29 December 2019

Lenco C 2003 (1977) - 3 Head Deck Rarity

cassette deck

Lenco is mostly remembered for their turntables but in 1977 they introduced a totally unexpected model, a very special 3 discrete head cassette deck. The deck features a 2 motor transport with an a.c. servo-controlled direct drive motor for the dual capstan transport and an asynchronous motor for reel drive. The direct-drive capstan motor is provided with a 3 mm capstan spindle and controlled by servo. It drives the pre-capstan - which is designed as a flywhell - by means of a belt. If the pinch rollers are not engaged the two capstans rotate at approximately the same speed. Only when the pre-capstan is braked by means of the rubber pinch roller the flat belt allow a slip of about 2%. As a result the tape between two capstans is streched. During playback the tape speed can be varied by about +/-2.5%. The die-cast head support assembly includes the heads, tape guides and rubber pinch rollers. The deck is a 3 discrete head head construction with 1 ferrite erase head of double gap design, 1 ferrite record head (3 micro gap) and 1 hard permalloy playback head (1 micro gap), however the deck has no monitoring function, you have to use the switch on your preamp. 

The deck features both manual recording level setting with large illuminated level meters and ALC (Automatic Level Control) with time constant adjusted for optimal recording of speech. Automatic level control of music was deliberately omitted since the results cannot be satisfactory and would not be compatible with the high standard of the unit. The deck was adjusted at the factory for BASF LH super C 60 (standard), Maxell UD XL I C 60 (high output), BASF Ferrochrome C 60 (Fe-Cr) and Maxell UD XL II C 60 (CrO2 - auto select). In order to avoid the occurence of heterodyne frequencies and interference with the Dolby system a switchable 19 kHz Multiplex filter is provided. This filter is also active for the 30 kHz carrier used in the CD4 Quadro LP records. The headphoe volume can be adjusted by means of two separate knobs while the DIN microphone connectors have a 5 volt d.c. supply for electret microphones. Frequency response is 30-18,000 Hz +/-3 dB (FeCr and CrO2 tape), wow and flutter is +/-0.07% WRMS, dimensions: 460x285x85 mm.

(Some info kindly provided by M.E. from resus.ch )



cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

20 December 2019

WEGA Modul 42 (1978) - Kiss That FROG

hifi system

The history of WEGA starts in Germany in the year 1923 with the manufacturing of radio receivers. In 1975 the company is aquired by SONY Japan. Initially under Sony ownership WEGA had designed his own components for a while (using Sony parts) but later all components had turned into SONY rebadged products such as the WEGA C120 cassette deck from the 1001 Hi-Fi Collection. A particullarly successful series of mini Hi-Fi components were introduced in 1976 that culminated in 1978 with this WEGA Modul 42 Series. This industrial design masterpiece is the work of famed designer Hartmut Esslinger (founder of FROG Design). Components of this system are: Modul 42V stereo amplifier (90 w/ch DIN 4 ohm) using LEC (Low Emitter Concentration) transistors from Hitachi and a large toroidal transformer, Modul 42T Stereo tuner with "Digital Graphic Display", Modul 42C cassette deck with Sony Ferrite & Ferrite heads and a frequency response of 30-15,5 kHz (FeCr), Modul 42E grafic equalizer, Modul 42P Direct Drive turntable (Sony BSL-Motor). For even more immersive sound there was available the ADC-2 Acoustic Dimension Complier, a 30 W/ch amplifier that could add (to the existing stereo amplifier) adjustable space and reflection characteristics. For visuals the Wega color 3050 TV could be added while for the components there was one dedicated rack for the components and a separate one for the turntable. All components have the same size, 35 x 15 x 26 cm and they were available in black, dark grey and white. I believe that the red amplifier shown in the last picture was only an Esslinger prototype.


hifi system

hifi system

hifi system

hifi system

hifi system

hifi system

hifi system

 hifi system

07 December 2019

AKAI UC-5 (1980) - High Quality Audio Life

AKAI UC-5 mini hifi

The AKAI UC-5 mini Hi-Fi system was introduced in 1980 and it was the top-of-the-line model of the Mr. COMPO (Japan market name) series. This was followed by the smaller UC-4, UC-3 and UC-2 systems. The heart of the system is the UC-W5 pre-amplifier and UC-A5 power amplifier with a power rating of 56 W/ch (Sinus DIN 4 ohm). The two source components of the system are the UC-S5 Quartz Synthesizer tuner with digital display and 6 memory presets and the UC-F5 cassette deck with 2-motor mechanism, Twinfield Super GX heads, fluorescent level meters and digital counter. The whole system can be remote controlled with the additional RC-5R remote receiver unit and the matching handheld RC 5T infrared remote-control unit. The matching loudspeakers are the Akai SW-N5 two-way speakers.  

AKAI UC-5 mini hifi

AKAI UC-5 mini hifi


AKAI UC-5 mini hifi

AKAI UC-5 mini hifi