Reminds me of taking apart Volkswagens. A lot of "what the **** were they thinking when they built this thing!?" and a cheery service manual that simply says "installation is the reverse of disassembly".

10:24 I thought you were AVGN for a second there...

Your style is perfect and I just wanted to say I hope you continue doing everything you do on this channel. Seeing a new upload from you is a special thing to people like me.

The amazing thing is that you are able to keep all your vintage stuff in order and accessible. I had a ton of neat stuff but sometime it's not worth the effort trying to find to and get it out.

Reminds me a lot of the decks you used to get with entry-level stack systems. A matching tuner, amplifier, turntable, speakers..and a lovely little (simulated!) wood-grain cabinet with (obligatory) glass door and castors! Happy days :')

I used to live in Bethlehem and remember that station. Never could find that top loader Realistic cassette deck. I'll have to scan through the catalog a few more times.

I've Got One Of Those, It Still Kicks. Thanx For The Info.

1:10 The font of the word "METAL" is the SEGA logo, but in black instead of blue.

I used to have a seperates stereo system in the 80's. The tuner/amp was labled National-Panasonic, the tape deck was Technics-Panasonic, the CD was Technics and the turn-table was National. Hell of a mix-up, but sounded fantastic.

It's a really gorgeous and aesthetically satisfying deck!

I've came across several of these at my workplace. Recently, in a bid to compete against most thrift stores, we started making anything in the DIY section $5, no matter what it is.

It's an exact replica of a RISING Japanese Stereo I used to have in Baghdad, back in the 1970's - Same power buttons, piano keys and selector switches & VU meters....

When I fitted out my 28 ft sloop sailboat I bought a Panasonic cassette player and am/fm radio bought around 1976. It looked very much like this unit but of course no gauges, no mic jacks but a radio frequency display and the dial to adjust. I had two Polk speakers to have great tunes. It was powered with a 12 volt dc tp 110 volt inverter. I gave it to a girlfriend in Key West when I removed it for more storage.

I love the way you present electronics in your videos. Keep up the good work!

I was surprised to be scrolling through my KZfaq recommendations and see a video on the cassette deck I own. This was a great video, learned quite a few things. I got this not too long ago, in great working condition, and I am quite happy with it. Thanks for the video!

God, the six pence cover of there she goes takes me BACK

I used to have the Technics version. I bought it from a yard sale in 1993 for 10 bucks. Great tape deck!

Also the case being made from plastic (injection moulding) would have made the manufacturing process much cheaper. This would have been a way to make a higher end product (i.e. quality internal parts) at a budget price.

I recently bought a Panasonic rs-635 at a Salvation Army for $7, looks very similar to yours but has a removable top

14:18 Love that vintage legal ID/jingle from WAEB 104.1 Allentown/Easton/Bethlehem PA !

I'm glad you rescued it.

Thanks for the look inside & excellent song choices too...😄

A time where entry level equipment was still decent and made fun.

It's a nice looking deck from the front but oh, that layout to get into it for a service - madness!

I have the exact same model. Still works. Recorded lots of tapes!

After getting into cassettes, I realize that ease of service is a far more wonderful thing than exterior polish or even technical specs. A Dolby S deck that cant be serviced is just a deck you are leasing from the landfill.

I have one of those. Been in storage for the last 35 years. I think it should still work.

I saw the Technics version of this deck just the other day at a thrift store. Very cool looking and I was tempted to buy it but I didn't. When I tried it, it played a bit slow and the take up reel was a bit sluggish. Also the VU meters didn't light up. Watching your video I'm glad I did not buy it 😅😅

My favorite is the unique "Foot" mounted to the plastic access, where the other 3 are normal, reminds me of my 1st cassette deck 1981 JVC, which lasted about 3-4 years.

The tastefully chosen sans-serif font used on the front panel really adds to the appeal - manufacturers of today's inexpensive electronic products would do well to take note.

My dad got one on the late 70s and I've used it a lot. Never gave belt problems, but one day I had to open it to calibrate the playback speed and noticed that it was indeed, upside down. it is still here. Once had to change the head and that was it.

Thank you for your video review! Nice Panasonic deck,and very old but it is still working!👍

I have the same deck. For a 40 year old deck, it works like a charm.

Sounds awesome and I can't believe recorded off the radio really good job and they've held up well for their age the tapes

Great video!!

In my experience gear from the National/Panasonic/National Panasonic/Technics stable in the 70s and 80s was reliable and built to last. I'm still using an amp and speakers from them from that era that I bought new. I suspect that the engineers didn't design with servicing in mind because it usually wasn't needed.

