Great cassette recorder for the money
I bought this as an upgrade to a Yamaha KX-393 I've been using for a few years as I wanted a deck with Dolby S and 3 heads. Ideally, I would have bought a deck with dual capstan as well but to get all three features in one deck is a lot more expensive than the TC-611S.
When it arrived, I plugged it in and played a tape, which it instantly tried to chew up. Other tapes sounded garbled and lacking high end. Many old hi-fi components require some maintenance, especially if they contain rubber belts and parts like the pinch roller and belt in this machine. After replacing the belts and pinch roller (which were not expensive) the deck sounds very good and an improvement over the Yamaha. The sound is more solid and also, the deck is much more quiet in operation. The whirring of the Yamaha could be irritating in quiet sections of music, but the Sony is almost imperceptible.
I managed to source a pre-recorded NOS sealed cassette that had been recorded using Dolby S and it sounded fantastic. There is no hiss whatsoever and the sound is very punchy, yet still with the warmness of the cassette format.
I have yet to record with this machine but look forward to doing so. Other features I like about this machine is that the cassette door slides off for easy cleaning of the pinch roller and demagnetising. The cassette door is also mechanised which is a neat feature for a deck of this price.
All in all, a nice deck which usually sells for a very reasonable price.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned