Sony TC-K55 Stereo Cassette Deck

This Sony TC-K55 is a stereo cassette deck with Dolby B noise reduction, it was first sold by Sony in 1979 with a list price of USD $400 and discontinued a year later.

The main features of the Sony TC-K55 cassette deck are: 2 heads, mechanical 3 digit tape counter and memory stop, manual tape type selection and capable of handling normal, chrome, ferro-chrome and metal tapes with additional manual equalization selection, belt driven single-capstan transport.

Typical front loading cassette deck 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 which is opened by a damped mechanism. Additionally the compartement can be accessed easly for head cleaning by removing the well-cover.

Level meters used on the Sony TC-K55 cassette deck are analog needle VU reading meters. Full-logic transport controls used on the Sony TC-K55 let it respond to the slightest finger contact for fast and effortless transport function selection.

The Dolby-B system reduces tape hiss on tapes recorded on the Sony TC-K55 by as much as 10 dB at the highest frequencies. The 19kHz multiplex pilot slgnal present in FM stereo broadcasts can cause false triggering of the noise reduction system. The switchable MPX filter of the TC-K55 filters out the pilot signal, and assuring proper Dolby processing of FM stereo programs.

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. All main transport commands can be issued remotely with a wired remote control.