SONY WM-EX5 Blue, a rare beauty

 nice !

Sony was really at the top of their game. Original, durable and colourful!  Great photos as usual Hugo

in the mid nineties, i had the ex-1 hg and 2 hg ... both of them were crappy and malfunctioned after a few months of daily usage. the nineties was the time of these overbreed walkmen, which got more and more tiny and luxury design. imho, sony and other manufacturers forgot how durable a mobile music player had to be and started to make more and more bling bling designs without any durability. i don`t know how ppl. can buy such devices at the bay for high prices. sure, they`re looking fantastic, tiny and shiny. but if you try to repair such a unit, its a pain. its just some good looking stuff for the showcase.

when i see the cheering crowd, i ask myself, how many units of this type are in daily use, or in working condition today. do you guys just collect them to remembering old days and complete the collection, or do you really use them for what they were built for ?

when i buy a walkman or similar cassette players, there`s a failure quote of 80-90 %.. think, thats normal for a throwaway product like a walkman. its the same like nowadays smartphones. but its frustrating to get a unit for real use... most of them are described as "ok" or "fully functional", but ppl. only make a short test, if drive is working and if its moving. mostly, i cannot use them for listening to music. and i WANT to listen to cassette outside. it doesn`t make sense to me to buy things for no use.

GEARWHEEL

I bought a WM EX1 HG 2 a while back for 15 quid - works like a charm

maybe you mishandle your gear?

If you want a working walkman - read the description carefully - and buy the model you want - people on here can repair it for you for a smallish fee

I have plenty of working walkmans - using one right now

A lot of the stuff being sold on ebay IS junk - it's a crap shoot admittedly

but understand you gotta play the table to win

if you get bad gear - report it - money back - ebay is your protector on junk

I bought a walkman described as working for 59 bucks - and it was DOA

told the seller and got MONEY BACK and I got to keep the walkman - showcase material as you say

BUT then on the flipside I got a walkman described as working for 6 bucks (same model incidentally) - and the seller acts like an asshole

now I have an open case yada yada yada

what's your beef? This is 30 year old crap we're talking about

if it's too expensive - don't buy it, leave it for the morons with the loose change

I buy low

if I don't like it

then I flip it and sell high

don't hate the playa

BADGER

i didnt mishandle anything. i spent 400 DM in 1996 for that units. this was a lot of money for a young man. i really took care of it, but this flatmen just jammed after some months (most 90s units did so.). "typical sony" most friends said. a saying in germany is: "so nie (sony) .. wieder !", which means : never again this manufacturer. this was also said by seller in electronic markets when you went out to buy some new home electronics.

and i never met a person who said, that 90s units were very durable. its also difficult to get that very thin belts. but there are still some old DDs, which are working now in the second generation, when parents give it to their children. so, something changed in walkman design.

meanwhile, i only collect 80s stuff. its more repairable, easy to solder, and i can bring it to every electronic repair service.

i dont hate - i just think, hyping that 90s thingies is strange.

well ... the bay... most walkmen auction dont make sense to resend it back. i live in germany, and mostly the shipping cost from canada and the US are silly.

yes, some are very friendly and refund, thats no problem.

its just annoying to get an electronic working unit, where just to change belts.

and the few repairers... i dont see any prices or real shops. when i bring pieces from my watch collection to my watchmaker, i know, what price range a repair will be... this is what i miss on walkman repairers. a clear, trusty website with prices. i really love my units, its difficult to convince myself to send them across the world to some unknown people for repairing :-S ...

i dont flip and sell high. this is bad behaviour and doesnt help the reputation of cassette (players). most ppl. out there are thinking, cassette was a bad, faulty thing, and players often jammed and ate cassettes. it doesnt help, if there are a lot of faulty units out there which are flipped around and around... i`ve to fight again day by day against the myth, cassettes are a sh*tty idea to listen music to...

i really love cassettes, have more than 4000 of them. i love the real thing, no hypes and silly prices. simple, working machines instead of thin, tiny and overbred stuff. i`ve got no showcases. i use my cassettes daily and i still make recordings every week.


/edit : dont misunderstand me... i understand, why other ppl. really like that design of the nineties. but at that time, me and my friends often had to buy a new unit after 6-12 months. because they weren`t durable and too dainty. thats fact. we spent a lot of money for the players every year . we were young, living at home and didnt care about the money...

