No Nakamichi decks pushed the pressure pad aside and tried to use internal guides and d two capstans to keep the tape in contact with the head and azimuth right. They were notorious for only working well on certain brands of high end tape like Maxell and TDK but later runs of the cassettes were made cheaper and you could not get two to work the same. The Denon had issues due to the same problem although they still used the pad.
Brian
As I say, it was trying to get more out of the system than it was designed to make. Techincs dbx decks were the way to go for home recordings in my view, at a fraction of the cost and no fiddling with dolby levels and tape azimuth issues and a 100 db apparent dynamic range even on c120s. Brian
A cassette tape maker managed to buy the BBC name for the tapes. BBC Engineering was very cross - the quality was dreadful - as were the Balun-less Band 2 aerials with a Radio 1 sticker. It was all about making money!
Most consumers didn't have the information, skill (or decent three head equipment) to apply proper monitored and controlled bias signal to the tapes, and avoid signal saturation.
The result was that their recordings were probably not the best - unless the deck was factory aligned to work with a particular tape. European tapes for European decks, Japanese tapes for Japanese decks. Money wasted by many buying and using the wrong tape.
The wise choice I think was settled on eventually was TDK SA?
There is an interestingly busy YouTube channel, "Cassette Comeback" if anyone wants a nostalgia trip (or wants to spend £££'s on 'new old stock' blank cassettes at his shop).
Cassette Recording Basics - A Crash (and burn?) Course
Saehan Cassettes - More Common Than You Might Think
Although ISTR we then had a phase of fake Japanese sounding brandnames from the mass market shops - though I can't actually remember them.
Hinari, for one?
If only. The badge engineering on the Mini, 1100, 1300, even
1800 ranges finished in the early 1970's. Afterwards came these two among others.Anyone who wants to lay the blame for ther demise of British Leyland as it became down to shoddy workmanship and striking workers should maybe try reading those two. Some highlights. As mentioned in an episode of Top Gear the Allegro was originally intended as a much sharper design, wedge shaped at the front like the later Princess. Howver they decided to fit it with the tall E series engine which meant the wedge shape had to be scrapped, and all the sharp edges had to be abandoned. It could also have had a tailgate which was becoming increasingly popular in Europe at the time but BL already had a tailgate model in the 1800. So that was that. They tried to make it "different" like Citroens. Some Citroens had a one spoke steering wheel. The Allegro had a square steering wheel instead.
As to the Marina, this was to be their high volume offering to take on the Cortina. Which was to be made at their Cowley plant. Unfortunately to achieve the necessary volume they'd need to use both sides of the Cowley Plant - which had a public road running through the middle of it.
Howver the management at the time appeared oblivious to all this. And its not just hindight. BL never ever had a coherent model range capable of taking on Ford with their Fiesta, Cortina, Granads, and Capri ranges.
michael adams
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And Ghia was originally an independent company tarting up Fords and others, until it just became a badge/trim level.
It's strange you should say that Brian. As the toasters I saw on sale had the small squirrel logo and the "founded in 1925" legend on the box as featured on all their products. This was the only reason I raised the matter in the first place.
They also have a website
Now you won't be able to confirm this for yourself unfortunately, but others might wish to do so. So that while toasters don't actually feature on that website, if you type "toasters" in the rather opaque search box, a drop down menu offers "toasters and kettles" as an option. So the speaker people if they exist at all certainly seem to know all about toasters and it appears the matching kettles.
michael adams
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They/the name also rose to prominence at the start of the CB radio boom ISTR, with Harvard branded vehicle units being very popular.
Matsui (Dixon's) was one - I just checked and it is a Japanese surname.
Matsui was one. Used by Curry's on stuff bought in from various anonymous manufacturers in the far East. They'd chosen the name Matsui as its a fairly common Japanese name apparently.
Unfortunely this had some unforseen consequences.
<quote>" In December 1988, a British government consumer protection agency charged Currys with misleading advertising. Because of its association with Iwane Matsui, a Japanese general responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people in the Nanking Massacre in 1937, the Matsui name brought protests from some British veterans of World War II.
<quote>michael adams
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And they shared an engine with the grey fergy tractor at one point.
Ditto Sharp. A huge Turkish company now makes 'Sharp' microwave ovens.
Not Humber. That was the Rootes group, not BL.
I heard that it was deliberate, to sell to people who didn't want 'British rubbish'.
Sometimes I miss my Humber Hawk!
My late wife bought a Polaroid TV on that basis. It was s**te!
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