Akai LN-150

Not much is documented about the Akai LN-150. Here is what the record shows. It was a stereo/mono open-reel tape deck, half-track, with three speeds: 15, 7½, and 3¾ ips. The transport used an AC servo direct-drive capstan and two eddy-current reel motors. Three Akai GX glass-ferrite heads were set up for four-head function. Reel capacity was 7 inches. Distortion was listed at 0.4% at 15 and 7½ ips (1 kHz, 0 VU). The cabinet measured 20.6 by 17.4 by 10 inches. The price in 1981 was $1,295, which put it among the higher-end consumer decks of the period.

A review in Modern-Recording (August 1976) looked at the LN-150. It noted a tape-selector switch with positions for low-noise tape or what Akai called “wide-range” tape, described only as “tape of a grade higher than low-noise.” The reviewer found Akai’s instructions “somewhat cryptic” on this point and wondered whether the company meant chrome, ferrichrome, or something else. The recommended standard tape for the machine was standard low-noise.

Beyond these two period sources, almost nothing else is recorded. No production years, service manual, circuit details, or collector-market data have surfaced. The LN-150 shows up in a handful of magazine listings and a single review.