Pioneer H-R100 Redux!

Wow, I am SO impressed with this deck it ain't funny. I picked up the
first "Blood, Sweat & Tears" yesterday in an unusual style cartridge-
it's a factory TC-8, but the edges are sharp. Looks sweet. Anyway, a
small bit of hiss, but turning the Dolby on (it's non-Dolby) takes the
hiss away and just a small part of the high frequencies.

It's amazing- with the Dolby on, it makes a non-Dolby tape sound like
it's being played on a standard deck, without the hiss.

I like the "play all" feature- all four programs, then shuts off.

How rare is the dustcover? Mine came with it- I didn't even know this
model came with one. Since I use it in a rack system, I don't use it-
it's folded (kinda) nicely in the closet. The thing is built like a
tank too, and though it has a DC motor I'd venture that it could pull
stumps.

Once again- the best $20 I've ever spent! :-D

PS- anywhere in Chicago to buy tapes? Oh- Bob- if you want I can email
you my want-list.

On 5 Oct 2006 11:11:53 -0700, wrote:

How rare is the dustcover? snip

EXTREMELY.

Mine came with it- I didn't even know this
model came with one. Since I use it in a rack system, I don't use it-
it's folded (kinda) nicely in the closet. The thing is built like a
tank too, and though it has a DC motor I'd venture that it could pull
stumps.

Once again- the best $20 I've ever spent! :-D snip

Those are very nice decks, indeed...well built with good heads and
electronics. It's one of the top 3.

wrote:
Wow, I am SO impressed with this deck it ain't funny. I picked up the
first "Blood, Sweat & Tears" yesterday in an unusual style cartridge-
it's a factory TC-8, but the edges are sharp. Looks sweet. Anyway, a
small bit of hiss, but turning the Dolby on (it's non-Dolby) takes the
hiss away and just a small part of the high frequencies.

It's amazing- with the Dolby on, it makes a non-Dolby tape sound like
it's being played on a standard deck, without the hiss.

I like the "play all" feature- all four programs, then shuts off.

How rare is the dustcover? Mine came with it- I didn't even know this
model came with one. Since I use it in a rack system, I don't use it-
it's folded (kinda) nicely in the closet. The thing is built like a
tank too, and though it has a DC motor I'd venture that it could pull
stumps.

Once again- the best $20 I've ever spent! :-D

PS- anywhere in Chicago to buy tapes? Oh- Bob- if you want I can email
you my want-list.

oh- gee- golly- he got a $20 deck that everyone else has 2 of already !

(laughter...)

did they give it to you at the library ??

The Paris Gun wrote:
oh- gee- golly- he got a $20 deck that everyone else has 2 of already !

Blow me, sow.

(laughter...)

Most people use "LOL", wich means LAUGH OUT LOUD.

did they give it to you at the library ??

No, but your mama gave me something. But the penecillin cleared it
right up.

DeserTBoB wrote:
Those are very nice decks, indeed...well built with good heads and
electronics. It's one of the top 3.

What are the top two? Just curious. I've been told the Akai Quad is
number one but I don't like it- too much crosstalk on stereo tapes. I
was told the crosstalk was spec'ed at like 50 dB. Not kosher.

I noticed in older posts, Bob, that you thought the H-R100 and the
Marantz were the same thing in different 'packages'. True?

Now remember Bob, stay on subject- 8 tracks- and no veering off into
personal atttacks as to where I post from. And no defending
hypocritical pedofilic politicians!

By the way, Chuckie, I post here because where I live, only dial-up is
an option. I have a cellphone. See, that extra $35 a month that I'd
waste in slow-as-**** dial-up will get me an extra $35 in 8 tracks a
month. But then you probably throw away your extra soda cans instead
of recycling them and get a dime each for them. Braindead.

On 6 Oct 2006 10:19:01 -0700, wrote:


DeserTBoB wrote:
Those are very nice decks, indeed...well built with good heads and
electronics. It's one of the top 3.

What are the top two? Just curious. I've been told the Akai Quad is
number one but I don't like it- too much crosstalk on stereo tapes. I
was told the crosstalk was spec'ed at like 50 dB. Not kosher. snip

It's a WAG (wild assed guess) really, since I've tested a handful of
supposedly "upper crust" 8 track machines before realizing the whole 8
track thing was ruined by Noodles some time back, but I did get some
solid results using standard alignment tapes and so on using a number
of machines.

The best overall was the Marantz/Superscope units. They don't have
all the top end that the Akai GXR-82 does, but they're also free of
many of Akai's signature problems, like ridiculously complex head
alignment. To do an Akai right, you need to spend a lot of time
aligning the separate erase head, and it's hard to do on those
machines due to cramped chassis conditions and the vagaries of the
cartridge format. Another screwup was Akai's track change sensing
circuit...a real PITA. Runner up to that sound wise would be the
Wollensak 8075A. The lesser Wollensak models use a cheaper head that
isn't quite as good, although the preamp circuits are similar, not
counting the Dolba codec board. The Wollensaks were made by Sanyo for
3M on a "spec job," but leave some things to be desired on component
quality. I had to swap out all the Nichicon electrolytics on two of
mine due to high ESR and other impairments, and the wave soldering on
the phenolic boards was classic '70s Japanese...meaning it all had to
be retouched. The H-R99/100s sold by Pioneer were almost as good, but
didn't quite have the top end that the other two were capable of
giving, but was still very good.

