Panasonic RS-279US Direct Drive Cassette Stereo Deck

This Panasonic RS-279US is a stereo cassette deck with Dolby B noise reduction, it was first sold by Panasonic in 1973 with a recommended retail price of USD $500 and discontinued a year later.

The main features of the Panasonic RS-279US cassette deck are: 3 heads and no off-tape monitoring to save production cost, mechanical 3 digit tape counter and memory stop, manual tape type selection and capable of handling normal and chrome tapes, belt driven single-capstan transport.

Typical of this deck is the 70's top loading layout with the cassette compartiment located on the left side of the deck. Tape eject is operated mechanically and the cassette needs to be placed with the side to be played facing forward in the cassette well.

Level meters used on the Panasonic RS-279US cassette deck are analog needle VU reading meters. Mechanical transport controls for reliable Panasonic RS-279US transport function selection.

The Dolby-B system reduces tape hiss on tapes recorded on the Panasonic RS-279US by as much as 10 dB at the highest frequencies.

To make live recordings this deck has 2 microphone inputs to connect microphones with a jack connector. For undisturbed listening a jack connector for a pair of stereo headphones is supplied. Connection to other audio components for plaback can be achieved by a RCA cable and recording from a source by a RCA cable.