Walking into a local shop I spotted this PIONEER CT-F1000 Cassette Deck beast just sitting there with some dust on the top.I inquire if its for sale and the price? I was told it had not been looked at and the working condition was unknown.I ask how much 'AS IS'? The response $25!!
I never hesitated as I paid.I had been looking for a nice faceplate to replace one on my current 1000 that UPS so kindly dropped and bent the lower left corner.Never thought I would get a whole unit less than the price of a nice faceplate.
I get the monster home and open it,pretty clean inside! Operates actually better than the one I paid almost $300 for! So I exchanged the rack handles from my other to this new one and it now resides in my SPEC rig pullling duty and performing flawlessly!! While in the process I rebuilt the clutches and idler torque limiter on my older 1000 and it is operating very nicely now.
A shot of the front and then a topless shot for all the voyeours here!

Topless shot! :eek:

nice unit MadMark

Mark

Thats one bad Mutha. The 1000 is one of my Fav cassette decks to. Man ya cant beat that price either.

Grumpy

Congratulations on the great find. That's a really beautiful deck.

I don't even own a casette but I would buy one of those, that is just one damm cool looking piece of gear!

Thor,
No cassettes!:eek: omigosh I still own over three hundred 8-tracks and (4) 8-track player/recorders! :headscrat :screwy:

That's an incredible find! The 1000 is a great deck and really looks boss in a nice vintage system. It would make most lesser decks turn green with envy!

Hey.:rant:

Some guy stole my 1000 and moved to Texas.

Look on the back right near the tape out jack, Does it have a little magic marker spot?

:dunno:

If not, then it must be mine cause I hate magic markers.

DingusBoy,
Hey! You might be right this could be your deck!!:eek:
Let me check the back......... :scratch2:

NO! :no: Wait,I'm sorry its got my name on it!:pawprint:

danj,
Although I love my CT-F1250,and I know there are some Killer Nakamichi decks out there.
IMHO I consider the CT-F1000 the :king: of tape decks just because of its performance and the KILLER looks you can't deny!!
and built like a Tank!:bash: :twak: :uzi: :thmbsp:

Thats the same Pioneer I have..... sitting on the "to do" shelf.:(

No time to get it checked over. Not enought hours in a day.. dang!

Hey MP,
As one Pioneer aficionado to another, that is one mighty fine piece of equipment! I have a few of those myself and they are also my favorite Pioneer cassette deck as well! :thmbsp:



Retro

Too Cool ! Wouldn't happen to be off Burnet road would he?

Now I do have to get mine off the shelf, and get it going!

Looks great! Lots of shinny aluminum.:D

wardsweb,
Slightly off Burnet Rd.,but sshhhshhhhhh keep it quiet!!;)

MP...

Can you do me a huge favor and give me your thoughts on comparing the 1000, 1250, and 9191? I like them all, and if I was going to go after one, which would it be?

thanks!
Clay

Hey Clay,
I'll give a go at answering your question:

CT-F1250 - Three-head so you can listen to what you're recording. This would be the best of the bunch for music reproduction and was the best (TOTL) Pioneer made up to well into the 1980's. You could also record on just about any kind of tape format and it had a pitch control.

CT-F1000 - Also a three-head. This would be the best of the bunch as far as build quality and was also Pioneer's TOTL until the CT-F1250 came out. Also, as you can see by MP's picture, the best looking of the bunch. Music reproduction wasn't that far off from the CT-F1250 either in my opinion and it also had the pitch control.. One more thing, if you ever want to put a SPEC rack system together, this is the matching deck for that system.

CT-F9191 - This is a two-head, so setting up and listening to your recording as it's being recorded, won't happen. I would actually rate the build quality of the 9191 better than the 1250, but less than the 1000. I also like the looks over the 1250, but not the 1000. This one doesn't have a pitch control and it doesn't have all the different formats that the cassette manufacturers utilized for noise reduction like the 1000 and 1250.

Overall, if you want the best recording unit take the 1250, but in my opinion, you will lose out a little on looks and build quality. The 9191 is actually a distant third from both of these units except in the looks department and the prices on eBay reflect that. Right now the best value to me is the CT-F1000, you get a damn good-looking tape deck, excellent build quality, three-heads, and it usually sells for at least $100 cheaper than the CT-F1250. This is just my $.02


Retro

Thank you sir!

That's exactly the kind of input I was looking for.

clay

Well since I have never had the opportunity to test a CT-F9191 I cannot make any claims as far as that deck is concerned :(

But what I can tell you the CT-F 1250 is a great deck the performance is great and the features are very abundant.
Some prefer those great blue fluroscan meters over the big VU's in the 1000. I could not completely decide so I just got both instead of having to decide.

The 1000 has a more classic look and Retro Stereo is right the build is a little better. But both perform virtually the same. Its opening the cases that you see where the build is different. Although the CT-F 900,950,1000, & 1250 all have almost identical drives PIONEER went a little cheap on the fluroscan models and used a plastic frame for the drive motors,flywheels,take up hubs etc...
Where the 1000 is metal thru & thru!
You would never notice unless you open 'em tho. The 1250 incorporates that nice 'Quartz Lock'. But both the 1000 & 1250 run as about as steady as you can get in a cassette deck.
What can I say I Love 'em both!

If I had to choose,I am not for sure which one would make the top of the list?

:confused:

That is why I have them both. I have rack handles installed on one 1000 & my only 1250 which to me gives them even more stance to the eye in my SPEC Setup. My second 1000 is without handles in a cabinet in the front room to macth the rest of the non-rack mount gear there.

