The SONY SLV-R5UC Super VHS VCR

[ElvisRocksVinyl]

Very nice, Sony S-VHS machines are hard to come by in England If I ever see one I'm buying it, I bought my S-VHS machine back in 1996 it's made by Panasonic and also Made in Japan, has all the same dials and switches as this model. Even to this day it still looks as good as the day I bought it new, I only ever use it to transfer video to DVD, I have a standard HIFI Sony VCR that I use for general use, but my S-VHS is under lock and key.

[chocobo77]

i have a ?..i want to get the best picture. i have a jvc s-vhs with s-video and a samsung 5000 world wide vhs with scart.

[philosoma9]

"Da 4 Pro Head" is a boner for me !

[unitrus]

obraz pokaż!!!

[tapdancegirl88]

give you $50 for this machine

[tapdancegirl88]

give you $50 for this machine

[hedgehogwedgehog]

I miss VHS

Why did plastic take over tape?

[ussmbus]

hi-if a possible to test sap;mts stereo antena program -channels

thanks

[lewisner]

Nice bit of kit. Is that large control for use by Daleks?

[Sundancer213]

dvd

[Jman5291992]

hey guys, I don't know if anyone can help me out with this but I just got a JVC HR S6900U Super VHS VCR off of ebay that has a perfect picture in either SVHS or VHS mode, but the hi-fi audio is crackly on either SVHS or VHS. Can someone help me out here? I'd like to find out whats wrong with it before I send it out to JVC as the quality is better than any other machine I have.

[yogibear2k10]

@Jman5291992 Hello. I need to know how much you know about the inside of VCR's before I can help you really. But usually, the posts need adjusting, On all HI-FI machines the HI-FI sound is recorded and played back through the video head drum. The tape needs to be aligned perfectly against the drum in order to get the Hi-FI sound sounding correct. These posts are susceptible to movement after age so need VERY slight adjustment to get the correct alignment.. A pre-recorded tape is best for this.

[MIKON8ERISBACK]

Super VHS or S-VHS was a short lived attempt at preparing videotapes for high-definition TV. The now obsolete technology is perhaps best known and most heavily used inside Japan. VCR's in those days were built to last a lot longer than the snobby-ass PS3/Blu Ray players of today. I had a Sony PlayStation 3 i got for Christmas of 2007 that had a defective laser diode and crapped out shortly after the warranty expired.

[spacehelmetforacow]

@MIKON8ERISBACK You're confusing S-VHS with D-VHS/W-VHS.

S-VHS records a full SDTV signal (double the resolution of Normal VHs, about equivilant to a LaserDisc).

S-VHS actually stuck around for quite a while (it came out in 1985, and they kept manufacturing them for a decade or two after that), always sort of existing in the shadow of VHS, It only had, like 12 prerecorded movies during its lifetime, and by the time it was able to compete with normal VCRs in price, DVD had come out...

[BRm2008]

wow thats a cool looking video. 

[EmpireLS56KW]

I guess it would be HD over standard VHS PAL colour will be recoded better. Best visit wikipedia S-VHS on the pros and cons up and downs

[waynerf4]

I have two of these VCR's...have you ever wondered why you cant program the date for todays date?...

[philosoma9]

a VHS high-end Beast ! congrats folk

[costellom5]

It looks awsm.a little like an ES model,with the woodside panels.

about the crackling audio,I think you should change the caps in the power supply board

[Watcher3223]

The problem with crackling Hi-Fi can be due to many factors depending on what's up.

For instance, if the cracking happens with Hi-Fi recordings done in EP made on another VCR, the problem may be due to interchange incompatibility. The VHS standard doesn't guarantee perfect compatibility of slow speed recordings between different VCRs (and that's just for non Hi-Fi recordings).

Tape path calibration is TOUCHY with VHS Hi-Fi, ESPECIALLY at slow speeds.

IMO, this is why Beta hi-fi was superior.

