RCA Cable "Burn In"

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Err
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RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Err »

So I purchased a tape deck from e-bay that I had to return because the take up spool was messed up. I think it got damaged in shipment as the seller is very reputable. I also purchased some 6ft shielded RCA cables from Amazon in anticipation of the deck. Today I received them with the following notice:

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This has to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen. There are audio components that sound better as they break in like turntable styli and some speakers. Cables generally work or they don't. Also, if it was that important to burn cables in, they should be doing it at the factory.

I bought and returned an Onkyo 2055 Direct Drive Cassette Deck. Unfortunately the take up reel kept catching and stopping. I tried a couple of other tapes with the same result. I'm disappointed more than anything. This was a nice 2 head deck in the 1980's and retailed for $375 when new.

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Pugsley
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Pugsley »

Are those cables made by Monster? "Sounds" like their level of BS.
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Err
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Err »

They are "World's Best Cables" or whatever rebrand they are. When I ordered these, I had trouble finding 6 ft shielded cables there weren't from a third party seller. Everything was either 1.5 or 12 ft.

I've actually purchased Monster Cables because back in College before the internet really existed, they were the only brand the store was selling. The ONLY advantage these cables had were that they were shielded. Even that's not an issue most of the time. Everything else about improving signal quality or giving me an erection is total BS. If it wasn't worth the trouble, I'd return these. I didn't see the "Burn-In" garbage when I bought them.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1
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Executioner
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Executioner »

Cool! Another person is getting into cassettes. Last year, I started with 0 decks, and now I have 4 decks. I have a Nakamichi BX-150, Nakamichi MR-2 (2 of these decks), and an Onkyo-TAR-301. I had the Naks already services by a Nak tech who's located in Chicago. I use the Onkyo deck to record from my PC directly to the deck using FLAC files.

As for your cable issue, I never heard of that and seems crazy that you have to burn them in. As for the sticking, have you cleaned the capstan and pitch roller? I had a lot of help from this site: http://www.tapeheads.net/forums.php
Lots of experts there.
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Burn in an RCA cable?

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"Turns out I’m 'woke.' All along, I thought I was just compassionate, kind, and good at history. "

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Err
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

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Executioner wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 10:52 pm Cool! Another person is getting into cassettes. Last year, I started with 0 decks, and now I have 4 decks. I have a Nakamichi BX-150, Nakamichi MR-2 (2 of these decks), and an Onkyo-TAR-301. I had the Naks already services by a Nak tech who's located in Chicago. I use the Onkyo deck to record from my PC directly to the deck using FLAC files.

As for your cable issue, I never heard of that and seems crazy that you have to burn them in. As for the sticking, have you cleaned the capstan and pitch roller? I had a lot of help from this site: http://www.tapeheads.net/forums.php
Lots of experts there.
I rarely bought cassettes growing up and preferred recording my own. In my Sophomore year of High School I got a Pioneer CT-W650R deck with I still have. The issue is that it needs refurbished. Deck A needs a path alignment as it will crease a tape. Deck B plays great in one direction. The reverse direction's azimuth is off. I don't know how to get this deck serviced. I recorded so many cassettes on this deck but only a hand full remain. The rest were done in when the roof collapsed at my parents house.

I stopped recording cassettes when I got a CD player in the car. However, in the last 5 years or so, I've be buying cassettes if they are the only means to get a physical copy of an album. There's lots of underground electronic and metal that only exists on cassettes.

I'd like to get my Pioneer serviced or acquire a serviced deck. I was hoping the Onkyo above would be the answer. I really think something happened during shipping as it was a direct drive deck. There's only an idler tire and gears so something got knocked loose. I could've asked the seller to fix it and send it back as they do provide a warranty but having it fail 5 minutes after hooking it up made me not want that particular deck anymore.
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

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I had a problem with my Onkyo deck as well. I paid $100 for it and it was clean. Worked great for about 2 months, then one of the motors started screeching. After talking to some of the experts at tapeheads, they said if I pulled the transport out and removed that motor, I could apply a couple of drops of synthetic oil while the shaft was upright. That worked. I used an external power supply and gave the motor some juice and applied one more drop of oil. Worked it in again and let it sit for 24 hours in the upright position to let the oil reach down to the bearing that was inside. Seemed to work as the motor noise is gone.

If you talk to the experts at tapeheads, they will recommend NOT to get a dual deck. I had a Pioneer dual deck that I bought in the early 90's, and it sat for a long time. I went to pull it out of storage, only to discover that the transport was a POS. They used plastic on a critical component and it no longer would engage the pinch roller. It could not be repaired or fixed. In the recycling bin it went.

