Weltron 2001 very funky Space-Age style portable player
Simpsons / Sears of Toronto 19276 Folding Portable Player
Kyoto Supreme AM/FM/8-track player
Most 8-track decks were play-only units designed for use in cars. The Kyoto Supreme is a typical car 8-track player with the added bonus of an AM and FM stereo radio. There's even a 4-color program indicator display (difficult to read in strong sunlight, though.) An integrated circuit is used in the tuner. IC's eventually led to the personal computer revolution, so this model marks a turning point in history. And it still sounds great in my car!
Kyoto home 8 track stereo system
The Kyoto home deck pictured is a sophisticated unit containing an AM-FM Stereo tuner, amplifier and programmable 8 Track Recorder. The deck can be set to play all the tracks one after another, one track over and over, or to stop automatically at a certain track - useful to avoid over-writing when recording.
Two more component-style 8 track recorders
The one on top is a Harvard model UP-900 , the lower one is a Sharp RT-811E .
Harvard was a name quite commonly applied to cheap portable radios in 1970's Britain. This offering is surprisingly good by comparison. It has auto-stop, repeat and fast forward. Unfortunately on my machine the original motor burned out and I replaced it with one salvaged from a Ferguson video recorder. This didn't support the fast forward function, so I changed the switch into a pause button. The Sharp unit still works well, having had a new belt fitted. As well as fast forward and pause, it also has an automatic eject after the 4th program has been played.
More of my players and recorders will be added to this page when I can get good pictures of them.