[costellom5]

@Watcher3223 I said the capsbecause I have seen a video of DrCassette,with a Panasonic NV-850 VHS HiFi stereo VCR.Look at part "Repairing and testing the Panasonic NV-850 VCR"

I'm not an expert,I just told you that in this situation it was the caps

[Watcher3223]

@costellom5

Panasonic and Sony used distinctly different circuit designs to achieve the same function, so what might be the case for the Panny may not be for the Sony.

And, even if we were talking about two VCRs of the same model, there are multiple avenues where a failure could cause problems, including different problems that may cause some of the same symptoms.

In short, we need more info on what, why and/or how before a definite conclusion can be reached.

[bmwguy145]

I have the chance to get one of these for free. The person giving it away tells me that it doesn't power up. What could be wrong with it? I've heard it's something to do with capacitors in the power supply. Hopefully it won't be too hard to fix...

[Watcher3223]

@bmwguy145

These older Sonys with power supplies OEMed by Shindengen had massive capacitor problems; the Elna LongLife caps used in these were prone to leaking. Later versions of Sony's VCRs, including this model and others, used Mitsumi PSUs that used more reliable Panasonic caps.

Be prepared to clean up a big, stinky mess (and, you should get it done soon; the electrolyte is corrosive to the copper traces).

And I ought to know. I've done a repair for such a power supply before. Not fun.

[23chilled]

nice machine but nothing compared to the beautifully built top of the line Hitachi machine my folks bought in 82' had an awesome transport, today's world would have been considered a pro unit. One of the early front loading and stereo vcr's back in its day will have to track model number so i can try get hold of one again

[coolleect]

I have one of these, no remote. unfortunately, it needs some work, and a tape got stuck in it. Still, it was free, so I got it at the right price

[777jones]

This would be newer than 1990. It's not one of the first VCRs or anything like that. You can tell because the styling matches 1990s Sony gear. I would guess it is older than 1995 however. True golden age Sony.

[OBSysteme]

I like VCR ... everything with magnetic tape is just more fun than digital.

[Gheddopresident]

cool

[TheIzzy41]

awesome VCR!

[lpvcrcd]

Looks very nice Those were the days of the high end VCRs Such quaity and care went into manufacturing My brrther had some RCA around this time Their tuners picture and sound were excellent .. and they were well built! He liked the 620 and the 671 This Sony is special !!! It looks substantial Great!

[99Lorne]

I bought this model new for $1,300+ CAD when it first came out, but sadly I got a lemon. When it worked it was stunning, PQ on S-VHS tape (even in EP mode = 6-hrs per tape) looked blow-mind, equal to the source. Sony of Canada fixed it 5 times before the warranty ran out and then it broke again and I was stuck with a non-working lemon. I still have it in the original box, w-orig. remote, manual, etc. all in mint/new looking cond.

If you're in the Toronto area and want it, let me know. . .

[crapper1]

wish the dvd players we have were this slick looking

[HectareaTV02]

sooooo beautiful VHS!

[storrs19]

Gotta love those remote controls that could operate the Space Shuttle, LOL! My JVC S-8000U has one similar. Too bad they don't make stuff like this any more for us Hi-Fi Geeks.

[JDGlassProductions]

It is awesome!!!

[IAmNotAFunguy]

I found out the calender on that only goes up to 2005. What happend now that it is 2010?

[essentialeugene]

I have a Signature 2000 VCR and it is amazing. I got it from Montgomery Ward in 1993 and it still works to this day. It has double comb filter, color reproduction system, auto playback, scene selection, etc. When the VCR stops rewinding it goes CHEUOME followed by mini noises. The VCR will make slow choppy or fast choppy noises depening on the weight of the tape.

[bpmagruder]

i have a vcr in high quality. it's a samsung, search up "Samsung VCR" and you'll probably find it.

[Oboema6]

Thats an awesome machine considering its from the 80's. Too bad its obsolete.

[shieldcracker]

Man this brings back memories.

