Sony SL-HF1000 Super Betamax Hi-Fi, Survivor Condition, Rare and Fully Working

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Considered the all-time Best Betamax deck *ever made*.

It looks oh so cool just sitting still, and would make a killer addition to your vintage Sony stack. Or really any media rack or cabinet for that vintage touch.

In rare survivor condition *and* fully working! No real physical issues to speak of from our review either, meaning no dents or noticeable scratches).

Playback and related controls, buttons, and knobs are all responsive and do what they should. The front clock display even keeps good time.

Plus this listing includes the even rarer originally included Sony RMT-148 Remote Commander, which is also in rare survivor condition! The remote has its own jog dial along with tons of other editing and control buttons.

Originally sold for $1,700 in 1986 which equals more than $4,200 today.

Also included with your purchase is the classic 1958 Hitchcock film Vertigo on Betamax tape, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak.

I was pleasantly surprised with not only the above average video quality for the era, but also the excellent Hi-Fi sound quality from this vintage format and tape. We watched it two times start to finish with no major playback issues or sudden stops. (Keep in mind this deck and tape are both around 36 years old.)

So what does Super Betamax offer above standard Betamax? From Wikipedia:

In early 1985, Sony would introduce a new feature, Hi-Band or SuperBeta, by again shifting the Y carrier—this time by 800 kHz.

This improved the bandwidth available to the Y sideband and increased the horizontal resolution from 240 to 290 lines on a regular-grade Betamax cassette.

Since over-the-antenna and cable signals were only 300–330 lines resolution, SuperBeta could make a nearly identical copy of live television.

From the Betamax Collectors Website:
Sony Super Betamax SL-HF1000. From the year 1986. Sold for $1,700. Considered to be the #1, all-time BEST Betamax ever made!

The list of features is endless. 4 heads, 21-day, 8-event programming, 181-channel cable-ready stereo tuner; jog/shuttle wheel on the unit as well as on the remote, new B-I Super High Band 6.0 mhz record mode, Time Search, Black Screen; EE mode (which lets you view a momentary live picture during tape playback!), 8-segment Automatic Assemble Editing (when used with two SL-HF1000's), true insert video editing using two flying erase heads, audio dubbing; full on-screen display showing hours/min./sec./frames, as well as a monthly calendar for setting the timer; a built-in character generator with 4 font sizes, 8-page memory, complete alpha-numeric alphabet and two backgrounds (plain white letters or white letters against a black background), 19-segment indexing, Time Search feature on the remote (lets you search for an exact spot using hours and minutes), Time Remaining Indicator (you set the tape length for L500, L750, L830 tape), mike input, headphone jack w/volume control, and an EJECT button on the remote.

Some standout features include:

PROFESSIONAL-QUALITY EDITING
• Dual Jog Dials, on the remote and on the deck, allow for ease of search and rewind (Deck jog dial enabled by pressing the Jog dial button on remote).
• The twin flying erase heads eliminate color streaks and blurs which were congenitally caused by continuous recordings or insert editings.
• The tape counter with frame digits displayed on the monitor screen allows for an accurate search of editing points
• Automatic assemble editing of up to 8 scenes is possible.
• The CONTROL T jack allows highly accurate pre-roll editing by connecting another SL-HF1000

OUTSTANDING PICTURE AND SOUND QUALITY
• The 6.0 MHz Super Hi-Band recording mode allows recording of signal information in detail for high picture quality.
• The DA (Double Azimuth) PRO 4 head reduces noise in Betascan mode.

 Please see our last photo or the full manual linked below for specifcations:

SL-HF1000 Super Betamax Hi-Fi - Owner's Manual

Click below to add our recommended matching cables from Kimber Kable, all brand new as SkyFi is an official Kimber dealer.

Kimber Kable - RCA Interconnects