Akai 3000D

Part of the first 'consumer-comestible' Akai... and also the last : this will quickly drive to the 4000D bestseller and therefore to the early...1980s !

The 3000D is based on the early 1960s ST-1 "stereo in a suitcase" and has basically the same features : dubbing function (sound-on-sound), four tracks for stereo, micro-gap head (Akai made), automatic end-tape shut-off, stereo VU meters, and 100-245V multi-voltage transformer.

What is gone is the built-in monitoring system, the 4-pole hysteresis synchronous motor (replaced by an induction motor), the cool 1960s case and... the remaining tubes : the 3000D really is an all-transistor design.

AC frequency change is made with a simple pin located between the reels : in for 60Hz, out for 50Hz - don't loose it. What came in are three fully separated heads - the beginning of hi-fi !


Akai was then a tiny outlet, much like what it remained throughout the rest of the 1960s and 1970s, before problems started arising and Mitsubishi came discreetely onboard in 1979, just when Akai's ultimate reel-to-reel GX-620 deck was launched.

In case you were wondering where the mid/late 1980s A&D (Akai & Diatone) collaboration came from : Akai and Mitsubishi shared the same bank, the Mitsubishi Bank, and the 1979 new CEO of Akai, Mr Masayuki Nakano, was an ex-Mitsubishi exec'.

The Mitsubishi Bank was, btw, Akai's shareholder since the mid 1970s - this clearly explains that. (more on this subject later on)

The rest of the Akai story isn't as pleasant and friendly but some of us still have an old ST-1 to remember the glorious days of a fast and furiously inventive market which allowed quality and durability to flourish, seemingly to no end.


A knowledgeable review of the 3000D here.