VHS Panasonic FV-NJ626 vs FV-NJ710

[tugatomsk9]

My VHS VCR (PAL) Panasonic NV-FJ626 6-heads HIFI stereo has broken down after many years of use. It was the best modern VHS VCR regarding it's mono audio response of older tapes.

I found on VCR Shop the top of the line model at the time, the FJ710. This model adds the manual control of sharpness. The lack of this feature sharpness, something that annoyed me to no end on my FJ626.

https://vcrshop.com/product/vcr/vide...onic-nv-fj710/

Can anyone confirm the FJ710 also has the same mono audio response?

Thank you all in advance.

[hodgey]

The FJ710 is from the year before. The hardware should be pretty similar though but can't say with 100% certainty that the output will match exactly. The Video/linear audio IC is branded Philips TDA9735 in the 710 (and 610, and models form that year and before) while the FJ626, and the models from the year after that have a Panasonic AN3531NFBS instead (earlier models have an earlier IC and separate linear audio/video). The pinout and details of the ICs look exactly the same in the schematics though so might just be Panasonic aquiring the IP or something not sure. (At least the NV-HD630AM I have which has the philips and the NV FJ621 which is similar to your FJ626 have very similar output.) The later NV-HV/NV-MV and SVHS variants use completely different video/audio all in one ICs so those won't match.

That said, linear audio seems to be something that all the Panasonics I've used does really well sans the NV-HD620 I have but I think that one has a misaligned audio head. Even the 2005 DMR-ES30 I have have decent sounding linear audio (while the JVC/Samsung/Orion and several of the LG combos I've used are not all that great in that regard)

[tugatomsk9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hodgey

The FJ710 is from the year before. The hardware should be pretty similar though but can't say with 100% certainty that the output will match exactly. The Video/linear audio IC is branded Philips TDA9735 in the 710 (and 610, and models form that year and before) while the FJ626, and the models from the year after that have a Panasonic AN3531NFBS instead (earlier models have an earlier IC and separate linear audio/video). The pinout and details of the ICs look exactly the same in the schematics though so might just be Panasonic aquiring the IP or something not sure. (At least the NV-HD630AM I have which has the philips and the NV FJ621 which is similar to your FJ626 have very similar output.) The later NV-HV/NV-MV and SVHS variants use completely different video/audio all in one ICs so those won't match.

That said, linear audio seems to be something that all the Panasonics I've used does really well sans the NV-HD620 I have but I think that one has a misaligned audio head. Even the 2005 DMR-ES30 I have have decent sounding linear audio (while the JVC/Samsung/Orion and several of the LG combos I've used are not all that great in that regard)

Thanks for the reassurance. I guess I'll get the FJ710. 😃

As a whole, I really liked my FJ626: very smooth and quiet operation, a fast but efficient Superdrive rewind. It was the first Panasonic VCR I ever had and I loved it.