Hope you feel better soon. I’m so glad there’s someone making videos like this, going in detail through the decks and not just a 1 minute blurb, as well at the repair and testing. As someone who gets many tape decks through thrift stores in various conditions it’s a great help to see how someone who actually knows what they’re doing work on these. Hope to see all these repairs and more in the future.
The JVC remote control - I have seen it in action with the amplifier and the td v1010 deck pair it should go with - it is touch screen and mind boggling; way ahead of its time
I own a GXC46D and after a restore with Dolby B switched in, it sounds phenomenal. The yellow ADR stands for Automatic Distortion Reduction and the OLS button stands for OverLoad Suppresion. After I got it restored it sounds amazing, even with low noise cassettes like TDKs for example. Back in 1973, the price for one was about 370 dollars....or 3000 dollars today. This was a deck that was for serious audiophiles because 370 dollars was a fortune back then. Cheers from OZ Andrew Collins.
Just another thought. When NAD first came into the market the quality control was really bad. One time I had to open up 3 machines before I got one that worked (didn't give me any confidence in the line). I noticed that the quality of the parts (cheap capacitors, wire harness mess, cheap switches etc) didn't help things in my evaluation of the line. I think the circuit design was pretty darn good because when they worked they sounded pretty good. At a company meeting I coined the product name NAD as "Nearly Always Defective" boy did that catch on throughout the company. I think things improved over the years but I still have the impression they used sub par parts and they could have used better. Dr. Dave
I managed to get the 99 working well enough to check the wow and flutter on Thursday. Now I can confirm the Technics RS-B755 really was the best I had, because that tape in the 99 gives me 0.029%. So it's already as low or lower than the Technics. And this is before doing any service on it.
At the risk of being called an enabler, there's a DD-7 on Mercari Japan right now for $127 Canadian. It was $145 yesterday, so seller wants it gone. FromJapan can probably help you buy it. I'd get it myself, but I literally just bought a mint looking DD-7 two days ago for about that price.
Mine's missing the sticker but has the original owner's manual. Seller bought it brand new 40 years ago, so it's not a third party sale either like the 99 was. I saw it sitting there at $33 before I went to bed that day and decided I was going to bid closer to what I saw the last one go for. Didn't expect to actually win it, but I did. Also watched a DD-10 sail away from me yesterday for almost $400. No idea what makes that one special over a DD-9, but it looks like the same deck functionally.
Being in the audio business years ago we were always impressed in the quality of sound of the JVC cassette machines. Some of the high end JVC's were farmed out and built by Luxman / Alps but used the JVC heads (most of the time the JVC decks actually sounded better than the Luxmans). Their SA heads gave them more head room and lower distortion than most of the competition. The Tandbergs always sounded better and if you ever get a chance to pick up a Teac z 5000 deck it is a real sleeper, a real Nakamichi killer. I liked the high end Pioneers also! We used a Sound Technology 1500 and 1510 to setup the tape decks and if you ever get a chance to pick one up you will be the wizard of tape decks and reel to reel tape machines! Dr. Dave
JVC TD-V661 here, fabulous machine. I got it stupidly cheap, BNIB, because it was 110V & collect-only. the seller had bought it with the rest of the system in NYC, then moved back to london, about a mile from me. couldn't shift this deck, so I paid £45. direct-drive, dual capstan, real-time counter/remain, three head with 210kHz bias & manual calibration with tones, hx-pro & a titanium-finish. all it lacks is the remote control. I have revoxes here, naks, sonys, brauns, a NAD6300.... the JVC is probably better than any of them.
I managed to get the DD-99 working well enough to give me audio on both channels so I could hear it play for the first time and get some wow and flutter measurements, and I can already tell that machine is going to become a personal favorite very quickly. I have a feeling the TD-V931 is very much going to live up to the hype, as long as the heads are good.
The 661 is a great performer, but I wouldnt recomned it unless it is cheap because I service one with the main capstan flywheel slightly deformed and starting to crack in several places. This is a show stopper for this machine. It is not the first time I have seen these alloy flywheel cracked. I cant stand why they have use this cheap material on this level of deck. The only posible solution is try to take the magnet from the DD that is attached to the old flywheel and machining a new one in a material that wont "decompose". I love JVC and I think they are pretty underrated. My 661 still performing exeptionally, but I think it is matter of time it will develop the same issue.
im about to buy a teac v770 as well, for my colection, i only buy black decks and i have been a fan of the teac tascam decks, one whole side of my shelving is just teac stuff
Стоить заметить что синяя подсветка это совсем редкость для аппаратов 70-х и 80-х. В конце 70-х (Pioneer CT-F615 того времени разработки) ещё не было светодиодов синено цвета. Вероятно был использован светофильтр.
back in the late 80s I wanted to buy Aiwa ADWX 808, but instead I got me Aiwa ADWX 777, good recording quality but poor no FLUO display....in the begginig of 90s AIWA change logo to "aiwa" woth 828 or 929 but then I didn`t have any desire to buy another "aiwa" deck. Now I`m still after AIWA ADWX 808 or 909...suprisingly best cassette deck I had (among 5-6 models) was Sansui DX 701 - not that beautiful display (all in orange in Sansui style) but excellent recording!!!
if you get a NAD 6300, you might still think it's ugly. BUT, with a blind test vs your most favorite deck; it will win you over. They were "made in Japan"... not China or Taiwan.
