Yamaha Deck Users?

[Rat44]

I am a fan of Yamaha cassette decks.
I have had a few of them and think they are great for home use.
I don't see them mentioned very often.
Anybody else use them?
My local tech told me the innards are comparable to the Naks.

I use a KX-1200 as my everyday machine.I also have a KX-390 for my wifes use.

[Flyquail56]

After using a Harman Kardon HK2000 for 20+ years, I purchased a Yamaha KX-530 and KX-330 several years ago. I put new belts in them, and they have performed flawlessly ever since. I searched the archives at Audio Asylum for recommendations and found that quite a few people liked the Yamaha decks.

I have been thinking about adding a 3 head deck to the collection. How do your two machines compare?

Mike

[Scorpion8]

I picked up a used K-720 w/dbx. Loved the deck and it's styling but it had a record issue that I could never get straightened out.

[clhboa]

I bought a Yamaha K-1000 a couple of years ago from a guy at work. It plays real nice but I haven't really done any recording with it because the balance between left and right is really off when it comes to record mode. I have the remote and the original owners manual. I don't have the box but I do have the box for the remote. It is in excellent shape cosmetically. It's a 3 head direct drive deck w/ dbx.

[NAD613]

Yamaha made nice decks & I think they were the only other company besides NAD to have the Play Trim feature on their decks. They made a really nice deck, the KX-393, which had Play Trim & manual bias adjustment. When I tried to find out where I could buy one, I found out Yamaha discontinued it in 2006.

[stuwee]

I am a fan of Yamaha cassette decks.
I have had a few of them and think they are great for home use.
I don't see them mentioned very often.
Anybody else use them?
My local tech told me the innards are comparable to the Naks.

I use a KX-1200 as my everyday machine.I also have a KX-390 for my wifes use.

Thanks a lot Rat44, you know darn well, I'm finding Yammies irresistable lately *devil* Enabler *stirpot*.......must...look......at something else.....

[Rat44]

I had a 950. The higher end machines were just as good as any thing else out there.
I don't think they ever got into pro stuff.
I wouldn't turn your nose up at them if you run accross them,they do kinda' fly under the radar.

[Des-Lab]

I have two Yamaha decks and I LOVE them. First is a KX-930 three head. Great deck but doesn't get along very well with tapes made on other machines. The other is a KX-300U. Perhaps the finest basic two head machine I have ever known.

[Rat44]

I have two Yamaha decks and I LOVE them. First is a KX-930 three head. Great deck but doesn't get along very well with tapes made on other machines. The other is a KX-300U. Perhaps the finest basic two head machine I have ever known.

Thats the first I've heard of that.
I thought that was a Nak problem that was well known.
I have never had a problem with my tapes on other units.

[Marc Hugo]

Hi Rat44,

I think they are great. I bought a new Yamaha KX-493 a couple of months ago and am thoroughly impressed with it. Matt, the KX-930 is the model I have always lusted after.

Actually, I was after the tweaked KX580SE (with massive luminous green Nichihon caps +++) and was pretty well out of luck (I was also after the Dolby S capability). So I settled for this unit for a nice Dolby C match with my Dad's KX-393 (also a terrific deck). This ploy worked....

However, I really ended up really liking this machine - good, accurate auto cal, great display and outstandingly clean, clear reproduction. Alhtough its a 2-head deck, these GF heads are extraordinary.

Incidentally, a model to go for would probably be the KX-690 - last of the Yamaha double capstan transports, with Dolby S. Either they are very rare or their owners are hanging onto them for obvious reasons.

I really can't fault it -

Cheers - Marc

[speakerman1]

I have 5 Yamahas. I need a KC-2000 to round out my TOTL group. Some one said the set up is different than other decks when using the tapes. I am about to find out.

Larry

[Pacific Stereo]

We made some excellent decks, many of which I would put up against any product. And like all manufacturers, we made some very mediocre products as well.

What's funny is although I worked for Yamaha, I still run my old C-3RX, a deck I absolutely LOVE.

Not-so-subtle plug: I have a mint KX-1200U that I have gone through meticulously and will be offering up soon. Watch for it!

[tcp100]

We made some excellent decks, many of which I would put up against any product. And like all manufacturers, we made some very mediocre products as well.

What's funny is although I worked for Yamaha, I still run my old C-3RX, a deck I absolutely LOVE.

Not-so-subtle plug: I have a mint KX-1200U that I have gone through meticulously and will be offering up soon. Watch for it!

I *really* like my KX-1200U, and have two K-1020s as well.

