Pioneer CT-A9
(1983 - 1984+)

The big early 1980s Pioneer and the model above the contemporary CT-90R, sadly all too briefly available.

The CT-A9 was the first to sport the new "Reference Master Mechanism", an improved CT-F1250 of sorts : closed-loop dual capstan with a special edge finish of the capstans to avoid slippage and secure firm traction. The RMM's frame is made of a steel plate, the support of the three heads is of two pressure-diecast zinc adjusted with extremely low tolerance. The capstan motor is a Quartz-regulated high-torque Hall-effect brushless & coreless DC.
The Rec & Play heads are of low-loss Sendust Ribbon which limit 3rd harmonic distortion ; the play head has a narrow gap of 0,6µm. Componentry is of high-quality : gold-plated head wiring metal film resistors, audio capacitors, Dual-FET inputs, SEPP & DC circuits etc.

All of this is, of course, 4-bit micro-computer controlled for all that touches speed stability, auto-loading (motorized door + reel slack reducing - "may not work well if the cassette's shell is transparent"), auto track & blank search, index scan, repeat functions, tape capacity display and... BLE and MOL.

BLE is Pioneer's own tape analyzing system which automatically sets level, Bias and EQ for each tape inserted.
MOL is Pioneer's own Bias adjusting in view of a preset optimal output level where no more than 3% THD is reached. PEAK bias allows a large response for popular rock music ; UNDER bias shifts bias up at the high frequencies for an extended and more pronounced high-frequency response - good for synth music ; OVER bias puts forward mid and low frequencies - good for rap but rap didn't exist then.
All this into a box much smaller than the CT-A1 1979 statement piece - progress I guess.

The CT-A9 also sported what was probably the largest FL display available then : 35 segments ! It was available black in Japan (with Pioneer's 1983/84 "digital" logo added) and silver elsewhere. Updated (along the smaller CT-A7) for the japanese market only as CT-A9D in 1985, still black but with sideburns and minor mechanical improvements added and, mostly, Laser Amorphous heads, as carried into the CT-91 and CT-93. Both A9 and A9D are quite probably analogue recorders to rediscover.