Panasonic EN - 1982 - JP
Panasonic cassettes are very rare outside of Japan, the market they were manufactured and distributed for.
This tape also has a blue hue resembling the TDK PRO AM46, also still available here at Cassette Comeback. It may be loaded with TDK AD quality tape. The shell is also very similar if not an the exact same as the TDK of the time offered around this time (1982). It is rather obvious that it was TDK that made these tapes for National / Panasonic. What can observed is that this tape is unequivocally darker than TDK's 1979-1986 "D" tape, and as dark as TDK's AD tape, but is it?! If it is, this is much scarcer cassette than is TDK's D tape from the same era, and that makes it an absolute bargain. It is also priced considerably lower than the known auction site, plus here you also get additional Loyalty program discounts...
NOTE: Very limited quantities available of either the 60 minutes or the 90 minutes. Again, once these are gone, they will probably never be offered here again. Only a maximum of 2 will be offered at any given time.
About Technics & Panasonic:
Technics was introduced as a brand name for premium loudspeakers marketed domestically by Matsushita in 1965. The name came to wider prominence with the international sales of direct-drive turntables. The first direct-drive turntable was invented by Shuichi Obata, an engineer at Matsushita (now Panasonic),[2] based in Osaka, Japan.[3] It eliminated belts, and instead employed a motor to directly drive a platter on which a vinyl record rests.[4] It is a significant advancement over older belt-drive turntables, which are unsuitable for turntablism, since they have a slow start-up time, and are prone to wear-and-tear and breakage,[3] as the belt would break from backspinning or scratching.[5] In 1969, Matsushita launched Obata's invention as the SP-10,[4] the first direct-drive turntable on the professional market.[6]
Despite being originally created to market their high-end equipment, by the early 1980s Technics was offering an entire range of equipment from entry-level to high-end.
In 1972, Technics introduced the first autoreverse system in a cassette deck in its Technics RS-277US and in 1973 it introduced the first three-head recording technique in a cassette deck (Technics RS-279US).
In 1976, Technics introduced two belt-driven turntables for the mass market, the SL-20 and SL-23. The principal difference between the two models was the addition, in the SL-23, of semi-automatic operation and an adjustable speed control with built-in strobe light. They offered technical specifications and features rivalling much more expensive turntables, including well-engineered s-shaped tonearms with tracking weight and anti-skate adjustments. At the time they were introduced the SL-20 and SL-23, which sold for $100.00 and $140.00, respectively, set a new performance standard for inexpensive turntables.[9]
Panasonic - EN - 1982 - JP