The best player for cheap tapes would be, as you know, prosumer or pro players with Svideo out, tbc built in, and heavy duty, robust tracking mechanisms.
At the risk of offending JVC lovers, my own experience with my 3 JVC's and with others I know about was that they refuse to stay in alignment for extended periods and require frequent pro-level adjustment. I had three JVCs and ended up with three damaged tapes. Trying to get them repaired makes a root canal seem like entertainment. You can try TGrantPhoto for JVC repairs, as he has handled the SR-V series. If you ask T. Grant for advice, though, he'd probably tell you to get a Panasonic 1980 or 1970 if you want more rugged tracking with crummy tapes.
Repairing the tape path on a JVC is excerbated by the fact that any older JVC you find today, unless it has been maintained in a pro shop, will have been run into the ground to the point where most of their parts aren't salvageable for use on other JVC's.. JVC part support ended many years ago, which makes the situation worse. The SR-V series are later models, cheaper than the big boys like the 8000 and 9000 series, and are less rugged that their older cousins were. The Panasonics mentioned were more costly than the JVC prosumer units, and thus fewer were sold over the years. The again, JVC was the fad for several years until the market ran dry. Now the same market situation is starting to happen with the Pannies.
Try TGrantPhoto and see if the repair might be worth it.
Last edited by sanlyn; 09-21-2015 at 06:00 PM.
|