Tascam 103 Cassette Deck

The Tascam 103 is a stereo cassette deck with double Dolby B/C and HX-Pro noise reduction, it was introduced by Tascam in 1993 with a list price of USD $395.

The main features of the Tascam 103 cassette deck are: 3 heads and no off-tape monitoring to save production cost, electronic tape counter with 4 digits, tape type selection with support for normal, chrome and metal tapes.

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.

Level meters used on the Tascam 103 cassette deck are generic digital peak reading meters. Full-logic transport controls used on the Tascam 103 let it respond to the slightest finger contact for fast and effortless transport function selection.

Dolby C-type used in the Tascam 103 provides 20 dB of noise reduction above about 1,000 Hz, fully doubling the amount given by B-type. The Dolby HX PRO system provides precise bias control during recording to reduce distortion and improve linearity in the high-frequency range, the result is recorded sound that is highly faithful to the original. The three-head configuration of the Tascam 103 requires a Double Dolby system, one for recording and one for playback.

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.