Description: Tested with battery's and no power to Cassette Cosmetically Unit is in Great Condition The Case is pretty worn from use This cassette recorder is very much the holy grail of the early Walkmans, because the cue and review buttons, and mono (320mW) output through a 5cm speaker, indicate that it inherits its design from the early dictation machines. In that respect, it has a well tried and tested tape transport mechanism, taken from earlier designs, and all that they have done is change the circuitry to provide stereo recording and playback capability. The electronics consist of the TA7658Pintegrated circuit(IC) by the Toshiba Corporation, which is a dual preamplifier providing recording and playback equalisation, including bias of the HRP901 audio head. The IC also providesautomatic level control(ALC), and operates down to 3V making it ideal for battery powered applications. The preamplifier stage has a buffered output, which feeds the BA526 IC manufactured by the ROHM Corporation. This IC is a single-channel power amplifier capable of delivering 430mW into an 8 load when the power supply is 6V. It has extremely low distortion in the upper band, and soft clipping response, thereby providing a high quality sound. It was a very popular IC and used in the WM-1 and WA-55 Walkmans as well. Since it is a mono IC, they use two for stereo application. Unfortunately, one downside of using two of these ICs is the increase in power consumption, and consequently the TCS-310 will provide approximately three hours of operation time on four "AA" size batteries such as the Sony SUM-3. The same battery compartment also accepts the Sony BP-23 rechargeable battery pack, which helps to save money in the long term. Alternatively, the unit can also accept power from an AC-15A (UK) power adapter. The sound quality is very good providing you use a good pair of headphones. With a 32 voice coil, you can expect 30mW output at 10% harmonic distortion. The tape speed is smooth due to the metal capstan flywheel; however, the quality resembles the WM-D6C, in this respect. One interesting design feature was the use of a crude servo IC to control the capstan motor speed. Although not a servo in the strictest sense, the circuit is more of a power regulator, and one of the earliest examples of motor power management. We see much greater development in this area on later designs, when power consumption became more critical. It is what it is, and it exists today, because if you were looking for a dictation machine, then this would be the high-end, as it records in stereo through a pair of internal microphones. Reliability wise, these machines continue to operate today, even though they are well past their useful life period. With a simple change in drive belt, they continue to provide a high degree of customer satisfaction, which is a testament to good Sony engineering.
Price: 149.99 AUD
Location: Hamlyn Heights, VIC
End Time: 2024-09-29T07:53:38.000Z
Shipping Cost: 30.21 AUD
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Returns Accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Brand: Sony
