Rare Concord F-120 cassette auto changer

So I wanted to start a discussion on my cassette deck because 1.Ive only found one other person who has seen another just like it and 2. I want to find others who own one and possibly find out more about its history. It’s a Concord F-120 Endomatic Cassette autochanger, a cassette deck that can hold up to 10 cassettes and play through 1 side of each, automatically changing them as they end. So far mines the only one of the two I know of that has the plastic dust cover. This was given to my father about 15 years back and had just been collecting dust in our garage until I salvaged it from his pile of “junk”. I was wondering if anyone else has seen or owned one of these before.

I found some info in this forum page:
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...info-online-concord-f-120-autochanger.770833/

 

It looks to use the same principals as the Philips N2408. A different machine though as the deck is in a different place.
It is amazing how much ingenuity went into making machines that could play more than an hours music without human intervention.

 

This looks very similar to the Denon Cassettematic 12. The choice of knobs and meters are different but the layout kinda too similar...

And, to answer your question, I've not seen one in the flesh, but there 2 guys in my local community that has one of the Denon.

 

Mitibush made a 7cassette changer and Panasonic made a six cassette changer. Here are two links

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&ved=2ahUKEwjo-J7ch_LmAhXZQUEAHcz3CVwQwqsBMAt6BAgKEAQ&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLuTVJL6zqU&usg=AOvVaw0dcXdDe8mns_lwazf5F6zD


https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=13&ved=2ahUKEwjo-J7ch_LmAhXZQUEAHcz3CVwQwqsBMAx6BAgKEAk&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOQ7wTBI3eY&usg=AOvVaw1Pen_43H3Mlb_xy3OcKq1v

Techmoan also did a review of A Panasonic but with a 20 cassette autochanger this time. G o to his site and look on retro units

All this units are rare and I have seen one or two on EBay and they do sell for reasonably high prices

Indeed there is a Panasonic for sale at this moment on EBay with a BUY IT NOW price of £2499 here is the link
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasoni...167253?hash=item3b39c33e55:g:ylwAAOSwFChdjj~E

 

The AudioKarma article says that Denon made the Concord machines.

I wanted to include a video of the Philips but was having cut and paste problems using my iPad

Could that be because Techmoan has cornered the market in cassette changers

 

That explains it, then!

As a side note, perhaps the Sharp Twincam boomboxes can be considered cassette changers as well?

 

I recall seeing a deck from around 1970 that not only could change between up to about six cassettes, but would flip sides as they fed through the acrylic caddy that sat atop it.

 

The Philips flips sides as this video demonstrates



You would get all the side As followed by all the side Bs though and I guess you would need to load at least four cassettes to get them circulating.

 

Great discussion! I actually know a little bit about the original cassette changers. I've been collecting them for the past 5 or 6yrs now and have managed to acquire about 8 different units. Until I saw your post, I thought I knew about most all of them but the Concord F-120 'Endomatic' is new to me. It definitely looks to be a descendant of the Denon Cassematic-12 from 1970 (also released by Admiral as the CSTR-851) . Your Concord looks to have the same plastic cover, buttons and cassette changing mechanism as the Denon but is housed in a different case. As far as I can tell, the F-120 was released in 1971. I see a few early billboard magazine ads online that mention it. Looks like it originally sold for $199.97. Very cool!

https://books.google.com/books?id=1wgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=concord+f-120+auto+cassette+changer+release+date&source=bl&ots=v4Hrq1ZcJT&sig=ACfU3U3XNMWlZc5a42T50HNbG2R7Atc2Tw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiBp73n29rnAhWFqp4KHdZcA8kQ6AEwAnoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=concord f-120 auto cassette changer release date&f=false

GE also released a changer using that same changer mechanism but it's part of an all in one multiplex system. It's the GE M9000A. Attaching a photo of it.

The very first changer was released by Philips/Norelco in 1967. The N2502. It was a 6 cassette stacker or you could purchase a 'cassette circulator' accessory that would push and loop the cassettes like the video above. The following year the N2401 (pic below) was released which had a built in amp. In 1976 the N2408 was released (video shared above) which was an updated version of the earlier units. It still used the circulator or stack but was higher fidelity, more modernized design and additional features.

