Hi there! As the title implies, I've been visiting this great forum for some time now. Learning mostly about Walkmans, how the work and how to fix them, what makes a model better or worse than others and all about cassette tapes in general. I've been listening to vinyl records for years now on a crappy Lenco turntable since my father passed his collection down to me. I appreciate nice sound quality but wouldn't call myself a hardcore audiophile. For example, my daily use headphones are a pair of Sennheiser HD25. They are great and although there are better headphones out there, I'm more than happy with these. Anyway, a few months ago I found a couple of walkmans stored away at home. A bottom-of-the-line chunky plastic Casio one and my mother's Sony WM-EX512. Just needed some cleaning and a new belt and oh boy did it wake up something inside me! I dug out my father's tapes (which I claimed as mine from now on!) and I've been listening to them almost non-stop. The EX512 performs rather well, although fiddling with Dolby and Mega Bass to get the best audio from a tape can be a bit tricky. Thanks to this forum's guides and my local second hand sites I've been able to score so far a Sony WM-104 for 20 euros (plus another 25 I had to spend on a WM-109 to "donate" a hinge block and both spindles since the 104 had the gears cracked) and a WM-F701c for just 25 euros! Both need new belts but seem to work without issues. I plan to use the WM-F701c as my daily machine paired with the Sennheiser headphones (just bought a WM-EX608 for dirt cheap because it comes with the highly sought after headphone adapter!). I've been using the Casio one as a winder, and the WM-EX512 will be used for travelling or testing tapes at flea markets or thrift shops. The WM-104 I just couldn't let it pass, that graphic EQ looks incredible! As for "retro" walkmans, I'd like to add probably a WM-2 because of the styling but other models are way overpriced. I'd like to own someday a DD-30 and DC-2, although finding the later for a decent price is hard. In the future I plan to upgrade my crappy turntable to a decent HiFi system with record player, amp and cassette deck to make my own mixtapes. If not, I could always go for a D6C! I hope this wall of text wasn't too boring but if you're gonna introduce yourself, better do it properly right? See ya around!
Welcome Limomo. It sounds as if you are well into analogue already. People here love to see photos of other peoples finds. It is always worth looking around flea markets etc as I have bought several Sony Walkmans for around £2 or £3 each. Nothing that special but you never know what you might find.
Of course! I'll snap some pictures of them as soon as I get home! Never paid too much attention to walkmans (walkmen? ) at thrift shops until now. Who knows what kind of stuff I let pass!
welcome aboard You have already collected some good walkmans and as Longman mentioned we love to see pictures
Here they are! On top (left to right) are the Casio AS-310R and the well-known Sony WM-F701. Nothig special about the Casio, it's a typical bulky plastic cassette player with radio. As I said, I use it mainly to rewind tapes or to test flea market tapes. The WM-F701c just needs a new belt to fully test it. I plan to use it with the jack adapter and a gumstick battery once I clean the contacts a but. By the way, the tab on the battery door is broken so I've got to pay attention in case one pops up in the Bay. Otherwise it's in very good shape. Bottom row (left to right) is a WM-109 which I don't plan to get running, since some critical parts went to the WM-104 in the middle. Specifically, one of the hinge blocks and both spindle assemblies. The WM-104 should be perfectly functional now, everything broken or missing has been fixed and the mechanism has been greased, just needs a new belt too. And lastly, bottom right has been my daily player for some time now. The Sony WM-EX512 has decent sound quality and interesting features like Auto Skip. It'll be replaced as my go-to player by the WM-F701c once the new belt arrives! And I couldn't leave without showing you my tape collection so far! The ones on the left were my father's and they're all bootlegs haha. He still cared to make custom J-cards, mostly hand drawn or glued pictures. I'll be posting more pics of the players on the Gallery subforum!
