Cassette deck with AC motor

[steptoesyard]

Are there any out there?

I`m looking for a front loading cassette deck which is as heavy and solid as possible, and ac driven. I know some of the Tandbergs were like this but are there any others?

Plenty of decks for sale on Ebay etc but without any photos of the inside I have no way of knowing.

Thanks

[sp10mk11]

Sony TC-209SD has an AC capstan motor, very good performing deck, it was there top of the range model at one time, cannot think of any other front loaders that had AC motors, some of the top loaders had AC motors, Sony TC-177/138

Gary

[steptoesyard]

Thanks, I`ll look that one up

[paulsherwin]

Lots of the early ones had AC motors, but I don't know of any front loaders that do.

[cmjones01]

As a teenager I had a Sharp RT-442H cassette deck with an AC motor. It was a top loader, though, and was a fairly dismal performer in spite of being quite ruggedly built.

Chris

[greg_simons]

Could try neal, they were big heavy and front loafing.

[emeritus]

My Philips N2501 deck has an AC motor, but is a top loader. No Dolby, but does have long life heads and Chrome functionality when used with Chrome cassettes having the additional notch.

[sp10mk11]

Here you are a picture of the TC-209SD, these were also heavy machines aswell as requested (about 13KG), prices vary

Gary

Ps Ah yes ! Akai produced a few top end front loaders with AC motors aswell, GXC-570D being one

[Restoration73]

Surely the problem with an AC motor was hum field leakage, to combat this the motor
was often located distant from the head with a long belt, surely not ideal for wow and
flutter, despite a large flywheel. You're also tied to the mains frequency.

[Nickthedentist]

I suppose DC motors became standard for a reason. OTOH, 40 years later, I suspect the DC motors will be on their last legs whereas AC ones might still be near-perfect.

[sp10mk11]

Hello Nick I had to my knowledge 3 AC motor front loaders all them without hum problems, in the case of the Akai you could not get the motor any closer to the heads if you tried, the 209 it pretty much where I would expect a motor to be and the same for 177 and 138.
Don't forget shielding was excellent on the motors, and yes all those cheap DC servo jobbies could well be on the way out now where as you say the AC ones (reel to reel mainly) will still be going.

Yes he must have his reasons for wanting a machine with such specific features.

Gary

[steptoesyard]

Thanks for the info

[Jimmyhaflinger]

The Akai GXC-710d is a front loader and has an AC motor