Digital clocks with the flipping-card faces VU meters showing signaling traces Brushed metal finishes giving a sheen These are a few of Mat’s favorite things Experimental Japanese domestics Cassette deck changers with complex mechanics Hi-fi components for opera that sings These are a few of Mat’s favorite things
I don't own or even collect very much tech, just not really very much _into_ it for personal use. But the videos are so interesting and well done, I watch Every video this guy puts out, I really don't care what he's going to be talking about, I know it's going to entertain me no matter what.
I had a Sony HMK-30 horizontal-style music centre with a ridiculously violent eject system. The door would still be clattering up and down against the cassette as it flew out towards you. The transport buttons themselves had sharp edges and could be painful to press.
@@ConsumerDV Hush. If you don't like videos about obsolete equipment, there's millions of hours of other stuff on TH-cam. Anyway, yeah, the slow-open doors are cute for about ten minutes, but I'd always get impatient with them.
From 1976 - 1979 I was marketing manager for AIWA UK, highly respected for their cassette decks. I visited the Japanese factories and was involved in highest level discussions regarding future international designs. As you are well aware, for every manufacturer it was normal to introduce new models every year and if there were no new technical features available for incorporation (for example wireless remote control, Dolby C, three heads, metal tape, etc) then the newest models tended to have cosmetic revamps similar to motor cars. Having been involved in a lot of market research in the UK with focus groups, three things stood out: front loading was greatly appreciated by the vast majority, one of the benefits being that you could remove the plastic door to gain access to the heads and pinch wheel for manual cleaning purposes, as well as degaussing the heads; secondly, soft touch piano keys and damped door opening had great tactile value in marketing and sales terms; and thirdly when micro hi-fi arrived in 1978 it established the first truly ‘wow!’ factor amongst consumers. I, myself, loved the AIWA AD-1250 slant cassette deck, which was our greatest seller and established the AIWA name internationally, and therefore appreciate why you like other brands representing a lost genre!
@@jeffhughes1318 Sweet! I'd love to have an original Goblin --- but I live in Switzerland and they're too expensive to import. They still make them, but the modern ones look like suck.
This is a beautiful machine. The subtle lighting and the mirror effect on the angled, backlit cassette slot are very disco-era. I love a big chunky deck of this period but then I also love the later black fascia stuff too (especially Panasonic / Technics, I'm putting together a retro Matsushita stack for my living room). The Japanese manufacturers were absolutely at the top of their game between the mid-Seventies and the late 1990s and I think we've lost something important and tangible with the move away from physical media and the machines used to play it. Well done on saving this beauty - I suspect the restoration video will be worth the wait :)
I love it when Techmoan uploads; it's one of those incredibly interesting and educational shows that gives such a necessary and fulfilling reprieve from the insanity that is basically the rest of TH-cam. Best wishes sir; another fantastic video!
“I recorded around 10 hours of video. I need to edit that down into something snappier.” I almost guarantee that some of us would love the raw version.
I remember seeing his shortened mini disc unwrap upload, pausing that to watch the full 73 minute video, and then coming back and finishing viewing the abridged version as well.
@@DJzSith I almost did that, but stuck with the Long Play version. I have zero reason to buy a MD player or any of the software, but I was riveted for those 73 minutes.
Thanks Mat for this. My dad's CT-F2121 was used for recording many 'pause button mixes' in the mid 80s - fast choppy edits of electro and hip hop records. That simple pause button with instant stop-start was essential back in the day. The rest of the buttons received some severe mashing but the deck never failed. Wish I still had it!
The pause button on our hi-fi's tape deck eventually broke off (metal fatigue?) for the same reason. One too many n-n-n-n-19 inspired stutter cuts and I had just enough time to notice the button had gone a little 'soft' before it simply fell off.
I loved the illumination on this type of equipment. Nothing better than late night listening in a dark room lit only by the stereo. Especially with a friend!
I’m not really looking forward to editing it - there’s a heck of a lot of video to scrub through. It’ll probably be a couple of weeks before I can start on it.
@@Techmoan Much appreciate your slogging through it when you get the chance. I am very interested in watching others solve problems with old tech as much as viewing the end result. I do the same as a hobby which I quite enjoy.
Another amazing video. Riveting. Never saw a 30 degree loader before in my life. When you zoomed out to reveal this thing had a flip clock my reaction was palpable. I’m drooling at the repair video. Feel free to post the full raw 10 hours. The huge minidisc unwrapping was still a highlight of 2020. Thank you for creating and sharing this!
OMG! The Angled Tape Well is so FREAKING COOL! I want to see it come back! Not the version for the top of the stack--but this "middle stack" component variation here. That looks awesome... o.o'
When he went through the "favourite things" list, I couldn't see much of a connection between flip digit clocks and cassette decks. When I saw the whole machine facia, I nearly fell off my stool.
Every new component fad brings a flood of memories in my life. AM Radio, AM/FM Radio, B&W TV, phonograph record player, Stereo, Color TV, Tape recorder, 8 track player, cassette player. Each with regular, mini then portable versions automotive version; I feel like Bubba Blue.
I lived in Hong Kong during 1976 to '78 and spent many hours ogling the shop windows of Ocean Terminal and the side streets off Nathan road. My first purchase was an Aiwa deck with the sloping cassette. A push on the cassette and a motor would whip it into the deck. Ejection meant catching the cassette as it flew through the door opening. I later added Sansui quadraphonic receiver and Thorens record deck. I still have the speakers, Jennings Research columns.
