Sony TTS-8000
(july 1976 - 1979)

A very rare beast, the TTS-8000 was derived from the earlier PS-8750 (1974) and sold as a drive or with a plinth. The TTS-8000, however, uses a different motor/rotor and all that came strictly untouched from the 8750 is... the platter. The overall engineering theory and X'Tal lock system are the same, though.

The optional base borrows the system of the smaller PS-6750 and is a massive SBMC piece (Sony Bulk Mold Compound) placed on a supplementary slab of compressed wood particles - a TTS-8000 on its TB-2000 base makes for a hefty 40kg ! There were, however, six different bases available, the TB-2000 being the biggest and most heavy.

Along the later and smaller TTS-6000, the TTS-8000 was advertised quite discreetely by Sony and was somewhat overshadowed by the PS-X9 masterpiece (1977) but despite appearances managed to sell rather well even if only in Japan. One can wonder why Sony chose a consumer tag (PS-X) for its professional deck and a professional tag for its "audiophile" decks (TTS) - typical Sony ;-)

Early samples of the TTS-8000 sported black strobe dots on the platter (as shown above), later ones the opposite scheme (as shown below). Sony tonearms planned for the TTS-8000 and 6000 were at first the PUA-1600L and 1600S (as seen below) ; later on the PUA-7 and PUA-9.

The 8000 can handle heavy platter mats like Micro CU-180, SAECs or AudioTechnica's AT 600 ceramic mat, plus a heavy record clamp ; the liberty of using separate tonearms and custom alignements naturally offers full-size vinyl fun, although the maximum effective length of any tonearm is set at 27,3cm - a 3012 SME will not fit.

Sound-wise the TTS-8000 is rock solid and very clean from top to bottom ; it isn't the equal of a Pioneer Exclusive P3a, but it didn't cost an arm and a leg and can be found fairly cheaply nowadays. The one and only real problem is that the TTS-8000+TB-2000 combo can definitely NOT be placed on a wall shelf !

I believe the total production run to be of less than 5000 units. As new evidence suggests, about sixty were imported in the UK, some of which might have found their way to the BBC broadcasting studios. However, none were delivered in France (a country which always was a joke market for Sony and japanese high-end in general) and none officially in Germany (quite surprisingly) nor in the US, Canada or northern Europe.

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The images for this post come from several sources : a few 1976/1979 japanese catalogs and ads, an x-rare 1977 UK catalog (top), a USA 1978 corporate booklet, and my own TTS-8000 :)