Today we have a very nice Kenwood KW-5066 open reel tape deck. It is functional, but no “deep” testing was done, to check head alignment or other technical details like that. I also do not know what tape it was calibrated for, so that will need to be addressed by a competent tech, because whatever it was set up for, is not available today! It DOES have an internal tone generator to get pretty close to optimal with whatever tape you choose, just like a high-end cassette deck would have. (Visit HiFiengine for manuals). Cosmetics are quite nice, as you can see. Wood looks nice, but could benefit from a lemon oil treatment, as it feels a bit dry. It can operate on dual voltage, which is nice. It is set up for North America now (110VAC). Heads seem okay visually. The function knob to select play, FF, REW etc. Is not on correctly. All functions work, but the knob does not point to the function it is actually doing. The set screw needs to be loosened and the lever replaced in correct alignment. I never got around to dealing with this myself. Pots and sliders probably need a cleaning, but I didn’t find anything glaring as it is. REMEMBER: D5 is for contacts. Only use F5 (Fader lube) on old carbon comp pots, or they will eventually be destroyed. The reel retainer plugs (rubber stoppers) are both present. Cord is fine- no damage or cuts- and is original to the unit. Overall a very nice deck representing the first to the top (only the KW-8077 auto-reverse deck was more expensive, when new, representing the TOTL at the time). Two motors, four-digit “digital” counter, four ferrite-core micro-gap heads, big two-color VUs, independent rec, play, input and output levels, sound-on-sound with echo option, full-track (high-speed) erase mode, three tape speeds! And independent L and R bias adjust with test signal generator on board (so you could do a decent job calibrating it for the tape you have, presumably, just like a cassette deck). Lesser open reel decks did not have an onboard generator, and most did not even have user-adjustable bias! Pretty feature-packed for the era. Deck can be run standing up (with the reel retainers) or lying down, with, or without, the adapters in place. Track system: 4-track, 2-channel, stereo/monaural system. Heads: 1 x playback, 1 x record, 1 x erase, 1 x full track erase. Reel size: up to 7 inch reel. Wow and flutter: 0.15%. Frequency response: 25Hz to 20kHz. Signal to Noise Ratio: 50dB. Total harmonic distortion: 0.6%. Input: 100mV (line), 9.8mV (DIN), 0.55mV (mic). Output: 0.775V (line), 0.775V (DIN). Semiconductors: 19 x transistors, 2 x diodes. Dimensions: 16.5 x 7 x 15.5 inches. This item is in the category “Consumer Electronics\Vintage Electronics\Vintage Audio & Video\Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorders”. The seller is “j!m_j!m” and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States.
- Model: KW-5066
- Modified Item: No
- Country/Region of Manufacture: Japan
- Custom Bundle: Yes
- Brand: Kenwood
- Type: Tape Recorder
- Bundle Description: With original reel retainers included