26 October 2019

SONY TC-177SD (1973) - First 3 Head Cassette Deck

cassette deck

The SONY TC-177SD (TC-6150SD in Japan) was introduced in 1973 and it was the first 3 head cassette deck from Sony and probably a world first too. Assuring extraordinary sound quality are a ferrite erase head and Ferrite & Ferrite Record and Playback heads. F&F heads give excellent tape-to-head contact and wide frequency response, in addition to lasting up to 200 times longer than the standard permalloy variety. Adding to the excellent performance characteristics is the Closed-Loop Dual Capstan Tape Drive, which severely cuts down tape skewing, modulation distortion and wow and flutter. Being a product of the 70's the deck also had "surround compatibility" Through Symphase Recording, you can record 4-channel sound from an SQ or FM matrix source, and play it back through four speakers and an amplifier equipped with a 4-channel decoder. And the solenoid assited transport functions provide stable, fast and easy mode changes. Separate bias and tape select switches let you take the advantage of normal, chrome or ferri-chrome tapes. During its production years there were available two versions. The initial models had no azimuth control but later in production this was also added. With only one large motor the rewind and fast forward time was 90sec./C-60. Frequency response is 20 Hz to 20 kHz with both FeCr and CrO2 tapes. 


cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck


cassette deck





18 October 2019

PHILIPS N4450 (1972) - 6 Head 3 Motor 3 Speed

reel to reel

Top of the line reel to reel recorder from the 1972 PHILIPS line-up. This is a 3 motor 3 speed electronically controlled 4 track 2 channel tape recorder that can handle tapes up to 26.5 cm diameter. The recorder is capable of both way recording and playback using 6 heads in a typical 3 head configuration, bothways. The recorder has a built in 20W/ch amplifier, clock/timer for programmed reording in a 24 hour interval, multiplay and echo recording and illuminated tape control keypad. A four digit tape counter with counter adress search system enables quick program finding while the N6719 (sold as accesory) allows remote operation of the tape recorder. Technical data: Frequency response 40-20.000 Hz (19 cm/s) Dimensions 520 (W) x 500 (H) x 210 (D) mm Weight 22 kg.

reel to reel

reel to reel

reel to reel

reel to reel




02 October 2019

TANDBERG TCD 900 Series (1985) - Professional Cassette Decks

Professional Cassette Decks


With the introduction of the TCD 900 series, Tandberg broke the barrier of professional cassette use. In one machine are combined superior sound capability, superior mechanical and electronic quality, control flexibility based on an 8 bit micro processor with 32 K of EPROM memory. Introduced in 1985 the TCD 910 was a Master Cassette Recorder while the TCD 911 was a Playback Cassette Deck. Both deck feature Direct load cassette compartiment with electro mechanical locking of the cassette and four servo control motors - one each iron coreless spooling, one DC servo frequency generator capstan drive and one DC servo pinch roller/head bridge actuation. Both are dual capstan closed loop drive with direct opto-electronic sensing of hub spindle rotation for precise real time counter accuracy. The TCD 910 features recording head azimuth adjustment while the TCD 911 features playback head adjustment (both external and manual adjustments) The incorporated DYNEQ, Tandberg's patended headroom extension system and ACTILINEAR II (a transconductance amplifier which takes the record and bias signals as pure voltage and converts them to pure current) contribute to superior sound performance. The built-in tape calibration system (TCD 910) allows optimum performance with all type I, II or IV tapes on the market. For studio use these decks feature electronically balanced XLR input/output connectors, RS 232 data interface for program automation and 19 inch rack mount ears. Only 400 of these units were built.


Professional Cassette Decks

Professional Cassette Decks

Professional Cassette Decks

Professional Cassette Decks

Professional Cassette Decks

Professional Cassette Decks