Archive for the ‘Sony PS-F9’ Category
New Purchase – Sony APM 090 Speakers
Monday, August 8th, 2011
I recently bought a pair of these portable speakers from eBay. They’re a bit rough, but they work OK. Was just doing a bit of digging around online and found this image on AudioIdiots from the German 1984 Sony brochure:
They sound pretty good for their size. Powered by a 6 V AC adapter or 4 x C cells in the left hand speaker which houses the amplifying circuitry. I was initially a bit stumped as to why the right hand speaker also had a battery cover, space for 4 cells and the metal contacts for the speakers until I noticed a sticker stating “Put the spare batteries here”! So it’s both a way for Sony to save production costs by only having one moulding they used for both speakers and a way to carry a spare set of cells should you wish. I guess the metal springs & contacts are to stop the cells rattling around in there. The leads are both integral (main signal in and lead from right speaker which plugs into the left speaker with a mono 3.5mm jack. There’s room for them to stow away under the battery doors so they’re neat when not being used. They’ve also got wall hanging points, so I could mount them either side of my wall hung PS-F5 if I was so inclined…
Sadly I didn’t receive the carry handle, but happily both have their original “It’s a Sony” sticker.
Posted in analogue, ebay, Related Devices, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »
Happy 2 Year Anniversary to ps-f5.com- Here’s the gifts!
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
Well, the site’s made it through 2 years. Cheers to all visitors past, present and future and thanks to everyone who’s written in with help and support.
Most things I’ve been sent have ended up on the site, sometimes straight away, sometimes after a while and I still have things that I need to get on one day.
Two such examples that some kind people sent me to stick on the site that I haven’t got round to sticking on till now are the workshop manuals for both the PS-F5 and PS-F9. Thanks to those people for helping the rest of us keep our turntables going.
They’ll get a proper link in the main menu one day, but for now those links will just be available in this blog post.
So keep checking back, or subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed to be updated of updates as I’ll be steadily adding to the site and trying out de-yellowing one of my PS-F5s in the near future.
And if you have any info that you’d like to see on the site, hit me up on the contact page.
Cheers,
Marcus
Posted in maintenance, Sony PS-F5, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »
PS-F9 For Sale on Austrian eBay
Friday, July 1st, 2011
Just had a message from Christian in Austria that he’s selling his PS-F9. Here’s the link for anyone who’d like to pick one up:
eBay link
Posted in ebay, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »
Protect Your Battery Terminals
Friday, May 20th, 2011
Yesterday I was installing a new HTPC here at home. When looking up the best way to install the coax satellite cable’s F Connectors, I found this page on the use of silicone grease, which linked to this page of other uses. This section caught my eye:
Leaking battery cells will cause the spring contacts to corrode. You can help prevent this by coating the contacts with silicone grease.
You can use it in any equipment that uses battery cells – from remote controls, model boats, model cars to hearing aids.
Seems like a sensible, easy and cheap precaution to take on our turntables to me.
I plan to add a maintenance section to this site one day to which I’ll add this, but in the meantime I thought I’d post this info here as it may help others and to remind me to add it to a more permanent part of the site one day.
Posted in maintenance, Sony PS-F5, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »
About Page Updated
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
I made some updates to the About page today, including a real life recording of the PS-F5 in action, kindly donated by a friendly visitor of the site from France called Emmanuel. Thanks to you for that.
Posted in Sony PS-F5, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »
New PS-F9 Video on YouTube
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
A happy new year to all. It was made especially happy for us here as our first child was born last week. Both mother and son are healthy and doing well.
As for the subject of portable Sony turntables- this video of a PS-F9 in action was posted to YouTube yesterday. Enjoy 
Posted in Sony PS-F9, video | 2 Comments »
What is the PS-F5 & PS-F9 Cartridge? (It’s not P-Mount)
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Well, having wondered for a while about the type of cartridge used, I had read somewhere that it was a P-Mount (also known as T4P), which was a standard mount used by Technics and other Japanese manufacturers on some of their turntables in the 80s. I’m now certain it’s something else.
I saw this UK eBay listing for a P-Mount with a decent photo:
This is what a VL-44G cartridge from a PS-F5 turntable looks like (with stylus installed):
The difference is plain to see
So the question remains, is there another Audio Technica model number that these cartridges go by? That would surely help in tracking down replacement/ upgrade cartridges. The quest continues…
Tags: cartridge, p mount, stylus, T4P, VL-44G
Posted in ebay, Sony PS-F5, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »
Retr0Bright – De-yellow your Sony?
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
After the question posed by A.R. on this post, and my request for a “magical chemical solution” he did some amazing detective work and found a possible solution to the yellowing problem that many Sony PS-F5s and PS-F9s exhibit in their old age. This is mainly brought on by exposure to Ultra Violet radiation which reacts with chemicals in the ABS plastic of the case.
Some vintage gadget enthusiasts have come up with a home-brew chemical gel that can be applied to yellowed plastic which restores it to its original colour. This wonderful sounding product’s called Retr0bright.
“We have now proved on several forums that plastics yellowing can be completely reversed in hours without damage using our mixture.”
There are a number of recipes on their Wiki. Thankfully all of the chemicals involved are easily obtainable (at least here in the UK) and all are safe apart from Hydrogen Peroxide, which is the main ingredient in hair bleach and is to be treated with respect. Be sure to wear gloves and goggles and work in a well ventilated room.
I was initially concerned about any chemical solution affecting the printing on the case, but then I saw this Lego piece in the Retr0Bright gallery, which is painted. The paint appears unaffected by the process:
Although the Problems and Pitfalls page on the site does show some examples of label fade, the printing on the PS-F5 is generally of good quality with a heavy black ink, so hopefully this won’t be too much of an issue, especially if the Sony’s not too yellowed, and therefore doesn’t require many applications.
There are other examples in the gallery with stickers and paint too, all of which suggest that it should be safe. Something I’m not sure about is whether the smoked transparent plastic on the front of the case would need to be removed prior to applying the gel. Maybe masking would be safest, attempting to remove the glued in smoked panel may cause breakage.
I’d like to give this a try, but would really appreciate it if anyone out there has a spare case (or piece of case, ideally one with some printing) for their PS-F5 that they’re willing to experiment on and report back to the site so I can let everyone know for sure that this works on our Sonys and is safe.
“There were an incredible number of people at first that said this was impossible – that was until they saw the pictures, then tried it and proved it for themselves. The usual reaction was ‘No way!’ then ‘WOW!!’.
Tags: aged, chemical, paste, plastic, restore, Retr0Bright, white, yellow, yellowed
Posted in Retro, Sony PS-F5, Sony PS-F9, Weird & Wonderful | No Comments »
Minty Sony PS-F9 for sale on U.S. eBay
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
This looks very nice, but you’re going to need deep pockets to get this one. It’s already over US$500 with 3 days to run!
eBay Link
Update: It sold for US$910! Tags: ebay, for sale, portable turntable, record player, turntable, vinyl
Posted in ebay, Sony PS-F9 | 5 Comments »
PS-F5 and PS-F9 Stylus Review
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
Need a new or better stylus for your Sony PS-F5 or PS-F9? Patrick Radzewitz has researched the options and written up his findings which are now available on the new Styli Page. Thanks Patrick!
Posted in Sony PS-F5, Sony PS-F9 | No Comments »
