I had a summer job in a Leeds (UK) Hi-Fi shop when the Elcaset was launched. Seemed so exotic at the time and was certainly very expensive although unfortunately I can't recall the price. The shop had a few of each version and were a popular demo item. I can only recall one EL-7 being sold. I really wanted an EL-7 but it was beyond my means at the time, being a poor uni student. The shop was also a Nakamichi dealer and we sold quite a few of their cassette decks, despite them being expensive, so I think the Elcaset was seen as irrelevant. I'd still like an EL-7 but I'm not willing to pay the exorbitant prices being asked for them, I'd rather have a high end compact cassette deck for that money.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

I agree with you. With the advancement of the compact cassette during that time and brands like Nakamichi really starting to gain traction, the Elcaset really didn't have a chance. I'd love to have an EL-7, or even just a nicer example of the EL-5 that I have. The prices are ridiculous on them.

I remember these well, EL5 & EL7, as I worked in a London Hi-Fi shop doing a Saturday job as a teenager back in the 70's. These decks sounded excellent back in the day and especially with the complementary demonstration pre-recorded tape. I liked the demo tape that much, I made a compact cassette recording copy of it.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing. I haven't found many people who remember the Elcaset, so it's nice to hear from those who do. I'd like to find one of the demo tapes at some point.

Great video l cassettes did sound good my cousin had one he lived next door to me that thing was pretty cool he was way into it he also had a Stromberg Carlson twin monoblock tube amps a turntable and Corner speakers it sounded fantastic hardly anybody knows what a l cassette is have a great day I'll keep watching

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your memories and thanks for watching!

I have both an EL7 and an EL5 Both are in working condition. I acquired them while working for Sony in Germany many years ago. (military sales in the PX and audio-photo clubs). I recorded many tapes (which I still have) and they still sound VERY good. The only real issue is that the lubricant in the tapes themselves dries out and they often squeak! A tiny bit of oil it the right place can fix that. I still have a few NOS tapes still in the wrapping. Unfortunately I had them both in storage for over 17 years and that took its toll. I had to do quite a bit of work to get them working again. One thing this is... they don't like to set around. They NEED to be used to keep working properly. Great format though I always loved it.

I had a new Sony EL-7 that I bought along with 2 cases of tapes.The sound was comparable to my Pioneer RT-1011 reel to reel. The availability of tapes was limited, but it was a great deck.

@minty_Joe

Жыл бұрын

I still have my RT-1011L and it works flawlessly some nearly 50 years since it was bought! Very little maintenance needed to be done. I'd like to find me a Revox B77 or RT-909H, if it exists.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Elcaset is a format that I wish had been developed a little more and stuck around for a while longer. It really could have been something special.

@minty_Joe

Жыл бұрын

@@VintageElectronicsChannel I agree. IIRC, they offered it in dual speed support, where you can pick low (3.75 ips) or high (7.5 ips). I could be wrong and it's just 3.75 ips.

Thanks for bringing back this old memory of Elcaset. At the time when it was introduced, I already had a cassette deck which I used frequently for home use and also for car stereo enjoyment. Even though the sound quality of Elcaset is superior(in comparison to the cassette), I shied away from this because of the humungous size of the tape and the incompatibility with my car stereo.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Glad I could help stir up some old memories! I think the lack of compatibility and anything portable was a big reason for its lack of success.

@ac888

Жыл бұрын

@@VintageElectronicsChannel Same as you I enjoy playing with vintage equipments such as LP, cassette tapes, and Minidisc. Enjoy your channel and just subscribed.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for subscribing! I like to share these things to keep them alive.

"Supposed to be in good working condition", story of any vintage audio buyers life. The frequency response deviated more than I expected from the original actually. I wouldn't say it's any better than a good compact cassette deck, probably needs calibration or some caps replaced.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, it definitely isn't in the condition expected. It'll be a project for another day.

i have owned an EL7 and an EL5 its an endless pit of money. Sound was great but the machines always required serviceing. also if the cassettes were available and affordable it would be ok.

I have an El Caset with the piano keys that I've been trying to get fixed for years. I think the tape transport may need fixing. Another reason why the El Caset faded out was because they were very expensive. $600 for the piano keys and $900 for the soft touch keys. And the tapes were $6 for normal bias and $8 for Ferra Chrome tapes. I recorded some great music with it! 😉😊

@Solar55

8 ай бұрын

I have the EL-4 as well - the hardest part is finding cassettes these days that aren't priced like gold !

I've heard of it. It reminds me of El Kabong

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Never thought of that, now that's all I can think of.

I’ve heard of it back in 1977 and it looked kind of freaky at first. I think it flopped because the cassettes were already here.they were destined to be the way of the future for tape recording and playback. The elcaset is a good idea for higher quality recording

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Well said. It was a great idea, just a little too late.

Imaging if they were still developing these machines up until in the early 90s!!

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

They'd have been amazing. They were impressive for 1970s technology. With more development, the sky would have been the limit for those.

@dean6816

Жыл бұрын

@@VintageElectronicsChannel I'd love one but it's a case of finding a decent one and in the UK they're very rare.

good stuff man. love the quality of elcaset. sometimes i like to wonder where tape based audio would have went if not for the cd, digital etc. anyway, subbed

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the sub! I wonder about that too. There's no doubt it would have been amazing by now!

