MITSUBISHI micro 01 (1979) - High Performance, Small Package

Mitsubishi (Diatone in Japan) has put big audio performance into a series of precise little audio components - microcomponents. Stereo components that are compact, but can hardly be called compacts. They have the same high-performance characteristics as full size components. The Micro FM tuner is using a quartz-PLL synthesizer tuning system that has absolutely no drift. The Micro Cassette Deck has a Dual Capstan Drive mechanism mounted in a precise die-cast chassis, 2 head configuration, separate Bias and EQ settings, Feather Touch Logic Control and Dolby noise reduction system. For power, the Micro power-amplifier was unbeatable at this size. The little "direct coupled" powerhouse puts out 70 watts per channel. Total harmonic distortion is only 0.01% for 30 watts per channel. The Micro Preamp is made to complement the power amplifier and faithfully conduct any signal source that goes through it. It has a built-in moving-coil head amplifier and a signal-to-noise ratio of 77dB and 0.005% THD. The final touch was to finish them with Champagne Gold faceplates. The MITSUBISHI micro 01 (DIATONE µ in Japan) cosnsists of  M-F01 tuner, M-P01 pre-amp, M-A01 power-amp and M-T01 cassette deck.

ITT HiFi8025 (1979) - Who Made Who ?

A very interesting cassette deck was introduced by ITT in 1979 for the European market. ITT (an American company) owned through it's subsidiary Standard Elektrizitätsgesellschaft several European brands such as Schaub-Lorenz, Ingelen or Graetz. The ITT HiFi8025 was part of their Performance-Line HiFi80 System. This is a high performance 3-Head (discrete) cassette deck with a 2-Motor Closed Loop Dual Capstan mechanism mounted in a die-cast chassis. There are several other high-tech features present on this deck such as: manual BIAS with test tone, azimuth adjustment, fluorescent peak level display, source input mixer, adjustable output (at the back) and soft touch logic tape transport control. No Metal tape capability yet on this model so its top performance can be achieved using Fe-Cr tapes (25-21,000 Hz). Previously hi-fi products in Europe were sold as ITT Schaub-Lorenz but this model was simply labelled as ITT, however there was another version of this deck sold as INGELEN HC 500 while the service manual had an ITT-Graetz logo on it. The 3-Head arrangement looks very similar to what Tandberg had used but it seems that this is actually based on the Mitsubishi DT-30 (DT-40). So why do I even mention the Tandberg name in this discussion? Well, it's because in the early 80s when TANDBERG introduced the TCD 3034 there was a version sold also as ITT 3020 (and a service manual with ITT-Graetz logo) All this looks like that there was a "love triangle" between ITT-Tandberg-Mitsubishi, but ... Who Made Who?

AKAI DA-P9500 / DA-A9500 (1989) - The 60th Anniversary Model.

To celebrate it's 60th anniversary AKAI created in 1989 a dream amplifier (sold as A&D in Japan). It was a 60 units limited edition Digital pre-power amplifier. Out of the 60 units made, 30 were sold in Europe. The AKAI DA-P 9500 pre-amplifier acts like a Digital Controller where the analog signal is converted to digital and the signal is transmitted in digital format to the power amplifier. There are 12 analog inputs, 4 digital coaxial and 4 digital optical. There is rec-out for tape, 2 vcr and 2 digital. The pre-amplifier has a digital parametric equalizer that can be controlled via the 2 way system remote. EQ settings can be easily visualized on the two way remote controllers display. Dimensions: 466x154x445 mm Weight: 19 kg

The AKAI DA-A 9500 is a 200 w/ch (FTC 20-20000Hz 8 ohm) power amplifier that has a built in D/A converter and can be used as an independent unit for digital sources and it can be controlled with it's own remote control. Dimensions: 466x214x498 mm Weight: 35 kg