Akai 44S (c. 1965–1966)

Name: Akai 44S
Brand: Akai

Not much is known about the Akai 44S. What exists comes from a handful of period advertisements and a brief specification listing in Studio Sound (September 1965, p.27). It was a four-track stereo tape recorder with a 7-inch spool capacity, sold in the UK at 82 guineas. That put it between the entry-level Akai 910 (62 gns) and the more elaborate Akai X4 (99 gns) in the company's 1965-1966 lineup.

The same Studio Sound spec sheet records three tape speeds: 7½ and 3¾ ips standard, with 15 ips available via an accessory capstan. Wow and flutter was stated at 0.15%. Frequency response was rated at 30 Hz–17 kHz ±3 dB. The machine carried a pair of 5-inch speakers and delivered 3 watts per channel of built-in amplification — enough for a self-contained portable unit, but modest by any measure. The 44S used four-track (quarter-track) recording and playback.

Akai advertisements from April and May 1966 (also in Studio Sound) still list the 44S at the same 82-guinea price, alongside the newer Crossfield-head models. The surviving period material does not say whether the 44S itself used Akai's Crossfield bias system. No service manual, detailed circuit description, or review of its sound quality has been traced. It appears to have been a straightforward mid-1960s stereo recorder, not a flagship, but a capable machine for its price class.