Sanyo Spectra 2000
 

Hi Guys,

I recently picked up this nice little 1983 Sanyo Spectra 2000. The metal cabinet is in nice shape, and it even came with the original metal top remote! Now I know this set is at the threshold of intrest for a lot of you guys, but I was still curious of what you have to say about it. I paid a whooping 0$ for it so, not a bad deal at all :music:

Thanks!

Edit : Humm the picture of the TV is not that good...sorry. I'll get a better one when I have the chance.

I think most cheaped out and got the Sears version. Of course only the name is different. I've seen remotes like that labeled Sears Channel Touch.

I guess we could be called the "Gray Order" of TV collectors.

This was a quite good set. A case of a mid priced set that came
out as good as a premium brand. In other words someone
screwed up !!
IIRC these had a PLL chip that would go bad & Z0064 HV
rectifier / divider that cracked open. Dont give up on it, post
a picture & we can figure it out. Also chassis pic & model ##.
They are easy to work on.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Not giving up on it yet, I didn't even pluged it Haha. Model number is 91C621U, but beware that it might ne a Canadian number! I'll pop the back when I have a moment to give you the chassis nimber. :)

Gray order? Haha

It's funny how 2000 was once thought of as so futuristic, so many things were named 2000 back in the day. Love the computer style font on the remote!

Yup, from League of Legends lore. A group of political and social outcasts.

My ultrasonic and early infrared Zenith Space Phone remotes have that old-school computer font.

Nah not outcast...I like to to call myself a conoisseur ;)

Yes this early 80's font quite nice indeed !

I had the Sears version of that Sanyo. Paid $500 for it on sale (regularily $600+) and it was a very high quality set in it's day. It had a COMB filter, VIR color control, light sensor, and an audio output jack. Mine was an '82 model, the last year before they became "cable ready". I was very impressed with the picture it delivered. Back then, Sears could really deliver some high quality private-labeled products.

Comb filters were probably the biggest improvement back then.
You could demo it easily by showing individual hairs & lack of
"barber poling". VIR was the only true auto color scheme that worked.
All others just twisted truth on the colors, thats why I always say
turn them off & adjust manually. Light sensors I remember back
to early 60's Maggies & dont see sense in.
Sears sets were not respected due to many factors, a lot of it
earned. The Sears/Sanyo & Sears/Toshiba solid state sets were of
very good to excellent quality. The tube sets are another story......
IMHO as usual:D

73 Zeno:smoke:

What was the main difference between the Sanyo and their sears counterparts? Was there any difference in quality , assembly, components, or was it simply cosmetic?

I got the chassis number for my spectra 2000 of the rear sticker (missed it the first time): A2F-621UO.

Yup cosmetics, model & chassis numbers. Also sold by Sears under the LXI
brand. Mom & pop Sanyo dealers were few so we saw a LOT more
Sears ones.
Sanyo also made Fisher sets of that era. Just 19" & 25" IIRC. They had
a totally different chassis than Sanyo or Sears. Sold well for a while.
They were a bit of a pain to work on physically. They all used some
special unrepairable (usually) modules that went disco in abt 10 yrs
& that was the end most Fishers.
BTW the chassis isnt listed in Sams.
There should be a model # also starting with 91 ( screen size backwards).

73 Zeno:smoke:

That being said, got to wonder if my '83 Fisher FVH-530 top-loader VCR is Sanyo made.

Yessah it is. Is it Beta or VHS ? Sanyo made both. I didnt do much
VCR but IIRC the loading belts would slip & parts would brew up
due to the motor running to long. May have been the front loaders
only but somethin to watch for.

73 Zeno:smoke:

It's a VHS.

Hey, now anything can have it!

http://www.dafont.com/twobit.font

:D

I must admit that I prefer the cursive text on my Maggie Star System remotes.

New pictures of the guts of the sanyo. Zeno, I think there is no other chassi number than the one I already gave you...must be a canadian model that don't show up in the sam's. I turned it on yesterday and it works very well, keypad is responsive and tube is bright, even with brightness and contrast turned down! This one's a keeper.

It's remarkably clean inside, probably doesn't have a lot of hours on it. Whoever had it before must have used the remote almost exclusively, as with my '88 Zenith console. Hardly any buttons work on that remote and it's cracked clean through at the bottom.

BTW, we really need pointers to another site that actually supplies schematics for TVs made in Canuckistan, if such a site exists.

Not quite sure--and this is from memory of over 20 years ago-(I used to work on the Sears versions of these sets a LOT)--but i am pretty sure the H-out transistor in this is a VERY odd one-that does NOT use the normal hook up--and the pin-out is different than a normal TO-3. The case is NOT the collector--as in nearly all others--one of the pins is...REMEMBER this if it needs replaced !

Its a generation newer than the Z0064 sets so you dont have to
worry about that. You can usually use a similar aged Sams if you
ever need to work on it. Odds are any problems will be lytics &
the set is well blocked out so easy to find without manual.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Good to hear! BTW, I had a question on my mind for quite some time now...I was wondering , given the fact that most of my set ony have a coax connection; what would be the best RF modulator to connect the TV to? Are there quality (better picture, reliability, etc) brands out there, or are they all about the same?

I dont know what new one to get. The ones we used back when
DVD's came out were decent but dont remember the brands.
Any will have a coax 75 ohm output.

73 Zeno:smoke:

yes it is very clean...I wonder if it's a low hour set or if the set as been worked on , and the repair man cleaned it...looks like the transistor on my picture as been tempered with, so that's a possibility. I'll do a checkup of the CRT and report back on it's status.

Stay tuned :)

I never knew of a place. I remember ordering a few manuals for Electrohome
thats about it. Most the time I can find Sams that are near identical,
seemingly the same except the model #. I do sell Sams if it ever comes
to that but usually I can use them to help here & save $$. Only
thing I cant do is copy material, dont have the scanner & there are copyrights.........

73 Zeno:smoke:

I forgot ! Use a VCR's line ins & you will get RF out for your old set.
May have to flip a few switches, an old unit will be much easier.

Zeno

Yes, I tried to do that at first but copy protection kicked in ; I pluged my dvd player to my Sony VCR and then tried to use the coax out...but the picture kept going from too white to too dark. At first I tought that my VCR was malfuntionning, but I was later told that it was some sort of copy protection. So I bought an RF modulator.

You must have a crappy VCR model. I've owned dozens of VCRs, and have never had a problem using them as modulators.

I have a SLV-595HF, it's a good VCR. Maybe I did something wrong...could it be a crappy dvd player?

I'd like to know if using a mono VCR as a modulator would affect sound quality from DVD players. I'm guessing that standalone modulators only put out mono sound to begin with. I'd like to find an opportunity to dump my modulators as they're all hecho en chine.