Great and informative video! Thanks, I would NOT want to try and replace belts in that machine! I had Hitachi's version of this style deck, (I think Radio Shack had a similar looking model too) and I enjoyed it very much. I completely agree with you about the tactile feel, appearance and ambiance of a piece of equipment! Some of the stuff that came out in the 1970's had great styling! I'm thinking the Pioneer 707 R2R or Akai GX77 R2R decks, for example. Great styling! Technics and Pioneer turntables, the new linear tracking machines, all showed style and a technological grace that was palpable. I believe that part of the pleasure of owning a stereo component system is seeing it -- and feeling a bit of a technological thrill when you do. The case , the lights, the tactile rotary or slider controls and switches, the satisfying "clunk" of a depressed and locked in position key or switch -- these all made for a unique and sensory pleasurable experience. I remember in the mid-70's there was a minimalist push to make components -- which cost more than even the high end Technics products -- look like plain matte black boxes. The claim was that all the money went for quality components and superior engineering and sound instead of "eye candy". I sampled some of these components, but did not find the claim to be accurate in the listening room at the stereo show/listening room (remember those?). The slight improvement in sound didn't make up for the total loss of any eye-candy. I.e. their radio tuner had no dial scale or station indicator. Instead the tuning knob and face place had a legend for the radio stations engraved upon it. ONE light showed if you found a stereo station. It was almost impossible to tune and -- with no eye candy, it was "blah". Didn't sound very good either! On the next shelf was an Onkyo receiver with so many lights and switches, it looked like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise! And it sounded BETTER (more punchy) than the minimalist component system that cost so much more. Guess which one I bought? One to beam up...

I found one of these in a Goodwill about 10 years ago. Awesome mixdown deck, and used to to transfer a lot of music back and forth from a computer, and as a mastering deck rom my Tascam 4 track. It worked until the day it didn't.

Great upload Mr VWestlife - Classic deck. As an old user the missing element for me is always a backlight behind the tape cassette. When making a mix tape the anxiety was always 'how much tape on the reel' before it ends. Backlight arrangement always helped with this. Love the piano key operation on this one. A thing of great beauty - Well done Mr VWestlife

I'm like 90% sure I owned one of these. I like it. Very solid. Reliable

I like that it isn't longer than it needs to be. Some of the newer devices intentionally make it bigger when they're just adding more air inside it. even going through the trouble of separating the power supply when they could've just put the brick inside and add a figure of 8 lead connector, hell some manufacturers grab an external brick and screw it in and that's fine imo

2:21 "it's the latest from Sixpence None the Richer.." ..which is a cover of The La's 'There She Goes' from the early 90s. I bet they thought it was an original song on that station..

This was probably sold as a stack. I remember the "Technics Supersystem" ads in the 1980s from local HiFi dealers. My first deck was the next gen version of this, the Technics dolby C / "microprocessor" control panel deck. Worked great for years.

elegant

"It's the hardest thing I'll ever have to do... To turn around and walk away pretending I don't love you..." This unit is rather handsome in that it would easily fit in with most home-built stereo systems of the day that might have older pieces. It wouldn't look too far out of place sitting atop my Panasonic RS-803US 8-track player, and both units are similar in their truncated depth. I've taken apart many a cassette deck in my life. This deck is, by far, the most ridiculous I've ever seen, with my Sony CFD-470 running a close second (and that puppy ate belts like it was an All-You-Can-Eat Belt Buffet). To put things in perspective, I've also been deep within the bowels of car tape decks too, and they're not even that challenging in comparison. That Sony made me so mad that I insisted my next tape deck be direct drive (which ended up being a Sony TCF-WR635S that I bought brand new and still works flawlessly).

Very nice looking deck, the TEAC A-100 is very similar, feature wise. Decks like these just have that classic look.

It's the hardest thing I'll ever have to do, lol. I like how you strategically place lyrics into your videos.

This piece of equipment reminds me of my Technics RS-M6

Me (at the start of the video): What's so upside down about this? Looks normal to me, Me (later on) : Oh.

I like the EIA Resolution Chart 1956 in the background, very useful pattern to measure TVL resolution of any display.

I have never encountered a bad belt in any Panasonic device. The worst I've encountered was a cracking belt in a 1986 Panasonic-manufactured Sylvania VCR, but it still worked fine, just a little bit of audio wow and flutter that still didn't go away after replacing it. On the other hand, every belt in my 1979 Phillips 5171 cassette deck was bad with the lone exception of the flat main drive belt.

When I was a young teen back in 1980 I got the Technics M6 model as a birthday present. It lasted over 15 years. Good basic machine.

I had an older version of these that I found on the street and tore apart when I was a kid. The mechanism did have problems but I used the electronics as a mic amp. Did the job quite well.

