29 February 2020

YAMAHA Classic Line 10 (1996) - Purity as an Art Form

mini hifi

YAMAHA introduced the Classic Line 10 Hi-Fi Stereo components in 1996. Designed to look and sound beautiful, the Classic Line is elegantly simple in both form and function. Although compact in size, it is designed first and foremost for superior sound quality to relax you and enrich your private time. A specialist in all facets of audio and digital technology, Yamaha has ensured that this system will meet the highest demands of all music lovers. All components were available in luxurious titanium finish or additionaly in black finish and can be independently operated. The components of this series are:

YAMAHA AX-10 - Stereo integrated amplifier, 70 W/ch (8Ohm, 20-20000 Hz, 0.03% THD), Large power transformers and large block capacitors, full system remote control
YAMAHA TX-10 - AM/FM Stereo Tuner, Direct PLL IF Count Synthesizer Tunig, 40-Station random acces presets, RDS (Radio Data System)
YAMAHA CDX-10 - Compact Disc Player, 22 Bit 8fs Digital Filter, S-Bit Plus DAC, remote control
YAMAHA KX-10 - 3-Motor 3-Head stereo cassette deck, auto tape tuning, play trim, Dolby B,C,HX-Pro, Frequency response 20-20000 Hz (+/-3dB Metal)
YAMAHA NS-2 (NS-5) - 2-Way bass reflex speaker (I would say, you need a bigger model for optimal performance)
Additional components:
RX-10 - AM/FM stereo receiver
RX-V10 - 5-Chanel Home Cinema Receiver
DDP-10 - Dolby Digital Decoder
MDX-9 - Mini Disc Recorder
KX-W10 - Auto-Reverse Double Cassette Deck 
Typical max. dimension of the units: 280x119(83)x389 mm (WxHxD)


mini hifi

mini hifi

mini hifi

mini hifi

mini hifi

mini hifi


21 February 2020

Technics RS-279US (1973) - First 3 Head Deck by Technics

cassette deck

Introduced in 1970 the Technics RS-275U was the World's First cassette deck to employ the Direct-Drive system developed for turntables. Based on this 2 motor solenoid controlled mechanism with Direct Drive capstan and DC motor for the reel-table-drive, Technics introduced it's first 3 Head cassette deck, the RS-279US in 1973. Being an early 3 head cassette deck the head arrangement is slightly different than the standard arrangement later used by 3 head models. The erase head is a full size head followed by a recording/playback head (as in 2 head arrangements). 

The third head is a monitoring head (small window) located between the recording/playback head and pinch roller. Both the recording/playback and monitoring head use the HPF (high pressure ferrite) head with 10 year guaranty developped by Technics. Another unusual feature of the deck was the Dolby noise reduction with adjustable level. (L and R channel independently adjustable). Frequency response is 20-16000 Hz with normal tape and 20-18000 Hz with Chrome tape ... while externally it measures 440x115x325 mm. The deck can be remote controlled via the RP-9275 wired remote while for transportation the RP-985 solid carry case was sold as accessory. The deck was sold under National Panasonic | Technics by Panasonic | Technics with a National logo | or simply Technics, brand names, while the remote control was a National Panasonic branded model.

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck


15 February 2020

GRUNDIG mini 100 (1980) - Designed and Built in Germany

mini hifi system

Grundig was the largest and one of the most respected audio electronics company from Germany. Their products were kept in high regard throughout Europe but not only. This means that in 1980 they were still able to release a competitive product such as the Grundig mini 100 HiFi on a market segment dominated by japanese audio products. It was proudly advertised as Designed and Built in Germany. In this Grundig mini-series we will find receivers, tuner, amplifier and various cassette decks. In this article we focus on the top of the line components of this series. These are:

GRUNDIG MT 100 - analog FM Stereo tuner with 7 presets
GRUNDIG MXV 100 - stereo pre-amplifier that can be used either with the MA 100 power amplifier or directly with one of the XM series active loudspeakers.
GRUNDIG MA 100 - 50 W/ch stereo power amplifier with auto power on-off when used in combination with the MXV 100 pre-amplifier. To counter balance the aesthetic appereance of this slightly larger box a funny / funky little LED power meter was installed.
GRUNDIG MCF 600 - stereo cassette deck featuring a two motor Quartz locked and logic controlled mechanism. The deck can be used with Normal, Fe-Cr, Chrome and Metal tapes as well with optimal results with the help of to the front panel BIAS control. The deck features High Com noise reduction circuit that is said to be 13-times more efficient then Dolby but there was also a Dolby playback-only compatible circuit installed as well.
GRUNDIG XM series - HiFi Active loudspeaker range to be used directly with the pre-amplifier for a more compact system

All components were available with silver or metallic-brown finish.

mini hifi system

mini hifi system

mini hifi system

mini hifi system

mini hifi system

mini hifi system

mini hifi system

08 February 2020

PIONEER CT-A9 (1983) - Reference Master (...for Digital)

cassette deck

The Pioneer CT-A9 was introduced in September 1983 and it's production continued up to 1986 with the "D" version. With this deck Pioneer introduced it's own designed mechanism, the Z Mechanism (quickly renamed as "Reference Master Mechanism"). This is a staggered-resonance closed-loop dual-capstan drive for uniform tape tension and smooth tape running that eliminates dropouts, modulation noise and level variations. The capstan motor is a Quartz-PLL servo direct-drive DC motor that can achieve an ultra-low wow and flutter of 0.018% (WRMS). The Ribbon Sendust recording and playback heads are mounted on a pressure-diecast zinc support of extremely low tolerance. The mechanism is controlled by a 4-bit micro-computer. For optimum results with any tape the CT-A9 features Pioneer's own auto-tape calibration system, the AUTO-BLE. With a large 35 segment FL display the Pioneer CT-A9 was available in both silver and black versions. The black version usually was presented with vinyl-covered side panels in simulated rosewood grain.


cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck

cassette deck