My interest has always been in collecting, using and preserving old technology (thus my website name time-tunnel) and this portable cassette player certainly meets this criteria!
Go back in time to the late 1970's and the most commonly used portable electronic device was a portable transistor radio.
CD's were not yet used by consumers but cassette tapes were well established and the main consumer choice for the source of music/spoken word (there weren't many other media options in those days)
The big problem was that cassette machines were large, bulky and tied to a home power socket, usually in the lounge room and certainly not suitable to be carried around.
A breakthrough occurred in the late 1970's with the release by Sony (Japan) of the Cassette Walkman. Finally the ordinary person could carry around their music while taking a walk, going to work etc - it was a major breakthrough in portable technology.
Following the release of the Sony product, there was the inevitable release of lower cost "3rd party" products and this ACME portable cassette player is an example of one such product.
NOTE: this ACME product actually shouldn't be called a Walkman, that name (Walkman) is the property of Sony (Japan) only as they are the trademark owner, but it is the same type of product
ACME began manufacturing in 1975 and were very focused on the world of cassettes, a very large Hong Kong based corporation.
ACME Portable Cassette Player
Commerically released towards the end of 1970's
Made in Japan
FIRE ENGINE Red main case with Blue/Grey top lid/window
Playback ONLY - there is no record function
The product is clearly marked Made In Japan and my investigations "inside" this equipment also reveal Japanese electronics/motors etc but ACME was a Hong Kong based corporation.
Most likely made under contract, rebranded to ACME - it wouldn't surprise me if Sony was involved somewhere here as I am sure Sony would needed to have granted licensing of the technology to ACME.
BASIC FEATURES:
Plays "normal" cassette tapes, standard speed (4.75cm/Sec)
ONLY plays cassette tapes, it has no function or ability to record cassettes
Only tape controls are:
STOP
PLAY
FAST FORWARD
3.5mm stereo (NOT mono) output socket (for headphones)
External 3V DC power socket
Volume slide control
Powered by 2x AA standard Alkaline batteries
ITEMS NOT SUPPLIED
2x batteries - these are easy to purchase and save any issues with Australia Post who are very adverse to the posting of batteries in their packages
Wrist carry strap
Original outer box
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Very clean
NO damage to the plastic casing, carry strap anchor or flip-up lid
NO scratching to the casing
All labelling is clean, clear and without rubbing marks etc
TESTING:
This has been in my "box of tricks" for many many years. I was amazed that after all this time that it looks so good.
Very comfortable to hold in my hand, not too heavy (180g) and it also has a belt clip on the rear of the case.
First thing is to check/change the 2x internal drive belts. After 40+ years those belts degrade and fail - I have changed both belts.
I couldn't help but notice the build quality of the mechanism, very compact and well made - no "rats nest" here!
Put it back together (not hard), inserted 2x AA batteries, flipped the lid and inserted a cassette.
Wow! It works as expected! Fast forward is fine and playback quality is "acceptable" for such a device - both channels work.
I guess the biggest drawback is tape navigation, as there is no rewind function it can be tricky locating a particular section of tape for playback.
Of course there is no auto-reverse, just flip the tape!
A very nice example of early portable technology that actually works!
To maintain the condition and prevent the ingress of dust/dirt, I have now sealed this player in plastic and it will be supplied in this manner.
