What's up with the open face cassette decks?? Studer? Revox??

[audio]

I've been checking out getting another cassette deck lately. I really dig those older, freaked out Revox machines, but I have a question. What is the reason for the lack of a plastic cover where the tape goes? Isn't it bad to expose the heads constantly to open air, dust, and who knows what else??

[michael w]

Probably some attempt to eliminate resonances in the typical plastic cassette doors but more likely they were removed in the name of the all mighty style god.

:p

IIRC some of those decks like the Pioneer CTF-1250, hard movable covers which went over the heads when the deck was not in use.


cheerio

[eskimo]

Listening to the Pioneer CT-F900 as I type. A three-head unit with the same dust cover as seen above. Sounds absolutely outstanding to me.

[Dave]

Hey! That's my old tape deck. :)

Didn't Nakamichi have an open-faced model as well at one point in time?

[sgraham]

Easier access for cleaning?

We have Marantz units that come with a removable cover for the cassette well. I suspect we're typical, in that it gets removed and never replaced. By leaving it off altogether, perhaps they just beat us to the punch!

[Jamie Tate]

Originally posted by prix
Isn't it bad to expose the heads constantly to open air, dust, and who knows what else??

Professional reel to reel machines (2 track to 24 track) don't have covers over their heads either. Of course we clean the heads before every use.

[Grant]

Sansui cassette decks of the late 70s used the same open design.

[audio]

Originally posted by yesman


Professional reel to reel machines (2 track to 24 track) don't have covers over their heads either. Of course we clean the heads before every use.

Is there any specific reason or sonic benefit to justify this open face design on a standard cassette deck??