I have a SLV-757 which has PIP audio record level controls and a flat swing front panel, unfortunately it is dead and needs a new power supply.

[RealSkyDiver3]

damn that remote is bigger than the dildo I always use to smack my girlfriend with when doesnt do as I say, stupid bitch

[mig189189189]

Awesome video. Keep on with that good work!

[beestube76]

These are Great Machines!!! Have one myself!

[alukuhito]

That's an interesting accent.

[DubUrbano]

back in 94 my dad bought the slv 835. what a great machine. it stil goin. video editing with precision. sound editing... p n p feature. dual jug ring for great frame to frame search. high speed frw and rew. the remote waa very complex whith dual screen and stuf and i could control my sony tv with it. sp and lp recording and multy sistem.....

[bctvguy]

Fantastic machine. The early 1990s saw lots of great, high quality electronics like this made in Japan - especially VCRs, great TVs, walkmans of every type, tuners and boomboxes.

By the late 90s, everything was being made as cheaply as possible. Most production had been transferred to other Asian countries and the quality was not even close to this.

[Gmancrap]

Yea wow never thought of it this way I was born in 1992 so I would not know but when I look at old cameras tape decks and tv's I see a lot more then the late 90's and early 00's electronics. but I mean if your into new tec the electronic market out there right now will give you a bang for your buck so stuff right now is high quaily Im just a retro man and love older stuff.

[Segadude3000]

now thats badass!

[roon41]

I miss mine..cost around $1200 new in 1990..Got mine used in 1994 and used it as a video production editng deck and as part of a home theatre system..used it till the heads wore out. The nice thing about this unit was that all of the controls were on the front panel door so if you lost the remote you could still use it. The sound quality specs were the same as CD's..90db dynamic range. The record timer went up to 2005.

[5elin]

I like it :)

[baneskrbic]

Wohoa!!! O_o That remote is massive!

[watchitnz]

very very nice machine. I remember when these were king. Now days the components in the vcrs are rubbish. In the old days these were the best.

[Gmancrap]

Fuck that I hate dvd's they brake the get scratched vhs's never get fucked up that easy and you can recorded on to them with out going to your computer for all of that.

[feardinkum]

true that.

[Gmancrap]

And I'm only 16 plus I love my hi8 tape! and vhs camcorder (need to get it working soon =P).

[EmpireLS56KW]

Too bad S-VHS films wasn’t available for rental or buy in S-VHS.

[331sbf]

@EmpireLS56KW There was about 12 movies on S-VHS.I just picked up Terminator 2

[svr73]

fantastic video mate. I have begun collecting VHS, Betamax and laserdisc hardware once again and have around twelve in my collection in total including 2 x mint condition Sony SLV X810 VHS vcr's, a 1992 machine that was the first NTSC/PAL recording and playback machine. no macrovision inbuilt circuits either.

[ozzman9292]

Cool! Yeah, audio/video is an awesome hobby.  I now have an EV-S7000 Hi8 as well as the SLV-R5UC, and I love both of them.

[svr73]

yeah thats amazing. I have never heard of Hi 8 player/recorders. it's awesome

I cant believe that I got the SLV X810 and X822 for $40 bucks the other day. they are in mint condition. I love dvd buyers who think their VHS, BETA or Laserdisc machines are worthless

[kimosaaaabe]

I've got an old SLV-201 and 401 , hitachi mechs I think from 88 or 89, both still work fine!

[stpworld]

awsome vcr i have a sony vhs unit thats not as nice as yours but stil very good for standard vhs the only problem is when it goes to eject the door cant open all the way and it gets slammed back in can anyone help me with some ideas to fix that if i could get that fixed it would be a real nice machine as a spare right me with some ideas thanks

[TVperson1]

I couldn't find a sony or panasonic S-VHS, I've just got a plastic JVC HR-S5990AM.

[conequita]

Great Video Ozzman9292!!!!

