Akai GX-636 reel to reel

[coondog]

I recently bought a reel to reel. The last one I had was a Sony all self contained with speakers and all. Do I have to run this unit through an amp, if so what kind. Will I have to hook up speakers to this unit. I haven't messed with r2r's in over 30 years. The 636 I bought was not packaged correctly and was pretty well beat up when I received it. When I power it up the VU guages light up, the green light on the standby lights up. I thread the tape properly, 10.5 reels, set the proper reel, push the forward button and nothing happens. The forward, record, pause, reverse, etc. buttons are limp. Meaning when I push them in they will not stay put and nothing happens. I don't have a manual. I've sent off for one. Shouldn't I be able to run and listen to this unit through the headset without having to run it through an amp?? The rec/mute button next to the tape size button won't stay in when I push on it. All the rest of the buttons stay in ok. The fellow I bought it from on eBay said everything was running fine when it left his house. I can't get it to run. jfc