Marantz DR-17
Little is documented about the Marantz DR-17 stereo cassette deck. What the record shows comes almost entirely from technical database entries — no reviews, no advertising, no service history has surfaced in the Archive's files. It was a three-head design, with separate playback, record, and erase heads, and a single DC motor driving the transport. The track system was standard 4-track, 2-channel stereo at 4.76 cm/s.
Period coverage of digital player/recorders appeared in Audio (October 1999, p.118), though the DR-17 itself was not among the featured models in the available excerpt.
The specifications that survive are consistent across multiple independent databases. Wow and flutter was rated at 0.05%. Frequency response extended to 14 kHz on normal tape (one listing also cites 16 kHz on metal tape, though this figure is not corroborated across sources). Signal-to-noise ratio was 62 dB. The line input impedance was 50 kOhm, microphone input sensitivity 0.5 mV, and line output 0.4 V. The deck measured 420 x 123 x 210 mm and weighed 4.3 kg — figures confirmed at hifiengine, audiovintage, and radiomuseum.
No production years, original price, or power consumption figure appear anywhere in the available record, and nothing is known of the DR-17's place in Marantz's cassette deck lineup of the period. If you own one and can fill in the blanks — transport mechanism, belt configuration, sound character — the Archive would welcome the details.
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