14:25 There's something very reasssuring and comforting in the warm orange glow of bulbs on old hifi equipment. Reminds me of nights spent trying to tune in distant radio stations in a desperate bid to hear something a bit different.
When i was young i always called the Pioneer Logo "the broken ohm symbol" ... never saw the tuning fork... Thats actually amazing. BTW : 1250 DM from 1975 are about 1660 Euro / 1860 USD / 1500 GBP today (inflation corrected). Crazy.
Well, given that somewhat upscale HiFi/audiophile DMPs (which I arbitrarily took as today’s casette deck-equivalent) appear to run from about 500€ to 25'000€, averaging at about 2'000-ish, I don’t think that’s all that outrageous… Going by this roundup of tests by one of Germany’s better known and long-established HiFi magazines, at least: www.stereo.de/hifi-test/kategorie/netzwerkspieler
I'm from Germany and my Grandparents like to calculate the price of stuff in Marks by using the 2001 exchange rates of roughly 2 marks for 1 Euro. No grandma, 500€ doesn't equal 1000 Marks in 1990. But to be fair we are from the east, so they never learned what inflation means because prices in the GDR stayed the same from when they were born to 1989.
Brilliant Matt. Great in depth info. Stunning deck with the flip clock. Love the way most of the units display the complete face of the cassette and not just a letterbox view. So much effort and love went into the designs of HiFis in the 70's. Take care. A&J
love the look of that, also how you built up the energy to the reveal was awesome. That deck really ticked all the boxes, brushed steel, flip clock, vu meter, awesome unit and great video. I've always enjoyed Pioneer equipment.
I literally said out loud to myself "and it's got a flip clock too!" right as the music came to a crescendo. That montage checklist is one of the coolest things you have shown. Hans Gruber's reaction truly conveys that feeling tech nerds get with a cool piece of gear. 😄
The premise of this video is amazing. As much as I love a video focusing on a single device, covering the patterns of development and features in a category of products, and especially how different technical accomplishments either revolutionised the industry and appealed to customers, or were a commercial failure that didn't make a meaningful difference for the customers. Sometimes incredibly intelligent people are able to make incredible inventions that nobody wants to buy.
Future repair video? Yes, please. Techmoan at his best. Another interesting piece of equipment. This channel is especially interesting to all people born behind the iron curtain where consument market was very limited and virtually there was no competition at all. Good job lad.
I'm on board with you there too. I am an electronics experimenter and I have watched him fix things before and admire his persistence and method with his limited knowledge. He does extremely well
These aren't any TH-cam videos. This is surely art. What you're doing here is extremely rare to see in any other TH-cam channel. You are simply born to do this, I guess. Please keep up the amazing job!
I always wondered what the Pioneer logo was meant to represent - I just thought it was a cool-looking symbol, never saw the tuning fork / ohm symbol but once it's been pointed out it's so obvious!
The thing about just going from forward to reverse etc is that it was supposed to put strain on the tape, and sometimes stretch it at those points. I remember occasionally when the tape was more loosely wound, you could hear the characteristic squeal tha yu hear when you pull the end oof a reel to reel tape while holding the reel still. It was also said it stretched the belts. I still did it though :D
07:52 Thank you for crediting me with the invention of the door-held tape loading mechanism! You are the first person to do so, my time and space-transcending genius constantly goes underappreciated.
I hope and presume that your painstakingly researched and presented history lessons are of interest not only to old farts like you and I, who were around (albeit very young) at the time, but also to younger people. Every episode is a winner!
I'm old enough to remember these classic electronic devices made all in Japan, unfortunately these days most of it is made in china. I owned several different Japanese electronic devices, and let me say that they were 100% BETTER QUALITY then today's throw away Chinese junk. Oh those good old days of proper electronics. -( regards.
Thank you very much for your great videos.....I collect everything that has to do with retro audio/video.... Thanks to you I've discovered a lot of unknown media formats to me.... Please keep doing this for a long time.... Greetings from the Netherlands
Although the equipment doesn't care, the tape can still snap or stretch if jerked around too hard. I would still hit stop when going from fast winding (forward or backward) to playback, so that you don't have what are effectively little flywheels (the spinning tape reels) yanking on tape that just got pinched between capstan and roller. From play to fast wind? No need to hit stop first, the mechanical slop will allow sufficient gap between the two events.
The later decks with solenoid-operated mechanisms protected the tape but were slow to switch modes while listening to the "ka-chunk, thunk" each time. I recall as a kid playing with the piano key style function buttons on a low cost portable; I got it to play at high speed and even backwards once or twice!
Depended on the mechanism. Some didn’t care, some didn’t like it, some had interlocks to prevent it, some were designed to handle it safely (usually by stopping the mechanism before engaging the selected operation automatically). Except for the latter, at least going from rewind to fast forward or play-and vice versa-would always be at least somewhat hard on the tape itself, though.
0:25 I recently just bought a children's music cassette with the same lady on the cover. The title is also "The Sound Of Music" but only the eponymous song is included (no "My Favourite Things" though). The rest are some weird selections of songs with the most peculiar one being the Ghostbusters theme song.
I have a Marantz tape deck that's very similar, has the same transport controls and the tape sits in it at a weird angle, and the giant VU meters would be right up your alley.