What would be super cool is a comparison between Victor dd99 and tdv931 for recording and playback. Based on forums, they are both called top of the JVC range.
They're both top of the line. I will be comparing them to the rest of the heavy hitters in the collection, but it's getting harder to find good tracks to do that with. I'll do my best, anyway. I can tell you that when I got the DD-99 to output on both channels it sounded amazing with tapes recorded on the A&D GX-Z9100. Should find out what the 931 can do before too long. I hope to start working on it next week.
Between the Victor dd9 and dd10, I think the only difference is Super ANRS vs Dolby C; however, this seems to be a distinction for the JDM models only. The JVC equivalent of DD9 does not have super ANRs.
Victor/JVC direct drives have much to be proud of, but unfortunately the 'listenability' factor of the Victor heads just don't compare to Nakamichi, nor even the Canon Amorphous heads used in the 3 head Aiwa, and later Sony decks. The only deck I would consider equal to the best Nak (or even slightly better in the bass) is the Aiwa XK-009. (That being said, I'd love to get my hands on the TD-V1N--the only Victor with the Canon Amorphous heads!)
I'm seriously thinking more about the TD-V1 as well now that the TD-V931 is up and running (video a week from Saturday). XK-009 or XK-S7000 is inevitable for me. I just need to find either one at the same time as I have the money for one. As far as Nak goes, I just wish the good stuff was cheaper so I could get my hands on them. Pricing on their top decks is absolutely unreasonable made worse by the fact that people are actually biting at those prices.
I’ve got one. It’s supposed to be part of the summer of Sony but needs so little that I was waiting to combine it with the last attempt on fixing that Sony receiver. New IC never showed up for the receiver, so now it’s going to be a short midweek video. I never really got into open reel though.
My sister caught it - I got it from her. I’m fully vaxed and boosted. At least I kept my sense of taste this time and didn’t have to go looking for ultra spicy food.
Very likely, as long as the door hasn't been forced open which would cause damage. Depending on what's wrong it may be tricky to get the cassette back. If the belts went out during play, manipulating the flywheels should disengage the head block. Could also be stuck pinch roller pivots due to old grease, which is harder to deal with as you have to force the head block back down somehow before it can disengage. I've never worked on that model but my Carver TD1700 and Aiwa XK-007 videos might be of some help there. Similar transport.
Well, 931 will never be a Dragon killer. I had one. It's a good deck with some potential problem with tape transport. Back tension problem. But I prefer a simplier 707 with calibration. But I don't use it much. I have other decks to play with. Too many Dragon killers out there, but non of them really are. Usually they can't come close even to ZX7/9 or CR. 😊
I have my doubts as well, but I'll give it a chance. It's going to have to impress me more than my GX-Z9100 does. I'll likely never own a Dragon at today's prices.
Wow man! nice decks! already waiting for repair videos! P.S. akai gx r88 that relay switching erase heads regarding in which direction recording goes and you can just clean it, because that transparent plastic cover can be easily removed :) Have one, fixed one - its not as easy as other akai decks like gx9, gx 75, 95... for sure... Cheers!
Hope you feel better soon. I’m so glad there’s someone making videos like this, going in detail through the decks and not just a 1 minute blurb, as well at the repair and testing. As someone who gets many tape decks through thrift stores in various conditions it’s a great help to see how someone who actually knows what they’re doing work on these. Hope to see all these repairs and more in the future.
That Victor deck is an absolute work of art!! Can't wait to see you restore it. 😄
The JVC remote control - I have seen it in action with the amplifier and the td v1010 deck pair it should go with - it is touch screen and mind boggling; way ahead of its time
I own a GXC46D and after a restore with Dolby B switched in, it sounds phenomenal. The yellow ADR stands for Automatic Distortion Reduction and the OLS button stands for OverLoad Suppresion. After I got it restored it sounds amazing, even with low noise cassettes like TDKs for example. Back in 1973, the price for one was about 370 dollars....or 3000 dollars today. This was a deck that was for serious audiophiles because 370 dollars was a fortune back then. Cheers from OZ Andrew Collins.
