SONY TC-K555ES Cassette Deck.
THIS UNIT IS A EUROPEAN MODEL | HAS EUROPEAN POWER CORD | UNIT POWERS ON AND FAST FORWARDS, REWINDS, BUT THE HEADS DO NOT ENGAGE FOR PLAYING CASSETTES | SOLD FOR PARTS AS-IS
This was acquired at an estate sale, the owner of the items was German, which lends provenance to the fact that this, and other, electronic items have the European power cord.
It turns on and the lights appear to work. When I put a cassette in, it fast-forwards and rewinds without issue, however the play function does not engage the heads. Since it is a European Model, it could have to do with the fact that I did not have a full spec power transformer, having used only an international adapter plug. it is strictly sold AS-IS, NO REFUNDS OR RETURNS. See account for other electronic items, or inquire for further European adapter electronics which are not yet listed.
This cassette deck is the core of the ES series, which aims at the completeness of recording and playback of music in order to respond to the digital audio age.
It uses a 3-head system in which recording, playback, and erasing heads are independent. It is equipped with a unique independently suspended laser amorphous recording and playback head that takes advantage of the 3-head system.
The amorphous state of a laser amorphous head is essentially an amorphous state that does not have a specific crystal structure. By making a magnetic material into an amorphous state, it is possible to take advantage of the magnetic properties of the material atoms, so that a magnetic alloy with high magnetic flux density and excellent magnetic linearity can be obtained.
By using this amorphous magnetic alloy in the core of the magnetic head and applying laser processing technology, we are developing a laser amorphous recording and playback head.
In order to solve the problems associated with independent recording / reproducing heads and combination heads, Sony's independently suspended recording / reproducing head has been adopted. This head is structurally independent but occupies the same space as a combination head, enabling uniform head touch and highly accurate azimuth adjustment.
Closed-loop dual capstan system is adopted for the mechanism part.
The tape is held between two pairs of capstan and pinch rollers positioned at the center of the head to stabilize the movement of the tape in the vicinity of the head. The vibration of the tape transmitted from the reel and improves wow and flutter characteristics. The distance for suppressing the tape is shortened to suppress the vibration of the tape and eliminate modulation. By utilizing the tape tension between the two capstan, a stable head touch can be obtained at all times. In addition, the specification characteristics are improved and the modulation noise harmful to the hearing sense is greatly reduced.
The capstan drive motor uses a linear BSL motor with a simple structure that eliminates the slot and brush that cause uneven torque.
In addition, a high-torque DC motor is independently used for the reel and the transmission structure is eliminated to improve the reliability of the mechanism.
Equipped with Dolby NF C type that reduces hissing.
Compared to the conventional B-type, it achieves a noise reduction effect of 20 dB, which is approximately three times higher in the high frequency band of 5 kHz, and reduces the hissing to 1/10 of that in the OFF state.
It also has a Dolby B type and can be used for recorded tapes.
The amplifier section uses a twin mono configuration for both right and left of the recording / playback flat amplifier to suppress mutual interference, and construction along the signal flow to suppress interference at the front and rear stages. At the same time, it uses a DC amplifier configuration.
In addition, the playback head and the playback amplifier are directly coupled to prevent deterioration of sound quality caused by capacitors.
The 4-stage Tape Selector, which switches the bias and equalizer simultaneously, is equipped with ± 20% variable bias volume at 3 positions of TypeI (Normal), II (CrO2), and III (Fe-Cr). Even at the same position, tuning can be performed according to slightly different tape characteristics.
Equipped with a linear electronic counter, it displays the tape running amount in units of minutes and seconds.
This counter keeps counting not only during recording and playback, but also during fast-forward and rewind. Moreover, it is equipped with a subtraction function that displays "-" at rewind with 0.00 as the base point.
Equipped with a multi-function peak program meter that employs a double indication system that simultaneously displays the peak value for each moment and the peak hold for approximately four seconds.
This meter also displays the peak setting level in conjunction with the tape selector.
Equipped with autoplay / memory play functions, Rec Mute with auto space, MPX filter switch, etc.
Equipped with headphone output.
Continuous absence recording and alarm clock playback are possible by using the separately sold timer.
Multi-functional remote control is supported : RM-80 for wireless remote control, RM-50 for wired remote control, and RM-51 for foot remote control.
By using RM-65 (sold separately), it is possible to play synchronized recording with Sony's player with remote control terminal and playback deck PB5.
| Type | Stereo cassette deck |
| Heads | Playhead : 1 Laser Amorphous Head
Recording Head : 1 Laser Amorphous Head
Erase Head : 1 F & F Head |
| Motor | For Capstan : 1 Linear BSL Motor
For Reel : 1 DC Motor |
| Signal-to-noise ratio | Dolby off : 56 dB (EIAJ, peak level, metal tape)
Dolby C:73dB |
| Frequency characteristic | 25 Hz ~ 18 kHz ± 3 dB (EIAJ, Metal Tape) |
| Frequency range | 20 Hz ~ 19 kHz (EIAJ, metal tape) |
| Wow & flutter (EIAJ) | ± 0.06% Wpeak
0.04%WRMS |
| Distortion factor | 0.5% (EIAJ, DUAD cassette) |
| Input terminal | Line in, remote control |
| Output terminal | Line out, headphones |
| Power supply voltage | 100 VAC, 50Hz/60Hz |
| Power consumption | 22W |
| External dimensions | Width 430x Height 105x Depth 285 mm |
| Weight | 6.1kg |