I noticed in older posts, Bob, that you thought the H-R100 and the
Marantz were the same thing in different 'packages'. True? snip

No. The Pioneer's better built physically, from what I saw. I don't
like the teensy tiny meters, but that's OK, given that most consumer
grade tape machines had ****ty metering anyway. The metering on the
earlier Wollensaks with the green and black meters was REALLY bad, and
the circuit on the later ones with good meters wasn't properly
equalized. The playback metering on the Wollensak is also adversely
affected by line load, and the metering amp is also swamped by using
the headphone jack, since they use the same circuit. The Akais had
pretty good metering overall.

One deck I did get for nothing that cleaned up to be a surprisingly
good performer was from that now-gone competitor to Jim Tandy's "Rat
Shack," Allied Radio's Lafayette. While the top end was unimpressive
(-3 dB at 11 KHz), the record amps are very strong and clean. It's
also better built than most contemporary machines, certainly better
than anything ever sold by Rat Shack, and it full featured. It holds
a head alignment very well and has excellent front panel function
control via latching "radio buttons." The speed regulation is by
current regulator rather than the tachyservo used in the "Sanyosaks,"
but it's excellent for speed performance in 95% of the carts I use on
it. For speed performance, the Wollensak was #1, both for wow/flutter
and for speed accuracy.

Now remember Bob, stay on subject- 8 tracks- and no veering off into
personal atttacks as to where I post from. And no defending
hypocritical pedofilic politicians! snip

I wouldn't think of it. That's the domain of our resident psych case
from "Dumbs," who is suffering an earlier-than-normal meltdown due to
his political heroes being washed away in less than a month.

DeserTBoB wrote:
It's a WAG (wild assed guess)

Ha! Good one? Mind if I rip it off?

Runner up to that sound wise would be the
Wollensak 8075A.

May I call dibs on it when you're ready to sell?

The speed regulation is by
current regulator rather than the tachyservo used in the "Sanyosaks,"
but it's excellent for speed performance in 95% of the carts I use on
it. For speed performance, the Wollensak was #1, both for wow/flutter
and for speed accuracy.

The Pioneer's speed seems to be dead accurate. I compared (gonna laugh
here) "The Pill by Loretta Lynn, from 8 track to CD. The 8 track faded
out like 1/2 second after the CD. Could be my "starting" process", but
for a 2 1/2 record, even if I set it up right, that's damn good!

I wouldn't think of it. That's the domain of our resident psych case
from "Dumbs," who is suffering an earlier-than-normal meltdown due to
his political heroes being washed away in less than a month.

He's been going into overdrive, ain't he?

On 7 Oct 2006 10:08:58 -0700, wrote:


DeserTBoB wrote:
It's a WAG (wild assed guess)

Ha! Good one? Mind if I rip it off?

Runner up to that sound wise would be the
Wollensak 8075A.

May I call dibs on it when you're ready to sell? snip

Might be awhile. It has the factory manual, too!

The speed regulation is by
current regulator rather than the tachyservo used in the "Sanyosaks,"
but it's excellent for speed performance in 95% of the carts I use on
it. For speed performance, the Wollensak was #1, both for wow/flutter
and for speed accuracy.

The Pioneer's speed seems to be dead accurate. I compared (gonna laugh
here) "The Pill by Loretta Lynn, from 8 track to CD. The 8 track faded
out like 1/2 second after the CD. Could be my "starting" process", but
for a 2 1/2 record, even if I set it up right, that's damn good! snip

For a single cut, that's not too good. Plus, who knows what the
mastering deck playing the original tape is doing, and what the decks
recording the cuts were doing?? This shows up mainly on '60s pop
stuff that was recorded/mastered on Ampex 300s which were notoriously
inaccurate speed wise. My 8075A (and my Panasonic car deck,
interestingly) can do five minutes with less than a 500 millisecond
error.

He's been going into overdrive, ain't he? snip

As I say, he's melting down...again...still???

For a single cut, that's not too good. Plus, who knows what the
mastering deck playing the original tape is doing, and what the decks
recording the cuts were doing?? This shows up mainly on '60s pop
stuff that was recorded/mastered on Ampex 300s which were notoriously
inaccurate speed wise. My 8075A (and my Panasonic car deck,
interestingly) can do five minutes with less than a 500 millisecond
error.

Bob- I messed around with the deck-to-cd comparison last night- the CD
has a just-over-a-half-second intro I hadn't thought of checking out.
I took the WMA file, ripped it into Audacity, did the "zoom in" thing
and lo-and-behold, there it was. Tried the original project again and
VOILA it matches up. :-) The files, when you examine them, match up.
Me even happier now.

I kinda feel dumb as **** now, for not thinking of that. Meh, it
happens. Plus, I was sober that night- no damn excuse for it! ;-)

Anyway, I loves the deck even more now.

On 8 Oct 2006 15:38:25 -0700, wrote:

Bob- I messed around with the deck-to-cd comparison last night- the CD
has a just-over-a-half-second intro I hadn't thought of checking out.
I took the WMA file, ripped it into Audacity, did the "zoom in" thing
and lo-and-behold, there it was. Tried the original project again and
VOILA it matches up. :-) The files, when you examine them, match up.
Me even happier now. snip

Most people don't have perfect pitch, so speed errors on end-user
equipment can be out a half step's worth of pitch or more, and most
people won't notice. However, any music that has a definate tempo
will be adversely affected. AM radio tried doing this by speeding up
records in the '70s, and listeners of all abilities complained loudly,
helping AM's fall from grace as a music format.