Sony TC-165 Stereo Cassette-Corder

This Sony TC-165 is a auto-reverse stereo cassette deck, it was first sold by Sony in 1971 with a recommended retail price of USD $260 and discontinued 2 years later in 1973.

The main features of the Sony TC-165 are: 3 heads and no off-tape monitoring to save production cost, mechanical 3 digit tape counter, manual tape type selection and capable of handling normal and chrome tapes, belt driven dual-capstan transport.

Typical of this deck is the 70's top loading layout with the cassette compartiment located on the left side of the deck. Tape eject is operated mechanically and the cassette needs to be placed with the side to be played facing forward in the cassette well.

Level meters used on the TC-165 are analog needle VU reading meters with multi-color indication to provide visual saturation level of tape. Mechanical transport controls for reliable TC-165 transport function selection.

To make live recordings this deck has 2 microphone inputs to connect a microphone with a mini-jack connector. For undisturbed listening a jack connector for a pair of stereo headphones is supplied. Connection to other audio components for plaback can be achieved by a RCA cable and recording from a source by a RCA cable.