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!

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.

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

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!

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!

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.

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

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..

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

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

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.

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!👍

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

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.

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

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.

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'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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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!

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

Superb repair....

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.

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'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.

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.

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

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

Thanks for the video, Kevin.

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

Excellent sound quality.

Nice Video, the Old Mercedes are nice

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

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 !

Still better than any brand new cassette deck made today.

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

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.

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

I like it. Beautiful 90s Sony design.

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.

Very catchy dark ambient track at the beginning! 🙂

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

Just the video I needed to watch having my dinner 😍

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.

Avoiding the dreaded belt goo is such a win.

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!

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

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.

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

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

What cha gonna do ! *sings Walkman fever *

Good to see the old decks ;-)

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.

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

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

@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.

"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.

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.

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!

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.

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

Nice find…. 👍🏼

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

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.

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.

Pablo Cruise called and wants their Whatcha Gonna Do back

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.

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!

You know, it sounds pretty good!

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.

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.

Holy cow that first train part has some serious staging!

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...

sound good!

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!

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

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

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

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"

Another great sign of cheapness is the splitting of the LEDs to make it look like there's more active segments, the giveaway being they only light up two at a time. I don't think I've seen this on a Sony product previously, but it's a trick used on lots of low-rent boomboxes to make the meters look far more entertaining then they are.

The worst case of that rubber rot I've seen was on a tape backup drive. There's ONE roller that drives a wheel in the tape cartridge, which feeds the tape, turns the reels, and everything. Completely molten. Right down to the metal base. It was like a chocolate chip fresh out of the oven. So that ought to be a fun restoration project some day.

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.

Philips had mastered the art of Plastic Cassette Decks in 80's itself. Seemingly great looking decks or boomboxes had plastic mechanism inside.

I remember this cassette deck from back in the days.

"Competitive Spirit"... hmm, sounds a lot like David Foster's "Winter Games".

Slugbug is fantastic. Sounds like early Oingo Boingo, which was the best Oingo Boingo.

10:12 hahaha "you get plastic gear rattling in stereo"

I can confirm that 90s Sony belts were junk. My TC-WR635S was built in '93, and all the belts have "melted." Belt degradation happened between last use in 2010 and 2021 when I dug it out of the basement to use it again. Also interesting to note this has Dolby B and C, and yet doesn't have HX Pro. Quite a few Sony decks had HX Pro, even the ones without DNR. Deck sounds great, though!

When cleaning the black goo, dip a cotton bud in 99% IPA and put some pressure when cleaning, the IPA melts the goo away really quick, turns a big job into a little job.