General Asylum: REVIEW: Pioneer CT-a7 Tapedeck by Listen Harder

Model:	CT-a7
Category:	Tapedeck
Suggested Retail Price:	$1199.00
Description:	Top Flight Professional Master Deck
Manufacturer URL:	Pioneer
Manufacturer URL:	Pioneer

Review by Listen Harder ( A ) on July 25, 2006 at 05:46:45
IP Address: 24.210.67.206

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for the CT-a7

I have owned one of these faithfully for over two decades, so I decided to pipe in here. The CT-A7 is truly a jaw-dropping cassette deck in the vein of the Dragon and the 3xxx Tandbergs (to name a few), and it is a pleasure to be able to shed a little more light on it. Mine was $926.44 with tax, and I still have the original receipt that I keep with the box, packing, and manuals. It is not, and will never be, for sale.
Ever look around Ebay and see people calling cheap, spec-less tape decks "Dragon Killer" in hopes of corrupting the perception and wallets of the uneducated...? I have. Many times. And every time I see those silly statements I glance over at my far-from-cheap CT-A7 and smile to myself.
The fact of the matter is there is no such thing as a 'Dragon Killer.' When it comes down to pure sound, there are only a handful of units whose output can mingle in the Dragon's league of analog cassette supremacy, and thankfully the CT-A7 is amongst that group. I read the Davinci review and have to agree on the fact that ALL the "Silver Era" CT-F monstrosities - pretty as they may be - sound simply HORRIBLE next to Pioneer's CT-A7/A9 peak. (Might as well call a Panasonic a Macintosh.) These were the last major analog cassette efforts by Pioneer before turning their attention and resources to the CD format, and it is as close as any of us are ever going to get to perfect transcription from analog. It is close enough to my Audio Alchemy transport (with outboard AA DAC) to actually be scary sometimes. If you side-by-side this thing with your BEST CD transport - it will undoubtedly scare you sometimes too.
On a side note: there is a mention somewhere that the manual states CD quality transcription. (NOT in the Davinci review, which I feel was a superb overview of the unit - even if Davinci hadn't suffered any breakdowns at that writing.) This is in error, as CD players were NOT mentioned in the manual. THAT would be another year or so (before the big CD explosion.) Both units do, however, possess full CD quality output - an extreme 16-22KHz - from the analog domain. There are bunches of collectors quietly waiting for these to show up, and with this in mind they are doing so with very good reason. If I own a title on both CD and cassette - the Pioneer wins hands down and I run the cassette. No contest. The transparency matches that of CD, and the warmth FAR surpasses it. You just have to hear one - like any great piece of audio - to really appreciate what I am saying. The sound is stellar and crisp. There is a power and warmth there that I would be foolish to try to put in words. If you blindfold 1000 people, not one would guess they are listening to ANALOG CASSETTE! It's just not like that. Even after two+ decades, I will open my eyes at certain passages and look towards my rack to make sure my brain remembers what format I am listening to. I will never understand why analog died. I will just never understand that.
There are some bad things about these units that have not been covered. The main issue would be belts. While other companies were attempting to move away from belts - Pioneer decided to use more. A good example here would be the fabulously motorized door. Granted, it is very impressive, and when you hit that eject button - you KNOW you are using powerful equipment. Unfortunately, there is a belt involved. Why? Well, mainly because gear-driven assemblies will generally interfere with the rest of the unit, whereas a belt-driven assembly will not. "Never-Need-Belts" turntables are idea because the gear assembly IS the drive assembly and therefore logical. In an analog unit reading magnetic data from a strip of continuos tape feed, it would be silly to add a gear assembly for a pretty door action and not separate it from the rest of the unit by a belt. Rotel made this mistake IN REVERSE on their attempt to corner a piece of the elite analog cassette market back in the early 1980's - and anyone who spent a ton of dough on one of those things knows now what I am talking about. So Pioneer's use of the belt to keep the door assembly function from interfering with the rest of the unit is quite logical. But it is also quite a pain. I have had to replace mine 3 times over the past 15 or so years. Mainly due to lack of use: if you allow these to set for a few years without any use - count on replacing the door assembly belt real soon. Like right after you remember how much you simply adore this unit and just HAVE to listen to it right now!
To be fair, it is a minor issue and is actually quite simple to obtain and replace - even for a novice. It's a generic belt that you can find just about anywhere (what bread store doesn't carry Wonder bread!) and it requires about 10-15 minutes to replace. Also, I think I should note that it seems that ONLY the belt on the door suffers in this respect. I have replaced the door assembly belt THREE TIMES but the rest of the belts only required changing during ONE of those instances. I believe this is because of the limited use of the assembly in relation to the rest of the unit. A belt that's sitting is a belt that's rotting and warping. The little guy gets to spin and shine for only a few simple seconds for each tape that you play. So it was good that they separated it, but it is a pain when this crops up.
Distaste for the door assembly aside, I am one of the diehard CT-A7 guys who will never let go of this box. If I go completely deaf and can't hear a sound - I will put my tapes in it and watch them spin, guessing where they are song-wise, and dreaming in my silence of what it actually sounds like.
Yeah - they are THAT good.
And with that I will bid you good luck in you quest if you decide to try to find one of these, and much better luck in everything else that you may do.

Product Weakness: Waaaay harder to find than a Dragon. (Ever wonder why there are a dozen Dragons on Ebay EVERY WEEK, and NOT ONE CT-A7 has shown in years...?)
THAT DARNED DOOR ASSEMBLY....
Product Strengths: Incredible depth. (Redefines "You'll hear things you never knew were there!") Unreal frequency response. (You have to hear it to believe it. Ask my friends!) Absorbing analog warmth. (The REAL stuff!) Sounds IDENTICAL to a Dragon on a GOOD system. Waaaaay CHEAPER than a Dragon!

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Macintosh, 4 x 200
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Macintosh
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Audio Alchemy, Pioneer, Otari
Speakers:	B&W x 4
Cables/Interconnects:	Nordost
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classic Rock - Alan Parsons, Floyd, Who, etc
Room Size (LxWxH):	35 x 20 x 9
Room Comments/Treatments:	Child gates to avoid grandchildren. Fireplace has me padding everything....
Time Period/Length of Audition:	About 22 years
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Monster
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Waaaay harder to find than a Dragon. (Ever wonder why there are a dozen Dragons on Ebay EVERY WEEK, and NOT ONE CT-A7 has shown in years...?) THAT DARNED DOOR ASSEMBLY....
Product Strengths:	Incredible depth. (Redefines "You'll hear things you never knew were there!") Unreal frequency response. (You have to hear it to believe it. Ask my friends!) Absorbing analog warmth. (The REAL stuff!) Sounds IDENTICAL to a Dragon on a GOOD system. Waaaaay CHEAPER than a Dragon!