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Pioneer CT-9R

Glenz75

Glenz75

Sansui and Pioneer Freak
Hi guys!

Well the "Vintage Gods' smiled on me today I scored a Pioneer CT9R Cassette deck :D Its one I've been for hunting too!

Its the top of the range in the Champange Series circa 1980, is a 3 Head model with auto reverse, real time counter, auto BLE and lot Dolby B/C etc with led VU's etc... It looks like the start of the "cheapness" era, but still a nice looking deck, peforms well, makes good recordings so I'm happy. Another one to add to the growing 'vintage' Pioneer collection..hehe:p:

Keep up the good work everyone even if its maddnessssssss!!! :):)

Cheers
Glen
 
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Great score, Glen!
My first tape deck was a CT-6 of that series. I'd been strictly album and FM before then.
 
I also have two Pioneer CTF1000's which both are good decks plus an awesome Pioneer RT-909 Reel to Reel deck too. Nice-Very Nice!:D

Cheers!
Glen
 
I just bought a Pioneer RT 909, will use it with my CTF 1000 casette deck also!

I must have good taste, you guys like them too!

The pair are about as "vintage silver" as you can get!
 
Now I'm starting to kick myself, I had a CFT-900 and CFT-1250 which I sold- needed the $$$ at the time:( :(

Reading these messages makes me want them back now!! hehe...

Oh well, no good crying over spilt milk...:p:

Its good to see other pepple who like the the gear too !


Glen
 
Hi Glen: I did try and post some comments on the sound quality of open reels vs c-decks- but Ive been having trouble with some Posts not going thru. Its late here now, will try and post again tomorrow night. I will say for now, my recently acquired Teac X-300R open reel machine makes Great sounding recordings, and while I do like c-decks (especially vintage 2 speed BIC TSeries models), I dont think cassette machines can match open reels. In fact, open reels seem to have the magic ability to make recordings that sound better than the original source it recorded from!
 
Hi Fred !

Yes I know what you mean about open reel decks outpeforming cassette decks when it comes to the recording quality..

My Pioneer RT909 makes a unbelieveable recordings off CD/LP etc.. I was totally blown away when I first tried the RT909, having cheaper open reel decks in the past and not really getting good results from them, the only ones I found that made reasonable recordings were some of the old Akai 'GX' series glass head models, but still they did not compare to the RT 909.

I have a Teac X10 Open reel deck also, unfortunately it has worn heads, but it still records a good sound onto tape, but my opinion is that I reckon the playback quality of the X10 to me seems better than the RT909, I find the quality of the sound alot more open and detailed?? Just my thoughts on that anyway, By no means am I rubbishing the RT909- Thats an 'awesome" machine by far :D :D

I do have a few of the old Akai's in my collection, they all go well and an old Sansui SD7000 too, boy that thing weighs a TON!! :)

They don't make 'em like they used too! hehe

Long Live The Reel to Reel ! :p:

Cheers

Glen
 
I sure agree that the open reel recorder is a superior format to cassette recorders. I would go so far as to suggest that the R2R provides the best sound available.
Yeah, it does depend on the machine, and of course the quality of the signal received.
The cassette recorder began as a business office utility. The convenience of the cassette, though, is undeniable. Through extensive development, and the use of eek signal processing, the cassette deck has become a fine source.
With metal tape, my Aiwa Dolby S deck will make tapes perhaps indistinguishable from the cd they were recorded from.
I just never laid in a stock of metal tape, and they are VERY difficult to find anymore. Mebbe RS still has 'em, I think.
pete
 
Speaking of cassette recording, lets not forget what is probably the best analog magnetic media, Hi-Fi Video Cassette Recording. Not as sexy as the wonderfully sexy open reel RTR decks of the past, but performance that is unbelievable for a analog tape format until you've had a chance to try it.

So all you thrift store hunters, keep your eyes out for the older quality hi-fi VCR decks that have manual level controls. I found a Zenith VR-4100 that is a silver faced unit, all metal construction, dropdown keypad controls, mic inputs and other cool features. Made by JVC for Zenith, I've been told it retailed for around $1000 in the 80s. Sony, JVC and others made manyu hi end hi-fi vcr decks worth looking out for.
 
OR Machines

Glen- Yes I do know about the X-10, I often check whats available on Ebay and alot of those Teac/Tascam machines still do well in the bidding, so there are other open reel enthusiasts out there. On your X-10, does it have LHI & LH II buttons for bias/eq-as on my X-300R? I was curious what brand tape you use-- as far as I can tell, the main ones available nowadays are Quantegy, BASF, and Radio Shack (www.tapeworld.com) - and neither of 'em say on the box which setting it corresponds to on the machine- LHI or LH II. I tried both but they both sound near identical. The X-300R also has EE (extra efficiency) tape capability for supposedly superior sound quality but EE tapes are no longer made. ps- what are you using as far as cleaning products go? No prob to get isopropyl for the heads but Tascam Rubber Cleaner is now a discontinued product.
 
I did find a bottle of Rubber Renue by MG Chemicals in a Sam Ash pro audio shop so I reckon that should be ok. Someone on another site, when I asked, said using 409 to clean Rubber is fine too.
 
Hey, Wardsweb, wouldn't your link there and B'Fred's suggestion be good candidates for the 'help' section?
Shoot guys, only R2R I've had was during the LBJ/RMN years.
And here I'm already convinced they've got the best sound possible. Yeah, I like to use the hi-fi vcr, too, now. Makes great party music. 6 hours on one tape!

pete
 
3m996.jpg


check it out at http://www.tapetape.com/
 
Hi Fred- No my X10 only has settings 1&2 for bias/eq.
In regards to tapes, getting them in NZ is very expensive,and hard to find, I think the last price I was quoted for a 8 inch reel of new tape was close to $100!! But fortunately I have quite a few 10 inch NAB spools with new tape on them, I was given a huge bundle of tapes by a recording studio that shut down, + 8 inch spools too all Maxell. So once I use those up, I'll have to start hunting around for tapes..hehe :)

Cheers Glen

NB Yes Hifi Vcrs are another good meduim for recording too.
 
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