Boomers and Xers can probably attest to this comment. Tech during the 1970's was not cheap. Look up any Radio Shack catalogue from the Seventies as a reminder.
@@krzysztofczarnecki8238 Yup, my receiver, a previous year's Kenwood on clearance, and my ESS bookshelf speakers, each cost somewhat more than about one full month's student rent.
@Perverted Alchemist Literally all my midrange modern stuff has a brushed metal front. Yamaha, Denon, Martantz, Pioneer. No idea what you're talking about.
@Perverted Alchemist I am talking about all modern stuff. I have a 4K receiver and it's brushed metal. It's a ridiculously thin piece of aluminum that's been stamped and put over a plastic frame, but it's metal.
@Perverted Alchemist You make no sense. By definition expensive equipment is expensive. And as I said, the stuff has the same brushed metal. Look at Marantz. Look at Accuphase. Mcintosh is glass with brushed metal inserts. If consumer midrange gear has metal fronts today, then audiophile stuff does too.
I really love these retro videos. As an '80s born child in India, I'm now realizing how valuable tapes were to listening to music. With CD's and Digital, what we gained in convenience, we lost in patience. Back in the days, we used to more or less listen to the entire album, despite liking only a few songs on the cassette. Gradually, it made sense, why the artist arranged those specific songs in that specific order. Call it repetition or call it an appreciation for art, it's all the same now. At 38, I'm now going back to Vinyls, Tapes and CD's and I find the connection with a solid medium adds so much more value. The artwork, the sleeve, the lyrics on the inside cover. Digital misses out so much on all of this stuff. Don't get me wrong. I love my FLAC's and how solid they sound, but there is something about touching a Vinyl sleeve or a Cassette / CD box cover that is missing while I mouse over and click on my computer to play music.
Pioneer continued to make and use the 30 degree transport in their budget minded Centrex all in one systems through 1978. My father had the 1976 version and it was the best transport I had ever seen on a compact system.
7:55 - And thus began the era of less stable tape transports. While the door may be more practical, ditching the pegs meant the tape wasn't as firmly maintained in place as it used to be. High end decks didn't suffer from that, but lower ends decks, especially walkmans? Well, that's an other story.
The range-topping CT-F9191 from the same period is a wonderful machine with excellent sound quality (I used to own one). The CT-F9090 is the same thing but without the wood sleeve.
Wow, this was just like my first cassette deck which i bought used in the late 70's. It was also a Pioneer in the same design but without the timer clock, apparently the CT-F2121 as i understand from watching your video. It was perfect for "pause button mixing" which i did a lot back in those days before i got my first mixer and set of turntables.
BTW: Do you remember these "Braun Atelier C3 Highend Kassettendeck" wich had a drawer coming out? When I was a kid we visited a relative and he had such a machine and I could press the button to make that motorized drawer come out - that blew my socks off :)
The ultimate in automatic cassette machines was of course the Nakamichi auto-reverse mechanism that physically unloaded the cassette, manually turned it around, and then re-inserted it. Magic.
@@albanana683 I remember those from the local HiFi dealer, great stuff! BTW: I have never seen this mechanic: th-cam.com/video/h_jcLRjrGPc/w-d-xo.html . I am just wondering, what else is out there!
You're not too far from one million subscribers on here, and I'm afraid I'll miss it when it happens, so I'll go ahead and wish you an early congratulations on one million subscribers, Mat! I've enjoyed watching your channel for about 4 to 5 years now, and your foray into many unusual forms of tech and the machines that operate them never fail to impress me. You're one of the most entertaining creators I've seen on TH-cam in a long time and I enjoy every single video. (Not to mention that you've got an amazing taste in electronics!) You could talk about a can of beans for 20 minutes and I'd still be equally entertained.
I absolutely loved that you put hans gruber in as a wee nod to die hard when you wer playing the first tape, wee touches like that that make your video what they are techmoan, keep up the good work old chap. P.s. i worked in a repair shop fixing hifis and crt tellys n vcrs years ago ( showing my age) but at 20 went on to diff things. 6 months on from starting watching your channel i am knee deep in classic audio again 😂😂😂 thanks for rekindling that buddy 👍
Hi Matt. Living in France, my parents bought almost the same deck in those years, except it didn't provide the clock. The deck was plugged to a Saba-8080 tuner + amplifier, a kind of undestructable equipment. The cassette deck is long dead but my mom still enjoys listening to the radio or some CD from her old Saba-8080 Edit : the CT-F6161 you mention later in your video.
@@PowerGlove79 The lovely lovely Ninth always reminds me of A Clockwork Orange (as does Singing in the Rain) so you know I'm probably not from the UK. The movie was banned there for years. So my dear droogs I shall now retire to breakfast for some lomticks of toast and a bit of moloko on me Cheerios. Viddy you all anotherr.
Very nice video! The CT-F2121 also had a blue Dolby indicator, which was a hint of things to come as Pioneer started putting blue lights on everything.... A switched outlet makes the timer on a cassette deck useful. I've got a Bang and Oulfsen deck with a timer but no outlet, so to use it I'd need to set another timer on the source component...
That whole transition from “my favourite things” to the unpacking of the tape deck, to the shots of the sections of the deck set to Ode to Joy was beautifully perfect.
I was impressed when you unwrapped it and it looked brand new--and at the end we learned it was because you spent a month restoring it. Beautiful machine! There was one more evolution in tape loading: The tapes held by the door, but loaded "upside down" -- with the part that contacts the head on the top.