@alex1520

Жыл бұрын

DAT is where things headed with tape, but was never a huge success. But in the analog tape format, towards the end of its days, most compact cassette decks out there (with the exception of really high end and expensive units like Nakamichi) were junk, loaded with far more shoddy plastic parts with lousy wow+flutter performance, its no wonder that so many dont have any stellar memories of compact cassettes, except for those who had the money to splurge on decent kit, and tapes. A similar reason why reel to reel was never a massive success in the consumer market, price.... To me though, nothing beats a good reel to reel unit at 15 IPS (at least at the prosumer level). I own a fully overhauled Revox B77 MK2, new heads on it too (dont ask how much that cost, it was absolutely obscene due to the scarcity of parts), coupled with some fresh SM911 tape from RTM, it is just a dream to listen to, and mesmerizing to watch in operation :)

@FunzieOne

Жыл бұрын

@@alex1520 yes i know where it went, i was more talking about where it COULD have gone

Sounds pretty good, but perhaps could use azimuth adjustment to sharpen the highs a bit.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

You're probably right.

SONY EL-5 Does NOT rewind - I purchased a machine a couple of months ago in amazing condition, but the rewind does not work. The rewind Light does go on when pushed, but the reel does not turn. I can hear something spinning in the unit. Is there a REWIND BELT ?? I did purchase a full belt kit for the EL-5 but did not want to attempt any fixing until I had some guidance from a knowledgable ELCASET user. Your videos are a life saver, but can you pls advise me as what to look for ?? I have a copy of the Service Manual, but it does not address the belts. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Mike S NJ

I love thèse Elcaset I do have two Elcaset EL-7 that were in working conditions for all functions However both had some minor things: One or the two warm lights inside the compartment is dead and I wonder if I can find a replacement for these and joe hard it is Second is that once in a while when I press play the unit goes into FF and I have to push stop then play once or twice before it goes into play I wonder if you have any ideas what is going on Also make sure you open the cassette and lubricator slightly if you hear noise on rewind or FF because the lubricant dries out even in sealed cassettes since there were made almost 50 years ago I love that analog sound on these and agree it sounds like my Pioneer RT909 running at 7.5 ips

@VintageElectronicsChannel

11 ай бұрын

The bulbs may be hard to find direct replacements for. Best bet is to find similar size, wattage, and voltage and use those. As far as the occasional hiccup when trying to play a tape.... I'm not sure. I wonder if the contacts for the microswitches are dirty. First step might be to get in there with some electronics contact cleaner and see if that helps.

The elcaset was a great idea but the compact cassette was playable anywhere except for metal bias tapes. It was practical for home use only.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Even metal tapes are playable in any cassette deck. Can't properly record one in a deck not designed for them, but they're universally playable. One of the many reasons the cassette took off, besides the fact it was much less expensive.

The quality of the sound is unchanged except for a slight less treble response. Thanks for the education!

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

This is a great looking deck, but the sound quality is just not there. Bias or EQ are totally wrong, the deck needs to be calibrated.

Hello, nice channel 👍🏻 I think the recording lost some midrange but sounds great

@VintageElectronicsChannel

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

hi the first time i saw this kind of deck was at a car boot sale in london town i will TELL YOU WHAT I PLAYED beware it low £7.00 20 years a go i was told there are new sealed tape 20 year ago i played £1 pound each 72 tapes for £60 and post note i do have 3 x el7 they are ok the thing is i have a el5 as parts something went bad in the deck to do with the logic i did not put it back as part acc mum said i may need it as part i have got my hands on something that is wow sound ace this format has be got over looked biig time the liner audio tracks in the betacam sp decks the tape run at 6 x the beta speed and there is 4 quad channel with out they audio drop out i have a otari mtr 12 this betacam sp deck can out do this pro tape deck and the prices of new seal betacam is now very silly low there are 1000's of 40min betacan tapes in wearhouse's all over the places i have beatcam tape that are 35 year old sound like new people have decks to show of the deck don't look great note i have 35 betacam deaks that are still working ok i all was getting them offered to me all the time you have a channel you know what it's like

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comments. Betacam is something I've been looking to get into recently. I studied broadcasting at University and we had UMatic and SVHS, but no Betacam. I've heard the audio tracks sound excellent on that format. Definitely on my list to find.

I hear some wow and flutter during piano parts

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I noticed that too. The machine still needs some work.

@terrybeavan4264

Жыл бұрын

@@VintageElectronicsChannel I'm just glad after that criminally bad job of packing that the seller did that it survived relatively intact, I'm surprised it works at all! I'd heard of Elcaset but I've never seen one up close, love seeing videos like this of them in operation!

hi thanks for the male they are that good i was lucky a ex video hire place was going to bin them all i put a offer in there hre place put the word around to pull back in the decks that are out on hire at the time same them for a skip i am in a town call bracknell yes the big fire in the town that place was to do with the people i got the decks from it was a badly made place and not well looked after good to know you have a good skill set beware of the tascam 30 line they can get killed in the post i am mates with the tascam ninja man so getting the bad deck fixed was ok i jus asked him for the bad part i had to say why bob

I have an EL7 but don’t use it 😕

@VintageElectronicsChannel

6 ай бұрын

They can be a bit fiddly to mess with now that they have some age on them.

shame about the accent....makes it unwatchable.

@VintageElectronicsChannel

Жыл бұрын

Accent? I do my best to be sure I DON'T have one. Lol

@sibfox

10 ай бұрын

What accent?