Sony TC-650 series

[Thomasahl]

I find the Sony TC-650 series quite interesting. Bought a TC-651 in good condition and found it very well built. Reeltoreeltech.com says that the "TC-650 and 651 [...] were overbuilt, and designed to be abused by students and staff alike".

It seems like the 650 series is based on the early studio machine TC-707. It also has similarities to the TC-640. I made some research and found the following variants:

TC-650 --> 4-track, three heads
TC-651 (=TC-9520) --> 4-track, bi-directional, four heads. An extra playback head for reverse playback. No reverse recording.
TC-654-4 --> 4-track quad, three heads
TC-9540 --> 4-track quad, bi-directional. (A quad version of the TC-651?). The model number suggest it was only sold in Japan. I've not found any TC-6… number.

Anybody that has experience with these machines and/or has more info on variants? Would love to hear from you.

BTW: the transport system of these is very logical and relay operated. It allowed me to make an IR remote to the TC-651 with an Arduino Uno setup.

Regards
Thomas

 

[mcgjohn]

I find the Sony TC-650 series quite interesting. Bought a TC-651 in good condition and found it very well built. Reeltoreeltech.com says that the "TC-650 and 651 [...] were overbuilt, and designed to be abused by students and staff alike".

It seems like the 650 series is based on the early studio machine TC-707. It also has similarities to the TC-640. I made some research and found the following variants:

TC-650 --> 4-track, three heads
TC-651 (=TC-9520) --> 4-track, bi-directional, four heads. An extra playback head for reverse playback. No reverse recording.
TC-654-4 --> 4-track quad, three heads
TC-9540 --> 4-track quad, bi-directional. (A quad version of the TC-651?). The model number suggest it was only sold in Japan. I've not found any TC-6… number.

Anybody that has experience with these machines and/or has more info on variants? Would love to hear from you.

BTW: the transport system of these is very logical and relay operated. It allowed me to make an IR remote to the TC-651 with an Arduino Uno setup.

Regards
Thomas

its a pretty well made machine. The 650 is the 7 inch reel version of the TC-850. The 850 was available in both quarter track and half track formats.
The 650 is comparable to the TEAC 2300 series.

 

[atb.oomen]

I find the Sony TC-650 series quite interesting. Bought a TC-651 in good condition and found it very well built. Reeltoreeltech.com says that the "TC-650 and 651 [...] were overbuilt, and designed to be abused by students and staff alike".

It seems like the 650 series is based on the early studio machine TC-707. It also has similarities to the TC-640. I made some research and found the following variants:

TC-650 --> 4-track, three heads
TC-651 (=TC-9520) --> 4-track, bi-directional, four heads. An extra playback head for reverse playback. No reverse recording.
TC-654-4 --> 4-track quad, three heads
TC-9540 --> 4-track quad, bi-directional. (A quad version of the TC-651?). The model number suggest it was only sold in Japan. I've not found any TC-6… number.

Anybody that has experience with these machines and/or has more info on variants? Would love to hear from you.

BTW: the transport system of these is very logical and relay operated. It allowed me to make an IR remote to the TC-651 with an Arduino Uno setup.

Regards
Thomas

There's also a TC-652-4 which is a TC-654-4 yet with only 2 VU-meters. The TC-652-4 can playback 4 channels but only record 2-channels. So it's a quadro recorder in playback mode only. The TC-654-4 can also record 4 channels at the same time so this is a 'full quadro' deck. I've owned a TC-651 for a couple of years and also bought a TC-651 parts donor set. Recently I found a TC-9540 which I imported directly from Japan. A TC-9540 is a TC-654-4 with additional auto reverse during playback.
A TC-9520 (which I've never seen anywhere but it seems to exist....) is a TC-652-4 with additional auto reverse during playback.
A TC-707SD is a 2-track TC-650 and has a leather case and lid.
They are very nice recorders, well built and service-friendly unlike the later Sony models which I my opinion are a pain to work on...

 

[Thomasahl]

There's also a TC-652-4 which is a TC-654-4 yet with only 2 VU-meters. The TC-652-4 can playback 4 channels but only record 2-channels. So it's a quadro recorder in playback mode only. The TC-654-4 can also record 4 channels at the same time so this is a 'full quadro' deck. I've owned a TC-651 for a couple of years and also bought a TC-651 parts donor set. Recently I found a TC-9540 which I imported directly from Japan. A TC-9540 is a TC-654-4 with additional auto reverse during playback.
A TC-9520 (which I've never seen anywhere but it seems to exist....) is a TC-652-4 with additional auto reverse during playback.
A TC-707SD is a 2-track TC-650 and has a leather case and lid.
They are very nice recorders, well built and service-friendly unlike the later Sony models which I my opinion are a pain to work on...

Thanks for this info. Interesting.