nice, I also had to deal with badly melted belts which unfortunately stained my bedroom carpet (even though I was using old newspapers to prevent that from happening). Thanks again for such an entertaining and informative video!

I hate buying electronics from goodwill because everything is always overpriced. they'll have some pretty basic cassette decks for like $60 and they look like they been sitting out side for 5 years

If you look at the tape counter it’s what’s causing the clicking noise. You can see it sticking in time with the clicks! Another entertaining video though. Enjoyed your content for so many years now!👍

On some decks it's still quite important to replace the tape counter belt, as there is often a rotation sensor present which will cause the deck to shut down if the counter doesn't move. This sure doesn't look to be one of those decks! On saying that, like you said, it's the sound quality that matters, and this would've been entry-level and priced accordingly (albeit by typical Sony pricing, anyway!). ES quality it is not; nor does it claim to be..

yep, you'd likely benefit from a new application of a plastic-friendly light grease on the gearing to quiet it down and prolong the life of the gears themselves. doing that as a follow-up before/after would certainly make a good video for one of those youtube shorts things they're pushing creators to do.

kinda gives me a vibe of how i imagine a new modern tape deck to look like, like plastic fantastic. i am personally really like metal button and casings but nontheless its sound pretty good for what it is. sometimes its better not to judge a book by its cover

Sounds pretty darn good! I would not be embarrassed to have one of these on my shelf. Thanks for the top video again!

It makes me happy everytime I see someone repairing a cheap cassette deck. Sometimes those cheap entry level decks are way better than their parts. I have a "Telefunken RC100" tape deck from 1980 still with its original belts. It works perfectly and the sound quality is surprisingly good for an entry level tapedeck without any collectable value (unlike the RC300). From all the decks I have it's honestly my favourite for recording. But for playing it's better to hide in a cabinet or to raise the volume very loud. The power supply hums extreme by design and the constantly moving capstan and plastic parts don't help much either... But the sound of the audio signal is great for a device like this. I guess cheap(er) devices like this that produced a lot of unwanted noise were the reason why hifi cabinets with doors were so popular in the 1980's and 90's. If your're willing to compromise on this, you can still have a lot of fun with devices like this, in my opinion.

Not bad as long as you listen to it with headphones or loud enough to mask the mechanism sound

From a combination of personal experience and scanning eBay for a few years, the worst offenders for dissolving belts were Sony, Aiwa, Kenwood, Pioneer and Hitachi. At the other end of the scale JVC, Technics/Panasonic, Akai and Nikko used belts that stand the test of time the best.

I've had a pair of mid '80s Sharp RT-100 single cassette decks for awhile. Only mechanical keys, not the best decks of their generation, but they do have metal cassette transports and 1/4 mic inputs in addition to the headset jack, and basic Dolby/CrO2 tape settings. I keep one at home and the other at my parent's place to mix tapes for my walkman or car (Yeah, I still have a car with a working cassette) So a couple years ago, I accidentally left one of the decks powered on for at least a week. It still works OK, but I started thinking about getting a spare, and found an RT-100 "parts pr repair" deck on eBay last month for $5 + shipping - just under $20. When it arrived, except for some muddy sound, it seemed to work ok. Belts still good after 38 years and after a good head cleaning, it sounds as good as my other one!

A fine video and very fine sound quality from the cassette deck. Thank you.

Another well done repair job.. I got the Sony Plastic Tape Deck Fever Now!!

Have consistently had the same issue with about a dozen Sony cassette decks: The 90's stuff always has melted belts, while the early - late 80's do not. Cleaning up the tar out of motors and pulleys is always REAL fun.

Nice work!! I love those music you chose. I can feel you are a very intelligent and kind person.

+1 for Slugbug. Love it each time you play some of his stuff :D

I have the Sony TC-305 my belts of course did the same thing. I used cheap China replacment belts that kept breaking. Glad I remembered this video because now I have ordered the belts from West coast belts.

Ah yes, I recognize the "music" in the intro immediately, that's 0xBAADFOOD (album) by SLUGBUG, heard it so many times already, such a great piece.

TC-W365 Catchy, Sony. Really catchy. You've always been fantastic with the names. I snap my fingers each time I say one.

I'm in my 50's and still listen to tapes. I totally agree with you on the sound quality and the heads seem brand new! Very surprising from a thrift store.

Your cassette deck videos are your USP. Keep it up!

Superb repair....

I recently found my dad's old Sony Hifi system buried in a cupboard for over 20 years. Yep, the cassette belts had completely turned to goo. Very unpleasant. Good to see you had a narrow escape here!

