Hi there tuna lovers;
WHAT IS GOIN' ON:
I have started at least one thread concerning the Pioneer TX 8800 II tuner. I have had two of them. Both were bought from the junk sections in electronics recycle shops here in Japan. I do not think I paid over $5 - $10 for either of them, but this was some years back.
In my most recent posting, I mentioned that a recapped 8800II died on me about 4 years ago. And, because of moving house with the usual restrictions on time, space and so on, I consigned it to the junk pile. Now I suspect that there was a transistor death, and, maybe I should have kept it. A Japanese guy has identified the suspects on a blog that did not exist at the time. (SIGH! … so much work went into that beast.)
Well, I had/have a spare. I recently powered it up. It sounded OK, but it was sometimes cutting out for roughly a second, then coming back on station. After two days days of running, and with a good scrub-down using chemicals, this behaviour vanished. It sounds quite good, but not as good as it should with better and fresh capacitors in the sections that affect audio output — coupling caps and so on. Oh, and let's not forget filtering on the power supply board.
Even now, a real piano sounds like a piano, and not an electronic board — usually a good sign. There is a decent sound stage, bags of lower frequency and a smooth mid-range. I plan to get this tuner sounding better, and I will try to keep this thread up-to-date with some comments and links to pics. I hope someone will be interested.
JAPANESE BROADCASTING AND ...
There is really only one game in town when it comes to ‘serious’ broadcasting. Japan licenses very few FM broadcasters — only two or three per prefecture. Tokyo fares better because of the huge population, and US armed forces radio in Yokohama was a big hit when I lived there years ago. So, the publicly owned and historic NHK is by far the most interesting station with some hours of excellent broadcasting — some of it live. In the past, all the musical genres have been featured but I am not up-to-date. Sometimes the quality is very enjoyable, but at some times of the day, it falls down a level. Their best broadcasting mode is absolutely outstanding! I can see the local NHK broadcasting towers from where I live. So, my salient point here is good sound — NOT DX-ing.
Note: I am not a techie or a radian maven — just an enthusiastic plodder who has improved some tuners in the past.
THE MARKET NICHE AND MODEL COMPARISON: The TX-8800 II and TX-8500II
They are different, not only in bandwidth and power-supply, but circuitry. As with so many other pieces of vintage gear, some models were Japanese market only. So it was with the TX-8800II
Our own and honored Dr Strangelove gave AK one it’s most precious archives after years of work — the Pioneer database. In the tuners section of the components listings, the TX-8800II is listed as:
1976 W ... 1979Z ... TX-8800II ... [related] TX-8500II ... ¥46,800
Wow! That was a lot of money in 1976 when you could rent a house for $150/month. So, the 8800II was first introduced in 1976 and was produced for about 5 years. The “related” model is the exported TX-8500II.
Now, IMHO, this is a lesson in how to read “related”. It may or may not mean a simple renumbering of a unit that uses a different voltage — Japan being on 100VAC at either 50 or 60 Hz, depending on region. I am not good with schematics, but I cannot see the 8500II as being the same tuner. It may be “related” … but not the same. By being related, it may be in the same niche in an export model line-up, or it may have related technology.
I had forgotten that I had contributed something to the ‘Tuner Information Center’ some years ago — before I did a lot of work on my first TX -8800II. Here is what the editor of the forum site reported in his reviews of various tuners and using some of my information:
And here is a good look at the TX-8800II on a Japanese page — the translation comes out surprisingly well — link:
http://translate.google.co.jp/trans...arch?q=pioneer+tx-8800ii&client=safari&rls=en
I’ll be back with some more news as I work my through this unit. Questions or comments are most welcome. And I would like to hear from anyone who knows the best way to work a replacement for those tiny 9 Volt, meter indicator bulbs. Two of three are blown out. Luckily, all the dial window lamps are good.
WHAT IS GOIN' ON:
I have started at least one thread concerning the Pioneer TX 8800 II tuner. I have had two of them. Both were bought from the junk sections in electronics recycle shops here in Japan. I do not think I paid over $5 - $10 for either of them, but this was some years back.
In my most recent posting, I mentioned that a recapped 8800II died on me about 4 years ago. And, because of moving house with the usual restrictions on time, space and so on, I consigned it to the junk pile. Now I suspect that there was a transistor death, and, maybe I should have kept it. A Japanese guy has identified the suspects on a blog that did not exist at the time. (SIGH! … so much work went into that beast.)
Well, I had/have a spare. I recently powered it up. It sounded OK, but it was sometimes cutting out for roughly a second, then coming back on station. After two days days of running, and with a good scrub-down using chemicals, this behaviour vanished. It sounds quite good, but not as good as it should with better and fresh capacitors in the sections that affect audio output — coupling caps and so on. Oh, and let's not forget filtering on the power supply board.
Even now, a real piano sounds like a piano, and not an electronic board — usually a good sign. There is a decent sound stage, bags of lower frequency and a smooth mid-range. I plan to get this tuner sounding better, and I will try to keep this thread up-to-date with some comments and links to pics. I hope someone will be interested.
JAPANESE BROADCASTING AND ...
There is really only one game in town when it comes to ‘serious’ broadcasting. Japan licenses very few FM broadcasters — only two or three per prefecture. Tokyo fares better because of the huge population, and US armed forces radio in Yokohama was a big hit when I lived there years ago. So, the publicly owned and historic NHK is by far the most interesting station with some hours of excellent broadcasting — some of it live. In the past, all the musical genres have been featured but I am not up-to-date. Sometimes the quality is very enjoyable, but at some times of the day, it falls down a level. Their best broadcasting mode is absolutely outstanding! I can see the local NHK broadcasting towers from where I live. So, my salient point here is good sound — NOT DX-ing.
Note: I am not a techie or a radian maven — just an enthusiastic plodder who has improved some tuners in the past.
THE MARKET NICHE AND MODEL COMPARISON: The TX-8800 II and TX-8500II
They are different, not only in bandwidth and power-supply, but circuitry. As with so many other pieces of vintage gear, some models were Japanese market only. So it was with the TX-8800II
Our own and honored Dr Strangelove gave AK one it’s most precious archives after years of work — the Pioneer database. In the tuners section of the components listings, the TX-8800II is listed as:
1976 W ... 1979Z ... TX-8800II ... [related] TX-8500II ... ¥46,800
Wow! That was a lot of money in 1976 when you could rent a house for $150/month. So, the 8800II was first introduced in 1976 and was produced for about 5 years. The “related” model is the exported TX-8500II.
Now, IMHO, this is a lesson in how to read “related”. It may or may not mean a simple renumbering of a unit that uses a different voltage — Japan being on 100VAC at either 50 or 60 Hz, depending on region. I am not good with schematics, but I cannot see the 8500II as being the same tuner. It may be “related” … but not the same. By being related, it may be in the same niche in an export model line-up, or it may have related technology.
I had forgotten that I had contributed something to the ‘Tuner Information Center’ some years ago — before I did a lot of work on my first TX -8800II. Here is what the editor of the forum site reported in his reviews of various tuners and using some of my information:
Notice that I said it had five gangs but I may have miscounted. It may have four. I should pull of the can and look again.
And here is a good look at the TX-8800II on a Japanese page — the translation comes out surprisingly well — link:
http://translate.google.co.jp/trans...arch?q=pioneer+tx-8800ii&client=safari&rls=en
I’ll be back with some more news as I work my through this unit. Questions or comments are most welcome. And I would like to hear from anyone who knows the best way to work a replacement for those tiny 9 Volt, meter indicator bulbs. Two of three are blown out. Luckily, all the dial window lamps are good.
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