Hey Gearwheel,

You do have some very valid points. 80's tech was easier to repair and work on.  Quality did lack on certain models of ALL manufactures in the 90's. Strictly do to $$ competition.

I had no problems with any of my Sony Walkmans (they still work today) and I recently bought a good condition EX808 that functions beautifully. I do appreciate that your experience was less than satisfactory.

I did have a bad experience with a Philips walkman and NEVER went back to them, but I'm sure in hindsight that it was just this particular model, not the whole lineup.

The biggest problem is that we evolved into a disposable society (cell phones anybody?). Things are cheaper to toss than repair. Now the local audio repair shop is going the way of the Dodo bird. Everything is made to be replaced, not repaired.

Thankfully there are certain people who still offer their services but shipping is normally involved.

I wish there was one on each street corner but, we the consumer created this 90's trash by our demand for cheap over quality, attitude. I'd still take that EX5 over many other models out there, but that's just my taste based on personal experience

Cheers!

don't misunderstand the flipping

if you buy something KNOW what it's market value is

I never overpay

and I never overcharge

my walkman all work

Gearwheel: I collect only early ultrathin 90's walkmans from Sony and Panasonic. I have about 300 of them and all are working! It's very rare that there is something wrong with them (except belts and pinch rollers). Believe me, these machines are durable and in case of Sony and Panasonic models, they're very easy to disassemble.

On the other hand, give your hands away from late 80's and early 90's AIWA models. Their serviceability is very poor, also they have many problems, like leaked caps, many mechanical issues, etc.

Marian

mihan : well .. my experience isnt the same... i sold or gave free away that ultra thin panas. sometimes its even impossible to change a belt, because of the annoying sandwich soldering. if the belts and wheels are soldered between two boards, and you notice to not have a robotic hand, its very frustrating. so i switched one decade back. i have three 1983 grundig beat boy 120. in all of them, opening was easy, cleaning and belt changing too. when my friend came back with a hundred of that thinnies, it was the same : most didnt work...

i also own some big wm f18/f28 ... us/can/eu model. fat boards, but easy to repair.

the last 20 years, i have not seen a single super thin cassette player, which is durable and easy to repair. but i appreciate it, if you have some tips for me, for a autoreverse model with equalizer and radio.

brutus : think, there is a place for some small shops, which are specialized to vintage hifi repairs. i have a repair shop which is called "audio clinic" at the nex city, 15 miles away.

badger : i see .. i also dont pay too much ... but it doesn`t change the fact, that most stuff at the bay is crappy. most ppl dont even know how to test the unit. they grab it from the garage, cellar, whatever .. xD ...

I am using a Sony EX808HG for months now as daily Walkman and this thing is strong as hell. Dropped it many times on the floor and it's still going perfect. It gets squeezed often in my back pocket. When this happends it distorts a little, but thats over when the pressure is gone. It's not a really thin player, but can recommend this one for daily use.

brutus : think, there is a place for some small shops, which are specialized to vintage hifi repairs. i have a repair shop which is called "audio clinic" at the nex city, 15 miles away.

I wish you lived in my city Finding a repair technician that still works on cassette players is harder than finding the Ark of the Covenant. I know of one in Toronto, Canada (I looked high and low for ages) and even he has given up his store and works from his basement. It is a terrible sign of the times. Your repair skills (and that of others here) is a highly sought after talent by a select few of us analog dinosaurs.  

BTW I would recommend the sony 101 series as an ultra thin model VERY easy to repair. If I can fix them..anyone should be able to!

@Michiel. I also own an EX808HG and I'm very impressed with it's ruggedness!

oh no ... not an HG model again .. never ever .. i spent so much money for nothing... the other problem is : is doesnt use normal AA batteries. aaand finally, the shiny surface problem... its a scratchcatch :-/ ...

wm 101 ? mmh ... i take a look .. thanks .

and where do you get the belts ?

i have some rq-nx 60v, but the problem is described as above. its difficult, to get to the gears, its between two boards. and when i saw that ultra thin belts, i had enough and threw it into bin ...

PM DocP gearwheel. He is THE man for belts!!

i know well. ok. some might like that soldering around to change a belt. think, i`ll stay at my 80s models. i sorted out more than 10 thinnies the last 12 months ...

also i should ask for forum repairers to have one good serviced model for daily use...

is dr. walkman the only european, who does ?