Just another thought. When NAD first came into the market the quality control was really bad. One time I had to open up 3 machines before I got one that worked (didn't give me any confidence in the line). I noticed that the quality of the parts (cheap capacitors, wire harness mess, cheap switches etc) didn't help things in my evaluation of the line. I think the circuit design was pretty darn good because when they worked they sounded pretty good. At a company meeting I coined the product name NAD as "Nearly Always Defective" boy did that catch on throughout the company. I think things improved over the years but I still have the impression they used sub par parts and they could have used better.
Dr. Dave
I own a DD-7, it has the same mechanism (DD-99). Very low W&F - but its only single capstan, just outstanding! Mine has 0.016 WRMS without recapping.
I managed to get the 99 working well enough to check the wow and flutter on Thursday. Now I can confirm the Technics RS-B755 really was the best I had, because that tape in the 99 gives me 0.029%. So it's already as low or lower than the Technics. And this is before doing any service on it.
I had the option to get a DD-5 locally.. so sad that I didn't jump on it
At the risk of being called an enabler, there's a DD-7 on Mercari Japan right now for $127 Canadian. It was $145 yesterday, so seller wants it gone. FromJapan can probably help you buy it. I'd get it myself, but I literally just bought a mint looking DD-7 two days ago for about that price.
@@Oklawolf that is great. Mine looks also like new. There is still the W&F sticker on the door (0.06% DIN)
Mine's missing the sticker but has the original owner's manual. Seller bought it brand new 40 years ago, so it's not a third party sale either like the 99 was. I saw it sitting there at $33 before I went to bed that day and decided I was going to bid closer to what I saw the last one go for. Didn't expect to actually win it, but I did. Also watched a DD-10 sail away from me yesterday for almost $400. No idea what makes that one special over a DD-9, but it looks like the same deck functionally.
32:12 Come on, WWolf, you knew beforehand 😅Interesting video. Fun to see all those models.
Yeah, the RS-B755 had the same problem.
Being in the audio business years ago we were always impressed in the quality of sound of the JVC cassette machines. Some of the high end JVC's were farmed out and built by Luxman / Alps but used the JVC heads (most of the time the JVC decks actually sounded better than the Luxmans). Their SA heads gave them more head room and lower distortion than most of the competition. The Tandbergs always sounded better and if you ever get a chance to pick up a Teac z 5000 deck it is a real sleeper, a real Nakamichi killer. I liked the high end Pioneers also! We used a Sound Technology 1500 and 1510 to setup the tape decks and if you ever get a chance to pick one up you will be the wizard of tape decks and reel to reel tape machines!
Dr. Dave
Got a revox b215 had it recapped and new rubber rollers simply sound sublime...
Wow promising, cant wait for the JVC Victor.
Which one? I’m almost more excited about the DD-99, because it’s more of a challenge than the TD-V931.
Congrats with the 931! I have the 721, and it's a fantastic machine, sounds great. I bet yours will be too once you service it.
JVC TD-V661 here, fabulous machine. I got it stupidly cheap, BNIB, because it was 110V & collect-only. the seller had bought it with the rest of the system in NYC, then moved back to london, about a mile from me. couldn't shift this deck, so I paid £45.
direct-drive, dual capstan, real-time counter/remain, three head with 210kHz bias & manual calibration with tones, hx-pro & a titanium-finish. all it lacks is the remote control.
I have revoxes here, naks, sonys, brauns, a NAD6300.... the JVC is probably better than any of them.
I managed to get the DD-99 working well enough to give me audio on both channels so I could hear it play for the first time and get some wow and flutter measurements, and I can already tell that machine is going to become a personal favorite very quickly. I have a feeling the TD-V931 is very much going to live up to the hype, as long as the heads are good.
The 661 is a great performer, but I wouldnt recomned it unless it is cheap because I service one with the main capstan flywheel slightly deformed and starting to crack in several places. This is a show stopper for this machine. It is not the first time I have seen these alloy flywheel cracked. I cant stand why they have use this cheap material on this level of deck. The only posible solution is try to take the magnet from the DD that is attached to the old flywheel and machining a new one in a material that wont "decompose". I love JVC and I think they are pretty underrated. My 661 still performing exeptionally, but I think it is matter of time it will develop the same issue.
im about to buy a teac v770 as well, for my colection, i only buy black decks and i have been a fan of the teac tascam decks, one whole side of my shelving is just teac stuff
Стоить заметить что синяя подсветка это совсем редкость для аппаратов 70-х и 80-х. В конце 70-х (Pioneer CT-F615 того времени разработки) ещё не было светодиодов синено цвета. Вероятно был использован светофильтр.
Yes, it's likely a standard green VFD with a filter on it.
back in the late 80s I wanted to buy Aiwa ADWX 808, but instead I got me Aiwa ADWX 777, good recording quality but poor no FLUO display....in the begginig of 90s AIWA change logo to "aiwa" woth 828 or 929 but then I didn`t have any desire to buy another "aiwa" deck. Now I`m still after AIWA ADWX 808 or 909...suprisingly best cassette deck I had (among 5-6 models) was Sansui DX 701 - not that beautiful display (all in orange in Sansui style) but excellent recording!!!
if you get a NAD 6300, you might still think it's ugly. BUT, with a blind test vs your most favorite deck; it will win you over. They were "made in Japan"... not China or Taiwan.