I guess as far as tough looks I would go for the 1000.
But the 1250 just has that different look that commands attention in its own way.

I know,I know this was no help at all was it!:dunno:

So I would post a question sure to bring on another discussion:

Madmark, which is better or which do you prefer to tape on...your 909 R<->R or the CT1250-1000?

I'm guessing your vote will be for the 909, but how close do the big Cassete decks come to your Open Reel machine?

Just curious :)

Thanks, Madmark!

No, really, you were very helpful...eenie, meenie, miney, mo...

Actually, I have a very nice 9191 and a parts unit on the way. I've been thinking about adding another one for the "other listening room", and I'm torn between the 1000 and the 1250. (I also have a 750 that's going on epay to free up a coupla bucks towards the new one!). I think I'm leaning toward the 1000...do love those meters! Plus, the 1250's are getting sooooo pricey.

Ya know, after I'm through with the parts 9191, if you're interested in tearing into it just for your own education, I might be willing to donate it for free, just pick up the shipping. Let me know if you're interested.

clay

mobydud,
I enjoy recording on my 909! Big reels full of rock wake me up every weekday morning. My 909 is on a timer and the big SPEC Rig kicks on at 6:40 am on low volume to wake me up.What better alarm could you have!

I have recorded a few cassettes on both the 1000 & 1250. Both create the best mirror image copies I have heard from a cass. deck.

I have yet to find the time to make some compilation tapes for my Grand Marquis for those morning and afternoon comutes.

I have made a few master mix-down tapes of music that a few friends and I were working on and Man! they sound great!

What I have mainly used both cass. decks for are running some of the way out of print older cassettes I have to burn CD's from them.

The 1000 & 1250 are just so rock steady that as long as your tape is clean and void of any previous tape eating contests you can make some incredible sounding CD's from them.

If I have a tape that has a slight fluttered recording from the factory,I check playback in both decks to make sure it is within the recording itself and not the deck. Both decks play the same tape exactly the same.

So I guess the bottom line here is,I have spent a lot more time recording music and my own comedy skits to my 909 reel 2 reel and it performs flawlessly if you have good tape.IMO both 1000 & 1250 come very close to the 909,but of course your recording source also makes a difference.
Taping LP's I cannot tell much if any difference between the 909 or cass. decks.

When I get some time off from work I plan to put both the 1000 & 1250 into heavy recording duty and report my results then!

Fisherdude,
Yes the 1000 would probably hit the ole wallet with less impact.The prices for the 1250 are getting up there.
I paid $200 for mine another $20 for belts + another $95 for handles so I am in for $315.
Payed $320 for one 1000 the other that started this thread I payed $25 after walking into a shop that had just bought it off someone and had not checked it out. I walked in said how much 'as is' price $25 !! Got it home and belts were in great shape just had dust on the top cover and a blown lamp driver fuse. She performs Great!!

Allright MM, I'll be lookin for your comparison thoughts :)

I have never been to impressed with cassette decks, until I saw my first CT 1250 ( I think?) sitting in a pawn shop. Man..what a deck! I didn't buy it because it was a little rough and I had all the vintage Pioneer I could deal with at the time..but still it looked like sheer overkill for a cassette deck.

I've been reviving my interest in Reel<->Reel decks here lately, after the acquistion of my Spec system..not as much as you have for sure but hey! Spec is Spec:p:

I have two big Akai machines and either one of them are equal to my Cd player or more. I'm just curious as to how close these Pioneer decks can come to an Open reel machine..not a match I wouldn't think..but?

That CT 1000 is one fine hunk of Vintage gear no doubt though...and for $25??:huge: Great score!!

I can also add,I have had quite a few cassette decks in my day but none have performed as well as my CT-F 1000 or 1250.

I have had both single motor and dual motor decks and even three head decks.
TEAC,AKAI,Realistic,Technics and so on but none has been able to match the performance of the PIONEER's.

Of course I have had no experience with Nakimichi so I cannot comment on any of those models.

Just the ones I have had hands on testing.

Well if you really sat down and listen to the same recording from say an LP between say a 909 and a 1250. You were asked to turn your back to the machines while someone played back each recording for you,you would be hard pressed to tell which was which.
Just my theory but I would think with the wider 1/4 tape on the 909 you would be able to saturate more signal from the source and have less background tape noise(hiss),but this may not be technically correct.

Listening very descretely with headphones might reveal some limitations between the two recordings but you would still have a hard time finding any real fault if the machines were both performing up to par.

You can't lose with either,but recording with a big ole reel 2 reel is just so much fun sometimes!! :D

Grumpy has a very good-looking CT-F9191 on the 'bay right now. He sez it needs belts. Cosmetically it looks really nice.
I have a CT-F8282 that is an old sweetie.
I have an Aiwa Dolby S cassette deck that will record off ceedee so well you cannot tell the difference, and with metal tape, whew!

I still make cassettes for the car.

Originally posted by madpioneer


You can't lose with either,but recording with a big ole reel 2 reel is just so much fun sometimes!! :D

I'd have to thumbs up that:thmbsp: There just ain't nothin like the look of a big Open Reel machine turnin slow and pumpin tunes...Yea baby

Im looking for rubber a rubber tire for the ff and rw on my CT-F1000 I bought it at a flea market and noticed right off that the RW was slow ff was better. The deck seems to run pretty well in play. After cleaning the tire on the ff and rw motor and the rollers it worked much better but over a few days it would start to slip again.
the belts seem to be fine, the olny problems I have are ff and rw. I was thinking about replacing all the rubber parts and cleaning the transport, anyone out there know where I can find these parts ?
john email me at rjones5296@aol.com