SONY TC-K555ESX

Commentary

This cassette deck was developed with a fundamental review of the possibilities for improving sound quality, such as eliminating unnecessary vibration and simple and straight transmission.

By adopting a midship drive system with a mechanical deck and power supply in the center, an ideal weight balance is achieved with an equal weight on the four legs. In addition, the chassis interior is divided into three parts by a U-shaped inner chassis equipped with an eye deck and power supply, so the total rigidity is also improved.
Another advantage is that the mounting span of printed circuit boards for each circuit can be shortened.

The internal layout consists of a mechanical deck and power supply in the center, a system control system on the left, and an audio circuit on the right. The operation section of the driving system including the counter and the operation section of the amplifier system are also separated on the left and right.
This greatly reduces interference and resonance between the blocks, and also provides an advantage in terms of power supply efficiency. In electrical terms, the three blocks (audio signal, control signal, and power supply) are completely isolated, and loops across each block are eliminated to minimize noise.

In the audio circuit, the recording amplifier and the playback amplifier are arranged on two separate boards with a sufficient distance between them to eliminate interference between the two amplifiers. In addition, the recording amplifier is arranged on the lower stage, and the input / output terminal of the rear panel is directly connected to the control panel of the front panel, so that simple and straight transmission is further ensured.
In addition, the all-stage L/R twin-mono DC amplifier configuration eliminates channel interference.

Uses an LC-OFC wound laser amorphous head that uses LC-OFC for coil winding.
In addition, the independent suspension 3-head system provides accurate azimuth accuracy for each recording / playback head, and achieves uniform head touch.

The mechanism uses a closed-loop dual capstan system in which the tape is sandwiched between two capstan heads and pinch rollers to stabilize the running.
In addition, the capstan is driven by a direct drive system using a new 3-phase linear torque BSL motor, and has excellent running characteristics and high reliability with a quartz-lock servo system using a counter-type digital servo circuit.

The Dolby NR B-C type IC uses the Dolby IC developed for the TC-K777ESII, making the sound quality natural during noise reduction.
We also use carefully selected parts such as a large power transformer for the power supply section and LC-OFC for signal wires.

It is equipped with a bias calibration function that can finely adjust the recording bias value within ± 20% for each tape used, and a recording level calibration function that eliminates differences in recording and playback levels due to tape sensitivity.
During calibration, the level meter is switched to the adjustment mode.

The high-frequency characteristics of the recording equalizer can be switched to three levels, enabling you to more precisely adjust the recording characteristics to match the frequency characteristics of slightly different tapes of the same type.

In addition to the operation with the conventional counter 0.00, it is possible to perform a memory stop / play in which the operation point is the time when the memory button is pressed.
Since the memory point is maintained even when the reset button is pressed, you can check the remaining time from the middle of the tape by using the subtraction function of the linear electronic counter.

Equipped with a multi-function peak program meter that simultaneously displays peak hold and real-time peak values in the range of -40 to + 8 dB.

Equipped with an auto tape selector corresponding to TypeI/II/IV.

Equipped with linear electronic counter with subtraction function.

Equipped with an MPX filter switch.

Equipped with Rec Mute function with auto space.

Equipped with a function to prevent the tape from sagging during cassette loading.

Continuous absence recording and alarm clock playback are possible with the separately sold timer.

Equipped with a headphone port with variable output.

It comes with a wireless remote control that lets you record, play, fast-forward and rewind, as well as reset the counter and memory.

Model Rating

Type	Stereo cassette deck
Heads	Playhead x1 1 Recording Head Erase Head x1
Motor	Linear Torque BSLD. D. Motor DC Motor
Signal-to-noise ratio	56dB(EIAJ) 60 db (Dolby off, Peak Level, Metal Tape) 73dB(Dolby NR C)
Frequency characteristic	20 Hz ~ 20 kHz ± 3 dB (EIAJ, Metal Tape)
Frequency range	15 Hz ~ 22 kHz (EIAJ, Metal Tape)
Wow and flutter (EIAJ)	± 0.04% Wpeak 0.025%WRMS
Distortion factor	0.5% (EIAJ, Metal Tape)
Power consumption	27W
External dimensions	Width 430x Height 125x Depth 350 mm
Weight	8.9kg
Attachment	Wireless Remote Control RM-99