Bring Me The Mini's...The Quintessential Collection!

There's a lot of interesting units on that website!

The turntable/R2R is facinating, can't wait until Techmoan reviews it! Yes there really is a TT where you pull the platter off and replace it with a R2R reel. It looks like the reels are stacked double so the take-up reel is underneath the supply reel.

Sorry can't read any of this, yet.....

Магнитофон-радиограммофон "Эльфа-6" с декабря 1955 года выпускал Вильнюсский электротехнический завод "Эльфа". Комбинированное устройство, совмещающее в себе граммофон для проигрывания граммофонных пластинок на скоростях 78 и 33 об/мин, а так же магнитофон для записи фонограмм, с их последующим воспроизведением. Запись звука двухдорожечная, осуществляется перемещением блока головок по высоте. Скорость ленты определяется скоростью вращения диска ЭПУ, а также зависит от величины рулона приёмной катушки. Диапазон частот на большей скорости 100...5000, на меньшей 100...2000 Гц. При работе ЭПУ - 100...8000 Гц. Нелинейные искажения 4%. Номинальная выходная мощность усилителя 1,5 Вт. Потребляемая от сети мощность 70 Вт.

 

It took a long time but I finally found a Hitachi TRK-1100H! I found an ad for this, from 1972, posted down in the newspaper ad thread, and wondered if this might qualify as the first mini. There's still a small Sony I'm chasing but I think the advertising for this predates the Sony.

This is right around 10" (26 cm) wide and its very heavy, I have to believe the internals are packed with metal, Radiomuseum lists it at a hefty 6 lbs! This is the gold version, it also came in silver. The catalog says the film style tuning dial is unique, I've seen it on other models but this may be the first to use it.

What also might be a first are the side pins for a shoulder strap, I'd love to see what an early Hitachi Strap looks like but they may be generic and fit a camera's strap.

and....another unit not found on the wikiboombox!

 

Another addition to the collection, the Hitachi TRK-5450EX. T-ster posted his back when the "new" version of the forum started, outside of that there's very little information on the internet for one of the coolest mini's but after seeing one, I had to start the longggg search.

Mine is black, I think it looks a little more stately than the grey version, the printing really pops on it. The LCD clock would have been a bonus feature, they were starting to get affordable (with all the calculators getting pumped out) but still an expensive add-on.

This also came with a vinyl case, overall a nice, kind of heavy, unit. The bent handle is an optical illusion, I think it's straight.

Hitachi had some cool little mini's, there's still a few more on my radar, just need to find them.

 

It's a diversion from everyday life diggin ditches.

 

Nice, it looks like the batteries say 79 which is around the year I'd guess. Is it made in Korea?