The great thing about your content is it isn’t constrained to the themes or trends of TH-cam. TH-cam is just the platform you put these on, but they could exist independently on say a DVD release or anything outside of the context of TH-cam. Keep it up! I’ve always been curious about those weird cassette decks with the angled tape mechanism.
Has this ever happened... Mr Tech Moan - "Mrs Tech Moan, shall we turn the lights down?" Mrs TM: "oh... Yes, shall we?" Mr TM : "yes... Now, look how much better those VU meters look!"
Ahhhh, love those mechanical pause levers. I remember in the 80s when I was doing a lot of cassette recording, it got increasingly difficult to find units with them, and I hated the electronic pause buttons which always had a delay, and lacked the precision of mechanical.
Deutsche Mark is always singular. So for example it´s "twenty Deutsche Mark" ;-) Thanks for your content. You are one of my personal TH-cam heroes. Greetings from Switzerland.
![[Full Episode] The Restaurant War Thailand ศึกพ่อค้าซ่าแม่ค้าแซ่บ Episode 2 | 29 ก.ย. 67](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/r3lfLNH6Ke4/mqdefault.jpg)
Best use of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” award goes to this montage of Techmoan favorites.
Maybe also some brexit criticism.
I laughed AND smiled at that use
Neon Genesis Evangelion series & Die Hard movie reference.
I can't help but think of Clockwork Orange every time I hear it. Especially in a British context.
Well
even "Freude schöner Götterfunke" is in German and i am German i could never understand what they singing ;)
Digital clocks with the flipping-card faces
VU meters showing signaling traces
Brushed metal finishes giving a sheen
These are a few of Mat’s favorite things
Experimental Japanese domestics
Cassette deck changers with complex mechanics
Hi-fi components for opera that sings
These are a few of Mat’s favorite things
I’m only two minutes in but these videos start to look more and more like little masterpieces! Really awesome!
Agreed. Superb content every time 👍🏼
One of the most consistent TH-cam channels, always interesting to watch every time.
+Lachlan Lau
If you’re a patron on Patreon, you get to see the videos early. You have to pay a certain amount, however.
I don't own or even collect very much tech, just not really very much _into_ it for personal use. But the videos are so interesting and well done, I watch Every video this guy puts out, I really don't care what he's going to be talking about, I know it's going to entertain me no matter what.
How is your comment published 1 week ago?
I really love the old "heres your sodding tape" ejection system over the more modern "your casette sir" type slowly opening doors.
I had a Sony HMK-30 horizontal-style music centre with a ridiculously violent eject system. The door would still be clattering up and down against the cassette as it flew out towards you. The transport buttons themselves had sharp edges and could be painful to press.
Both are outdated like cassettes themselves.
@@ConsumerDV Hush. If you don't like videos about obsolete equipment, there's millions of hours of other stuff on TH-cam.
Anyway, yeah, the slow-open doors are cute for about ten minutes, but I'd always get impatient with them.
@@TheRealColBosch I do like the video. But there is no "more modern". There is modern, and there is outdated.
"here, have your fucking disgusting BTS hits tape" [CLACK]
From 1976 - 1979 I was marketing manager for AIWA UK, highly respected for their cassette decks. I visited the Japanese factories and was involved in highest level discussions regarding future international designs. As you are well aware, for every manufacturer it was normal to introduce new models every year and if there were no new technical features available for incorporation (for example wireless remote control, Dolby C, three heads, metal tape, etc) then the newest models tended to have cosmetic revamps similar to motor cars. Having been involved in a lot of market research in the UK with focus groups, three things stood out: front loading was greatly appreciated by the vast majority, one of the benefits being that you could remove the plastic door to gain access to the heads and pinch wheel for manual cleaning purposes, as well as degaussing the heads; secondly, soft touch piano keys and damped door opening had great tactile value in marketing and sales terms; and thirdly when micro hi-fi arrived in 1978 it established the first truly ‘wow!’ factor amongst consumers. I, myself, loved the AIWA AD-1250 slant cassette deck, which was our greatest seller and established the AIWA name internationally, and therefore appreciate why you like other brands representing a lost genre!
These retro hifi videos are among a few of my favorite things. Never fails, there is always a dopamine rush to go with them.
When your cassette deck lulls you to sleep with soothing music, then the sleep timer wakes you up with a less than soothing CLUNK.
When the end of the tape arrives, the CLUNK will sound, sleep timer or not!
Beats falling asleep watching a VHS on my girlfriends built-into-tv player back in he pre streaming day and waking up to the end-of-tape squealing!
You've never woken up to the melodious splatter and asthmatic gurgle of a proper Teasmade.
I have indeed, more than once. A proper Goblin Teasmade no less.
@@jeffhughes1318 Sweet! I'd love to have an original Goblin --- but I live in Switzerland and they're too expensive to import. They still make them, but the modern ones look like suck.
"I'm no expert" proceeds to restore an intricate esoteric feature-packed machine to factory spec in excruciating detail
Well done. I really hope to see the repair video. You had me at that drill!
It’s not a good day when you have to take a drill to a cassette deck.
Also is it just me or is the frame of this machine looking a bit wonky when it is opened up in one picture?
@@Techmoan 🤣
@@Techmoan I would to hear where you source the cassette drive belts!
