2. vintage
  3. 181567-68726

Pioneer CT-F1250 Cassette Deck - Please help

In my desperate search for a good cassette deck, I just got Pioneer CT-F1250.I also have Yamaha K 850 and Nakamichi Cassette Deck 2, both 2-head. I really like an idea of using a deck, which i consider much easier and convenient than managing with turntables and LPs while the difference is SQ can be not that much. 

Cosmetically, CT-F1250 looks very good, mechanics also seem to work fine. The problem is in SQ though, there is an obvious luck of middle and hight frequencies, dynamics and soundstage are not good as weel, sometimes the sound just almost disappears accompanied with a strong distortion (at the beginning the left channel was just silent, after a few minutes of use the sound appeared and remains stable).There no comparison with Nakamichi CD 2 (the Yamaha is out of order now), in mid-high frequencies and soundstage as well.<This is surprising as  Pioneer CT-F1250 is supposedly a much better deck. I have a quite limited time to return it, but before doing so, I, of course, would like to know if the problem can be settled somehow (service/repair). The heads look fine, but I suggest, that if the problem is with the head(s) then this is just hopeless (replacing the heads seem to me unrealistic). Can the luck of mid-high frequencies be caused by other things (like capacitors etc.), or it is most probably  that the heads  are no more good? 

Thanks in advance for your input! 

 

128x128niodari
niodari's avatar
niodari OP
300 posts
 

I cleaned the heads of course. 

CT-F1250 is a 3-head direct drive, considered as one of the best decks made by Pioneer and in general. 

I did not try to record; this makes no sense if it does not play well. Not many decks have azimuth control for recording, and a very few of them have also for playback. How do you use your azimuth tape, would not any well recorded tape will serve the same purpose?

I tried a well recorded tape on CT-F1250, interestingly, if i stop the playback and immediately resume it, just for two seconds or so the mids and hights appear and then instantaneously disappear. A technician may know if such problem comes from heads, or some other (easier arrangeable) reason may exist. 

stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,390 posts
 

Definitely a playback head azimuth problem.  There are test tapes available, and you would need an oscilloscope as well.  I would look for a reputable repair person.

niodari's avatar
niodari OP
300 posts
 

Do you then suggest that the problem is not that the playback head is worn out? 

I am not sure how to adjust the azimuth in this model, in my Nakamichi this is possible. 

garryfreeman
1 posts
 

It’s not the heads if you stop and start it again and the miss and highs come back for a few seconds. It sounds like transistor issues and/or possibly failure of electrolytic capacitors ( remember how old this deck is and both transistors and caps fail or degrade over time). Find a tech in your area who can service vintage gear. It’s not gonna be cheap that’s for sure. Unless you have the skill set to fault find yourself. All the service manuals are freely available now online. Good luck 

niodari's avatar
niodari OP
300 posts
 

I also suggested that it should not be the heads, in fact they look quite good. I cleaned once again all the interior parts that i could access without disassembling the deck and tried to calibrate bias, level and equalizer according to the manual. Bias and level calibration worked well, i was not able to calibrate equalizer. I have no test type. I don't know what precisely helped but the deck now works almost well. Sometimes I need to stop and play again and mids and highs return. Even though it is not functioning 100%, i can already hear a superior type of reproduction it gives. In fact, it is difficult for me to say whether I like more a CD or cassette reproduction with this deck, CD is cleaner but the cassettes give somewhat more analog realist sound. Given this and that this is one of the most good looking (if not the most good looking) decks, i decided to keep it. 

@garryfreeman , thanks for your post. I have now a better idea what things need be arranged. 

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