Great video. The deck sounds pretty good after all. Nice one.

Around 1994, I purchased a brand-new low-end Sony single-well cassette deck, the TC-FX170. This deck was quite lightweight, had piano-key controls and a mechanical time counter. The Sony TC-FX170 offered Dolby C, auto-tape-type selection, and a manual bias adjustment knob. It performed alright, the piano-key controls weren't particularly elegant. I haven't had this deck for many years, I bought it in 1994 because it was a low-cost deck with Dolby C and the bias fine-tuning.

I like the little hook you use to get at the belts. I have an extracurricular use of similar tools and theyve served me well

Of course I watch this almost two years on, having bought my first Sony deck (and first deck ever) just the other day as of writing, and having to do the menial, torturous process of disconnecting wires and screws, removing melted belts and getting the rubber goop all over my fingers (even when I use gloves), and putting it all back together to hope it works (it seems deck A doesn't wanna work now that I cleaned it up, but I think that was because I may have either plugged the ribbon cables in the wrong outlets or because I didn't screw in this little connector providing power to the deck in some way, didn't read the electrical diagram completely but at least the service manual I found online has a pretty straightforward yet tedious way of disassembling the deck). I also think I got the slightly older brother of that deck, as it seems to be the lowest model of its respective line (TC-W411, and there were four others mentioned in the operations and service manuals, but what makes mine cheap is that the main circuit board is permanently held in place at an angle by a metal clamp in the back, and comes out when you take out the front panel, so I'm left praying that I didn't disconnect it somehow whenever I move it a lot to work on it, at least mine has all metal on nearly everything but te front panel so it has some dependability besides the fact I hear the motors spinning and see the level meters light up, so it is working apart from the belts). Hopefully all goes well for me, though it certainly won't be as well as you, already got new belts ordered, along with this hand cleaner for the belt residue. Oh and I'm not sure when mine was made, didn't check the date codes, but it was made in Japan still and had a copyright date of 1991 on the operations manual I was given when I bought it off eBay, so somewhere during or after then.

Thanks for the video, Kevin.

It's fascinating to see how cheap the mechanism is. I have a Panasonic boombox from 1997 with the familiar Tanashin mechanism, but I also have a Sony cassette walkman from the early 2000s where the whole mechanism is custom and made mostly of metal. It seems like there was no pattern to it, since it wasn't an expensive walkman.

I bought this exact tape deck at Circuit City. That was in the 2000s. Didn't realize how old the deck was. My. Belts need replacement as well. Good video.

I got a SONY TC-W305 2nd hand from someone at the end of January this year, and I had the same problem. Unfortunately for me, I had a gooey mess to clean up, and I had to guess the belt sizes, (well, my impatience is partially to blame for that!), but after replacing all 5 belts, the thing sounds splendid! Mines, however, even though it has piano keys, has a fully metal mechanism and full auto stop. Yours resembles mines quite a lot, especially the level indicators, well, the whole front perhaps! Thanks for the upload!

When you pressed playback on Deck B and all the piano keys lowered I thought “yikes”. Another great video 😉

That song by what you gonna do by cassette, recorded from vinyl to tape, seems to have been recorded very very well! Snare sounds so superb! Totally 80s / early 90s

I have this exact player. After 20 years I Just had it serviced. Had a new head put in on Deck 1 and new belts installed.

I like it. Beautiful 90s Sony design.

I used to have my Sony TC-WE305 a long time ago, but it’s also a barebones cassette deck. So I replaced it with my Technics RS-B11W from 1985 and it works.

I'm now considering picking one of these up. Looks very easy to replace the belts, even if they melt to a goop, theres no fancy electronics that could malfunction and even though the mechs are plastic the gears look pretty stout so I doubt they would chew each other up or deteriorate into crumbs. I love the fancy cassette decks but just like buying a 15 year old BMW you cant expect them to run consistently. A deck like this is like an old honda civic, cheap as physically possible while still doing everything a car should do.

Damm, those belts !!! I've got Sony tape decks from the early 70's which are still on their original belts but I've also got 20-30x Sony 90's midi systems which just have nasty goo where the belts once were !

Very catchy dark ambient track at the beginning! 🙂

Glad to hear West Coast Belts took good care of you. It's worth an extra few sheckles for that kind of service.

Videos of cassette deck repairs are therapeutic to me. :)

@VWestlife, love your channel! I hope you're able to get a Nakamichi CR-7A or Dragon because you're so dedicated to cassettes and old media. I think you'd appreciate the quality and sound. The deck has made bad cassettes sound very good. Some people don't like the accented high-end and prefer the warmer tones of the Dragon but for me, it's perfect for transferring pre-recorded cassettes and getting the most out of them.