What I can't believe is the price for a Nakamichi Dragon. They are going through the roof with prices well over $2000 and some as high as $4000. Crazy! As for your Onkyo deck, can you send it back to the seller?
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Worked it in again and let it sit for 24 hours in the upright position to let the oil reach down to the bearing that was inside. Seemed to work as the motor noise is gone.
Lubrication on this type of equipment is something not fully appreciated. Back in the 80s, when I worked for an audio visual rental company, we had an engineer on staff who not only did repairs, but everything mechanical (tape machines, 16mm projectors, etc) all had to be given to him on a rotating 4 month schedule for cleaning, calibration, and most importantly, lubrication. That gear got a lot of abuse, but we got a lot of years out of it that way.
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Err
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Err »

Executioner wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:20 am I had a problem with my Onkyo deck as well. I paid $100 for it and it was clean. Worked great for about 2 months, then one of the motors started screeching. After talking to some of the experts at tapeheads, they said if I pulled the transport out and removed that motor, I could apply a couple of drops of synthetic oil while the shaft was upright. That worked. I used an external power supply and gave the motor some juice and applied one more drop of oil. Worked it in again and let it sit for 24 hours in the upright position to let the oil reach down to the bearing that was inside. Seemed to work as the motor noise is gone.

If you talk to the experts at tapeheads, they will recommend NOT to get a dual deck. I had a Pioneer dual deck that I bought in the early 90's, and it sat for a long time. I went to pull it out of storage, only to discover that the transport was a POS. They used plastic on a critical component and it no longer would engage the pinch roller. It could not be repaired or fixed. In the recycling bin it went.

What I can't believe is the price for a Nakamichi Dragon. They are going through the roof with prices well over $2000 and some as high as $4000. Crazy! As for your Onkyo deck, can you send it back to the seller?
The reason I didn't open up the Onkyo deck is that I sent it back to the seller. I paid $179 plus shipping for what should've been a serviced working deck. If it's going to give me trouble out of the gate after 2 minutes into a cassette, I want nothing to do with it.

I've been exclusively looking for single decks after reading up on duel decks like the one I have. Nakamichi's are getting ridiculous. This seller I follow currently has this beauty on sale for $1,500 - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nakamichi-680Z ... 4314129596 Granted, this deck is rare and desirable as it has Auto Alignment and 2 tape speeds. This seller also replaces the caps when he services his decks.
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

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That is a nice deck - a 3 head deck. He's the same tech that worked on my 2 Nak decks. He's out of Chicago. If you buy it from him, you won't be disappointed. I even gave him a tip on the last repair on my BX-150. The guys is up front and won't charge an arm and a leg. He sends back any parts that were replaced. Very detailed explanation on what was repaired and replaced. He will overcharge for shipping, but he will refund you once he actually gets it shipped knowing the actual cost.

After he got done with my decks, he would call me and state what was repaired and adjusted. Then he says he keeps the deck for 2-3 days for testing to make sure it's adjusted/calibrated correctly. On my BX-150, he asked for some of the cassette tapes I would be using to record, so he can align the deck per those tapes.
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Err »

Executioner wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:59 pm That is a nice deck - a 3 head deck. He's the same tech that worked on my 2 Nak decks. He's out of Chicago. If you buy it from him, you won't be disappointed. I even gave him a tip on the last repair on my BX-150. The guys is up front and won't charge an arm and a leg. He sends back any parts that were replaced. Very detailed explanation on what was repaired and replaced. He will overcharge for shipping, but he will refund you once he actually gets it shipped knowing the actual cost.

After he got done with my decks, he would call me and state what was repaired and adjusted. Then he says he keeps the deck for 2-3 days for testing to make sure it's adjusted/calibrated correctly. On my BX-150, he asked for some of the cassette tapes I would be using to record, so he can align the deck per those tapes.
Thanks for the tip. I'm going to keep an eye on his auctions. The deck he has now is more than I wish to spend but he generally posts a new deck every week.
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Losbot »

I still have this bad boy in my collection. I've considered selling it a couple of times but just didn't. It's become a piece of nostalgia for me now. I've seen it go for close to $1k in the past, by collectors.

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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

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Yeah I wouldn't sell it either.
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Err »

Update on the Onkyo deck I sent back to the seller. The deck had a bad motor. I'm glad this problem show itself on day 1 rather than 6 months down the road.
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Re: RCA Cable "Burn In"

Post by Err »

Losbot wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:12 pm I still have this bad boy in my collection. I've considered selling it a couple of times but just didn't. It's become a piece of nostalgia for me now. I've seen it go for close to $1k in the past, by collectors.

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I'm curious. How many D batters does that monster take?
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