My TEAC Disaster Has Me Weeping

[FreddieFerric]

I posted what's below on another forum, but wanted to share the details of such a terrible mis-adventure in the hopes that some of the members here might have some ideas or thoughts.

So here's the situation. I had my Teac X1000R in the shop for calibration last week. After the job was done I went to pick it up and paid the bill. Since I've been battling a bulging disc in my lower back, the service tech was kind enough to carry the deck to the back seat of my truck and laid it down on the seat. (Yeah, you can see where this is going). In all fairness to him, he asked me if that was OK. Although I knew better, I said yes. I figured it would be safe just because of the shear weight of the deck. So, as it goes, a total Nimrod pulled out directly in front of me on the way home forcing me to hit the brakes pretty hard. The forces of nature being what they are, the deck slid right of the seat and crashed onto the floor of the truck. Not a far distance, maybe a foot, but enough.

When I got the deck home I hooked it up. The unit played perfectly in the reverse direction, but in the forward direction the right channel was barely producing any movement on the VU meter. Also, the capstan motor would not supply enough hold voltage to keep the pinch roller engaged unless you first fast forwarded the tape for a second or too. To make matters worse, when fast forwarding through a tape, the stop button had no effect on stopping the tape.

I hauled the deck back to the tech. He did a few tests on it while I was there and then figured he'd need to tear down the unit since he was concerned that one of the control boards at the bottom of the deck had suffered damage.

I'm figuring that the deck is either toast, or the repair cost would not be worth the investment. So, maybe it's time to move on. Needless to say, I'm heart broken over this.

Since I already have a BR20 and an RT-707, I want either another X1000R or some other brand that offers bi-directional playback. Bi-directional recording is not so important, but I'll take it if the deck comes with it. Bi-directional functionality is paramount for this deck.

My first thought is an RT-909. I've always kind of wanted one, and there are a few available here and there. I also like the look of the Akai GX635D and 747, but I'm concerned about parts availability and the level of difficulty in having it serviced.

Perhaps some of the members that have experience with these decks could opine as to what I can expect if I move on one of them.

Thanks for the read (sorry it's a bit long) and any help is, as always, much appreciated.