I put up a better photo of both heads.

http://home.mpinet.net/~docsavage20/.../Document.html

Both heads appear to have a spring on the left side. When adjusting the
screw with the spring, it seems the tape would shift on an axis with the
screw that doesn't have the spring. However, intuition tells me you would
want the head to go straight in/out parrallel to it's current position, or
no?

"Doc" wrote in message
ink.net...
I put up a better photo of both heads.

http://home.mpinet.net/~docsavage20/.../Document.html



Btw this is an RCA SCT-550 deck.

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 16:07:45 GMT, "Doc"
wrote:

I put up a better photo of both heads.

http://home.mpinet.net/~docsavage20/.../Document.html

Both heads appear to have a spring on the left side. When adjusting the
screw with the spring, it seems the tape would shift on an axis with the
screw that doesn't have the spring. However, intuition tells me you would
want the head to go straight in/out parrallel to it's current position, or
no?


-- It seems to be a double-deck, one side being the autoreverse. You'd
reproduce with the reproduce-only part, (the head picture is at the
right side). The azimuth screw is the left one with the spring
underneath. Prior to setting it, mark with a felt pen its position so
you could bring the head to its factory alignment later. Or take a
photo where you can see the position of the lacquer blob exactly.
Often, there should be a hole at the door lid for azimuth adjusted.
Or the lid can be removed.

But such cassette reproducers are not meant primarily for a constant
azimut adjustment so be cautious; if the screw is seated in plastics,
sooner or later it will get loose and that would mean trouble.

I've found Radio Shack has some info on this cassette deck:--

http://support.radioshack.com/support_audio/57844.htm


For a serious job, I'd choose some of better decks for the purpose.
Nakamichi second hand Dragons can have a viable price nowadays, as
cassette is getting more and more a thing of the past. It is best
suited for addressing the important azimut alignment problem with
cassettes. I have a Technics RS-AZ7 and while reproduces even old and
poorly recorded cassettes excellent, owing to a different reproduce
head principle, it is not quite suitable for a constant azimut setting
because of a rather poor mechanical construction (polycarbonate
plastics etc.).


Edi Zubovic, Crikvenica, Croatia

what is the different head principle used by the Technics?

you mean it uses a separate record and play head?

Mark

Doc wrote:
I put up a better photo of both heads.

http://home.mpinet.net/~docsavage20/.../Document.html

Both heads appear to have a spring on the left side. When adjusting
the
screw with the spring, it seems the tape would shift on an axis with
the
screw that doesn't have the spring. However, intuition tells me you
would
want the head to go straight in/out parrallel to it's current
position, or
no?

The screw with the spring is the azimuth adjustment

Not familiar with that make and model.
If this is an auto-reverse deck (one of a pair?) with a motorised
track-swapping set of heads, methinks, the mechanical wear-&-tear/backlash
factor arisen from its use will always re-upset the optimised azimuth -
moments after you've "aligned" it.
If I'm wrong, then I'll have another think.

"Doc" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Doc" wrote in message
ink.net...
I put up a better photo of both heads.

http://home.mpinet.net/~docsavage20/.../Document.html



Btw this is an RCA SCT-550 deck.

Jim Gregory wrote:
Not familiar with that make and model.
If this is an auto-reverse deck (one of a pair?) with a motorised
track-swapping set of heads, methinks, the mechanical wear-&-tear/backlash
factor arisen from its use will always re-upset the optimised azimuth -
moments after you've "aligned" it.
If I'm wrong, then I'll have another think.

You're not wrong. The autoreverse machines really were total crap
and did not keep azimuth worth a damn. Not that ANY cassette machine
really keeps it very stable. But honestly, it might be worth investing
in a mid-range cassette machine with a more stable transport. Does not
have to be high end gear here.

Note also that if this is a mono tape, you will get better S/N playing
it on a mono machine than on a stereo machine with the tracks summed.
This is because the mono track has signal in the space that the stereo
head uses for guard band. Just another reason why the Philips Compact
Cassette is such a horrible nightmare.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 12 Apr 2005 10:01:13 -0700, "Mark" wrote:

what is the different head principle used by the Technics?

you mean it uses a separate record and play head?

Mark

-- Yes it is a three-head deck but while the record head is a
traditional one, the playback head is not but it is a thin-film
construction; a polished ceramic piece with a very narrow gap. I think
the AZ-head means "Amorphous-Z head". It's a magnetoresistive system,
in principle similar to those heads found nowadays in (some) hard disk
drives. AZ heads are claimed to have better S/N and flatter frequency
response, especially at low frequencies. You have to be careful in
cleaning these heads not to fill or bridge the gap and you must not
demagnetize them by any means (including popular "demagnetizing"
cassettes). Demagnetizing would destroy the head. It is also not
needed by design.

The other good thing for reproduction is, at RS-AZ 7, a "Play Direct"
function. This switch bypasses the bias trap and Dolby NR circuits and
is leading directly from the head amplifier to the connectors. The
RS-AZ6 model, while having the AZ head, has not such a function. I
find this feature useful.

At the downside, RS AZ7 is, like all Technics, a home device and is
made as usual of thin metal sheet and polycarbonate plastics. So the
azimuth adjustment is possible, by removing the cassette door lid, but
one has to be very gentle as the set screw is a Phillips plastic-type
and the seat hole could be worn out. I don't like it and this is why I
would recommend other decks, built either sturdier or having dedicated
screws and/or electronics for azimuth adjustments.

While Technics will play the tapes excellent, if they are aligned, all
such quality drops hard if tapes are not -- and unfortunately they
aren't.

As many other good tape decks, Technics is not produced any more but
it can still be found somewhere as NOS or at the EBay or so.

Edi Zubovic, Crikvenica, Croatia