Pioneer CT-7A

Commentary

A front-operated stereo cassette deck equipped with a timer recording standby mechanism.

By connecting a timer and setting the control lever to recording or playback standby (with the pause button pressed), the tape can be started at the desired time.
Since the pinch roller is separated from the capstan during standby, there is no need to worry about damaging the mechanism or tape.
A commercially available timer can be used.

In order to make it easier to see the tape running, the mechanism is tilted by 30 degrees.
In this condition, in order to under this condition, we have adopted an electronically controlled DC motor with large torque that is not affected by voltage fluctuations, and a high-precision capstan with roundness of 0.1 μ or less.

It is equipped with a peak indicator that combines a light-emitting diode and electronic circuit that quickly responds to + 5 dB level in several mmsec.
This quickly reacts to the instantaneous peak level of the recording source and turns on to warn that the recording level is over.

It has a built-in Dolby System that greatly reduces tape hissing without compromising the sound quality of the recording source. When the Dolby System is ON, the indicator lamp lights.

In order to bring out the characteristics of each tape such as chrome tape, low-noise tape and standard tape, it is equipped with an independent switchable tape selector with two levels of bias and two levels of equalizer.
A new equalizer circuit with a time constant of 70 μ s that improves S/N by 4.5 dB in the high-frequency range is also used for chrome tapes. When using general low-noise tapes, both the bias and equalizer are set to STD. When using chrome tapes, both the bias and equalizer are set to CrO.₂For more information.
You can enjoy recording and playback that demonstrate the characteristics of each tape in terms of frequency characteristics and distortion factor.

It is equipped with a recording amplifier with a large dynamic margin, and is designed to use a professional standard microphone with a compatible microphone impedance, so it is very useful for live recording.

The head uses a ferrite solid head with less wear and long life.
Since the contact surface with the tape is made of a hard material unique to ferrite and carefully mirror-finished, sound skipping due to dust adhesion is less and stable sound quality can be obtained.

In order to facilitate cleaning of the cassette compartment set at 30 degrees, we have installed a maintenance skylight at the top of the bonnet where a large head eraser can be used.
This makes maintenance of the head and travel system easy.

It is equipped with a memory rewind switch. When this switch is turned ON, the start point [000] of the tape counter is memorized, played and recorded, and rewound after that, the tape stops at the [999] position.
This mechanism is convenient when you want to repeatedly listen to the same music recorded in the middle of the tape.

Equipped with a skip button that allows you to fast-forward at twice the speed while listening to monkey talk.

The tape counter has a light lamp.

Model Rating

Type	Compact cassette deck
Recording system	AC bias, 85 kHz
Erasing method	AC push-pull system
Heads	Recording and Playback : Ferrite Solid Head Erasing head : ferrite head
Motor	Electronically controlled DC motor
Quick winding speed	About 80 seconds (at C-60)
Uneven rotation	0.10% or less (Wrms)
Frequency characteristic	General, LH Tape : 30 Hz ~ 13000 Hz (40 Hz ~ 12000 Hz ± 3 dB) Chrome Tape : 30 Hz ~ 16500 Hz (40 Hz ~ 13500 Hz ± 3 dB)
Signal-to-noise ratio	Dolby OFF : 50 dB (General, LH Tape) Dolby ON : 60 dB (General, LH Tape, 5 kHz or more) 4.5 db higher when chrome tape is used (5 khz or more)
Distortion factor	Not more than 1.7%
Input Sensitivity / Maximum Allowable Input / Impedance	Microphone (2 systems) : 0.2mV/90mV/90k Ω (Compatible Microphone : 600 Ω ~ 50k Ω, 6 φ Jack) Line (2 Systems) : 60mV/25V/180k Ω (Pin Jack) Recording / Playback : 10mV/4.5V/1.8k Ω (West German DIN, 5P jack)
Output Level / Impedance	Line (2 systems) : 450mV/50k Ω (pin jack) Recording / Playback : 450mV/50k Ω (West German DIN, 5P jack) Headphone : 40mV/8 Ω (6 φ Jack) With Output Level Control
Attachment mechanism	Dolby System (with Lamp Display) Tape Selector (BIAS/EQ Independent Selection) Timer re-standby mechanism Memory rewind mechanism Illuminated Tape Counter Skip button Reserve AC outlet (300W) Bonnet with maintenance skylight
Semiconductor used	Transistor : 40 FET : 2 IC : 2 Diode : 31 Units Zener diode : 3 pcs LED : 2 pcs
Power supply voltage	100 VAC, 50Hz/60Hz
Power consumption	18W
External dimensions	Width 420x Height 151x Depth 337 mm
Weight	9.4kg
Attachment	Stereo connection code x2 pcs Cleaning Kit (Cleaning Rod, Cleaning Liquid) x1 Set