WEGA Modul 42 (1978) - Kiss That FROG

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.

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

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.  

More CLASSIC MINI

TELEFUNKEN M1 (1980) - Small, Funky and Big Sound

The Telefunken Mini-HiFi M1 system was introduced in 1980 and the same year it received the "Deutschen HiFi-Preis 1980" for design excellence. The heart of this system is the MA1 stereo integrated amplifier that can deliver 50 W/ch (4 ohm) with a THD of less than 0,1% at 1 kHz (45W/4 ohm). The all DIN plug systems allows connections of a  tuner, two tape, auxiliary and phono source. The amplifier can be used with two pairs of loudspeakers, one set is for DIN speaker plugs while the other is of a push terminal type. All switches have red LED feedback while for power output there are two 12 segment LED power meters with meter range switch. The MT1 tuner is a Quartz Synthesizer model with digital display and 10 memory presets. This is a FM stereo - AM - LW tuner with manual tuning or direct frequency input model. Again, each button has red LED feed back. Next there is the MC1 cassette deck recorder. This is a two motor - two Sendust head, logic controlled model. It can handle all cassette types: normal, chrome, Fe-Cr and Metal (30-18000 Hz) The primary noise reduction system of this model is the High-Com system (74 dB chrome tape) invented by Telefunken. For further compatibility the deck features also a playback only Dolby system (hence the half Dolby logo) For manual tape recording there is a 12 segment/ch LED peak level indicator, and again all controls have red LED feedback. A detailed description of the similar HC 750 M model (introduced in 1982 as replacement for the MC1) can be seen in the 1001 Hi-Fi Collection. The recommended loudspeaker for this system was the Telefunken TLX 11 Professional.