Sony TC-580

General Impressions

I bought this beast of a machine at a HRSA Auction in April 2026 for $30. When I brought it home and plugged in via the dim bulb it surprisingly came to life.
Next morning I tried it again with a tape and the pinch roller vibrated up and down violently! Turned out the tape wasn't threaded correctly. A re-thread of the tape and it started to move. Positioning the transport direction switch in the correct position and it came to life, but only in the right channel. Plugging in speakers and the amplifier didn't improve the situation.
A good scrub of the heads removed years of tape oxide. While it sounded much better in the right channel, the left was still semi-dead.
This is problem with the preamp.
Overall, a great machine that will perform even better when I get to fixing the left channel and giving it a major service.
The pinch roller cover is missing, along with the aluminium cap on the amplifier power switch. If you have either from a machine you are stripping for parts let me know,

Additional Information

Bias Frequency
160 kHz
Rewind speed
60 sec./ 1200 ft
Inputs
line: input sensitivity: 0.06 V, impedance 100k Ohms
microphone: low impedance
Outputs
line: greater than 10k Ohm impedance
Dimensions
444 x 457 x 228mm
Weight
20 kg