Pioneer CT-A7

The semi-big early 1980s Pioneer, above the contemporary CT-90R and under the CT-A9.

The CT-A7 is centered on 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 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 Quartz-regulated Hall-effect brushless DC.
However, Frank Wagenlehner, owner of a CT-A7, says its motor isn't a BSL but a regular DC-Servo - specifications seem to confirm that...

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 : metal film resistors, select audio capacitors, Dual-FET inputs, SEPP & DC circuits etc.

What the A7 didn't have was all the nifty 4-bit micro-computer functions such as auto track & blank search, index scan, repeat functions, tape capacity display and BLE and MOL - read the CT-A9 page to know what these were about.

The CT-A7 was available black in Japan (with Pioneer's 1983/84 "digital" logo added) and silver elsewhere.

Updated for the japanese market only as CT-A7D 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.