Check out listing # 150316583101 on Ebay

[geordieboydave]

it mustve been expensive for its time you dont get them like that these days your lucky to have the vcr I prefere the old to the new

[etmccaus]

Hey Ozzman,

Great video. It helped encourage me to pick one up off eBay. It's in good condition, but I can't seem to get the power button to flip the unit on. The SVHS logo glows, the Syncro Edit light next to the button is lit, and the timer standby light on the outside of the unit is lit too.

Any suggestions on what to do to fix this? I'd really love to get this beast going again - it's clean otherwise!

Email me - etmccaus...at...gmail

[TVperson1]

Super VHS a good for transfer normal VHS tapes to DVD because of the higher frequency response and the S-video port. I have a JVC SVHS, mine has cool feature where it remembers where I last recorded. Those old 90s machines are good but the heads tend to be more worn than the ones from this decade.

[938457834]

i think my dad had that vcr. anyways, its freakin huge!

[baneskrbic]

My dad has even bigger,for real,some secondhand studio one,made in Germany.

[RABBIDGamfan]

I've never seen an S-VHS player or recorder before. Interesting.

[truefaith00]

They're good, but nowhere near as good as D-VHS players.

[RABBIDGamfan]

I've never even heard of D-VHS before!

[truefaith00]

D-VHS was the planned successor to S-VHS. It was the only machine to record AND playback a high definition signal (1080i) on analog tape, but you needed a D-VHS cassette in order to do this. The picture quality is amazing, and it even gives Blu-Ray a run for it's money. However, these players never got much attention due to the fact that DVD was already the mainstream playback device.

[TVperson1]

D-VHS didn't make a PAL version. I'm going to have to go over to the US and get one to see what they like.

[stpworld]

hey does anyone have one like this to sell im not willing to pay a super high price for it but will pay resonable price email me here on you tube and will negoitate

[conequita]

Hi , I found one on Ebay.

Here is the Listing # 150316583101

[geordieboydave]

the old ones are the best

[geordieboydave]

my grandads old panasonic had a fold bit

[guimbadriver]

hey man i want to buy this video , make your price...

[ozzman9292]

Lol, thanks for your interest, but I am afraid I have already sold it to someone on ebay.

[EmpireLS56KW]

@ozzman9292 That’s a common issue with the heads if the Hi-Fi track is crackly on all VHS tapes its were on the heads that need replacing.

S-VHS did come till late 80’s with JVC who introduced it. The decks where around £600.00 the S-VHS tapes where £20.00!

Ability to recoded at 625 or was it a shy under still a bit higher over 260 regular VHS Pal.

[moniquesmithh]

I have one to sell...

[tsangari]

I DO wish VCRs were made like this these days! I felt like I was a 10 year old again. I used to love looking at the brochures and wishing I could have them all. Well done for the video recording.

[davismv]

I have no idea why my last comment appeared 4 times! I did not hit the post button 4 times, that's for sure.

[ozzman9292]

It's cool, I took care of it, no worries . .I wish I could find an R5 at a thrift store, although I have found my fair share of high end stuff at those .. Lucky shopping!

[davismv]

Yeah, it's amazing what you can find at thrift stores.

Anyways, the HF-9 board I pulled out of the the SLV-555 works great in the SLV-R5UC. The caps are the same brand - the red Elna Duroex II's, but they are not leaking, and do not appear to have any issues whatsoever. (You can usually start to smell leaking capacitors too).

Great video, by the way!

[ozzman9292]

Thanks! I have actually gotten a Sony SLV-R1000 to put in place of the R5, and it works perfectly .. I will make a video of it soon.

[davismv]

I picked up a SLV-R5UC at a thrift store a month ago, with a good remote. The R5UC did not detect Hi-Fi audio, so I looked at the HF-9 card. All the Elna red colored caps were leaking.

I was at another thrift store last night and saw a Sony SLV 555, a lower-priced sister model.

The 555 had an HF-9 board that was not leaky at all.

The HF-9 board in the 555 is a different build and does not appear to suffer from leaky caps in the R5UC.

