For 1974, Sony’s exorbitantly priced TC-177SD was a striking offering. It was dubbed “the most complex cassette deck ever built,” and it had three heads, which Yamaha’s beautiful ‘ski-slope’ TC-800GL lacked. This was originally the exclusive domain of open reel, and allowed for ‘off-tape monitoring,’ which allowed you to hear your recording while it was
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The original Wharfedale Diamond was rumored to be the result of research for the company’s high-end TSR102 project, but it was actually just its treble and midrange unit housed in a tiny, handmade bass reflex box. The end result was a small loudspeaker with only 5.2 liters of internal volume to work with. A 19mm
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A design can be exactly right on occasion. When a designer adds just the right amount of features and quality, then wraps it all up in a properly styled package, he or she has achieved perfection. The Sony TC-229SD cassette deck from 1977 was a perfect example of this. The TC-229SD was a fine recorder
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In the grand scheme of things, this tuner is famed for its superior design and ergonomics. It features classic aesthetics that Yamaha has lately reintroduced for their hi-fi separates; only a small patina of age on a CT-7000 indicates that it was designed in 1973 rather than 2013. It’s regular size at 436x144x352mm, but it’s
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Many abroad audiophiles must have been praying for us in our darkness when it came to the late 1970s British hi-fi scene. Linn’s Sondek LP12 captivated the UK hi-fi press. This deck was (is) unquestionably excellent, however contrary to popular belief, it was not the only ace black vinyl spinner available at the time. In
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Small-scale specialty producers have a lot to offer. Their products are frequently more innovative, concentrated, and tailored to the demands of a fast changing market. However, big businesses can perform just as well, if not better, in other areas. Consider the enormous engineering resources available to the large international Yamaha brand, which is responsible for
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Pioneer’s PL-600 turntable was a wonderful turntable that seems to have dropped down the back of the sofa when it was released in 1979. It was a generation ahead of the company’s prior record players, being sleek and futuristic. The PL-200, an excellent quality but simple semi-automatic direct drive turntable, was the top conventional turntable
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There have been few items in hi-fi that have lasted as long as the Shure V15. It was the American company’s main pickup cartridge from 1964 to 2005, and it went through eight different iterations. It cultivated a devoted following; for others, it was the only method to listen to LP music. The V15 had
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From a British perspective, high-end turntables in the late 1970s started with Rega’s Planar 3 and finished with the fully equipped Linn Sondek. That was the final chapter of the story. However, in those heady days when belt-drive ruled the roost and direct-drives were judged ‘unmusical’ by the UK press, any audiophile looking East would
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The ‘Scale Model Equipment Company Ltd’ was founded in 1946 to produce parts for the model engineering industry, but by the 1950s, it had expanded to include aircraft instruments and commercial machinery. The first ‘precise pick-up arm’ from SME didn’t come until 1959. It was a revelation by agricultural standards of the time, and it