I've gone through the KX-1200U with a fine toothed comb too - and it sounds great.

Did you work on any of that series in particular?

[ianC90]

I've recently returned to taping on my KX-930 (Since the Teac V5000 is in the shop) and I'm being forcefully reminded as to what a great deck it really is. The Auto Tape Tuning feature is spot on... even cheap-as-dirt tapes sound great! I've also been pulling out my collection of commercially recorded tapes and with the Play Trim adjusting the treble prior to Dolby processing the soud is sweet as pie! The recordings got much better when I learned that Yamaha was still using the old Japanese standard of 160nwb/m for Dolby calibration, rather than the IEC standard of 250nwb/m. That means that instead of reading the Dolby reference level at +4db, it's actually at +6db! Now I know that I can let tapes peak at up to +10 without worry.

[Time_Stand_Still]

I have a KX-930 too. It's a nice deck with many useful features. The auto tape tuning works nicely. Tapes recorded on it play back very close to original. The deck operates firmly and with ease of use. I only wish the meters switched from amber to red as they go into overload. But other than that a nice mid 90's deck.*Hi5*

[Pacific Stereo]

Did you work on any of that series in particular?
I worked on all of our products- I was a factory tech.

[Buffy]

I am a massive fan of Yamaha Decks too.

I had my first one, a KX-130, in 1990 which I bouthg from a local Hi-Fi dealer for about £80.

The rest of my Yamaha gang are all from ebay and which I have "collected" sice 2005.

I currently have: 1x KX-130
4x K220
1x K-222
1x KX-400
1x K-320 - currently needs a replacement capstan belt.
1x K-340

Both my partner and myself suffer from a condition similar to Autism. What is strange is that we both pick up a kind of "energy" from the Yammie decks, hence the reason why we've got so many of them!!!

Take care all.

Buffy x

[Rat44]

Welcome Buffy.
I have added a KX-630 also.
Yamahas can be addictive.*Hi5*

[speakerman1]

None of my Yamahas have play trim. What is it?
Larry

[Rat44]

Play trim is used to adjust the Dolby of tapes recorded on other decks.
Not always needed but sometimes it helps.

[HWTest]

Count me in with my KX-670.
Bought it new many years ago and I'm using it till now and I love it :-)
And I'm waiting till a friend of mine stops using cassettes and sells me his KX-690 *devil*

[Rat44]

Welcome to the Yamaha world.

[speakerman1]

I have 3 in my sound room and 3 in my garage. The best decks for the money. I really like them.
Larry

[speakerman1]

I need your opinion. I'm thinking of modifying one of my Yamahas. Like putting a toroidal transformer in it. IEC plug and gold RCA connectors. Is there any thing else that may improve the deck. I'm thinking of my K-1000. It is acting up so I may as well see if I can improve it. I may change the caps also. I'm just thinking.

I think I'm going to use the DD part of the transport and the dual capstan from another Yamaha as my model for the cassette deck we are designing.

I like my Yamahas.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Larry

[Craig]

I worked on all of our products- I was a factory tech.

Holy cow! I haven't heard the Pacific Stereo name like forever!! My brother worked there for years (like about 25 years ago...lol) in the Mountain View store on San Antonio Rd. What great memories!

I've had my stack since about 1985 or so. Beautiful system...flawless. Until now, that is...lol. Looks like my capstan belt(s) are in need of replacement on my K-720. I suppose I can do myself, but I'd prefer a professional to the deed. Now, comes the fun part in finding a good tech.

Anyway, just wanted to say "hey" to everybody.

Cheers....

[Naknut]

Howdy Craig from a Georgia Tapehead.*reelspin**reelspin*

[perry]

Plenty of good honest tech listed here, though your Yamaha is a pretty easy deck to work on, so find someone local to save shipping. I don't recall if Pacific Stereo does any work for others...I'm not real familiar with Cal, but there are quite few good techs listed on the west coast.

[Nakdoc]

I bought a Yamaha K-1000 a couple of years ago from a guy at work. It plays real nice but I haven't really done any recording with it because the balance between left and right is really off when it comes to record mode. I have the remote and the original owners manual. I don't have the box but I do have the box for the remote. It is in excellent shape cosmetically. It's a 3 head direct drive deck w/ dbx.

Chloba, I cannot answer your PM because you have set a preference not to receive PMs in your profile.

You may find a spot of dirt on the edge of the record head. Look at it with good light and a magnifier.

