This AD-R707 Autoreverse Cassette Deck has been in my possession for more than 20 years. Reason enough for me to introduce it here. The Aiwa AD-R707 is a cassette deck of the then slightly higher price class, at least for me. Finally, in 1992 I paid about 500 DM for it, including an infrared remote control. Among the noteworthy features are: bias fine adjustment (to bias the cassette tape during recording, optical quick reverse (very fast switching of the tape direction) and noise reduction with Dolby B and C. Since back in 1992, the device works perfectly and makes very good recordings. The device needed a thorough cleaning, during which the pictures shown here were also taken.

A view into the interior of the Aiwa AD-R707. Actually there is not much to see here. The very compact built-up cassette drive in the front left was removed for cleaning. See more below. The power transformer can be seen in the right rear of the housing. The power supply electronics is located on the main board. The rectifier diodes in the rear left of the board and the voltage regulator with heat sink are quite good to see. Very maintenance-friendly: All components outside the "mainboard" are provided with plug connections.

The autoreverse cassette drive. The erase and audio heads form a rotatable unit, which is rotated by 180 degrees depending on the tape running direction so that the erasing head is always in front of the recording playback head in the tape running direction. The two capstans and pressure rollers are also good to see. To the left of the heads is an optical sensor. It serves to "recognize" the pre-tensioning tape and thereby trigger the fastest possible switching of the tape direction (Optical Quick Reverse).

The back of the tape drive. The electronically controlled drive motor, which drives the two flywheels over a belt, is clearly visible. The changing of the drive belt is something awkward on this drive. The metal part with the motor must be removed.

The drive connector for the drive electronics is located at the top of the Aiwa AD-R707 drive. The black levers on the left and right of this connector press the corresponding switches on the board and are actuated when a cassette is inserted or when the cassette compartment is being closed. They are used to detect the tape location of the cassette being inserted, and to deactivate the recording function when the cassette is write protected, to prevent accidental erasure of the tape. The motor speed control circuit board is directly integrated in the motor.

The Floureszenz-Display shows the tape running direction, the tape counter, the recording and playback level and some other functions. Below the function buttons and the drive buttons are placed. Via the switch directly under the belt counter, the recording function can be activated directly when the mains power is switched on (timer operation). The function "Blank Skip" allows longer unrecorded tape parts to be detected and automatically skipped. This function is practical when there is a longer unrecorded tape length at the end of the side one of a cassette, as is sometimes the case with pre-recorded cassettes. The Aiwa AD-R707 also has a function for skipping songs.