Even though it's a piece of plastic, it's still much better than all the Chinese decks (Pyle, Pyle Pro, Pyramid, Ion, Soundwave, Renkforce, Wharfedale, etc). And at that time, Sony did seem to be doing things right. If Sony had to make a deck like this today, the mythical Tanashin mechanism would fit right in, with its respective motor, which is a bad imitation of the classic Mabuchi. And finally, they are going to put the dynamic noise reducer (used by all Chinese decks), which can only be applied in playback, not in recording. And yes, since Dolby died, they stopped manufacturing those chips.

Excellent sound quality.

I bought a similar brand new Sony tape deck deck in 2005 @ Best Buy. After I brought it home and unboxed it, I realized it's not a Full-Logic one. Looking further, I was shocked that they used this same plastic mechanism, on a deck which features Dolby S & Type IV tape format compatibility. I immediately took it back and swapped it for an actual Full-Logic Tape Deck. I never liked the piano style push button type Tape Mechanisms. With Full-Logic, I can program the deck to record my favorite dance music off radio which plays after midnight. While I'm asleep. Not to mention, I can wake up to tape, program which tracks to play, which to skip, repeat tracks on tape same as you would on CD. Fully Remote Control Compatible. My father ended up purchasing similar deck in 2012 after he saw all the tricks a Full-Logic Deck can do. I'm surprised I never had to change belts on any of my tape decks after watching all the videos how those belts turn to tar. Well, I take good care of my electronics, cassettes & decks. Even if something goes wrong, I know how to fix them, after fixing dozens of them for my friends.

Still better than any brand new cassette deck made today.

Even as a low end deck, it’s still way better than anything new today and it sounds great considering the all plastic design! Nice that you caught it just in time to replace those old belts.

Music: "What You Gonna Do?" Performed by Cassette (Dutch band) "Competitive Spirit" from the BackTraxx Music Library

Nice a Sony cassette deck ! Nice video Kevin have a nice day.

Three years ago I bought a 90s Sony deck woth dolby S and three heads. It sounds fantastic and the materials are amazing. The belts are a little bent for being stored for so long by the previous owner but I might replace the belts one day, it still sounds decent. Wow and flutter is not as bad but could be better.

Good to see the old decks ;-)

I had a Sony TC-WR661 deck, this deck you presented has a better sound than the one I had. I remember a Sony Sports cassete corder that had the exact same plastic mechanism. It was a headache to change belts but it sounded great. Ah Sony, and it's proprietary things.

its weird seeing something i actually use to own be reviewed on this channel. i use to have this same deck. i got about 7 years out of it before it self destructed.

What you gonna do, V? Keep making stellar videos, that's what.

Nice find…. 👍🏼

my heart skipped upon reading the title. I initially thought I read “All New Sony Surprise Cassette” or something like that. I wish Sony would make cassette decks again. Wishful thinking!

Sir, I am a member of the world-renowned group Cassette. Thank you for reviving one of our best hit songs. We're already seeing a wave of online downloads. However, the four of us would like to have a word with you regarding our standard royalty fee. Please have your people contact our people as soon as possible.

I got really lucky at the thrift store. I got a fully working Onkyo TA-RW404, its a twin deck with HX Pro and im so happy as an upgrade from my Teac V-370

Just the video I needed to watch having my dinner 😍

"yeah isn't that lovely" exactly how I feel about melted belts. Exactly.

Nice Video, the Old Mercedes are nice

Yep there's a lot of value in Sony dual wells. I use one for play back if it breaks no big loss.

Holy cow that first train part has some serious staging!

I found a TC-WE305 years ago and the belts were melted and it looked rather difficult so i just said forget it, and found an 80s cassette deck at another thrift store maybe a year and a half later in perfect working order.

You know, it sounds pretty good!

They was popluar in the 90s in Germany. That was the entry level ! I had one of those, back in the days

Pablo Cruise called and wants their Whatcha Gonna Do back

For me sound quality is all that matters and a decent-looking deck which it seems you got with that Sony!!!! will done😃

What cha gonna do ! *sings Walkman fever *

I"ve had good luck with cleaning all the black rubber belt goo/residue stuff up with isopropyl alcohol on a Q tip or paper towel. Alcohol pads work too. Even if the belt comes off just before turning to goo, I still clean the belt pathway with alcohol to get it spotlessly clean of old belt residue.

