Sony TC260
A four-track stereo reel-to-reel that sold for £116 5s. 0d in Britain and weighed roughly 34 pounds. Sony's solid-state deck for the serious home recordist.
Overview
The TC260 was Sony's four-track, two-channel stereo and mono tape recorder. The circuit was fully solid-state, which still counted as a selling point in the showroom. British buyers paid £116 5s. 0d. Studio-Sound (February 1967, p.3) ran the deck under the line "This new Sony looks right and it is," which reads more like house confidence than an independent verdict.
The transport ran at two speeds, 7½ and 3¾ inches per second, on reels of 7 inches or smaller. Wow and flutter was quoted at less than 0.19% at the top speed and less than 0.25% at 3¾. That is respectable for a domestic four-track of the period. Signal-to-noise was specified as better than 50 dB at peak recording level. Studio-Sound (April 1967, p.30) listed the transistor complement in full - 2SB381, 2SB382, 2SB383, 2SC297, 2SC298 and 2SD64 devices - and gave the weight as approximately 34 lbs. 3 ozs.
The wrap geometry is what keeps the tape against the gap, and it rewards a properly set-up machine.
Power was switchable between 110/125 V and 220/240 V at 50/60 cps. High-impedance auxiliary inputs were provided at a sensitivity of -16 dB (0.12 V), and there was a low-impedance line output.
Sony shipped these decks with head-cleaning ribbons tucked into a corner of the socket panel, and a surprising number of machines turned up years later with the little plastic wallet still unopened. Head wear shows up as roll-off at the top of the response curve and can drag the signal-to-noise figure down with it. The triple-banked smoothing in the power supply and the tidy printed-circuit layout were credited with keeping hum remarkably low.
In Britain the TC260 appeared in dealer lists alongside the TC200 and TC530. Secondhand advertisements of the period priced it at 55 guineas used, a meaningful step below the new figure. Collectors seek them for the solid-state build and the period Sony engineering. The usual concerns for a machine of this age apply: head condition, belt and idler health, and whether the original cleaning accessories survived with it.
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