8-track & cassette in the same player? - 1976 Soundesign 4645B

A failed truce in the 1970s battle between cassette tapes and 8-track cartridges: a player which can accept both formats in the same slot. Impossible? Not according to Soundesign, which achieved this feat in their 4645B stereo system in 1976.

Correction: As several viewers pointed out, the circuitry does switch between different equalizations for 8-track and cassette playback. And the idler wheel and smaller flywheel do change the speed for playing cassettes, but not the direction of rotation; instead, that's accomplished by the 8-track and cassette capstans being on opposite sides of the tape. (Also, upon closer inspection I found a 1980 date code on the speakers.)

Time flow:
0:00 The dilemma
1:37 Soundesign's solution
2:31 Overview
4:32 Cassette playback
5:41 Shared components
7:02 8-track mechanism
8:01 Cassette mechanism
8:56 Shiftable drive carriage
10:11 Bottom view
10:54 Direction & speed
12:01 Electronic design
12:42 Why it didn't catch on
13:58 Conclusion

#cassette #8track #vintageaudio

Видео 8-track & cassette in the same player? - 1976 Soundesign 4645B канала VWestlife