Elcaset

[Beechwoods]

My favourite forgotten audio format.

Elcaset was a little cul-de-sac Sony took between reel to reel and the development of metal tape that finally gave 'Compact' cassette proper audiophile pretention. Tape ran at 3 3/4ips, versus compact cassette's 1 7/8. Tape was 1/4" versus 1/8". It came in what looks like an outsize cassette case, and the tape was threaded away from the shell to allow consistent tape transport, versus the integrated pressure pad and consequent dependency upon good quality shell production of compact cassette.

Some info about Elcaset
http://www.elcaset.ca/
http://indiscriminate.tripod.com/audio/elcaset/default.htm

The Sony EL-7
http://www.thevintageknob.org/SONY/sonyvault/EL7/EL7.html

Elcaset did not do well. It's size was a disadvantage for widespread consumer adoption, who preferred compact cassette, and audiophiles seemed happy with ferric tape at 7 1/2ips...

In 1980 or thereabout some Finnish company bought up all the remaining Elcasets and sold them off cheap to bemused Finns...

http://home.iae.nl/users/pb0aia/cm/elcaset/el-end.html

Does anyone on this forum have an Elcaset player? An EL-7 is one of the items on my wish list... a bottom of the line (but rare, apparently) EL-4 is up on eBay at the moment, but I'm holding out for the TOTL model; 3 heads versus 2 :)

[Beechwoods]

Well it seems to be Elcaset week on eBay at the moment, a rather rare 'Mediatech (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-EL-5-Elcaset-Tape-Deck-Very-Rare-Black-Mediatech_W0QQitemZ110357508038QQihZ001QQcategoryZ 4784QQssPageNameZWD4VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksid Zp1638Q2em124)' version of the EL-5 and an astoundingly expensive EL-7 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-EL-7-Elcaset-UNIT-BOXED-with-MANUAL-6-TAPES_W0QQitemZ300296856961QQihZ020QQcategoryZ1168 68QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem).

I found myself a nice EL-7 a few months after having originally started this thread, and it's a fantastic machine. Weighs a ton, sounds fantastic, tapes the size of a Betamax video - what can I say?

All I need now is a wired remote for it :)

[DSJR]

Well, I've said this before, but Elcassette was amazing in recording and playback quality and really should have been successful IMO. Hugely wide response out to 27KHz IIRCwith few dropouts, mod-noise and long tape life, our dem tapes being played to death for months on end. Even the transports didn't chew tapes when the pressure rollers were well gummed up.

A real tragedy it didn't take off.

[Beechwoods]

It is a damn shame TBH. The demo tape I have sounds amazing. I suspect it failed for the same reason people accept compressed audio and mobile phones as sources. Convenience and low expectations of fidelity. All the tape based audiophiles stuck with open reel for a few more years and everyone else made do with compact cassette. People uninterested in recording focussed on vinyl...

I'm just glad to have a working piece of audiophile history :)

[ronjakcs65]

hello folk`s
Iv`e wanted an Elcaset deck for a while now,can anyone please
tell me how superior the Elcasete EL-5 is to cassette?someone is selling an EL-5 for £150.00 with a three month waranty,is this too expensive?
My Favourite deck at the moment is a Pioneer ct-959,It`s a lovely deck.I would be grateful of any information.
cheer`s
RON

[DSJR]

Elcassette had the potential to beat a high-speed Revox, being quieter and with a wider response which went out to 27KHz at least (15IPS Revox and Studer machines barely beat CD at 22KHz or so).

EL5's and 7's ought to be regarded as curio's or collectors items today. A tragedy it failed.

[Rare Bird]

Elcassette had the potential to beat a high-speed Revox, being quieter and with a wider response which went out to 27KHz at least (15IPS Revox and Studer machines barely beat CD at 22KHz or so).

EL5's and 7's ought to be regarded as curio's or collectors items today. A tragedy it failed.

Trouble is the machines Sony, Technics, Teac were horrible looking things reason i never bought one ;)

[Beechwoods]

Iv`e wanted an Elcaset deck for a while now,can anyone please tell me how superior the Elcasete EL-5 is to cassette?someone is selling an EL-5 for £150.00 with a three month waranty,is this too expensive?
My Favourite deck at the moment is a Pioneer ct-959,It`s a lovely deck.I would be grateful of any information.

£150 for an EL-5 is about right, with a 3 month warranty. I would expect it to be cosmetically perfect for this money, and of course working properly. I would also expect a tape or two to be thrown in as well :)

FeCr (Type II) tape in an Elcaset deck sounds great. As Dave says, comparable with an open reel machine running at 7½ ips. I think that it sounds better than most Metal tape recordings on conventional tape machines. The dynamic range is excellent (no real need for NR) and the sound is more effortless. It's hard to explain.

My experience is with the EL-7 which has a different transport to the EL-5 (3 motors as opposed to 1) but mine cost £320 or thereabouts. If I had a choice between a tape deck and an EL-5 at the same money, I'd go for the EL-5.

And Andr'e, the EL-5 and EL-7 are design classics. You've gotta love those smiley-face buttons!

http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/el-7_smiley.jpg

[Marco]

You've gotta love those smiley-face buttons!


Aye, they add a certain 'Fisher Price' charm to an otherwise superb tape deck :lol: ;)

Give me clunky old-style push buttons any day!

Marco.

[Rare Bird]

And Andr'e, the EL-5 and EL-7 are design classics. You've gotta love those smiley-face buttons!




I have serious issues with door designs & cheapo flip switches on tape decks, i'll always opt for doorless machines, if i can or the full clear doors like your techy..I hate flush doors...

[Hypnotoad]

I would love to get hold of an Elcaset, I wanted to buy one when they first came out but they were expensive and never took off.

They sell for a fortune now and the tapes are hard to come by.

I picked up a cheap Nakamichi machine that I am trying to restore, if I see an Elcaset I might go for it once I have the Nak up and running.