Hi team! After succesfull restoration of the japanese version of this great unit, I am facing a very common, yet difficult to fix problem: it has a lot of flutter when playing tapes. Since it always comes with wow included, it does sound "average". It is very noticeable with medium and high frequencies. I have cleaned the head, rollers, capstans (outside and inside while changing the belt during restoration). The pinch rollers look pretty good, not glazed, cracked or deformed. Capstan shafts are straight and lubricated, belt is good with no visible vibrato (eveness of the belt, it does not moves sideways or up and down during transport). This is a 0.5mm belt, very thin. Any ideas on what I can do to diminish this as much as possible? Thank you all!!
There might be some ideas on here, flutter is always a tough one http://www.manquen.net/audio/index.php?page=17
In my experience with Cassette decks and Walkman units, most of the flutter is solved by rejuvenating and cleaning the pinch rollers. Alcohol is not the best option, use a rejuvenation solution. Hope this helps.
Having restored three Aiwas the HS-G500, HS-G09 and HS-P07 I have found the belt is super critical in terms of wow and flutter. In a number of cases the belt I was supplied although the correct 0.5mm thickness was slighly larger than the original spec in diameter. Fitting a slightly smaller (by 2mm) 67mm belt on the HS-P07 greater improved it but even the HS-G500 still does have some W&F after about 6 belt changes. I've had to accept it becuase you cannot compare any belt driven player with a "disc drive" Walkman. If by flutter you mean that slightly "underwater" sound I have it on a DDIII which is really annoying because it is "disc drive" it does not have belts. I have worked out that this particular DDIII has a high degree of motor vibration present unlike any others in my collection. So I am wondering if your problem is vibration related too. The other thing you notice more with Aiwas is that flutter effect is always more noticeable when running a line out from the headphone socket to an amp of external powered speaker but not as noticeable when using it with headphones. Not sure why this should be the case except that there is no dedicated line out and headphone jacks are not matched to line in impedance specifications for amps etc.
Hi Team ! Very interesting reading, thank you for the information !! I will try with the rejuvenation solution and see if it can help with the situation, thank you ! @Silverera thank you for all this input. Yes, I have tried at least 3 belt changes: one 0.5mm (supposedly original one), a 0.5mm generic one, and a 0.7mm generic. I shall try then with a slightly smaller one and see how it goes. I remember trying one that was too tight and it sounded horrible, could not get the correct speed at all LOL. As for the difference between using an external amp and headphones, I perceive it the same. Really appreciate the help, I shall service the unit again and make more tests. Thank you !!