[speedyc395]

That is one sweet Sony VHS

[Watcher3223]

Some of Sony's first VCRs were actually made by Hitachi.

The SLV-5RUC, however, are made by Sony themselves and they did come around at about 1989 or so.

As for the crackling Hi-Fi, that may be due to leaky caps on a smaller board that's located underneath the mainboard; the leaky caps may be made by Elna and are part of the Duorex line.

[UHF43]

@Watcher3223 Sony also had an agreement with Sanyo and many Sony branded VCR's were actually rebadged Sanyos. I believe this VCR has a Sanyo deck combined with Sony electronics.

[Watcher3223]

@UHF43

"Sony also had an agreement with Sanyo and many Sony branded VCR's were actually rebadged Sanyos"

True, to a degree. Sony decks, such as the SVO-2100, are rebranded Sanyo decks.

"I believe this VCR has a Sanyo deck combined with Sony electronics"

In this case, that's not correct. The SLV-5RUC is completely a Sony design and uses a transport design that has been used in the majority of other Sony models for a little more than half a decade.

[jfusa1]

I have a JVC SVHS HR-S3902U to play old regular VHS tapes, but I never had a chance to record a show in hd-tv and see how it looks. How does a S-Vhs picture compare against a dvd picture quality?

[ozzman9292]

Well, SVHS is I believe 400 lines of resolution, versus whatever dvd recording is. It records quite well, but not as well as DVD does.

[stpworld]

hey i have a jvc my self but i forget the model but at times i have found svhs and vhs to compare almost dvd quality not better then it but it can come very close if youd like some pics i can take some for you upon request i have hd tv as well and have taped from it.

[CoolGuy64]

I am SO jealous! That is my DREAM VCR! And I know they are difficult to come by in good shape. I usually pay HUGE if the item is like new and has the original box. I've seen a couple of the R5's in the box but they get high up there. Post more on your collection. I love the older Sony stuff myself and this video really showed what a fantastic piece this is.

[ozzman9292]

Cool! I love this kinda stuff too. I have actually finally aquired a mint SONY SLV-R1000 SVHS, and I love it even more. I will make a video of it soon.

[palaaciego]

I have the SLV 262, but it's a VHS SP mode.

[RomarioJB]

I´m from Brasil and I also have a VCR (not S-VHS) Sony, model SLV-60HFBR and a SLV-833HFBR. 833HFBR is it in perfect state of conservation, but the 60HRBR have a crackle sound (just like Your R5UC) in the right hi-fi audio. Do You know how we need do to fix?

Thank you!

[ozzman9292]

Hey there, my guess to the problem would be dried out capacitors in the HIFI circuit board. But in your case it may be something as simple as dirty heads? Have you tried cleaning them? I cleaned mine and it made no difference, so I am thinking new capacitors.

-Zach

[RomarioJB]

ozzman9292, do you have more VCRs? Make more videos to we see.

Thank you very much!

[ozzman9292]

I have many more, and camcorders as well .. I will have to do this soon!

[m2esectr]

I'd say this VCR is most likely from 1991 because the front panel is reminiscent of the SL-HF2100 Anniversary Betamax. Because Sony only released its first regular VHS machines in the fall of 1988 and didn't have S-VHS at first, this S-VHS can't be any earlier than 1989.

[RomarioJB]

Congratulations, that´s a beautiful VCR and just like you, i like VCRs too. I own a JVC SVHS HR-S3902U and a would like some day own a model like this Sony, a Panasonic AG-1980 and NV-W1.

[ozzman9292]

Awesome, yeah, I have always been interested in the high-end AV equipment, when I saw this on ebay at a fair price, I jumped on it.

[ozzman9292]

Yeah, I think it just needs the capacitors on the hifi board replaced, I have just not gotten around to doing it yet .. it is still an awesome machine though.

[tl54]

i had a nice panasonic like this and i had hi-fi problems when it got older and there was todo nothing short of a major overhaul could fix it, although my deck was in bad shape doto 20 years of use!