I found a similar tape deck with a turntable from Sony, but I didn’t get it because the belts are broken. Only one tape drive is working and the turntable isn’t working. I wish Sony made newer tape decks, because of the revival of analog media!

good analogy

So its like buying a Lotus. All plastic, 4 cylinder engine, breaks down often, but when she is running right, boy can you have fun around the track.

sound good!

"You don't often see a Sony cassette deck with completely mechanical piano key controls, manual tape type selection, and a mechanical tape counter". Maybe you did more in the 80s? My TC-K22 (which has every single one of these "features", aside from the plastic mechanism) is not high end, but it's not budget tier either.

Avoiding the dreaded belt goo is such a win.

My brother broke an incredible Sony mini HiFi just by using it in a bad electricity line in the mountain. It was repaired, but failed again and again. It even had a skip song feature.

Thank you for introducing me to Lego Breath by Paul Millar! It's genius! Gotta go look for more music by him.

I have a younger cousin of this deck, the tc-we305. Entry level dual-well deck that I think I got for $100 new. I managed to replace the belts as they were getting loose just this year (it's 20 years old!). Interesting differences: metal mechanism with plastic gears and auto stop on play, fast-forward, and rewind. Otherwise, very similar!

Additional Music: "Worked Before / Mice Arps" and "Lego Breath (The Tiniest Trombone)" Both Written by Paul Millar Both Performed by Slugbug Both from album 0xBAADF00D

I remember this cassette deck from back in the days.

unrelated: that slugbug album is so good! thanks for showing us all it !

My mom still have her stereo she bought from a store called good guys here in Bakersfield California. It has a tape deck double tape and it is a pioneer and also has an 101 disc changer and the two I don’t know what you call them but one of them is to turn on the stereo and the other one is to turn it up change from CD to tape to FM receiver to receivers and it still works she is old school so she still uses her stereo I love all the electronics

You continue to surprise me with what you find in your local thrift stores. It's been some time since I was last in one, but I don't recall seeing the variety of things - or in that fair of condition - like you have scored, in the shops in my part of Western Washington. It's possible that much of the cast-off electronics winds up in piles relegated to the local E-Waste collection events, if not to outfits like Re-PC, who typically have a myriad of truly archaic/orphaned gear for sale.

It may be cheap as all get up but,.. it sounds good!

I've recently discovered that is you have a deck that needs a flat belt and know the exact size its possible to find cheaper listings for replacements and then use belts from one of those kits for the counters. As a specific example I managed to find out the specific belt I need for one deck is an FRX9.7 and generic listings for that belt were a lot cheaper than kits or even just the flat belts alone just with a model specific listing. The great thing too is 9.7 is just the inner belt circumference in inches so its pretty easy to find different sizes in the same width (I assume FR is the belt type and X is a code for the wide but I haven't looked into it further). I need to find a kit of round belts though because I also ended up in the same situation with a different deck where I bought a kit and the main belt is correct but the tape counter belts are way too small and thin.

I thought it was just me who had bad luck with a Sony belt. In my TC-KE600 (not the cheapest model) the belt that drives the capstan totally turned into a sticky disgusting goo very hard to remove. Interestingly enough, the belt that was in charge in fast forward / rewind remained in a mint condition.

8:06 You and the American Chemistry Council say the same thing. " *plastics makes it possible* " 😁 And Hooooly crap! When you mentioned how obscure that bootleg late comer Disco beat by Cassette was I had to Shazam it. I was thinking that Shazam was going to say "What the hell is this crap?" But no. It returned "What you gonna do by Cassette"

Yeah, I have a few year older TC-W300 (W190 in US) and it's cheap inside but good sound quality. I changed the belts in mine almost in time, they were a bit more gooey than yours, a bit of a headache. Got the belts from Thakker.

I have a handful of 70's players still running their original belts flawlessly.

I scored a Sony portable player at a flea market, a YP-ES20 (that was not a Walkman, but an special YPPY series model instead) It has the most barebones auto reverse mech ever made by Sony, full of plastic cogs, but at least with some metallic components. As expected, the belt was the usual culprit, and then I learned the hard way why those cheap belt assortments didn't work right all times. I managed to fit a square cut belt (the player itself shows how to thread the belt into the mech) when it was supposed to get a round cut one. The player works with square cut belts, but it sounds a bit fluttery. Nevertheless, I like the charming sound of a fluttery deck 😁...

I bought one of these identical Tape Decks from Goodwill which also didn't play. When I opened it up to check the belts, what I found was all the belts were "GOO" and seriously gummed up all the pulleys and mechanisms. I tried cleaning it up but gave up. I want a better Sony Cassette Deck to go with my other Sony Components, so will keep looking...