In the stereo in my living room I have a nice Technics rs-m24 from 1980 and it supports type I,II,III and IV.

“Genuine Walnut Woodgrain Vinyl Veneer”. I still remember puzzling over that little sticker on my Sound Design Quadraphonic 8-Track system around 1977. I worked all that summer to buy it. I found two quad 8-tracks that interested me, Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon and the Yes album with Roundabout (I think it was titled Fragile). It sounded good through the speakers with lots of volume but the headphones that came with it were amazing. Just another example of a format that didn’t last, but it was cool for awhile.

Panasonic also made the MCS branded stuff (JC Pennys). I had the this same deck branded as MCS.

I couldn't tell you when I subscribed, but I've watched a ton of your videos over the last day. It brings back so many memories seeing and hearing so many recordings from radio stations I grew up listening to in NJ. One thing I can't get over though is the way you pronounce Technics. As a former "local" DJ that has worked in many clubs and bars, and have met hundreds of other DJs from around the world, everyone else pronounces it "teck-NEEKS", not "TECK-nicks". It honestly weirds me out hearing the way you say it. lol

We used to have the Technics version in black with gold accents. It looked very nice. We bought it with my dad as new with a Technics receiver and a turntable. I’m still using the turntable, I think my sister might have the deck and receiver. I recorded all my tapes with that deck when I was young... lots of memories.

The separate left and right record level is interesting. My similar Technics RS-M7 has a dual concentric knob. Fortunately the RS-M7 has screws on the top of the case, although I haven't been inside it to service it (yet). Nice video.

It was so good to see one of these. I have one of these stored in my basement somewhere. I love older tech audio equipment too. My collecting peaked when I started buying Realistic stereo equip.The STA-2300 receiver, 4 Mach ones, Lab 440 turntable and their SCT-32 metal tape deck. I used the Panasonic deck to play tapes and then make copies on the SCT-32. I never liked carrying original tapes in the car because of heat. The most amazing thing to me is in 1978 I bought four 120 minute Supertape cassettes. They strongly recommended to not use then in car decks because the tape was very thin. I went to my friends house and recorded those tapes full of albums on a Marantz deck. Carried them around in my car for years. To this very day they still play with only a slight degradation in sound quality. So many people made fun of Radio Shack stuff and cheap Panasonic stuff but I still have mine in working order to this day. That includes my Panasonic dynamite detonator 8 track player. Lol

I really enjoy learning about cassette deck from those days getting out of cassettes years ago. I gave away allot of my childhood cassettes I gave away and went to vinyl. I got another small deck recently, mostly use it to find weird albums at thrift stores, to covert to MP3.

Even the low end decks looked high end back then! I bet it performs like one! The only thing that gives it away, is the back panel!

That thing sound very good, primarily because I now use hearing aids and tape his is only a distant memory. :)

Awesome - I was looking forward to another audio-related video :-D

It sounds amazing

It's a nice looking deck, I like the analog VU meters in these older cassette decks. My guess is the design was optimized for easy assembly instead of ease of service.

It's probably not the best thing they ever made but there's just something about vintage HiFi separates that's hard to resist

I have the Technics RS-M8 later version of this deck with the only differences being the analogue VU meters have been replaced with a vacuum display & no wood grain effect case - great work horse deck built like a tank!! When mine needed fixed a few years ago I tried to take it apart (with very little success) & had to send to a HiFi expert so I feel your pain!

"The look and feel i just as important as it sounds" Exactly! That's why my high end '90s deck sits in my attic studio to make the recordings, and my nice and shiny piano key AKAI low-end deck has a prominent place in the living room. It's also why Crosleys are so popular even though there are cheaper products that sound a lot better. Crosley and Victrola really have mastered the nouveau retro design. Their equipment often looks even cooler and more retro than the originals. And with that look, who cares how it sounds?

sweeET 🍃thank you for sharing this one!! New Orleans Louisiana..have a Magnificent weekend🦋StephopalOpal

I still have my Technics deck...works like a charm

Good to see your drive belts are still solid. Mine went to liquid and what a mess. I was able to get a repair kit on line and replacing them is a treat. Also, Mine had the feature where you could set it up for a timer. The controls could be set to record but the mechanism wouldn't close until the timer ( deck plugged into wall plug /light timer) came on and then the drive wheel would engage. That way you didn't get a flat spot on the drive wheel.

Single Cassette, Twin VU meters, Physical Play Buttons and proper toggle switches. The classic look. But my favourite type are the top loaders from the early 70s. They are bullet proof and LOOK the business. Looks matter.

