Trash To Treasure! A SONY Cassette Recorder Adventure.

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clydesight

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Tags: audio business cassette clydesight dictation electronics Felina recorder SONY Symphonia tape technology

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Sponsored by "Symphonia Felina" neoclassical music collector's cassette album. Limited quantity available NOW for our YouTube audience at: Symphonia Felina Web Site! Click here: http://www.clydesight.com/csp/symfel/
This video is all about the benefit gained when I picked up a fine quality business machine that was thrown away by a careless business which abused and did not appreciate it. SONY built (and continues to do so) excellent cassette recorder solutions for different markets. The SONY BM-11 was buil
t as a dictation machine, but it is actually a high quality cassette recorder, probably built in the 1980's "Walkman Era". It uses standard cassettes, features "SONY-MATIC" recording, AC Bias, FOUR belts and SOLID BRASS drive components. Most of the machine is made of metal, minimizing the use of pl
astic. Although designed primarily for dictation, it can record and playback music (in mono, of course). This video shows the high quality SONY dictation machine in operation - playing music - a selection from the "Symphonia Felina" neoclassical music album, and accepting dictation through both it
's built in electret condenser microphone and an external microphone. I found this machine in the trash, tossed away because battery corrosion destroyed a vital power contact on the machine, making it inoperable. It also had a stretched main drive belt which I replaced, and a dead amplifier which
I "revitalized" when I restored this machine - a broken wire and "cold" solder joint was all that needed help. Although the inside of the machine is tightly packed with components, they are remarkably high quality and capable of much longer service than the business that tossed it away realized. Pe
rhaps it was too expensive for them to have it repaired when the trouble first started? The condition of the leather case shows it did receive a lot of use, probably by traveling executives. The mechanism is entirely unique, having a DOUBLE flywheel arrangement to assist the capstan in maintaining
constant speed! While a dictation machine is a specialty business product (often more expensive than a general consumer product), as the SONY BM-11 proves, it is not necessarily limited to dictation. This machine is an example of how SONY "thought outside the box" and used clever innovative engine
ering to make a high quality cassette tape recorder suitable for a variety of purposes, from dictation to music recording and playback. ************** "Trash To Treasure! A SONY Cassette Recorder Adventure." is sponsored by ClydeSight Production's SYMPHONIA FELINA Gold Collector's Edition music ca
ssette which features 17 original neoclassical compositions in orchestral style performed on Synthesizer. The cassette, produced in 1999 for fans of ClydeSight is a unique musical experience. We have a very limited supply of these first run collector's cassettes available for our YouTube audience. H
urry to ClydeSight and get your copy TODAY! (cassette recorder is NOT included) Just Google: Symphonia Felina" or click on this link: http://www.clydesight.com/csp/symfel/ The title music of the video: "Toccata Temporal" is one of the selections on the Symphonia Felina neoclassical music cassette
album and is played by the SONY BM-11 and also presented as a direct feed through the computer. ************* Note: The SONY BM-11 cassette tape recorder is part of the ClydeSight Collection and is NOT FOR SALE. *************

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That is a QUALITY ... ( 2 months ago by CassetteMaster)

That is a QUALITY recorder! Neat on the inside, but not easy to service things so small sometimes. I'm pretty sure music recording quality will come out good if a patch cord is put to the mic jack and record direct music and play it on a full machine with large speakers. It should have good bass. Very good quality and would be nice to find one.

Thanks! At the ... ( 2 months ago by clydesight)

Thanks! At the start of the video I have it playing through one of the Wollensak 5750 speakers, but my camera mic ALC circuit "dumbs" everything down so it is hard to tell the sound quality difference. The inside of the machine IS difficult to repair, really PACKED in! It took me quite some time to figure out how to lift the amp board off the mechanism, and there are a lot of little parts in there! Very unusual design! I like their use of BRASS!

Nice tape recorder, ... ( 2 months ago by djscanman)

Nice tape recorder, made some time around 1979 or 1980. 8)

I'm guessing it was ... ( 2 months ago by clydesight)

I'm guessing it was early in the "Walkman Era". Anyone know how to restore leather?

I was made around ... ( 2 months ago by coolbluelights)

I was made around that time too XD

that's one of the ... ( 2 months ago by coolbluelights)

that's one of the highest quality machines I've ever seen! they should make them out of clear plastic, those insides are too cool to hide!

the speaker is cool ... ( 2 months ago by wooferfreak)

the speaker is cool inside it :D

Thanks. Most ... ( 2 months ago by clydesight)

Thanks. Most machines of this style use those little speakers. They don't sound like much really. The ones in the microcassette recorders are even smaller (and sound even worse!) But I have heard some amazing sound quality form CELL PHONES (can you believe it), so I believe that in recent years, great speaker advancements have been made.

what is printed on ... ( 1 month ago by wooferfreak)

what is printed on the magnet of the speaker

The speaker magnet ... ( 1 month ago by clydesight)

The speaker magnet isn't shown in this video, and I don't remember what is printed on it. It is a very small round magnet which may have something printed on it, but I don't remember what it is.

Great video and ... ( 1 month ago by thecrystalcauldron)

Great video and what a little treasure.
I also agree a clear machine would be great.

Lets Blow The ... ( 1 week ago by kskate91)

Lets Blow The Speaker? Huh?

I just plug in to ... ( 1 week ago by clydesight)

I just plug in to an external speaker because the little ones are so disappointing. Cell phones have special amps for their speakers that make them work so well. Yet, it's amazing the recording quality of some of these old machines when pumped through a decent speaker. Probably why they have a "speaker out" jack!

Ahh bad sound ... ( 1 week ago by kskate91)

Ahh bad sound quality?

It's a business ... ( 1 week ago by clydesight)

It's a business machine meant for dictation. Not "bad" sound quality, they just kept the amp and speaker limited to voice quality recording. Customers for this machine would only be interested in that. Dictate a letter, give to someone to transcribe. The transcriber would more than likely use a headset, not the speaker, so the speaker isn't that important. You have to think of the purpose for which the machine was developed before judging it. Does it fit it's purpose? In this case, YES.

You'd probably ... ( 1 week ago by clydesight)

You'd probably enjoy one of the boombox machines or some of the nicer SONY stereo cassette recorders (many came complete with speakers instead of being just decks.) I think those would be much more your style. And of course, there is CD and digital music reproduction as well, which offers a lot of options. Of course, nothing can beat a good high quality stereo system for musical satisfaction.

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