This is a beautiful machine. The subtle lighting and the mirror effect on the angled, backlit cassette slot are very disco-era. I love a big chunky deck of this period but then I also love the later black fascia stuff too (especially Panasonic / Technics, I'm putting together a retro Matsushita stack for my living room). The Japanese manufacturers were absolutely at the top of their game between the mid-Seventies and the late 1990s and I think we've lost something important and tangible with the move away from physical media and the machines used to play it. Well done on saving this beauty - I suspect the restoration video will be worth the wait :)
I love it when Techmoan uploads; it's one of those incredibly interesting and educational shows that gives such a necessary and fulfilling reprieve from the insanity that is basically the rest of TH-cam.
Best wishes sir; another fantastic video!
“I recorded around 10 hours of video. I need to edit that down into something snappier.”
I almost guarantee that some of us would love the raw version.
1mil sub special
I remember seeing his shortened mini disc unwrap upload, pausing that to watch the full 73 minute video, and then coming back and finishing viewing the abridged version as well.
@@DJzSith I almost did that, but stuck with the Long Play version. I have zero reason to buy a MD player or any of the software, but I was riveted for those 73 minutes.
That will upload 9999hours
Sad.
Thanks Mat for this. My dad's CT-F2121 was used for recording many 'pause button mixes' in the mid 80s - fast choppy edits of electro and hip hop records. That simple pause button with instant stop-start was essential back in the day. The rest of the buttons received some severe mashing but the deck never failed. Wish I still had it!
The pause button on our hi-fi's tape deck eventually broke off (metal fatigue?) for the same reason. One too many n-n-n-n-19 inspired stutter cuts and I had just enough time to notice the button had gone a little 'soft' before it simply fell off.
can you tell me what the hip hop beat was that was played by the end of the video?
Your dad was cool.
I loved the illumination on this type of equipment. Nothing better than late night listening in a dark room lit only by the stereo. Especially with a friend!
Looking forward to viewing the restoration sometime in the future!
I’m not really looking forward to editing it - there’s a heck of a lot of video to scrub through. It’ll probably be a couple of weeks before I can start on it.
@@Techmoan Much appreciate your slogging through it when you get the chance. I am very interested in watching others solve problems with old tech as much as viewing the end result. I do the same as a hobby which I quite enjoy.
@@pghcoyote +1 to looking forward to the restoration video :) do those videos get more views that normal overviews/reviews?
Views seem to be pretty random all-round. I never know what's going to do well - usually my favourite videos, the ones I'm happiest with, do worst.
@@Techmoan Don't sweat it too much. I think I speak for a lot of people who want as much as possible. I mean, it's not like we have some place to go.
I have never seen a tape deck with a built-in flip clock. I absolutely love this stuff. Thank you for posting!
You've still managed to show the clock showing 13:37 😂
I just laughed out loud. When the music started playing I thought "Hans just got the safe open" and then boom, there was Hans.
I’m going to count to 1337. There will not be a 1338.
Why doesn't this comment have more likes...
Another amazing video. Riveting. Never saw a 30 degree loader before in my life. When you zoomed out to reveal this thing had a flip clock my reaction was palpable. I’m drooling at the repair video. Feel free to post the full raw 10 hours. The huge minidisc unwrapping was still a highlight of 2020. Thank you for creating and sharing this!
OMG! The Angled Tape Well is so FREAKING COOL! I want to see it come back! Not the version for the top of the stack--but this "middle stack" component variation here. That looks awesome... o.o'
I still use mine from 1974
When the music swelled, and the front was revealed with all the bits AND the flip clock, I literally lol’d. Well done.
When he went through the "favourite things" list, I couldn't see much of a connection between flip digit clocks and cassette decks. When I saw the whole machine facia, I nearly fell off my stool.
Yes. Well done, indeed.
Every new component fad brings a flood of memories in my life. AM Radio, AM/FM Radio, B&W TV, phonograph record player, Stereo, Color TV, Tape recorder, 8 track player, cassette player. Each with regular, mini then portable versions automotive version; I feel like Bubba Blue.
I love how the sound of the tape stopping and the music rapidly winding down goes perfectly with that funky music at 12:35. Well done!
Yeah... I wouldn't be surprised if he did that on purpose😂
I have been figuring out what song it was. Since It sounded quite familiar to me, Does anybody know what the name of the song and the artist was?
I lived in Hong Kong during 1976 to '78 and spent many hours ogling the shop windows of Ocean Terminal and the side streets off Nathan road.
My first purchase was an Aiwa deck with the sloping cassette. A push on the cassette and a motor would whip it into the deck. Ejection meant catching the cassette as it flew through the door opening.
I later added Sansui quadraphonic receiver and Thorens record deck.
I still have the speakers, Jennings Research columns.
I have never seen the angled cassette door before - I love it!
I guess that's part of the charm of this channel. You see weird stuff from the past that used to be kind of common, but seems completely odd by now.
How is this comment 6 days ago? Didn’t this video drop a couple of hours ago?
@@Danny-wv8ec Patreon backers often get to see videos earlier.
Paul Dennett ahh, I didn’t think of that. Thanks for clearing it up.
@@Danny-wv8ec now I feel so special :)
The repair video on this is something I'd be very interested in seeing. Looking forward to that one!
12:35 I rather enjoyed how the sleep timer killed the song exactly on-beat.
14:25 There's something very reasssuring and comforting in the warm orange glow of bulbs on old hifi equipment. Reminds me of nights spent trying to tune in distant radio stations in a desperate bid to hear something a bit different.
