Aiwa AD-6900
The Aiwa AD-6900 was a flagship cassette deck of the late 1970s, sold as the AD-6900U in North America. Most of what is known comes from period press. HiFi-Stereo-Buyers (January 1979, p.59) called the deck “magnificent” and reported a price of $850 in a metal cabinet, which put it at the top of Aiwa’s line. The review noted a front-loading Dolby design with three heads for simultaneous playback monitoring, a two-motor transport, and solenoid controls that allowed full remote operation through an optional plug-in unit. The deck took “normal,” chrome, and ferrichrome tapes, with selectable bias and equalization.
Audio (December 1978, p.83) ran a separate piece that billed the AD-6900U as having “super specs and sound quality we defy any reel-to-reel to beat.” The deck has a built-in test oscillator with both 400 Hz and 8 kHz tones, so the user can make test recordings before committing to tape. The same ad copy promoted Aiwa’s “Synchro-Record” function, which starts recording automatically when the deck is used with the matching AP-2200 turntable. Hirsch-Houck Labs tested the deck (HiFi-Stereo, 1981, p.38) and noted its three tape-position labels: LH for ferric-oxide tapes, FeCr for ferrichrome, and CrO₂ for chrome or high-bias ferrics with 70‑microsecond equalization.
Little other documentation survives. The AD-6900 appears to have been built for a relatively brief period. Later Aiwa models succeeded it as the company shifted toward mini components in the early 1980s.
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