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Is There anything special about the CT-F900?

Shackman55

Shackman55

Super Member
Just saw one at the local thrift, needs belts but everything seems to work. I have several working decks Denon, Technics, and a silver face Pioneer CT-F650. Wondering if I should spank myself for not grabbing the big brother CT-F900 cosmetically great but seems drags when you hit play. Cost without being specific is less than a dinner for 2 at KFC. I does look pretty, wouldn't really go with anything I have but I could get used to the hulking behemoth sitting on my stand. More concerned about sonics. I have read a couple of threads here about them but nothing definitive. Not really needing any projects but when I lift something this heavy, I gotta figure there's either lead weights in it, or it is built well.

Thanks for any input. :music:
 
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Nothing special, but it is a good sounding and fairly solidly made three-head deck. All things being equal, I'd recommend holding out for a CT-F1000.

Got a couple of CTF-900s here; one in good working order, the other not so much. It is a good sounding deck. The CT-F950 was essentially identical but added metal tape capability. I don't think the 900 morph was in production for very long.
 
If you enjoy your 650 you will love the 900. The big Pioneers of the period looked impressive with the flourescent displays and the unusual tape outside the chassis feature (downside being mechanical noise) and were sonically good, but not the best. The 900 has facia adjustable bias which the above mentioned 1000 doesn't.
Early 900's had a weak spring in the transport which eventually caused weak spooling and chewed tapes. This was fixed under warranty, but you need to make sure this has been done on the deck you are looking at. It doesn't support metal tapes either.
I had a CTF-900 for 10 years and if a decent example came up for sale I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.
 
ctf1000insideways.jpg


A completely gratuitous photo of the guts of a CTF-1000...
 
I have a CT-F950 that I want to fix up and use. Beautiful deck (once I shine it up). I picked it up cheap and of course it needs belts just as any other deck does and the little head cover won't stay closed. I have not opened it yet and was thinking I could maybe do my own work on it with instruction from the pros here, but if the inside looks like the nudie of the 1000, I may be in trouble.
 
If I remember correctly that's the Dolby board in the middle with all the pots on. Very nice deck. I had one 30 years ago which I loaned out to a recording studio friend who talked me into selling it:sigh:
 
Anubis said:
I have a CT-F950 that I want to fix up and use. Beautiful deck (once I shine it up). I picked it up cheap and of course it needs belts just as any other deck does and the little head cover won't stay closed. I have not opened it yet and was thinking I could maybe do my own work on it with instruction from the pros here, but if the inside looks like the nudie of the 1000, I may be in trouble.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about all the wiring, the transport is fairly easy to lift out and work on, unlike other Pioneer models like the CTF-750:tears:
 
Here're a couple of quick n'dirty photos of the innards of a CTF-900. This one's my organ donor, OK? Sorry it's a tad grubby! :-)
 

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mhardy6647 said:
Here're a couple of quick n'dirty photos of the innards of a CTF-900. This one's my organ donor, OK? Sorry it's a tad grubby! :-)
Click to expand...
You have a fairly rare '900 with the black transport function button panel. Those were the very first that were made and sold, ones like that in stock got changed out to silver, and all later production was silver.

As pointed out the nice feature the 900 has over the 1000 is user adjustable record bias. CT-F950 added metal tape record capability, plus a steel plate on the transport chassis to keep the dual capstans parallel. The 900s lacked that plate, and the chassis could warp which caused tape skewing that no amount of aligning could compensate for.
 
Ed in Tx said:
You have a fairly rare '900 with the black transport function button panel. Those were the very first that were made and sold, ones like that in stock got changed out to silver, and all later production was silver.
Click to expand...

Dunno about the other one I have; don't make me dig it out and check... ;-)
 
It's one of the few repairs, I haven't even made a stab at. Replacing a belt on a deck, seems like it would be straight forward. Is this something that can be done without removing the mechanism? I'm guessing it isn't as simple as a belt on a turntable (Said tongue in cheek)
 
Shackman55 said:
It's one of the few repairs, I haven't even made a stab at. Replacing a belt on a deck, seems like it would be straight forward. Is this something that can be done without removing the mechanism? I'm guessing it isn't as simple as a belt on a turntable (Said tongue in cheek)
Click to expand...

Here's a picture of my CT-F1250 apart so I could clean off the old belt that goes bewteen the capstans turned to goo and replace it with a new one. Similar disassembly on a 900 but the 1250 has a direct drive capstan motor so one less belt. There are other belts in the 900; the reel motor belt, capstan motor belt, and the sensing belt.

pio-ctf1250beltjob-sm.jpg
 
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