The Panasonic RS-296US is the Holy Grail of cassette changers. It's the 20 cassette carousel from 1972 in the video above. A nice example can sell for as high as $2k on ebay. They've sky rocketed in value over the past several years. Panasonic also released a 6 cassette changer in 1971, the RS-295US. It's actually far more rare than the 20 cassette carousel but far less valuable. Also a pic of this attached.

The other deck from the early 70's that was a changer that also flipped the tape over (flips cassettes like a jukebox flips a record) is the Akai CC-60D 'invert-o-matic'. I've only seen the original ads for them but would love to find one!

Here's a list of all the original changers from 1967-1976 (I have added the F-120 to the list!). Should you ever decide to part with Concord, do let me know. I would love to add/preserve it in my collection!

Admiral
CSTR-851 12 Cassette Changer
Aiwa
TP-1018 Auto Changer
Akai
CC-60D 6 Cassette Changer & Invert-o-matic System
Ampex
Micro 95/90 6 Cassette Changer
Micro 335 12 Cassette Changer
Bell & Howell
332 Autoload Cassette Changer
337 Autoload Cassette Changer
Benjamin
RAC-10 mkII
24 Rotary Cassette Changer(?)
Craig
2805 6 Cassette Changer
Concord
F-120 'Endomatic' Automatic Cassette Changer
Denon
TRC-798ED ‘Cassematic 12’
General Electric (GE)
M9000 10 Cassette Changer
Lenco
RAC-10 mkII
Magnavox
1K8844 12 Cassette Changer
Norelco
2401 6 Cassette Changer
2502 6 Cassette Changer
Panasonic
RS-295US 6 Cassette Changer
RS-296US 20 Carrousel Cassette Changer
Philips
N2401 6 Cassette Changer
N2408 6 Cassette Changer
N2502 6 Cassette Changer

 

The Akai CC-60D?

 

Here is. Panasonic 20 cassette changer for sale but it is not going

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-RS-296-AUTO-REVERSE-20-CASSETTE-CHANGER-With12-Months-Guarantee/254372167253?hash=item3b39c33e55:g:ylwAAOSwFChdjj~E

 

Here is the single cassette version, and a few tape changers in action.



If you run out of audio cassette changers to collect you could always move over to video.

https://www.techradar.com/news/home-video/video/recording/the-forgotten-kit-of-home-cinema-2-177332

In these days of cheap 8TB hard drives, the ingenuity that was put into making devices for playing soundtracks more than an hour long amazes me (and by the looks of it Techmoan).

 

Wow! That unit is overpriced. It appears to be missing the plastic dust cover and has a few cosmetic issues. A unit in that condition generally sells closer to $700 or 650 euro. It will sit for quite a while at that price. The last one I saw sell was this one. Seems to be about the going rate for an RS-296US in good condition.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-...tte-Changer-20-cassette-carousel/324046563924

 

Ha! The last thing I need to do is collect more stuff. Trying to stay a selective hoarder for now. Love the Beta stacker though!

I often think about the how impossible it would be to produce a piece of equipment today for an affordable cost. They were (and still are!) incredibly complex.

 

You say above that the F120 cost just under $200 in 1971. Feed that through the inflation calculator and you get $1273 in 2020 money. Of course a "Swinging Hot Spot" like the one Jody Mitchell sang about a year earlier would have probably thought that was a bargain.

I was trying to think of an affordable but complex piece of mechanical equipment that you can buy today, and I have thought of one you probably own - a printer. I am sure someone from 1971 would be utterly amazed by a modern printers operation (my £70 one even prints on both sides) and output quality. I doubt whether they would believe you when you then told them it cost less than $100 in 2020 money. Of course the fact that that they are a popular item helps get the cost down. In 1991 I paid £250 for a Panasonic Black and White dot matrix one that won various reviews (the best printer you can buy for under £400) .

 

You are right that the cost of assembly would be huge in somewhere like the USA. However, Japan in the 1970s was probably the equivalent of China today. Some of the cheap things that come out of China today also have a surprising amount of hand wiring inside them.

A different example of a mechanical based item whose cost fell dramatically would be Video Cassette Recorders. If you have ever seen inside am early Betamax one you will be amazed by how much wiring and how many different boards were in them. In contrast I have a late model JVC here and the only wire in the whole unit is the mains lead. Like most modern VCRs everything is mounted on one PCB and levers are used to take the movement of front panel buttons to switches on that PCB. The performance of modern VCRs also easily beats the early ones as while the old ones relied on a manual tracking control the most recent ones had an effective automatic tracking system.