Out of all the amplifiers, speakers, tuners, and other electronic paraphernalia I’ve collected up over the years, there’s only one that’s really served its purpose beyond what I expected it to when I bought it. That’s my portable radio cassette deck. I have the classic in the field, Sony’s CF-550A Stereo Cassette-Corder Stereo FM/FM-AM package. Although it’s broken down a couple of times and had to be repaired, it’s still running nearly ten years after I took it out of the box. '

This portable cassette radio was the prototype of the dozens of models now sold by manufacturers, indeed the prototype for the battery operated stereo system with handle that’s seen in every audio and electronics store window around the world. While it isn’t lightweight, it isn’t portable, and provides all the necessary functions: plays cassettes in stereo, plays stereo FM radio, has AM, and can record stereo cassettes of FM radio broadcasts.