30 March 1998
I just gotta tell you this story. I've been enthralled by good music and sound since I was a kid. I guess I got that from my father, who built his own ham radio as a teen, and his own stereo when he was in college. My mother says he was also fanatical about great sound. The first pieces I got were a TEAC V-909RX auto-reverse cassette deck in '84 and a Carver Receiver in '85 back in Omaha. In Germany I picked up a Denon DP-47F turntable; a pair of JBL L20T 2-way speaker; an ADC SS-315X equalizer with spectrum analyzer, pink noise generator, and microphone; a Technics M253X 3-head cassette deck; a Pioneer PD-5100 CD player; and a Burwen Research TNE 7000A Transient Noise Eliminator (LP click & pop filter). Since coming back from Germany, I haven't done much on the stereo, except for adding a Realistic/Shure V15RS cartridge to the turntable, until this year.
My boss, Jerry, who was stationed in the Pacific in the late '70's, like many Americans stationed there, bought a lot of premo stereo equipment for next to nothing. Since I've known him, I've acquired 2 digital timers; a Marantz SD6000 2-speed cassette deck; a Kenwood model Eleven G receiver; a Kenwood KD-5077 turntable; and a TEAC X-10R reel-to-reel deck. All pieces were in not perfect shape, and I've worked on all the pieces, getting them back in shape.
My obsession though, has been the X-10R. I've always loved reel-to-reel recorders, and this is one of the best. After getting the tape path straight again, I acquired a dbx 150 Type I noise reduction unit for it from the net. Then, on an impulse, I found a Phase Linear 1000 Autocorrelator Noise Reduction System (one of Mr. Carver's first commercial designs) from an E-Bay auction. Wanting to record my albums to reel-to-reel, I started on tuning the BR TNE 7000A (which had been in storage for some years) to find out that one of the channels had gone screwy.
I troubleshot it down to one of the op amps. I searched around here for a replacement, and even with the great electronics stores in the area (MCM, Parts Express, and Mendelson's are just down the road), no one had this part in stock. So, to the net I go. I found the NTE site, and crossed all the chips in the unit. Then some more hopping, and I found the Mouser electronics site (GREAT STORE & SERVICE). I got all the chips for the BR for $37.00, so I repopulated the board. After some weeks of tweaking, I got the unit almost to prior condition, but not perfect. I didn't have any documentation on what should be set to what. So, to the net again.
I was searching DejaNews (which is now a part of Google), and found a guy by the name of Jay Rose who has the schematics and service manual on his site (thanks to Dick Burwen) for the TNE 7000A. GREAT! When I got the Phase Linear 1000 unit, it didn't come with the owner's manual, so I decided while I'm in the detective mood, to search for help on this, also. I found a guy who's willing to send me a copy of the manual for free. DITTO! 2 for 2 in one night.
While troubleshooting the TNE 7000A, I was also rebuilding the X-10R to factory specs. I've gotten a user's manual, service manual, pinch rollers, and record heads from TEAC. I also have play heads on order now (Thought they weren't that bad. But after replacing the record heads, found out they were). I also did some querying around the usenet and audio sites for a replacement stylus for my V15RS cartridge, and found a guy in NH who had a brand new cartridge in his inventory, and bought it from him. In a little while, I should have a killer system my father would have been proud of.
I'll keep you up to date on my progress in this matter.