Help/Akai GX 280D-SS Reel To Reel

oldrocker

I'm looking at one of these tomorrow, reviews are mixed and not abundant.
Suppose to be in very good working order.
Hoping someone here has had one of these or listened to one.
Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks All.

boston1450

I had a very nice gx 200d & it was built like a tank. So If it was taken care of & serviced within reason i say jump on it at a good price. The one i had i unloaded quickly for 175.00 which is high. But it was flawless & recently serviced. Akai makes nice budget machines

oldrocker

Thanks Mr Boston. As stated earlier, watching those reels go round and round, silver faced would be nice.

mhardy6647

There are AKAIs and there are AKAIs (actually, this was true of most of the Japanese massmarket brands). The cheap(er), consumer AKAI decks were OK but only OK; there are pot-metal parts in them that have typically deteriorated at this late date. The model in question is considerably better than the entry-level decks (four channel; three motors, solenoid controls) but it is an older deck -- check condition of the rubber bits and the heads carefully and pay accordingly. Definitely not a bad deck, though.

In case you didn't know, there are docs available for it at: http://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/akai/gx-280d-ss.shtml



I'd encourage you to take a look at this discussion at AK recently. I -- ahem -- think summarized the R2R situation pretty well in a couple of posts I made to it :- P
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=631799&highlight=tape

Silver-faced? Pioneer RT-701, 707, 901 or 909 are pretty nice decks and pretty darned common, too. The somewhat earlier RT-2022 and its kin were pretty nice decks, too, IMO.


source: http://goldenageofaudio.blogspot.com/2013/08/pioneer-rt-2022-reel-to-reel-deck.html

FWIW, I'd probably encourage you to look at either slightly newer (late 1970s/early 1980s) consumer R2Rs and/or better "prosumer" decks from (besides AKAI) Pioneer, Technics (Panasonic), TEAC/TASCAM, OTARI, and ReVox. Sony made some prosumer decks as well; some of pretty high repute, but many of the Sonys haven't aged well.

oldrocker

Thanks Mr. Hardy, just got it hooked up and it plays very nice. I have never seen a piece of equipment so filthy. Cleaned for quite some time and will need more. All features work. The guy had a box of 41 reels he threw in, some still wrapped in plastic. Listening to some variety recorded tape that has some Karen Carpenter on it, not my thing but the wife likes it. Will be looking for some kind of de-magnitizer as I'm sure it could benefit from that. This thing is all original except it does not have the remote but the seller is looking to find it.

mhardy6647

cool enough! Nice that you got some tapes,too -- they're not hard to find... but good quality blank tapes (new or used) don't come cheap.

What kind(s) of tapes did you get with it? There are good ones, meh ones, and - at this late date - a few types that have deteriorated to the extent that they can be harmful to play on a clean deck (the so-called "sticky-shed syndrome").

You cannot go wrong with Maxell UD35 (or UD50, with a thicker base) or TDK "Audua" L tapes (IMO... and FWIW).

small%20maxell%20UD3590 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

small%20maxell%20later%20UD3590 by mhardy6647, on Flickr
small%20TDK%20L1800 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

EDIT: Here're some references (fresh from google, so offered 'as-is' and FWIW) on the dreaded "sticky shed syndrome" (SSS):
http://www.recordist.com/ampex/docs/misc/sticky-shed.html
http://psap.library.illinois.edu/format-id-guide/softbindersyn

there is a cure, of sorts, for archiving prerecorded tapes so afflicted:
http://audio-restoration.com/baking.php

oldrocker

Got some maxell's, TDK's. The unopened ones are called Ampex 641's. Its up and running for a while now, made one recording, couldn't handle anymore karen carpenter. I am kinda glad it's not a belt drive after looking inside it. Will need another round of de-ox tomorrow. It does run kinda warm it seems. I didn't spend that much but I did learn not to touch the line recording level control button as the recording gets kinda loud when you do that...I'm sure I'll need more advise later as for now THANKS for all the info!!!

boston1450

Congrats. Yeah my Akai ran hot too. When it did reach that hotness point - it stayed right there & seemed to be fine. Make sure it is clear of objects & you should be fine. Enjoy your new toy

mhardy6647

Most reel to reel decks generate a lot of heat.
Yes less belts is better (or, perhaps, are better, depending on one's grammatical perspective).
Sounds like you got a passel of good tapes!

oldrocker

A few pics, "thing is still filthy". The head cover and counter cover is off for now. I'm gonna take it apart again and spray it down with some electronics cleaner from Rshack. Is there any area's I should NOT spray as this thing is full of electronics?

mhardy6647

The switch/contact cleaner should only be sprayed on switches and pots (variable resistors)... I'd recommend getting a can of CAIG DeOxit D5 for cleaning (and, perhaps, DeOxit FaderLube to 'restore lost lubrication' after cleaning); if R/S still has its own cleaners, they're second-rate to the CAIG products (based on my own experience).

Careful around the rubber bits with any solvents and lubricants ;- )


These may be helpful...
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210776
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51539
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=207005

and this meta-guide to other stickies on cleaning, repair, restoration...

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=426532

boston1450

Sure is Purdy. I started my venture a couple of years ago & i really enjoy it. I still glance around for good on tapes here n there. But as you know they are hard to come by

boston1450

If you decide to add cover. Just saw this & it looks pretty clean & priced fair. Model may vary. http://m.ebay.com/itm/121525293278?nav=SEARCH

oldrocker

I do have the head cover, I did not put it back on yet as I re-cleaned the heads again. If you notice one of the mic/knobs does not have the silver face dial indicator, I have that also and need to glue it back on. Just a note, I went thru the reels just now and found others are sealed and not used. One marked jimi hendrix and one that says "interview" who knows whats actually on these reels. I plan on taking some pictures with it opened up so I can get some advise on where and what to spray and vice versa.
As always Thanks Guys...

oldrocker

Quick question about empty reels. I have both plastic and metal which I assume is aluminum??. I assume the reels are far enough away for the heads and with the head cover on the heads should be shielded/protected somewhat. Should I be concerned using the metal reels as they could alter the heads magnetic fields they produce?

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Congratulations on the Akai, I'm glad its found a good home. There shouldn't be any problems using metal supply and take up reels, the extremely small magnetic fields created at the record/playback heads are far enough from the reels that it won't matter. Some decks have shields around the record and playback heads with moveable "doors" to enclose the playback heads to improve noise performance.
Enjoy, Ken

oldrocker

I assumed the heads would not be too close, just wanted to ask the experts first and a Thanks for the info..

miner

Also, check out the forum tapeheads.com. Friendly, helpful folks there.