What analog music are you listening now? (only photos, no Youtube) Well... it arrived... Just in time for Christmas! And what a gorgeous thing! Yeah... I'm happy to say that I've become the proud owner of a fantastic, almost mint, Sony TC-K990ES! Complete with wood side panels! I was so excited to try it out, that I didn't think of taking any pictures with it straight out of the package, and before placing it in its place in my HiFi setup... So here it is, fully integrated into the system, and in a group picture with some of my other cassette equipment! I must say, it's quite a seamless integration! If I didn't know it, I could even say it's been always there... And my Pioneer CT-W505R (which I'm gonna keep and continue using) sits very naturally on top of the 990ES too! The seller had the kindness to include a Sony UX-S tape in the package... A nice surprise! Here it is in my 'tape reserve'... Will be a good addition to the UXs I got from a local seller here in Barcelona! So, basically my original intention was to look for a 2-track, hi-speed Revox B77 reel-to-reel for this 'end-of-year' purchase of equipment (as I'm interested in a means to do high-quality analog copies of my records, so as not to wear them out when having to record them multiple times onto cassette, e.g. if I have to redo a tape because of a mistake in setting the recording parameters). After being contacted by Hugo @walkman archive on an Akai cassette deck (on sale locally, but that I couldn't get as it still wasn't the time when I'd get economically able to purchase one) I started to think about postponing the R2R, and improving my cassette hardware instead... I wanted to do this by purchasing a good TOTL deck; this would be the way to ensure not only great sound quality, but also good reliability, as I wanted (and I still want) the deck to last me decades, if possible! So I decided to turn my attention in this direction... After briefly considering a Pioneer CT-93 (like the one Hugo has) because of my familiarity with the manufacturer and the BLE system on the CT-W505R, I decided to settle with Sony instead, as it's a brand with a special significance to me (at one point in my childhood, everything A/V related at home - MHC-2600 HiFi system, Trinitron TV, VCR, and CFS-W350L boombox - was Sony, as well as the stereo cassette receiver DIN head-unit in the car!). So I turned onto eBay... My preference was for the 950ES/990ES design, as I think it's better ergonomically and it's laid out more logically, with the level meter display located next to the recording controls, and the counter placed next to the transport buttons (rather than for the 808ES/909ES one, where the level meter is on top of the transport controls, something that doesn't make as much sense to me!). Was about to fire my trigger on a TC-K950ES (although I'm not extremely fond of the dark, glossy style of cassette door used in this and other models, but I liked the design of the pushbuttons and the cluster of knobs for the recording controls) when this TC-K990ES showed up... Price was about twice what the same seller asked for the 950ES, but that was the model I originally wanted, so the decision was taken to 'throw the house out of the window' and pay for it anyway... After all I don't want more than two decks in my system as my intention is to diversify in formats rather than in hardware for the same format... And with the 990ES I already have those 2 decks, so I think I'm not going to do a big expense like this in a lot of time! Also, this deck dates from exactly the same year as myself if I'm not mistaken, so that's something else that makes it special to me! And anyway... Got it in an almost perfect condition! I was a bit fearful that my unit would show up with the same type of 'speckling' that user MHzTweaker (over in this topic at Tapeheads: http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=54266&highlight=Sony+TC-K990ES) had in a TC-K990ES (and that seems to be an issue with the type of paint used on the frame breaking down over time...) And indeed, my deck also has it, but it's much less severe, and it's only normally visible on the bottom of it, where I'm not normally looking, so I can live with it! Another small issue is a fast 'crackle' that I can hear on the output... Happens randomly from time to time (not very frequently) on playback and I think it (possibly) can be a capacitor wanting to be replaced in more or less time, so I may have to have it checked sooner or later... For the rest, this deck has been an absolutely 'plug-and-play' machine! And the sound? Really better than my CT-W505R... The quality of the heads and electronics can be felt... There's more accuracy and reality in the sound... In fact, I may also postpone the replacement of my SS-H2600 speakers as I've discovered they can sound even better than they did! (Despite this, my opinion on my CT-W505R has not changed a millimeter... I still think it sounds great! Only that, obviously, not at the same level of 'greatness' as the TC-K990ES...) Anyway... I love this deck... I think it's been a purchase well made and I don't regret the expense at all! PS. Sorry for the lengthy post... But that's what happens when I'm not on Twitter... I get out of control!
