A special design cassette
deck: Yamaha TC800
In the year 1978
“Hello Henk, an
acquaintance of mine is selling a top quality cassette deck. Would you be interested?”
A friend of mine reported. “A very special machine, fully loaded with
functions. I’m not interested myself, but you got all this special equipment so
it might be something for you?” The arrested message continued.
During my
college days the audio hobby was well known amongst my friends and I got the
above quoted tip to a Yamaha TC800-GL. At that time I was the proud owner of an
Akai GX39 and was convinced of it’s quality. When I saw the Yamaha I was a
little doubtfull;
1
Such a small machine, could the
transport mechanism really be any good?
2
Portable?
Is this serious HiFi?
3
Wasn’t
this machine tested in a old issue of a Dutch hifi magazine?
The tests in
the magazine were read to pieces by me in these days. As I knew most of the
writer’s preferences I would blindly trust the highly positive impression the
test transpired. The buy of this Yamaha TC800-GL was quickly decided upon.
The next couple
of years the Yamaha worked satisfactorily. The sound was quite open, much more
so than the dull sounding Akai. The test had prescribed the use of Maxell UDXL
I with the Yamaha, so this became the standard tape, still playing as good as
25 years ago. The overall recording quality was a step forward compared with
the Akai. Now I know the biggest difference in sound quality was caused by the
compatibility of the deck’s adjustments and the tape used, but also the
Permalloy record / playback head was better then most at the time. As a
downside the Yamaha proved a bit fragile and some noise and hum could easily occur
in the amps. Changing light bulps required quite some work in disassembly and
rebuilding required extra attention to redress all leads in a way to minimize
hum pickup.
The year 1982
“What a
beautiful piece is that!” a colleague exclaimed looking at the Yamaha. “Are you
still using it, Henk? Is it for sale?” In the mean time a Nakamichi 581 with
higher potential was installed in the Hifi chain and the Akai was long gone.
The TC800-GL was still in place as a second cassette deck, but rarely used. The
enthusiastic colleague walked home with the Yamaha and I have not heard
anything from it since
.
The year 1995
“How nice!
Exactly like I’ve had many years ago.” At one of the better Hifi stores in the
I started
looking and had to wait patiently for years until I finally got a lead within
reasonable distance. The first lead brought a TC800-D into view. What is this
specific version? This turned out to be a less extensively loaded variant. The
battery powering was gone and mixing of mic’s and line inputs was not possible.
This specific sample was reasobly mint and I bought it. Two years later I came
across a TC800-GL in non working order. The belt was completely degenerated and
the electronics would not allow recording anymore. For it’s belt I found an
replacement, but the electronics play up from time to time still.
Bellisimo
Bellini
Yamaha intended
to integrate the ease of use of the cassette medium with the quality of open
real tape recorders. For the ergonomics and design signed Mario Bellini. The
famous Italian designer was responsible for the Olivetti typewriters of these
days.
Originele TC800
The original
Yamaha TC800 is rare. This version does not contain the Dolby noise reduction
system but a noise filter. I have never seen this version of the triple TC800.
The more elaborate version TC800-GL sports a limiter circuit to prevent
overloading the tape, Dolby and more luxurious VU meters. Additional battery
power was already mentioned and also a outboard 12 volt power facility is
included. The lights behind the meters can be switched when on battery power,
so the batteries are not drained by permanent use of lights. The remaining
battery power can be checked with an
other switch, by which the right VU meter is transformed into a voltmeter. Most
photographs display the GL version, irrespective of the title shown. This can
be discerned from the two little push buttons below the meter display on the
right side. These buttons with the subscripts ‘BATT CHECK’ and ‘LIGHT’ are not
present on the other versions.
TC800-GL
I have always
enjoyed the luxurious VU meters of the TC800-GL with two leds inserted to
support the level adjustments in dark venues, likely when recording live music.
Green at the –3 db spot and red at +3 db. The meters are fast and have an
extended range from -40 to +6 db. The lights build in are not really sufficient
for showing the needles in dimly lit rooms, but this is not unusual.
TC800-D
The last
version is the TC800-D, an extended version of the original TC-800. The noise filter
is substituted for the Dolby noise reduction system, hence the added D in the.
This version also has automatic detection of the chromium tape class and an DIN
connector, something we do not see anymore.
These were the additions for the D version, the rest of the GL versions’
options are not incorporated here.
The slider type
volume controls are shaped as staircase sports and are a major distinguishing
design trick. Ergonomically sound. The topmost slider varies tape speed with
plus or minus 3 percent. This pitch control is rare but available on all
versions of the Yamaha TC800.
Both TC800-GL
and the TC800-D occupy a small space in the collection of cassette decks and
are a very nice pair. Hard to come by.