Lucky find

[Crackle]

I had a lucky find today, well actually it was Gill who spotted and bought it.
I think I must have been a few rows ahead of Gill at today's boot-sale. I either walked past this little gem or the stall holder was still putting things out.
Anyway, here it is,
           

I have been after one of these for some time, and this one is in pristine condition. I believe it is the first portable cassette recorder sold by ITT-KB, it appears in their 1970 catalogue.
All I have had to do is carefully remove and replace the drive belt, which had as usual turned to a sticky goo.
It is now working very well.

Mike

[alanworland]

What a find, looks to be in really good condition!

Alan

[ppppenguin]

Since these were throway items finding one in nice condition like that must be rare indeed.

More generally with these small 1960s/1970s cassette recorders, how good were they? Little better than dictaphone or were some of them capable of reasonable performance?

[Crackle]

"Since these were throway items finding one in nice condition like that must be rare indeed."
Even more so as it was on one of those house clearance stalls. I have bought off him before and he does tend to look after his stock, and prevent it from rattling and scraping around on the floor of his van.

The quality is very good. I would say that on a pre-recorded tape the audio quality is almost as good as any medium sized FM radio, certainly better than an AM radio of comparable size.
I tested recording with the microphone and it was surprisingly sensitive and sounded very clear.
The tonal quality of ITT products is well designed, as good as the other German designed  and Japan made radios and audio..
It seems better than what I remember of my Crown cassette recorder I had in the late 60's. I can remember comparing my Crown recorder with a Philips one and the Philips sounded much nicer.
For their time these were good quality recorders, they retailed for nearly £31, almost £518 in today's money.

Mike

[BusyBee]

I used to have an SL52 and used it for years. I thought it very good at the time. I cannot remember what finally happened to it.

Tracy

[Nick]

Using Bank of England inflation data, £30 in 1968 is equivalent to £511 today (RM has them as being manufactured between 68 and 70).

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary...calculator

A DAC90 was £11.11 in 1946, about £473 today.

[Old Sparky]

Just noticed the comment in your Avatar, Nick 'it goes as low as 30C (86F) here in the Autumn' . Whatever temperature does it reach during the summer??

[Nick]

Just noticed the comment in your Avatar, Nick 'it goes as low as 30C (86F) here in the Autumn' .  Whatever temperature does it reach during the summer??

I was living in the UAE for the last few years.

In Summer, the temperature is normally in the high 40s but often over 50C. In Al Ain, near the Oman border, about 100 miles inland from Dubai, we hit 62C the year before last.

Back in the UK now, so need to update my profile.

[Terry]

From memory, Nick is in Dubai.

This site says that the average  highest average temperature in August is 42°. (Click on 'All months' at the bottom for the full year's data.)

Looks quite cool at the moment - only 27° instead if the average 33°!

[Old Sparky]

Nick, seeing your comment that last year the temperature in Dubai reached 63C (over 143F) makes me think that you'll feel cool here even in summer. I guess the High temperatures in Dubai and Oman, etc., are a bit more comfortable than the high figures suggest because the humidity there must be somewhat lower than it is here in the UK during heatwaves.
Going back on topic, if the SL52 was around £30 back in 1968/69, they were hardly throwaway items - the average weekly wage back then was surely less than £30 - My wage when I started working in the radio repair trade in '71 was £25 per week before tax!