![]() ![]() The 8055 operated just fine with its original motor for quite some time after I got it, and motor issues happened rather suddenly. My 8075A is still running fine with its original motor, however my 8055 needed it's motor replaced. The motors may run just fine when first used, but after 20+ minutes, may begin to slow down and in some cases come to a complete stop. The later, more refined decks such as the 8075 use a DC motor. The earliest Wollensak decks used AC motors (my 1971 Wollensak 8050 has an AC motor) which doesn't suffer from these issues. The biggest issue is with their DC motors failing. I would be cautious before spending hundreds of dollars on one however.Īs for the Wollensak decks, I think they are some of the nicest sounding 8-track decks I've ever come across. If you can confirm that the deck is still operating correctly, they are worth picking up. ![]() Barry (from Barry's 8-Track Repair) has also covered this issue on his site and in some videos. I have a Roberts 808D, the motor has seemingly lost much of its torque, being very easy to load down. Where you need to be careful is with their motors losing torque, head windings opening, and problems with early unobtainium ICs. The Akai/Roberts units (except for the CR-83D) are probably the most well built, having a separate erase head, massive AC motor and heavy flywheel. Necessary for transferring old home recorded tapes. My H-R99 gets a lot of use for transferring 8-tracks to digital as adjusting the head height is very easily done by turning a little locking nut and motor speed is easily adjustable. The head turned out to be fairly common, used in many other recorder models. My deck was pretty abused when I got it, having physical damage to its head and some issues with the solid state auto-stop circuitry. I have an H-R99 (still looking for an H-R100) and it is a overall decent sounding deck. No doubt though, it would not stand up to long term use they way a CR-81D would.The Pioneer H-R99 and H-R100 are probably the safest to buy when compared to the Akai and Wollensak units. A lightweight by CR-81D standards but has every conceivable 8 track feature (including Dolby), and has respectable playback and record quality. The first deck I got was a Realistic TR-803 and it is no slouch. At least that was so with the three I acquired. Chances are the belt will still be good after all this time. There seems to be a more plentiful supply of CR-81D's so that plus how heavy duty it is would make look to get one of those for a first 8 track. If I had to keep just one, it would be either a CR81D or CR83D. Everything passed inspection and worked well from the get go. Well made, full featured, looks great and needed nothing. I came across a model 288 two years ago and it is a nice deck. I've never encountered a Wollensak but I'm in Western Canada and maybe they were not sold here.īut neither was Quadraflex a house brand of US only Pacific Stereo. Can't recall which but it either can't be set to stop after a single program or all programs. Marantz (at least the TDR-820) is missing an important, in my opinion, feature which is Play Mode. Only experienced one Pioneer (HR-100) which failed and did not seem to record as well as the CR-81D I compared it to. "Bad Akai Transistors" but once done, no complaints re sound quality or features. Belts, lamps, meters, head were all good. I know the CR-83D is regarded less well but wound up with one last fall. I fancy making mixed tapes which pretty much needs one. A tape without compromised fidelity sounds as good to me as an LP. It is rugged as stink and sounds as good as the tapes will allow. I've had the 8 track bug for a few years and learned early on that Akai CR-81D's were desireable. One in this condition seems to be rare so I really not sure where to price it. I have also decided to put it up for sale on eBay and bartertown. The response on this thing is pretty amazing for an 8-track. I am getting some cross feed from another track, so I think the head needs a bit of adjustment which I'll tackle tomorrow. By far the best sounding 8-track I have ever listened to. Update : After a few hours listening I'm pretty impressed. The physical downside tends to be majority of 8-track tapes need the splice repaired. No 8-track is near to the quality level of my reel-to-reel's but this one is good enough to hold a space in my rack for a while. Think I'll hold on to some of my collection for a while. But this is the best sounding 8-track I have heard. In fact I had gathered a collection of 8-tracks and had been selling them off. I don't have a quad receiver or tape to test the quad functionality but it works properly in 2 channel mode. An Akai CR-80D-SS off local Craigslist for a fair price. ![]() I just picked up a quad 8-track deck today. ![]()
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