Stimmt, ich habe eins und es klingt phantastisch. ❤
What would be super cool is a comparison between Victor dd99 and tdv931 for recording and playback. Based on forums, they are both called top of the JVC range.
They're both top of the line. I will be comparing them to the rest of the heavy hitters in the collection, but it's getting harder to find good tracks to do that with. I'll do my best, anyway. I can tell you that when I got the DD-99 to output on both channels it sounded amazing with tapes recorded on the A&D GX-Z9100. Should find out what the 931 can do before too long. I hope to start working on it next week.
Between the Victor dd9 and dd10, I think the only difference is Super ANRS vs Dolby C; however, this seems to be a distinction for the JDM models only. The JVC equivalent of DD9 does not have super ANRs.
Every NAD I have 'HAD' doesn't stay long it always has mysterious issues
Did this machine fall on its back ?
Victor/JVC direct drives have much to be proud of, but unfortunately the 'listenability' factor of the Victor heads just don't compare to Nakamichi, nor even the Canon Amorphous heads used in the 3 head Aiwa, and later Sony decks. The only deck I would consider equal to the best Nak (or even slightly better in the bass) is the Aiwa XK-009. (That being said, I'd love to get my hands on the TD-V1N--the only Victor with the Canon Amorphous heads!)
I'm seriously thinking more about the TD-V1 as well now that the TD-V931 is up and running (video a week from Saturday). XK-009 or XK-S7000 is inevitable for me. I just need to find either one at the same time as I have the money for one. As far as Nak goes, I just wish the good stuff was cheaper so I could get my hands on them. Pricing on their top decks is absolutely unreasonable made worse by the fact that people are actually biting at those prices.
@@Oklawolf So true, I got lucky and found my RX-505 locally on craigslist for a reasonable price, otherwise I would not own a Nak!
You should get a reel to reel.
It's a long rabbit hole😂
I’ve got one. It’s supposed to be part of the summer of Sony but needs so little that I was waiting to combine it with the last attempt on fixing that Sony receiver. New IC never showed up for the receiver, so now it’s going to be a short midweek video. I never really got into open reel though.
Why do you have Covid? Didn't you get the special elixer ?
My sister caught it - I got it from her. I’m fully vaxed and boosted. At least I kept my sense of taste this time and didn’t have to go looking for ultra spicy food.
I have an ADF810 with the headblock stuck inside cassette.m Is that fixable?
Very likely, as long as the door hasn't been forced open which would cause damage. Depending on what's wrong it may be tricky to get the cassette back. If the belts went out during play, manipulating the flywheels should disengage the head block. Could also be stuck pinch roller pivots due to old grease, which is harder to deal with as you have to force the head block back down somehow before it can disengage. I've never worked on that model but my Carver TD1700 and Aiwa XK-007 videos might be of some help there. Similar transport.
You really have to check Revox B215 and B710 for me best tape decks ever direct 4 motors
I would love to someday. They have the same problem as Nakamichi - too expensive when I find them.
Well, 931 will never be a Dragon killer. I had one. It's a good deck with some potential problem with tape transport. Back tension problem. But I prefer a simplier 707 with calibration. But I don't use it much. I have other decks to play with. Too many Dragon killers out there, but non of them really are. Usually they can't come close even to ZX7/9 or CR. 😊
I have my doubts as well, but I'll give it a chance. It's going to have to impress me more than my GX-Z9100 does. I'll likely never own a Dragon at today's prices.
@Oklawolf It is a better sounding deck then 9100. That's for sure.
Harman Kardon 491 was the true Dragon Killer.
Checkout Technics RS B100
I would love to if I can find one that's affordable.
@@Oklawolf I rock out to my Technics RS M95.
That's another one I'm looking for, along with the M85/88.
@@Oklawolf I have 85 also
Hi from Australia. How do you have the energy to do this with covid? I just wanted to die...lol.
Fizzy sugar and taking my time.
tops
Sorry, nothing is a Dragon killer.
Wow man! nice decks! already waiting for repair videos!
P.S. akai gx r88 that relay switching erase heads regarding in which direction recording goes and you can just clean it, because that transparent plastic cover can be easily removed :) Have one, fixed one - its not as easy as other akai decks like gx9, gx 75, 95... for sure...
Cheers!
Thanks! I'll keep that in mind when I get to that deck. I remember your video... I don't remember why I wanted one so much after that, but here it is.
@@Oklawolf Thats a nice deck - thats why :) You will be fine :) Cheers