Overview
 VU meters
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The SLO-1700 is an odd man out among the machines covered on this site.
It was never sold as a domestic VCR, instead it was intended for industrial
duplicating houses as a professional duplicating machine. Today, many of
these machines are finding their way onto the second hand market and
are being snapped up by Betamax fans. Because of the relatively small
number of hi-fi Betamax machines sold in the UK the SLO-1700 is providing
a convenient way of upgrading to hi-fi Beta.
The SLO-1700 is built to last, it is robust both internally and externally. The reel mechanism borrows heavily from the classic SL-C9 design and the video head from the SL-HF100. To look at the most striking feature are the two large VU audio level meters on the front panel. Also on the front panel are knobs for audio level adjustment, a head hour counter, BNR switch, test points for off-head RF measurements and a tape counter. It is a top loader. From a domestic point of view there are little features on this machine. There is no tuner, no nice pause, no timer, no clock even. Unique features are the ability to record separately on to the hi-fi and linear audio tracks and an adjustment for the video head record current (under the flap on the top cover). It also has linear stereo. Similar to the Sanyo models, it also features high speed fast forward and rewind buttons. MrBetaByte provides an excellent walk through of all the features. Sony SLO-1700 Duplication Betamax - Beta like a Pro! - THE perfect Beta!? |
