2. misc-audio
  3. 140934-122409

Please be gentle....

Hi everyone,

Let me start by saying, i know nothing at all about audio/recording/etc. equipment. I have a vintage Sharp solid state stereo tape recorder (RD-709) and speakers that are all in a hard case. I have tried to find this model number everywhere and have found similiar items but not this one. I have no idea how to work it and in fear of causing major damage, i have not even plugged it in. It has been stored inside a closet for a very long time and in the process of moving my dear frind into assisted living, we came across this. From the looks of it, it has not beed used much and my friend cannot remember anything about it.  

I am at your mercy for any input on where to go to 1) find a manual, 2) find a value, 3) if there is no value, to whom in the audio world would want it? Again, I freely admit my ignorance in this realm and in my opinion, this equipment is immacule, perhaps even museam quality. I beg of you kind folks to relay, ( in laywomans terms...basically dumb it down for me please) any infomation to get me going on my reseach about this ancient equipment. 
 
A thousand thanks, in advance,

Cat in Washington State
catinwa
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
4,867 posts
 
catinwa ...

I found this:

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sharp_rdn_709rdn70.html

These aren’t worth much in today’s market. Good in their day though. You would need pre-recorded 4-track reel to reel tapes to play, With that thought in mind, dig around to see if your friend has any tapes. Some of them could bring good money on eBay. In fact, if you find tapes, you might want to consider selling the unit and tapes as a bundle on eBay. Put it up for auction and see what happens.

Check out the prices of 4-track tapes here:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1311.R8.TR10.TRC0.A0.H0.Xreel+t...

Hope its helpful to you.

Frank


catinwa OP
2 posts
 
Thank you for the replies so far. As far as my model goes, it looks similiar to the 708 model but there are some variances. First, my model has a 3 motor automatic reverse system. I don't know what the 708 has, even after the video, but mine says it right on the front. I do know from the little bit I have found out, is that the 3 motors and the auto reverse are a good thing vs a single motor. The second difference, don't know if it matters, is the mode selector. On mine, it has mode 2.3, 1.4, stereo, and mix. I will reiterate, I do not even know what that means. It could be written in the most obscure Belarusian language for all I understand🤔.  Speed selection gives three options, 1) 1 7/8 I.p.s, 2) 3 3/4 and 3) 7 1/2 I.p.s. The other difference is that the two speakers are not a part of the recording unit. In fact, they attach by facing each other and clasp together via a hinge lock.  This unit also has, a seperate bag containing  2 microphones that plug into the recording unit. If I have missed something in this description, please advise. The other thing that might, or might not matter us that there are reels of some kind of recording that is ready to play. The reels are both 7". 

I would gladly insert a picture or three but it doesnt appear that that is an option. Once again, I sincerely thank everyone for your input, useful, or not. Every little bit helps in my quest for knowledge about this contraption.

Warm Regatds,

Cat



catinwa OP
2 posts
 
BTW Frank, very helpful information from the museum. I suppose knowing where to look is helpful. Many thanks! 
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