Wow, that thing is a beast! There's nothing like having a beautiful tape deck to go with a stereo system and that looks like it was well taken care of. It would be interesting to find the date of manufacture to see how close in age it is, one of the websites can pin down the serial number with the date but I can't remember the brands or site, I'd check AudioKarma. I've got an old Benz that was made a day after I was born, I've dragged it around for years and have a hard time getting rid of it.
Man, that's a serious deck indeed. Truly a TOTL model from SONY. My sincere congrats. It's almost the same as my K909ES, but with several small improvements here and there, as I've read. Now you can go deep in the recording stuff, with calibration of tapes: bias, level and EQ calibration. That's the key for excellent recordings.
Thanks! Yes it's a great deck, very solid! I'll have to have it checked up at @Sergi's place though... Today I did a short recording test using Dolby B NR (and successfully setting up the Bias and the Level using the built-in assisted calibration function) and the tape came out sounding pretty dull on my WM-D6C (and I know it's not the D6C's fault, as it's also been on Sergi's hands, to solve some transport-related problems, and he did a general check-up too on that one). I used a TDK AR cassette, and left the REC EQ CAL knob in the "NORMAL" position... According to the user manual, when set at "HIGH" it boosts the high frequencies (treble) but I don't think a superferric like the AR needs it... I'd guess the "HIGH" setting would be useful for basic ferrics like TDK D or Sony HF to compensate for the worse treble response of those tapes. Also, the transport on my 990ES is now sometimes (curiously, not always) squeaking whenever I play (or record) a tape, and also when I operate the motorized door, something that has limited my ability to do any further tests (as it may need lubrication, and I don't want anything to deteriorate because of a continued operation of the deck in this situation...). I guess that it's in such a pristine state that it may have never been serviced! So a visit to the tech service, for lubrication, preventive maintenance (caps, mode belt, etc, if needed), and general alignment is on order... Hope I'll be able to have it totally healthy (and for many years!) after this! Merry Christmas! David.
Anything on the vintageknob.org is cool to me, here's the page for your machine if you haven't seen the site yet, they highlight the gold version. http://www.thevintageknob.org/SONY/sonyes/TCK890990ES/TCK890990ES.html and the service manual is on Vintage Audio Components http://sportsbil.com/stereo/Vintage gear.html
OK, so this time, taking advantage that the TC-K990ES didn't squeak, I did a 2nd and final test ( and trying to keep it the shortest possible to avoid stress on the transport mech, in case something's really not totally OK on it!). This time I recorded a short snippet of music from the radio (using Dolby B on a TDK AR60), and played it back on the Pioneer CT-W505R as well as on my WM-D6C and the 990ES itself... Turns out the tape sounds duller indeed (not excessively so, however) on the D6C, but not on the CT-W505R... In fact, it sounds a bit brighter on the 505 than on the 990ES itself... So I guess my 990ES's Dolby is about right. I know that Dolby is very sensitive to differences in the azimuth alignment of different deck's heads (and this is one of the reasons why I use Dolby B and not a higher 'grade' such as C or S, as I imagine it's less critical) so I think those differences I'm hearing, when playing back the AR60 in the different decks, are due to this... Still, I'd like to know if it's possible to bring them 'closer' in this regard! I'll still have to take the 990ES to @Sergi's tech service for the general check-up, so I can ask him for advice on this. Thanks for the links! Yes I knew of TVK, but hadn't thought of looking up my deck in there... Regarding the service manual, I also found it on HiFi Engine, but this other website you link is nice too!
