Teac X-1000M (circa 1982)

A two-track quarter-inch machine with a four-track playback head added. It let home recordists cut a master and still play the family's tapes back.

Overview

The X-1000M is the version of Teac's X-1000 that most collectors actually want, and it comes down to one head. The plain X-1000 was a four-track, two-channel stereo deck. The X-1000M runs a two-track, two-channel stereo or mono record/playback format, with a switchable four-track playback head alongside it. So a user could cut a half-track master at fifteen inches per second, which gives the widest track width and the lowest noise floor the machine can manage. Then a switch lets that user play back ordinary quarter-track commercial or home tapes without a second deck in the room. Service documentation for the pair is dated December 1982, which is the most reliable anchor available for this model.

The head complement follows from the dual-format design. There are four heads: an erase head, a record head, a two-track playback head, and a separate four-track playback head. Tape speeds are 38 cm/s (15 ips) and 19 cm/s (7½ ips). That is the fast pair, not the 7½/3¾ combination used on the four-track X-1000. Reels up to 10½ inches fit, as do standard 7-inch spools. The transport has three motors: a single FG servo DC capstan motor plus two DC slotless reel motors. Bias frequency is 100 kHz, well clear of the audible band. The capstan rides on a magnefloat bearing, and the service literature is explicit that the shaft should be checked for rearward thrust while rotating. This is not a belt-driven convenience machine.

The spec sheet tells you what the X-1000M was built to do. Playback wow and flutter is quoted at 0.04% WRMS at 38 cm/s and 0.05% WRMS at 19 cm/s. Record/playback rises to 0.10% and 0.12% RMS respectively, which is the honest figure since it includes the tape itself. Signal-to-noise in playback runs 50 dB minimum at the fast speed on LH tape and 52 dB on EE tape, with overall record/playback at 48 dB minimum. Engage the dbx noise reduction the deck was licensed to use and the overall figure jumps to 65 dB minimum at all speeds. That is a dramatic change, and it is why dbx-equipped X-1000Ms are the ones that get talked about. Total harmonic distortion at 1 kHz and high speed is specified at 0.8% or less on LH-I, LH-II and EE tape, and 0.8% or less with dbx in. Push 20 VU into dbx and the ceiling relaxes to 3% or less, which is the tradeoff of heavy compression. Channel separation is 50 dB minimum at 1 kHz and adjacent-track crosstalk 40 dB minimum at 125 Hz.

Around the back, the input and output figures follow the old -10 dBV-adjacent standard. Microphone input is specified at -60 dB (0.775 mV) into 10 kΩ with a minimum level of -70 dB (245 µV). Line in is -12 dB (195 mV) into 50 kΩ with a minimum of -22 dB (61.5 mV). Line output is -5 dB (436 mV) into 10 kΩ with a maximum of +1 dB (0.869 V), and the headphone jack is -24 dB (48.9 mV) into 8 ohms. Playback equalization is switchable by tape type and speed: 3180 µs + 50 µs for LH tape and 3180 µs + 35 µs for EE at the fast speeds, with the slow-speed settings dividing along the same lines. Power requirements vary by market. A general export model accepts 100/120/220/240 V AC at 50/60 Hz, a European version takes 220 V 50 Hz, a UK and Australia version takes 240 V 50 Hz, and a US and Canada version takes 120 V 60 Hz. All draw 110 W. Net weight is 22.0 kg, or 26 kg with the wooden case fitted. It is a lot of deck to carry.

Service data fills in the mechanical picture. Tape speed deviation is specified at 3,000 Hz ± 30 Hz with drift of 15 Hz, and the pitch control gives at least ±6% of standard tape speed. Fast winding of a 550 m (1,800 ft) reel takes 100 seconds or less. Pinch roller pressure is set between 1.35 and 1.9 kg, tape tension in play mode is 50 g ± 10 g on both take-up and supply sides, and brake torque runs 1.2 to 1.7 kg-cm forward. The timer activate time is 4 seconds ± 2. Lubrication guidance calls for oil every 1,000 hours of operation, or annually on infrequently used decks. Use Teac spindle oil from the TZ-255 kit or Mobil D.T.E. Oil Light, applied to the spindles and capstans and left to absorb for one to two hours.

Two things need to be said plainly. First, the X-1000 was the export-only companion model, and the two differ. The X-1000 is a four-track machine with three heads and the slower 19/9.5 cm/s speed pair, so anyone shopping for an X-1000M needs to confirm which version they're looking at. Second, the surviving period press coverage of this model is thin. The magazine material that has surfaced for the X-1000M is largely advertising and index matter from the mid-1980s rather than lab tests. Studio-Sound (October 1985, p.147), for instance, carried only dealer listings for the model. So there is no independent bench measurement to set against Teac's own figures, and the specification numbers above are the manufacturer's. The document trail does establish that this was a late entry in Teac's open-reel line, since the service literature carries a December 1982 effective date. It also has the magnefloat capstan, the slotless reel motors, and the full four-head layout.