Leave cassette tape deck ON using ANY source


A number of years ago I was told to always make sure the cassette deck is on, irrespective of the program source. It had something to do with the way a preamp works in conjunction with the cassette deck. Can someone explain to me, in laymans terms, why this is true? Also, if it is true for the cassette deck, what about the tuner and turntable and CD player?
jrome

Showing 1 response by ghostrider45

The problem is that when unpowered the input circuits of the deck can load down line level signal in the preamp, often resulting in a loss of highs. Whether or not this is an issue depends on the architecture of the preamp.

If the preamp has buffered recording outputs then the deck is isolated from the rest of the preamp circuits and you don't need to power it up unless you're using it. Otherwise it's best to power the deck up or disconnect it during listening sessions.

This is only an issue for devices connected to the preamp recording outputs, and doesn't apply to input devices such as Cd players, tuners, turntables, etc.