Teac W-518R Dual Cassette with Auto-Reverse

by Teac

Product Details

• Item Weight: 9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 9 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00006I5VU
• Item model number: W-518R
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,700 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #38 in Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Stereo Components > Tape Decks

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Features:

• Auto-reverse playback with direction key (deck one)
• Normal and high-speed dubbing
• Double-deck continuous playback (deck two to deck one)
• Dolby B noise reduction
• Two-color LED peak program level meter
• One-touch recording
• Full auto-stop
• Auto tape selector (deck one)
• Three-position tape selector - normal/CrO2/metal (deck two)
• Tape index counter with counter reset button (deck two)
• High-speed dub LED indicator

Specifications:

• Heads: one erase (deck two); one record/playback (deck two); one playback--rotating (deck one)
• Motor: DC Servo motor
• Wow and flutter: 0.09% (WRMS)
• Frequency response: 30 - 16,000 Hz (metal); 30 - 15,000 Hz (CrO2); 30 - 14,000 Hz (normal)
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 55 dB (3% THD level, weighted); 65 dB (Dolby B NR, over 5 kHz)
• Power requirements: 120V AC, 60 Hz
• Dimensions: 17 1/8" x 5 1/8" x 8 7/16"

Product Description

Double auto-reverse cassette deck

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This unit could be MUCH better!!, December 4, 2003

By 

Photoscribe "semi-renaissance man" (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Teac W-518R Dual Cassette with Auto-Reverse (Electronics)

Auto-stop would have been nice, too! It's also the only piece of hi-fi equipment I have without a remote! It's kind of a pain to get up and both STOP the cassette and have to wait around for the end of a rewind or FF to stop it manually when everything ELSE you have can be handled from across the room!

Two years into ownership, one side of the deck has one channel shot to hades...I don't know if I can fix it yet, but so far, every non-hands-on thing I've done hasn't worked. This is the side with auto-reverse. The non-auto-reverse side plays beautifully. The upshot is, is that I hardly ever USE the thing! Maybe once every three or four months, and already one side is giving me trouble! Not good.

And Teac used to be one of the "un-knockables" of hi-fi! Their reel-to-reels were legendary, along with Revox and Tandberg. My, how the mighty have fallen!

However, I have to commend the excellent separation and hiss suppression of this unit on the side that works right. The signal-to-noise ratio of this value unit is actually not bad! I hear NO hiss whatsoever from tapes as old as the hills, whether regular oxide, metal or chromium, withOUT the Dolby that comes with it on, even! They, in fact, come VERY close to rivalling my CDs for purity of sound. And the dubbing capability...?? It's so weird to have been away from cassettes players for so long, and come back on the market to see that just about EVERY unit has a dual cassette bay design...! When did this start and was demand for such units so large that even BARGAIN units have them? All I know is that this is the first, and so far ONLY, disappointment I've encountered buying hi-fi from Amazon, a disappointment with a somewhat inconvenient manual operation, a shot channel in the premier bay, but one that I can copy cassettes with, at high speed yet, something which I have yet to do, btw. Lord only knows what trouble I'd run into doing THAT!

I want to reiterate that this company was one of the gold-standard brands back in the day for reel-to-reel recorders, so it's no surprise that it sounds good. It's a shame it didn't hold up well as their old equipment.

Reduce it to TWO stars!

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lousy Quality, Lousy Customer Service from Teac, November 7, 2004

By 

Darryl W. Rogers (New Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Teac W-518R Dual Cassette with Auto-Reverse (Electronics)

Within 30 days after recieving this unit, the "play" button on the left deck stopped working. My wife called the local Authorized Service Center. The Service Center said to bring it on down and they would need the Packing Slip for warranty work. I had my order paperwork, but do not normally save packing slips. The SC advised calling TEAC for warranty work authorization--shouldn't be a problem, they said.

My wife called TEAC Customer Service and spoke to someone named "Sandy". She said they could not authorize service for something bought over the Internet--for all they knew it could be a rebuilt unit. My wife gave her the order number and said J&G Sales would verify it was a new unit. She refused to check.

After much discussion, "Sandy" finally told my wife to send her the paperwork we had and she would "determine if it had any merit".

I became very angry after hearing of the arrogant treatment given my wife and told her not to send TEAC a damn thing. I would rather pay out of my own pocket than deal with them. I told J&G sales and Amazon about my experience. Amazon kindly sent me a discount certificate because of my problems--I will not use it because this was no way their fault. Also, J&G Music/Computer Sales was very helpful and they seemed rather astonished at TEAC's response. J&G sent me a copy of my order invoice to send TEAC.

I thanked them, but did not use the invoice--rational or not, I was mad.

I asked the local Service Center to estimate the repair costs for the unit--that I would pay for it out of my own pocket if it was a reasonable cost to fix. Turned out it was over $90 for parts with the total about $183. The left side deck mechanicsm needed replacement.

I told them to junk it, or keep it for parts if they wished.

I won't be buying any more TEAC equipment of any kind, rest assured. Not even if it's the best around. The customer support is arrogant and unhelpful.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Underpowered, September 12, 2004

By 

G. Pierce - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Teac W-518R Dual Cassette with Auto-Reverse (Electronics)

The unit just doesn't have the needed features to make it. It does not have an auto-stop for the auto-reverse deck. It does not have the power to drive the longer tapes. I find that many tapes end up with significant wobble as the tape reaches the end.