Sony TCWE475 Dual Cassette Player / Recorder

auto-reverse record/play (deck B); auto-reverse play (deck A) * relay play * multiple music search * normal/high-speed dubbing * Dolby B and C * Dolby HX Pro (deck B) * pitch control (deck A) * CD Synchro dubbing with Sony Control A1/A1II CD players * controllable by Sony receiver remotes * frequency response (?3dB) 30-19,000 Hz -- metal tape * S/N ratio 78 dB (Dolby C) * wow and flutter 0.10% * 16-7/8"W x 4-3/4"H x 13"D * warranty: 1 year

Sony's TC-WE475 dual-well cassette player/recorder offers high quality and plenty of great features, including dual auto-reverse playback. When coupled with the deck's relay play feature, dual auto-reverse means you can enjoy up to three hours of continuous music from two 90-minute cassettes. One tape well plays, the other records. You can set the recording input level using a dedicated control or rely on Sony's auto level-setting feature to choose the most appropriate level for your tape (this works best on dynamically limited material such as pop music). Choose from normal- and high-speed dubbing: normal speed for higher fidelity, high speed for greater convenience.

Sony has built the deck with high-density Permalloy tape heads for long life. For noise reduction, the TC-WE475 is outfitted with both Dolby B, the encoding standard used on most prerecorded cassettes, and Dolby C, which buys you another 10 to 20 dB or so of noise reduction beyond that offered by Dolby B (around 10 dB). Use Dolby when recording and, if a tape has been recorded using Dolby, when listening.

Two other technologies specifically heighten the quality of your recordings. During loud level peaks, Dolby HX Pro dynamically adjusts the bias signal (a supersonic and basically sacrificial tone your deck uses to push distortion out of the audible range), effectively letting you record "hotter"--that is, louder on tape--without compressing the high-frequencies of your program material. Secondly, an onboard MPX filter blocks the 19 kHz multiplex pilot tone of FM stereo broadcasts for proper Dolby noise-reduction tracking when you record off the air.

Other features include full-logic, feather-touch transport controls and twin electronic tape counters (one for each deck), which come in handy when you're making a compilation from a variety of source tapes. If you have a Sony audio/video receiver, you can operate the deck from your receiver's remote control.

What's in the Box
Cassette player/recorder and user's manual.

1 Bad sound: please don't buy

Hi,
Ok, the specs sound quite impressive. But i would trust my ears more than the printed material. I have hooked it on to a Nad c320 bee with polk 6i. I am sorry, my friends, it sounds REALLY bad. Needless to say, I checked the amp/speaker set up with a cd player. Sound was pretty neat. I plugged in a Sennheiser headphone to the sony tcwe475, and the sound was still bad.
I guess we need to pass it through an equalizer, 'coz there are no sound controlls in the machine.
I assure you, it sounds duller than the simplest mini component you can think of.
I bought it 'coz i trusted the specs and it was recommended by this guy in circuit-city, which brings me to another point: Always trust your ears more than what others say.

2 No remote automatically makes this less than perfect!
This cassette deck does have some really good features like HX Pro, Dolby B & C, music search (AMS, which looks for blank spaces to guess where the next song is), and full dubbing capabilities. I have it connected to my Onkyo A/V receiver via both output and input, since all of my components operate through the receiver. It works well this way and i can record from all sources with no problem.

I have a problem with the sound. It's not as good as the specs would have you believe. I've compared it with an Onkyo tape recorder and, although the numbers are similar (as far as wow & flutter and dynamic range), the Onkyo is much better (it was too expensive and had less features, but now i see why it cost more). The big thing is the lack of a remote. Sony has this funky A1II communication bus system, which is only truly useful if you buy all Sony components. I don't so it's useless to me. The excuse for not including the remote is that you can buy a Sony 300-CD Changer that can control this tape deck. I don't like it when companies use this method to obtain sales, so chances are i'll eventually resell this deck and get one with its own remote and better sound.

I paid $150 + tax at Circuit City. Same price as from J&R/Amazon and with shipping costs the price is almost equal. I'd say buy it if the price is $110 or less. That's all it's worth to me personally.