Pioneer CT-1170W

CT-1170 W (also written CT-1170W) was a Stereo Double Cassette Deck manufactured in Japan by the Pioneer Corporation. These cassette decks were available between 1980 and 1990, as the date on some of the components is 1986. It is for a hi-fi stack system, and has the dimensions 420 mm × 113 mm × 262 mm. Deck 1 is for playback only, whilst deck 2 can record and playback. Both decks have high-quality Permalloy heads, and dedicated DC servo motors. The erase head is double-gap ferrite. Here is a list of the features.

• Relay playback
• Synchronized copy start
• High speed and normal speed copying
• Dolby noise reduction B/C
• Auto tape selector on Deck 1
• 5-segment LED level meters
• Cue and Review on Deck 1
• Full automatic stop
• Timer stand-by function (record or playback)
• One-touch recording
• 3-digit mechanical counter

Review

The CT-1170W is a very desirable cassette deck as you get that wonderful Japanese build quality and electronic technology from Pioneer that lasts the test of time. This deck has robust tape transport mechanisms, with metal chassis, large metal flywheels with thick capstans, and large pinch rollers. They have minimized the rubber surfaces down to just three rubber drive belts per deck, and one additional belt for the mechanical counter mechanism. Consequently, it has a huge number of plastic cog-wheels, resulting in the unit working even today. I recently acquired this deck for repair and was very impressed with the design, performance, and sound quality. I discovered it was equipped with Permalloy heads that showed virtually no signs of wear. It has discrete component circuitry with amplifier ICs, and Dolby noise reduction IC. You can get an inside look of the heads, drive-belts, and the electronic engineering, in the following pages of this multi-page article.

Price/eBay

This cassette deck is often for sale on eBay and usually sells at a bargain price because nobody really knows what its functions are, or how well it is built. It is a lovely basic unit with quality parts and engineering that continues to work well even today. Keep an eye out for the Pioneer CT-1270WR, because it was the newer version with auto-reverse capability. A unit in mint condition in its original box could fetch a tidy sum on a good day.

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