[Nakdoc]

I need your opinion. I'm thinking of modifying one of my Yamahas. Like putting a toroidal transformer in it. IEC plug and gold RCA connectors. Is there any thing else that may improve the deck. I'm thinking of my K-1000. It is acting up so I may as well see if I can improve it. I may change the caps also. I'm just thinking.

I think I'm going to use the DD part of the transport and the dual capstan from another Yamaha as my model for the cassette deck we are designing.

I like my Yamahas.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Larry

The really radical mod is to eliminate connectors in the signal path by directly soldering the wires to the circuit board.

[Marc Hugo]

The toroid sounds interesting but I think cassette decks have too low and steady a power consumption (a roughly consistent 22-30W) to be very positively affected by beefing up the power supply; rather improve on semiconductors, including signal path capacitance. Some copper shielding and perhaps improving on internal cabling might help. A friend of mine replaced all the capacitors on his decks (specifically a TEAC V8030S, a Technics RS-BX727 and one other which I forget) with Black Gates. He went to extraordinary ends to get the values he needed.

MH

[Craig]

Plenty of good honest tech listed here, though your Yamaha is a pretty easy deck to work on, so find someone local to save shipping. I don't recall if Pacific Stereo does any work for others...I'm not real familiar with Cal, but there are quite few good techs listed on the west coast.

Thanks, Nak and Perry for the welcome. Yeah, Perry, I agree somebody local would be great and save a bundle on shipping. As for the Pacific Stereo thingy, the operations today are nothing like what they were 30 some odd years ago...lol...Time Marches Onnnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnn-nn-n-----

[mihokm]

The build quality of the best 90's Yamaha decks (KX-670, KX-690) is very poor, when compared to other producers, like Teac, Akai, Sony. I repaired many of them, but Yamaha's are very cheaply built - lot of plastic material, poor capstan motor, very cheap mechanics.
On the other hand, the sound quality is very good - I think the best of all my decks. The head is very durable (I've never seen worn-out GF head) and it doesn't have the tape curling problem (which many Sony, Pioneer dual capstan decks have).

[Alenb148]

Hallo Yamaha world!I got question.What is the RS in Yamaha KX1200RS?Remote sensor or...?Thanks Alen

[allthingsanalogue]

I just bought a KX-500, what a machine indeed. I love it, could be a CR-1 beater

[xrayjames]

I have had a KX-1200U for years and love it. I hope to own a KX-500U in a day or so. *hope*

[bestbets1]

I have a Yamaha KX-W232! I have no idea what type of heads it uses, but, ohwell!

Supports Type 1, 2 and 4 tapes. The VU meter does have a red zone (+0, +3, +6 and + with a DD symbol on the +3). Deck has served very well for me, and its my only, and it sounds very "Natural" to me!

Anyone like to shed some light about the KX-W232/K-60. Was this a BOTL or Mid range deck (I'd 'assume' Mid range, not BOTL, as its not fully automated, you can control Recording level and the rec. balance)

[Jasper Huxley]

I was given a KX-260 by a co-worker 3 years ago. It has mostly sat around until I got bitten by the bug 2 weeks ago. In my new estimation it is one of the finest things I own. The tapes it has made are fantastic, and I haven't even messed about with the bias control or the play trim yet (not quite sure how to use those yet). The effortless ease of making a recording now is really seductive - I want to be doing it all the time now.

I am definitely looking for other Yamaha decks now. Love them!

[hraso]

Hello !!! I have a problem with a Yamaha KX-690 tape deck. It seems all is correct however when I press "play" the deck stops 1 or 2 seconds later. In other words, the "play" function has a problem. I can use the forward and rewind buttons have no problem. I've tried with many tapes in excellent conditions but the problem still persists. Any thought there ? Thank you in advance !!!!!

[shotwell]

Hello !!! I have a problem with a Yamaha KX-690 tape deck. It seems all is correct however when I press "play" the deck stops 1 or 2 seconds later. In other words, the "play" function has a problem. I can use the forward and rewind buttons have no problem. I've tried with many tapes in excellent conditions but the problem still persists. Any thought there ? Thank you in advance !!!!!

Welcome to Tapeheads!

It's best to start a new thread for this, but I'll throw in my two cents anyway.

Check your counter belt. On some machines if the counter isn't working the machine thinks the tape isn't moving and stops as a precaution. Other machines have photo sensors...not sure what yours is like.

[Avisio]

I just bought a KX-500, what a machine indeed. I love it, could be a CR-1 beater

It's a good looking machine with some nice features, but a CR-1 beater? Not quite; the construction is cheaper the mechanics are not that good, the wow and flutter figures are not up to the NAK.
In short it's not as good.