I have had it confirmed from an independent source that the ACI works fine with Vince Briel’s replica 1 SE.  This same person has also successfully tried a  Radio Shack 14-109 (no longer sold) as well as the CTR-80A which is a cassette recorder packaged with the TRS80s.

If you have used a particular cassette recorder, successfully or not, let me know and I’ll share the information.

We have both noticed erratic operation of the LED, but I have previously reported that the LED can not be reliably used for setting playback volume.