Better still, the blue/yellow glow from a tube amp.
When i was young i always called the Pioneer Logo "the broken ohm symbol" ... never saw the tuning fork... Thats actually amazing.
BTW : 1250 DM from 1975 are about 1660 Euro / 1860 USD / 1500 GBP today (inflation corrected). Crazy.
Well, given that somewhat upscale HiFi/audiophile DMPs (which I arbitrarily took as today’s casette deck-equivalent) appear to run from about 500€ to 25'000€, averaging at about 2'000-ish, I don’t think that’s all that outrageous…
Going by this roundup of tests by one of Germany’s better known and long-established HiFi magazines, at least: www.stereo.de/hifi-test/kategorie/netzwerkspieler
I'm from Germany and my Grandparents like to calculate the price of stuff in Marks by using the 2001 exchange rates of roughly 2 marks for 1 Euro. No grandma, 500€ doesn't equal 1000 Marks in 1990. But to be fair we are from the east, so they never learned what inflation means because prices in the GDR stayed the same from when they were born to 1989.
70 hifi was the golden era of design, who remembers the Nakamichi Dragon the pinnacle of cassette deck design, great video thanks.
Brilliant Matt. Great in depth info. Stunning deck with the flip clock. Love the way most of the units display the complete face of the cassette and not just a letterbox view.
So much effort and love went into the designs of HiFis in the 70's.
Take care. A&J
I think tape should have stuck around, but who am I with my antiquated tastes 😅
love the look of that, also how you built up the energy to the reveal was awesome. That deck really ticked all the boxes, brushed steel, flip clock, vu meter, awesome unit and great video. I've always enjoyed Pioneer equipment.
I'm guessing that audio clip was just a tad under 20 seconds long to avoid the copyright bots :->
always thought it was
It’s from the youtube audio library - one of the few recognisable classical pieces they’ve got available.
@@Techmoan how do you get by playing bits of BBC broadcasts?
By the way. Was that Gary Oldman? 😁
Brilliant demo and story to follow. Thank you very much for sharing the video
I literally said out loud to myself "and it's got a flip clock too!" right as the music came to a crescendo. That montage checklist is one of the coolest things you have shown. Hans Gruber's reaction truly conveys that feeling tech nerds get with a cool piece of gear. 😄
70 hifi was the golden era of design Amazing Piece of Gear 😍
1975 where the more wood grain it showed, the higher end the model lol
That is a beautiful cassette component! I'm a bit jealous!
2:07 every time I start to unsee rolling shutter.... :P
The tape deck has rubber needles :P
Very good 15 minutes. Thank you
The premise of this video is amazing. As much as I love a video focusing on a single device, covering the patterns of development and features in a category of products, and especially how different technical accomplishments either revolutionised the industry and appealed to customers, or were a commercial failure that didn't make a meaningful difference for the customers. Sometimes incredibly intelligent people are able to make incredible inventions that nobody wants to buy.
Future repair video? Yes, please.
Techmoan at his best. Another interesting piece of equipment. This channel is especially interesting to all people born behind the iron curtain where consument market was very limited and virtually there was no competition at all. Good job lad.
Brilliant! Can't wait for the repair video.
I'm on board with you there too. I am an electronics experimenter and I have watched him fix things before and admire his persistence and method with his limited knowledge.
He does extremely well
The heat death of the universe will come, before you wear out the ratchet in a car's handbrake! -- Mechanic
Unnecessary comma.
Selrisitai I do overuse them. I like to write, as it the reader is a breathless old person.
I look forward to the restoration video, it looks a well built beast.
These aren't any TH-cam videos. This is surely art. What you're doing here is extremely rare to see in any other TH-cam channel. You are simply born to do this, I guess. Please keep up the amazing job!
Congrats on 1M Subscribers Techmoan (As Of 09/07/2020 19:34 UK)!!!! Your content is totally awesome!!!!
I always wondered what the Pioneer logo was meant to represent - I just thought it was a cool-looking symbol, never saw the tuning fork / ohm symbol but once it's been pointed out it's so obvious!
The thing about just going from forward to reverse etc is that it was supposed to put strain on the tape, and sometimes stretch it at those points.
I remember occasionally when the tape was more loosely wound, you could hear the characteristic squeal tha yu hear when you pull the end oof a reel to reel tape while holding the reel still.
It was also said it stretched the belts.
I still did it though :D
07:52 Thank you for crediting me with the invention of the door-held tape loading mechanism! You are the first person to do so, my time and space-transcending genius constantly goes underappreciated.
wait, what? you invented that? I need to see proof!
@@juango500 I think at this point a youngster usually arrives to make mention of a certain reddit thread..
@@VivaMidnight And people who actually socialize with people roll their eyes and move on.
Matt, you have taught me more about Hi-Fi than I ever thought was possible. I really hope to become a Patreon as soon as I financially can.
Another great video with all the interesting details well explained. Thank you.
I hope and presume that your painstakingly researched and presented history lessons are of interest not only to old farts like you and I, who were around (albeit very young) at the time, but also to younger people. Every episode is a winner!
I'm old enough to remember these classic electronic devices made all in Japan, unfortunately these days most of it is made in china. I owned several different Japanese electronic devices, and let me say that they were 100% BETTER QUALITY then today's throw away Chinese junk. Oh those good old days of proper electronics. -( regards.
