Akai 4000DB
- Thread starter Tony L
- Start date
Tony L
Administrator
Nothing more than playing an old pre-recrded cassette just to make sure it winds and plays through cans ok. It does! It will likely be a while before I actually start on what I wanted it for, which is getting the music off a few remaining old demo cassettes, but it certainly seems fine. One thing I couldn't find is a tape type selector switch, I assume it does it automatically via the holes on the top of the cassettes, though that gives no way to under-bias to get a bit more top out of dull sounding ones. I guess the bias knob on the front would achieve that assuming it works in playback?
Tape type selection is automatic. You are thinking about play trim - found on some Yamaha's and NAD's. It's basically adjustable playback EQ, the bias adjust is for recording, the best way to adjust this and the record calibration control is using inter-station noise on FM at -20db,
The Aiwa is ruler-flat on playback and recording frequency response, if it is on the tape the deck will play it back
The Aiwa is ruler-flat on playback and recording frequency response, if it is on the tape the deck will play it back
Robert
Tapehead
One consideration if transcribing old tapes using a newly aligned and calibrated machine is that the machines used to record the tapes originally are unlikely to have been a precise azimuth match. Therefore some HF loss is almost certain on playback. Manufacturers were in most cases notoriously slapdash when it came to deck calibration at the factory.
Ditto Dolby calibration - this rarely tracks well between different decks IME unless each is expertly aligned to the same standard. Dolby encode/decode on the same machine can be excellent however.
If the cassettes are being transferred to CD then some form of HF EQ will be beneficial. Not ideal but should give better results than a flat transfer.
Ditto Dolby calibration - this rarely tracks well between different decks IME unless each is expertly aligned to the same standard. Dolby encode/decode on the same machine can be excellent however.
If the cassettes are being transferred to CD then some form of HF EQ will be beneficial. Not ideal but should give better results than a flat transfer.
Mynamemynaim
38yrs a Naim owner
Can anyone remember how much the 4000 was in the middle '70s ?
I want one and my best mate had one ...but I couldn't afford one ...
Thanks
I want one and my best mate had one ...but I couldn't afford one ...
Thanks
Stunsworth
pfm Member
According to my November 75 HiFi News Comet was selling it for £162.99 (the version with Dolby) and £124.99 (without Dolby).
If you wanted a Garrard 401, that was £59.99 as a bare chassis, or £133 with a plinth and cover (I assume the SME one) and an SME 3009 arm - I should have bought a dozen! An SME 3009 Ser II with fixed headshell was £43.50. I found another dealer selling the Linn LP12 with plinth and cover for £112.
It's interesting that Comet had a 20 page ad in that edition of the magazine. How times change.
Update...
I've found a HiFi Corner ad. They were selling LP12 + Grace G707 + Supex + transorfmer + Naim NAC 12/NAP160 + Linn Isobariks (and stands) for £1,3000.
£133 for 401/3009/SME plinth? Better to have saved your money to the late 90s when vinyl was officially dead and 401s/3009s were £150 or so the pair. I bought 3. They don't half take up some room. You should bear in mind that in 1973 a teacher was earning about £1k a year (dunno about '75) so a dozen 401s at £133 a pop would have been a bit of a stretch!
Stunsworth
pfm Member
I started my very first 'proper' job (learning to program an IBM System 3) aged 20 in February 1976 - 3 months after those ads. So was at the very bottom of the pay scale and my salary was £1600 per year, rising to £1900 after I'd passed the 3 month probationary period. Inflation was crazy in the mid 70s.
I remember, double figures at times and it was all people talked about. I was only a kid so it didn't make much sense to me and I assumed that it was normal to have things "going up" and adults complaining of mortgage rates of 15% (iirc) but looking back it must have been a stressful time for anyone borrowing money.
Stunsworth
pfm Member
It was a great time to borrow money. Inflation meant that if you could afford the loan when you took it out, twelve months, or two years later, it was a much smaller percentage of your income - assuming a fixed interest rate.