I had one of these in 2002 it had a great Dolby

Had the Tandy version of this deck and it worked perfectly for nearly 25 years.

I remember you making videos of this 10 years ago

Wow! I had one of these 30 years ago. It was a good piece, recorded well if you got the gain just right.

Those input/output leads would drive me nuts, mounting RCA chassis sockets would be my only remedy 🤣

Had one was great record in stereo via mic. Loved it.

This model isn't that bad compared to the final boss of service unfriendly tape decks: the Alpage AL300. Trust me, this thing is a whole new level, a true nightmare to take apart, and even vorst to put back together. The wiring is insanely complex, and entierely made of wrapped wires (only a few modls were produced with detachable connectors). This means it's almost impossible to separate the mecha from the main board, because the wires are so short. The electronic part is allo incredibly complex (almost no IC, everything is done with discrete components and some logic gates for deck control) and spare almost impossible to find. But at least the Alpage is worth the suffering of fixing it

Off topic, but do you have a Crosley RSD3 by any chance? I am asking, because I am on my third one (the third in two months), and like the previous two, I am noticing at least one problem, and I don't know what is causing it. In parts of a record, the audio sounds like it is wobbly dragging most of the time, yet the vocals sound perfectly fine, sometimes it is the other way around, and sometimes it sounds worse. I can't pinpoint what is causing this. The first one I had didn't have this problem, but it was still not working right, the second one still had problems including a problem similar to the one I am having with the current one, and the third one isn't as bad as the other two but I still sense a problem. I don't know what to do. I am reluctant to send the current one back for yet another replacement since this is the third one I have bought since December that is having issues, and it is frustrating me how so many others who make videos about it on KZfaq have no problems with theirs, but the three I have been through all have some sort of defect. And another reason I am reluctant to send the other one back is because part of me wants to think that this problem here could be fixed. One of my followers said it might be the platter, but I don't think it is. Is it the stylus? I can't figure it out! And I have asked only one other person on KZfaq so far directly if they knew what the problem could be, but I didn't hear back from them yet.

Back in the day I had that exact tape deck! It served me well. After I completed my transition to CD I threw it out.

I have a National Panasonic music centre from the 1970’s, and all of its electrics are only accessible from underneath. Must have been a Matsushita design style of the time.

I have a lot of vintage components and cassette decks (Sony, Akai, Pioneer, Tascam, Bang & Olufsen, Nikko, Aiwa, Harman Kardon, Toshiba, etc); too many actually, but I love the industrial design aesthetic of vintage decks (silver faces, VU metres, chunky buttons, etc.) and other equipment that have no match these days in term of cool, tactile design. :)

Great video! thank you for sharing it. I love the look of this vintage decks and the analog VU meters but was really scared of buying just a piece of junk unable to service it because I'm not a technician. So just bought a brand new Sony TC WE475 with servo controlled motors some years ago and feel very happy with it although still missing those huge VU meters.

Awesome deck. Great video as usual Graig.

I have a question I have a pair of pioneer CD j 1000 mk 2 the question are can I take out the disc player and use something like a flash drive instead?

How do I get the uv meters to work? I’m not sure if I have to have a speaker hooked up for it to work

I have a Sony TC-FX2 Cassette Deck and the left channel VU meter doesn't work. Sometimes the needle shows some movement but for the most part it doesn't function. Any ideas on how I could fix it?

I wish we could go back to a time when songs like that were "new". Not because of the songs, cause I was never a fan of any of these ones, but because times seemed much simpler.

Very nice!

“There She Goes” was *not* “new” from Sixpence None The Richer. It was a cover, a much inferior cover, of the original song by The Las Stupid radio DJ from decades ago!

I bought mine new a Woolco in Canada when i was 14....cool to see it again

I Have one I bought it new and still use it everyday I love it

Oh crap! That’s the same cassette deck my father had for a long time and how I learned about them as a kid.

I have an Akai CS-M01A from the same era (1980) that competes with this Panasonic 608D at the entry level with Dolby B NR & Metal tape recording, both have the same feature set minus the line/mic switch (the Akai switches to mic when a microphone is plugged in) and both have plastic front chassis with simulated wood panel. However, the Akai has RCA jacks and a fiberboard back panel instead of the plastic unibody this Panasonic has. The Akai on the other hand is more user-serviceable because the top/side chassis can be removed and serviced from above rather than below like this deck.

Nice Compaq Deskpro in the background!

OMG! Those who designed these units, seriously, what were they thinking? You have to completely disassemble the Deck to be able to replace the belts if necessary. It's not bad that they leave a hole if one wants to adjust the speed of the engine, but from there, to have to disassemble the unit almost completely to do simple maintenance ....

4:54 what is the name of this music?