Thank you very much for your great videos.....I collect everything that has to do with retro audio/video....
Thanks to you I've discovered a lot of unknown media formats to me....
Please keep doing this for a long time....
Greetings from the Netherlands
9:23 Wait, so I didn't have to stop the tape before rewinding and fast-forwarding? Man, all those seconds I wasted.
well, depending on your time of usage of those functions, you could have lost a whole hour of your life.
If you used a VHS tape rewinder, you made up for it in time.
Although the equipment doesn't care, the tape can still snap or stretch if jerked around too hard. I would still hit stop when going from fast winding (forward or backward) to playback, so that you don't have what are effectively little flywheels (the spinning tape reels) yanking on tape that just got pinched between capstan and roller. From play to fast wind? No need to hit stop first, the mechanical slop will allow sufficient gap between the two events.
The later decks with solenoid-operated mechanisms protected the tape but were slow to switch modes while listening to the "ka-chunk, thunk" each time.
I recall as a kid playing with the piano key style function buttons on a low cost portable; I got it to play at high speed and even backwards once or twice!
Depended on the mechanism. Some didn’t care, some didn’t like it, some had interlocks to prevent it, some were designed to handle it safely (usually by stopping the mechanism before engaging the selected operation automatically).
Except for the latter, at least going from rewind to fast forward or play-and vice versa-would always be at least somewhat hard on the tape itself, though.
Congratulations on reaching 1 Million subscribers. 👍
0:25 I recently just bought a children's music cassette with the same lady on the cover. The title is also "The Sound Of Music" but only the eponymous song is included (no "My Favourite Things" though). The rest are some weird selections of songs with the most peculiar one being the Ghostbusters theme song.
I have a Marantz tape deck that's very similar, has the same transport controls and the tape sits in it at a weird angle, and the giant VU meters would be right up your alley.
12:37 now that stop was pretty groovy
Oh my goodness, I can't wait to see the repair video on this! Fascinating!!!
Boomers and Xers can probably attest to this comment.
Tech during the 1970's was not cheap.
Look up any Radio Shack catalogue from the Seventies as a reminder.
And don't forget to adjust for inflation
@@krzysztofczarnecki8238 Yup, my receiver, a previous year's Kenwood on clearance, and my ESS bookshelf speakers, each cost somewhat more than about one full month's student rent.
The Shack only sold cheap stuff. Real audio components were crazy expensive until the late 70s.
A lovely tape deck, I wish I have one on my childhood time!
I love that 70's stereo equipment. Everything had a brushed stainless steel face on it. All my stuff is the same way.
@Perverted Alchemist Yeah, nowadays aluminium is something nobody can afford.
@Perverted Alchemist Literally all my midrange modern stuff has a brushed metal front. Yamaha, Denon, Martantz, Pioneer. No idea what you're talking about.
@Perverted Alchemist I am talking about all modern stuff. I have a 4K receiver and it's brushed metal. It's a ridiculously thin piece of aluminum that's been stamped and put over a plastic frame, but it's metal.
@Perverted Alchemist You make no sense. By definition expensive equipment is expensive. And as I said, the stuff has the same brushed metal. Look at Marantz. Look at Accuphase. Mcintosh is glass with brushed metal inserts. If consumer midrange gear has metal fronts today, then audiophile stuff does too.
fast forward 30 years to 2000, and a stainless steel / brushed steel kitchen was and still is the style
Very enlightening trip into past innovation
I really love these retro videos. As an '80s born child in India, I'm now realizing how valuable tapes were to listening to music. With CD's and Digital, what we gained in convenience, we lost in patience. Back in the days, we used to more or less listen to the entire album, despite liking only a few songs on the cassette. Gradually, it made sense, why the artist arranged those specific songs in that specific order. Call it repetition or call it an appreciation for art, it's all the same now.
At 38, I'm now going back to Vinyls, Tapes and CD's and I find the connection with a solid medium adds so much more value. The artwork, the sleeve, the lyrics on the inside cover. Digital misses out so much on all of this stuff.
Don't get me wrong. I love my FLAC's and how solid they sound, but there is something about touching a Vinyl sleeve or a Cassette / CD box cover that is missing while I mouse over and click on my computer to play music.
Pioneer continued to make and use the 30 degree transport in their budget minded Centrex all in one systems through 1978. My father had the 1976 version and it was the best transport I had ever seen on a compact system.
7:55 - And thus began the era of less stable tape transports. While the door may be more practical, ditching the pegs meant the tape wasn't as firmly maintained in place as it used to be.
High end decks didn't suffer from that, but lower ends decks, especially walkmans? Well, that's an other story.
The range-topping CT-F9191 from the same period is a wonderful machine with excellent sound quality (I used to own one). The CT-F9090 is the same thing but without the wood sleeve.
Wow, this was just like my first cassette deck which i bought used in the late 70's. It was also a Pioneer in the same design but without the timer clock, apparently the CT-F2121 as i understand from watching your video. It was perfect for "pause button mixing" which i did a lot back in those days before i got my first mixer and set of turntables.
Very enjoyable video. Looking forward to the followup repair video.
New tech moan video? Vintage tape decks? For me, the world stops, I grab a cuppa and I'm there!
What a fabulous little flip clock.
