(moved over from ra.misc)

I just bought an old Technics ST-8600 Tuner, about 28 years old.
I hooked the Output [Variable] on the back of the Tuner to the
Tuner input on my amp. The sound is lovely, with or without
an antenna.

But I'm confused by the other jacks at the back of the Tuner:

Output T A P E D E C K A M P - T U N E R 4 CH MPX OUT
Variable Rec Out Playback LineIn LineOut Horiz FM Mulipath
Vert
: : : : : :

so there are six x 2 (L-R) = 12 jacks at the back of
the unit. Tape Deck Playback seems to have extra shielding.

I have a tape deck, but it is connected to the Amp. Actually, I've run
out of Amp inputs, so if I can somehow connect the Tape Deck via the
Tuner and make the Amp think the Tuner & Tape Deck are just a Tape
Deck, I'd be happy. Is that the idea?

On the front of the tuner, there is a rec/playback switch with three
positions: amp source tape

So could I, for instance, connect the Tuner to the TapeDeck i/o of the
Amp, and the Cassette Deck to the TapeDeck i/o of the Tuner, and thus
free up an Aux input on my Amp? Would the rec/playback switch on the
Tuner thus allow me to record other devices attached to the Amp?

The last set of jacks don't seem to be useful to me, as I don't have
an oscilloscope.

Finally, I've noticed some play in the tuner knob. In other words,
I'll rotate the knob, but the pointer doesn't necessarily move, or
moves fitfully. The knob is tight and weighty and the torque feels
good. Is there something I can do about this?

There are some specs of this classic tuner at:
a href="http://www.classic-audio.com/technics/ST-8600.html"Technics
Model ST-8600 Details Page ion www.classic-audio.com/i/a

Thanks!

--
Jonathan Berry