Conference terri::cars_uk

    Most pre-recorded cassettes are about 25 minutes per side.  A D90 is 45
    minutes per side.  The extra length of the tape can cause enough drag
    to make it appear slow.
    
    Some of your cassettes may have become slightly stretched by being used
    in a faulty unit, too.
    
    I would try some cassettes that haven't been played recently on your
    faulty player.
    
    -Al
    

Play a cassette on a player you know runs at the correct speed.  Time it.
Now play it on the faulty car player.  Time it.  This will tell you how
slow the player is running.

Scott

Also try  shop recorded cassettes, if all you play is home recorded it could
be that your cassette player that you record them on runns a bit fast.

Simon

    
    Sounds like the one in my Astra, ended up buying a Pioneer unit after
    sending it back to Phillips twice, they said there was nothing wrong
    with it. Seems strange that they're not doing too well at the mo ......

    Also sounds like the player in my R25 and I thought it was just Nigel
    Kennedy's interpretation of Vivaldi until Dire Straits wowed and
    fluttered too.  I'm on my second Phillips in the same car and this unit
    is about 18 months old.  No matter, the ash tray is full so the lease
    must be ending....

    Thanks for all suggestions.
    
    I used a bought c60 pre-recorded tape to convince them.
    It only plays slow  when the big reel is being pulled by the small.
    The mounting in the car is making this worse as it is also pulling
    against gravity.
    
    re .-1 
    You might like to try a tape in the condition where the large reel
    is in the guts of the player and the small reel nearest to the driver.
    play it in both directions. Now remove the tape and put it in the other
    way round and again play in both directions. You'll find that only one
    of the 4 samples is slow. Since you can show the same tape plays ok
    when it is the other way around you've got them !
    
    I'm now on my 3rd player. Discussion with the garage suggests that
    whole batches of the Philips players that are the SAT model were dodgy.
    Philips test them and say they're OK...send them to the garage who get
    stuck with �360 of stock and then use that to replace another faulty
    one. The parting comment from the service manager was...My Rod Stewart
    plays ok in your player so we'll have to give your player to someone
    who likes Rock music rather than classics. ( The player was brand new
    that morning....or so he said)
    
    	And both the service manager and owner of the garage claim to own
    slow playing cassettes in there R25 and R21 !   Talk about
    recommendation  ;-)

    
    I have the standard philips cassette in my astra and it also has speed
    problems.
    
    Has anyone replaced their Speakers with the Alpine or Pioneer
    standard replacements which fit the holes in the dash and rear panels?
    If I replace the cassette I would like to upgrade the speakers but
    don't want to cut holes anywhere. (Are they any good?).
    
    Any advice welcome.
    
    PS Is the Clarion HiFi Cassettes a direct replacement for the philips.(
    i.e. Do you have to fit the Clarion cage.)

    Re : Alpine and Pioneer speakers.
    
    
    Personally i'd go for the PIONEER speakers if you are looking for 
    direct replacements. PIONEER are far superior in the 3-way speaker
    area, ALPINE tend to deal/concentrate more with the 1-way speakers.
    
    Although i'd never go PIONEER ;-)

    
    Humm Lewis,
    
    �    Although i'd never go PIONEER ;-)
    
    Is that because they don't disintegrate so well ;-)
    
    Anyway, the sony 100 watt three way stereo speaker doesn't give bad 
    sound ( unless you want to try to melt that too ;-) ), just that the
    living room is now in mono ........... ;-)
    
    Nik.

.9� Anyway, the sony 100 watt three way stereo speaker doesn't give bad 
.9� sound
    That's not Alan's new dream-boat, is it? !!!

    Anyway,  has anyone noticed any change in quality of sound from their
    Philips on-board cassette player.  I ask because when mine gets warm,
    and I start playing a tape from the begining,  the sound is sometimes
    *very* muffled.

    Sometimes I can clear it by ejecting and re-introducing the tape, but
    other times, I have to spool forward `some' distance before the sound
    is as it should be.

    Martin.

    Sounds like either the tape head and perhaps the capstian needs a
    clean.  Or it could be the tape player's azimuth adjustment (of it's
    playback head) is a bit out.  
    
    Or the cassette recorder used to record your tape could have been out! 
    You can probably adjust this from the top surface of the player unit, but I 
    wouldn't move the thing until I was abolutely sure that the tape played
    is correct.  Isn't problem solving a b|&ch when you have no point of 
    reference.
    
    Rob.

    I get the same problem with the Philips in my Renault 19. I find that I
    can't play both sides of the same C90 one after the other. When I eject
    the tape it also feels quite hot, as does the tape mechanism. Could it
    be the heat from the bulb which illuminates the front panel? The car
    doesn't help matters, because the system is at the top of the fascia
    where it is exposed to the sun. And of course, being black, the dashboard
    absorbs heat anyway. The problem certainly seems to be worse when the
    sun has been shining.
    
    I think it's just down to poor design.

    I'm getting the same with a phillips R681 in my Rover (it's the top
    model they fit). What I've done to demonstrate it to the dealer is tape
    two minutes of the speaking clock.
    
    Playing it back on several tape players (including the old one in my
    wife's car) it keeps time. Playimgh it back on my errant unit, by the
    time the tape says "two minutes" it's two minutes eleven seconds on my
    watch!.
    
    I'm going in tomorrow!.
    
    Richard

    RE -1
    
    Open up the unit, find something that will turn with a screwdriver
    and turn it.  It the speed changes, your home free, if it blows up, go
    back to the dealer say 'Honest, I was just inserting my Jason Donavan
    tape and it blew up', and get them to replace it.. Simple  8-)
    
    ..Craig   

    Nah, the car's only 4 months old. I went in, they've ordered one, to be
    replaced under warrantee.
    
    Anyway, judging by how common this is in this notesfile, it's probably
    a design defect, or at least a bad batch of motors or something. Let
    them fiddle, I'll have a brand new one thanks.
    
    Richard

    On the subject of tapes slowing down, I've had this problem with the
    Phillips 681 in my Cavalier.  It's been going on for months now, which
    has resulted in 4 replacement stereo's being fitted, and the last story
    from the Vauxhall dealer was that they'd checked with the suppliers who
    said the stereo's OK - dealer then blamed my tapes.
    
    After talking to PHH I gave the Vauxhall dealer one more chance, they
    just phoned back and said there IS a problem with the 681 but it's not
    been sent out in a bulletin. Any NEW stereo is supposed to be OK from
    now on.
    
    Time will tell I suppose.................................
    
    
    Tony

    Well (belatedly) they replaced mine, in January, and it has been OK
    since.
    
    Richard

    Well, after my last note (.16), Vauxhall admitted that the fix is only
    fitted to NEW stereo's. and not to re-con's. This means that they just
    fit a re-con to get rid of the customer (I've had 4 so I know!) 
    
    Bottom line----complain via Hertz or PHH, then maybe you'll get
    somewhere.
    
    I had a brand new stereo fitted a couple of months ago, and it's been
    fine ever since.
    
    
    Tony