BTW: Do you remember these "Braun Atelier C3 Highend Kassettendeck" wich had a drawer coming out? When I was a kid we visited a relative and he had such a machine and I could press the button to make that motorized drawer come out - that blew my socks off :)
The ultimate in automatic cassette machines was of course the Nakamichi auto-reverse mechanism that physically unloaded the cassette, manually turned it around, and then re-inserted it. Magic.
@@albanana683 I remember those from the local HiFi dealer, great stuff! BTW: I have never seen this mechanic: th-cam.com/video/h_jcLRjrGPc/w-d-xo.html . I am just wondering, what else is out there!
The shot of hans. Absolutely inspired
You're not too far from one million subscribers on here, and I'm afraid I'll miss it when it happens, so I'll go ahead and wish you an early congratulations on one million subscribers, Mat!
I've enjoyed watching your channel for about 4 to 5 years now, and your foray into many unusual forms of tech and the machines that operate them never fail to impress me. You're one of the most entertaining creators I've seen on TH-cam in a long time and I enjoy every single video. (Not to mention that you've got an amazing taste in electronics!) You could talk about a can of beans for 20 minutes and I'd still be equally entertained.
I absolutely loved that you put hans gruber in as a wee nod to die hard when you wer playing the first tape, wee touches like that that make your video what they are techmoan, keep up the good work old chap. P.s. i worked in a repair shop fixing hifis and crt tellys n vcrs years ago ( showing my age) but at 20 went on to diff things. 6 months on from starting watching your channel i am knee deep in classic audio again 😂😂😂 thanks for rekindling that buddy 👍
TechMoan: "I shot over 10 hours of video which I really need to edit down to something snappier"
TechMoan fans: "Post It as is :D"
Hi Matt. Living in France, my parents bought almost the same deck in those years, except it didn't provide the clock. The deck was plugged to a Saba-8080 tuner + amplifier, a kind of undestructable equipment. The cassette deck is long dead but my mom still enjoys listening to the radio or some CD from her old Saba-8080
Edit : the CT-F6161 you mention later in your video.
1:16 Strange how that song reminds me of Christmas 😎 Welcome to the party, pal!
Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs...
@@Techmoan Don't forget your vest!
I was just about to comment how “Ode To Joy” always reminds me of “Die Hard” , and then.... Hans Gruber appears Lol
@@PowerGlove79 The lovely lovely Ninth always reminds me of A Clockwork Orange (as does Singing in the Rain) so you know I'm probably not from the UK. The movie was banned there for years. So my dear droogs I shall now retire to breakfast for some lomticks of toast and a bit of moloko on me Cheerios. Viddy you all anotherr.
RMoribayashi See, “A clockwork orange” makes me think of the song “Singing In The Rain”
Very nice video! The CT-F2121 also had a blue Dolby indicator, which was a hint of things to come as Pioneer started putting blue lights on everything.... A switched outlet makes the timer on a cassette deck useful. I've got a Bang and Oulfsen deck with a timer but no outlet, so to use it I'd need to set another timer on the source component...
That whole transition from “my favourite things” to the unpacking of the tape deck, to the shots of the sections of the deck set to Ode to Joy was beautifully perfect.
I wish TH-cam would notify me properly when I requested notifications.
This was a very interesting device. I am quite partial to flip clocks myself :)
I was impressed when you unwrapped it and it looked brand new--and at the end we learned it was because you spent a month restoring it.
Beautiful machine!
There was one more evolution in tape loading: The tapes held by the door, but loaded "upside down" -- with the part that contacts the head on the top.
That CT-F2121 looks a lot like the Superscope CD-310 from 1977. I bought my Superscope in 1978 and still have it & it still works fine!
The great thing about your content is it isn’t constrained to the themes or trends of TH-cam. TH-cam is just the platform you put these on, but they could exist independently on say a DVD release or anything outside of the context of TH-cam. Keep it up! I’ve always been curious about those weird cassette decks with the angled tape mechanism.
Always a good day when Techmoan uploads.
11:32 Oh my god I love this shortwave receiver !
and i LOVE your clips on old skool hifi!!
01:30 Europe
my first thought exactly^^, a lighthearted comment on brexit...
A very nice tapedeck.
I have a sharp optonica rt-3535. The devices cannot be killed, they are built to last :D
“Pearl Harbour didn’t work out, so we got you with tape decks...”
True that 🤣
I don’t know if the music choice was a deliberate nod to ‘Die Hard’, bit it made me think of that line...
Lovely video, Ode to Joy is always a welcome sound to hear coming from some nice hi-fi!
Has this ever happened...
Mr Tech Moan - "Mrs Tech Moan, shall we turn the lights down?"
Mrs TM: "oh... Yes, shall we?"
Mr TM : "yes... Now, look how much better those VU meters look!"
@Shaz Ahmad
Has Mrs. Techmoan ever appeared on his channel? lol
Ooh can't wait for the troubleshooting video!
Ahhhh, love those mechanical pause levers. I remember in the 80s when I was doing a lot of cassette recording, it got increasingly difficult to find units with them, and I hated the electronic pause buttons which always had a delay, and lacked the precision of mechanical.
I'm so happy for you to have found your theoretical grail!
I love the slanted loading systems!! Marantz 5220 is my favorite one
Deutsche Mark is always singular. So for example it´s "twenty Deutsche Mark" ;-)
Thanks for your content. You are one of my personal TH-cam heroes. Greetings from Switzerland.
very nice tape-deck, thanks for sharing it with us, really looking forward to that repair video. Keep up the great content ^-^