Teac Studio 8000 Rolling Console

[Qete]

Recently picked up a Teac 80-8 with DX-8 in the Studio 8000 console cart. $300 was a steal. Needs some work, the transport buttons are not engaging.

Alt link: https://imgur.com/WWOeaUu

Given the weight, I'd love to be able to service it in the cart. The bottom front panel is removeable but it appears that the panel above is stapled in.

The DX-8 above the deck is great and the cart is pretty - but can the top front panel be removed without destroying it?

Anyone familiar with this cart? Was it preassembled by Teac?

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The 80-8 was in the rack when I worked at Teac in the 80's so it is that old a design and they did much better with the 38, 48,58 models. The 80-8 will need to come out of the rack for a full recap, work on all the cards and then mechanical linkage work like the pinch roller. This amount of work will be way over $1000. Kurt Jacobs can maybe make relay retro fits as the flat relays they used in deck and dBx were always trouble. The Frako cap on the power switch of DX8 will be one to change as I have had them crack and make smoke. This deck is headed for a lot of work and to think that it will remain in the cart is just not logical thinking- these were all put on a roll around 2 foot by 2 foot tables they used to sell at MCM. You better have good weight lifting ability to deal with this deck as otherwise you will not be able to handle it. This is all dependent on the unit having good head in it still- If they are shop then I am not sure there are replacement now but maybe the 38 head.

 

[Qete]

Wishful Thinking! Thanks Skywave. I moved it up multiple stairs on my own. Not fun but I can manage. Not sure why it was mounted to the rack with too large of screws

These heads seem okay but can't really know for sure yet. No idea about the last service - bought it from someone selling it for a friend. Usual SSS buildup of course. I was able to pass signal to each VU thru the DX-8. Capstan is spinning and its motor responding to the VS-88. No burning smells after about an hour of power. Decent shape at least.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The power supply even if working now will need new caps as otherwise it is a crap shoot as to when they will go bad right at the wrong time. We have at times seen burned boards at Teac where excessive heat was had due to caps probably conducting DC when they should not as in leaking. I find that with old equipment it is best to beat the failure to the punch and not be a cheap skate waiting to use each capacitor to the end as this will make the repair of the deck a tremendously costly thing to deal with.
Two relays per card is a headache waiting for the repair person. They used to burnish and put grease on the contacts so they would not tarnish but that idea may be and old one and not applicable at this point. I have already contacted Kurt about making a retro relay system that would replace those relays with the smaller more reliable ones that then might at that point make the machine something you can rely on.
I have had to fix dBx cards too as well at Teac and after spending 8-10 hours on them Teac finally decided to offer an exchange card for like $85 otherwise the repair cost per card could go into the $500-$600 range which at the price per hour of Teac service at the time was $67.50/Hr. This was at the 539 W Gold Road Location in Arlington Heights IL that I worked at. I also worked at the other shop called Chicago Factory Service that Teac sold the shop to. I was there until it closed down.

 

[Qete]

Yes replacements for the power supply caps are my first order from Mouser. Then the ~250 or so I'll need for the R/RP amp cards.

I couldn't find Kurt's info online, does he have a website or business? I'd like to get new ones instead of searching endlessly for a possible replacement.

Regarding the dbx, the DX-8 schematics I have are rather blurry. Did Teac ever print a hardcopy manual for it?

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Yes they did and I spent many hours working off them. Until last year you could get good manuals from Stereomanuals.com but Rick died last years and so what you can get might still be possible as his daughters fill orders made but at some point unless a person who knows what they are doing takes that over then it will decay is ability to supply the manual. Blurry schematics is a trade mark of Hi Fi Engine due to the brain dead scan people who are only after numbers and using the lowest resolution and also some pages are upside down and partial pages or as in many cases you can not even read them.
You should also know that the signals on the cards seem to disappear in amplitude to amounts you can not measure with a scope yet in good cards the signal comes out the other end. This is why it is so difficult for a repair of these even by a guy who has worked on them for some years and has all the documentation that was available- still double sided cards with Tantalum caps that short the signals is a problem we have dealt with often and the foil patterns on those cards can crack- they should have been made from glass epoxy but that was too expensive. A card that is defective can cost a good technician 4-5 hours of time to fix it times 8 cards. This is why I suggest to most that ask me to get a DX-4D that has the FV taken out and then you will not have to worry about the switching that the relays do as the unit does all processed all the time and they are very reliable. You will need 2 units for 8 channels as is needed on the 38, 48, 58 for which these were designed.