Old Akai M8 R2R Repair

[SteveL]

One of my son's uni mates just lugged an old Akai M8 Reel to Reel back to Sydney which he bought in Brissy for a couple hundred bucks. Needs some work. Came with a box of bits and pieces, the original separate speakers, original mics etc. The kid is a uni student and doesn't have deep pockets. He was asking who I knew that could look at it for him, maybe see what's up without costing an arm and a leg. I know there's Howard in Chatswood, but I don't think the kid can afford his services (let me know if I'm wrong Howard!)

I think he's hoping to spend up to $100 to get someone to crack it open, look inside and tell him what's worth doing or not. The usual service guys I used to know on the northern beaches don't seem to be there any more. Anyone know anyone who could help the kid out?

Thanks - Steve

[rick]

its not worth "cracking open" as a working tape machine but they do have pretty good mic pres onboard they look good too

[rob]

if it doesn't work straight up, then generally it won't be worth the cost of fixing

I passed on six little reel to reels of this sort yesterday, including Sonys, Telefunken and CEI

it hurts but sometimes life is too short to punt on such things

[SteveL]

Thanks Rick/Rob. I'll tell the guy to save his money then.

Thanks - Steve

[rick]

he can pull the channels out, reconnect the power to them and viola 8 racked up mic pres with vu meters

[mylesgm]

theres a bunch of info out there regarding racking/converting the m8 to mic pre's and they even keep the valve amp for use as a small gtr amp too. I've got a couple sitting around for this to happen but amazingly they dont seem to do it on their own.

[Kurt]

I have a pair of M7 pre's I keep meaning to get working but, like your mate, no-one has been able to tell me whether it's actually worth doing.

[PRINCETOWN]

i have a pair of these,they rock ,sound very cool for a 60s round bass sound