The Luxman 5K50 was introduced in 1978 as part of the Luxman Laboratory Reference Series, a range built around more serious hi-fi components with a strong emphasis on engineering quality and user control. The deck uses a wide brushed silver front panel, central cassette compartment, large left-side display section and separate right-side transport controls, giving it a distinctive layout compared with more conventional cassette decks of the same period.
The Luxman 5K50 is a 3-head single compact cassette recorder, using separate record, playback and erase heads. This allows monitoring from tape during recording, so the user can compare the source signal with the actual recorded signal as it is being laid onto the cassette. A front-panel monitor switch selects between source and tape, while Dolby B noise reduction is included for recording and playback.
The Luxman 5K50 supports Type I normal, CrO2 and FeCr cassette tapes, with dedicated bias and equalisation controls on the front panel. It also includes a continuously variable bias control and a Dolby calibration position, allowing more accurate recording setup for the tape being used. The oscillator section includes bias, Dolby calibration and azimuth positions.
One of the most distinctive features of the Luxman 5K50 is its head-base and azimuth adjustment system. The exposed head base inside the cassette compartment includes azimuth and beacon indicators, while the front panel provides an azimuth adjustment position through the oscillator control. This gave the deck a more technical calibration system than many domestic cassette machines.
Level indication is handled by a 24-dot fluorescent peak level indicator with peak-hold capability. The display also includes high monitoring scale markings and a digital counter section, which can operate as an electronic tape counter for ordinary tape use and as a running-time counter when used with Luxman’s dedicated LUX tape system. Counter memory and timer recording functions are also included.
Transport operation is handled through logic-controlled push buttons on the right side of the front panel, including review, cue, stop, pause, record and record mute. The Luxman 5K50 also provides a search function, microphone inputs, headphone output, line-level recording control, microphone recording control and output level control. Its combination of 3-head monitoring, manual calibration and detailed display systems made the Luxman 5K50 one of Luxman’s more advanced cassette decks of the late 1970s.
Features
- Laboratory Reference Series stereo cassette deck
- 3-head configuration with separate record, playback and erase heads
- Source/tape monitoring during recording
- Dolby B noise reduction
- Support for normal, CrO2 and FeCr cassette tapes
- Continuously variable bias control
- Front-panel equalisation selector
- Dolby calibration control position
- Azimuth adjustment mechanism with indicator
- Head-base assembly with azimuth and beacon indicators
- 24-dot fluorescent peak level indicator
- Peak-hold function
- Electronic counter for standard tape use
- Running-time counter system for LUX tape
- Counter memory function
- Timer recording function
- Search mechanism with review and cue operation
- Record mute function
- Separate line and microphone recording level controls
- Output level control
- Front-panel microphone inputs
- Front-panel headphone output