Technical Details
Brand: Sony
Model:TC-780
Category:Mid High Fidelity
Application:Consumer
Electronics:Solid State
Equalization:NAB
Country of Manufacture:Japan
Tracks:1/4 Rec/PB
Speeds: 3 3/4, 7 1/2
Max Reel Size("): 10.5"
Number of heads: 3
Head Composition: Permalloy, Ferrite
Head Configuration: Stereo
# Motors: 3
Auto Reverse?:Yes
Voltage(s): 110-120v
Outputs: RCA
Frequency Response:(all 3 dB): 7½ ips: 20Hz - 20kHz
Wow and Flutter:less than 0.06% at 7½ ips, 0.10% at 3¾ ips and 0.15% at 1 ips
Signal-to-Noise Ratio:62 db with SNR (Sony Noise reduction), 56 db without
Sound quality rating:5 / 10
Long-term reliability rating: 5/ 10
Additional Details
Description
The TC 780 was a three-motor, servo-controlled auto-reverse tape deck, which, at the time, represented, the pinnacle of Sony’s achievements in sophistication and automation in stereo tape recorders.
It featured a ‘Roto-Bilateral head’ ( a central record/erase head) which together with two separate ferrite playback heads (one for each tape direction) gave the flexibility of six heads.
The central head could rotate 180 degrees which made possible recording and playback with full three-head tape/source monitoring functions in both directions, automatically.
Another new innovation was Sony’s E.S.S (Electronic Sensory Search). This allowed the user to fast forward the tape and find the first recorded program, at which point the recorder would stop and begin playing.
Not entirely 100% effective as sometimes very quiet passages or blanks in the music would be mistaken for the next track!
Additional Info
Total harmonic distortion: less than 1.2% / Inputs: microphone & line (mixable) / Dimensions: 17¼ x 8 x 22″ (438 x 254 x 559 mm) / Weight: 60 lbs (27.3 kg) / quarter-track stereo