Panasonic

Browse Panasonic vintage audio equipment in the Vintage Technology Archive.

Cartridges

• EPC-450C — Little-documented Panasonic EPC-450C strain-gauge phono cartridge, covered in Audio (Aug 1974): nude Shibata diamond, 0-50 kHz response, 7 mV output.

Cassette Decks

• RS-275US (1971) — Panasonic RS-275US (1971) cassette deck — 30–15,000 Hz response, ferrite head, brushless DC direct drive, memory rewind. A deluxe early-70s deck.

Cassette Decks

• RS-279US — Panasonic RS-279US, a three-head cassette deck from the early 1970s sold as Technics by Panasonic. Record is thin; known mostly from period ads.
• RS-740US — Panasonic RS-740US: quadraphonic open-reel tape deck, Technics by Panasonic — $449.95 in 1973, Hot Pressed Ferrite heads. Little survives in the record.

Receivers

• 8000X — Panasonic 8000X (Technics SA-8000X) is a little-documented quadraphonic receiver with built-in CD-4 demodulator; period ads and an Audio magazine profile document the few known facts.

Speakers

• SH-3433 — Panasonic SH-3433 4-channel audio scope (early 1970s) — a CRT instrument for viewing quad balance, phasing, and FM multipath. Period ads called it seeing is believing.

Unknown

• 450C — Little-documented Panasonic 450C appears in period reviews as the EPC-450C strain-gauge phono cartridge, with specs recorded in Audio (August 1974).
• A-310 — Panasonic A-310, a late-1990s DVD player documented in period press as the DVD-A310, with Dolby Digital and measured line output 2.13 V.
• AK-20 — Panasonic AK-20 (SA-AK20) compact stereo system — five-disc CD changer, dual cassette decks, radio, black finish. Modest values, belt-and-roller upkeep.
• CH-72 — Surviving information on the Panasonic CH-72 is thin. What the record shows: the model appears in HI-Fi-Stereo-Buyers for both 1973 and 1975.
• F-15 — Panasonic F-15 audio component — an obscure, essentially undocumented model; no confirmed type, specs, prices, or dates in surviving period sources.
• LX-101 — Panasonic LX-101 combi-player (c. 1991): CD/laserdisc player with digital TBC, comb filter, MASH 1-bit DAC, $600 at launch.
• SV-250 (circa 1988–1989) — Panasonic SV-250 portable DAT recorder, circa 1988-89: under 3.5 lbs, built-in lead-acid battery good for 2+ hours, dual MASH A/D with 64x oversampling, XL mic/line inputs.
• WP-9440 — Panasonic WP-9440 high-power two-channel amplifier for sound reinforcement and studio monitoring, c. 1990; little documented beyond trade press.

Video

• AG-1900 — Panasonic AG-1900 portable VCR: little-documented 1986 model touted for >80dB audio range on standard VHS. Includes when it was made.
• SV-3500 (1989–1990) — Panasonic SV-3500 (1989–1990): a rack-mount professional R-DAT deck with MASH conversion, four DACs, and 32/48 kHz recording. Period specs, a Mix field test, and the parts situation.

Other Models

• DVD-A7 — Panasonic DVD-A7 — first-gen DVD-Audio player, announced by Matsushita 1999 at $995; sibling of the Technics DVD-A10. Little else documented.
• MDA-1 — Panasonic MDA-1: a rebadged Alesis ADAT-XT with XLRs instead of Elcos, $3,495 at launch. A niche MDM from the mid-1990s format wars.
• NV-8300 — Panasonic NV-8300 — Omnivision II industrial VHS player/recorder with VHF/UHF tuners and digital clock/timer; 300-line B&W, 240-line color, 45 dB S/N.
• NV-9100 — Panasonic NV-9100 U-matic player from the Series 9000 line — die-cast chassis, 330-line mono playback, 45 dB S/N. The standard-performance deck of the family.
• PV-40 — Panasonic PV-40 camcorder — catalog-documented 5 lux low-light rating and 8:1 zoom, early 1990s. Sparse record; identity largely unconfirmed.
• PV-4564 — Panasonic PV-4564 VHS Hi-Fi VCR with Spatializer audio processing; Audio (Feb 1996) graded it A for recording performance at $430.
• RS-1000 — Panasonic RS-1000 broadcast DAT deck — a Sony DTC-1000 with Radio Systems control, 44.1/48 kHz, built for radio automation.
• RS-676 — Technics RS-676 (1974–75): a $459.95 front-loading cassette deck with 0.08% wow and flutter and Technics' Specification Guarantee.
• RS-761S — Panasonic RS-761S (1968) — a complete $269.95 stereo reel-to-reel system with speakers and mics; germanium circuitry, 50 kHz bias, honest 7½ ips performance.
• SA-4000 — Panasonic SA-4000 (1968–1970): $1,000 flagship FM stereo receiver with no tuning knob, motor tuning and 5-station presets.
• SA-5500 — Panasonic SA-5500: 70W IHF direct-coupled receiver from 1972, with 1.8 µV MOS FET FM tuner. The budget entry to Panasonic's early-Seventies line.
• SA-5760 — Technics by Panasonic SA-5760 (1976–77): 165 W/ch, 0.08% THD, 26-step attenuator volume. The receiver built to answer Pioneer's SX-1250 — and beat its own specs on the bench.
• SA-5800 — Panasonic SA-5800 (1971–72): a 27 W/ch direct-coupled FM/AM receiver with concentric tone controls and a linear FM dial, priced at $299.95.
• SA-8000X — Technics by Panasonic SA-8000X (1973–74) four-channel receiver — CD-4 demodulator, AFD matrix, MOS-FET FM tuner, strapped stereo mode.
• SV-3200 — Panasonic SV-3200 DAT recorder: 1-bit 64x oversampling, 32/44.1/48 kHz, $995 list. The price-breaking entry-level deck built on SV-3700 DNA.
• SV-3700 — Panasonic SV-3700 Pro-DAT — the fourth-generation DAT deck that became the industry reference standard, with Quad DACs, AES/EBU time code, and 400× search.
• SV-4100 — Panasonic SV-4100 pro DAT recorder (1994): SV-3700-based broadcast deck with video/word clock sync, instant start, frame-accurate indexing.