Audio Database

Image of T-818
Commentary

The stereo cassette deck was fundamentally revised to meet the needs of the times, and four technical themes were improved : stable tape travel, shortest signal path, no vibration and no resonance, and high and low frequency reproduction capability.

In order to obtain stable tape tension and head touch, the mechanism uses a resonance distributed closed loop dual capstan system with left and right capstan and pinch and pinch roller as different diameter is adopted.
We have also adopted a laser amorphous head that uses PCOCC (single-crystal high-purity oxygen-free copper) for coil winding for the reproducing head.
In addition, various technologies have been introduced to improve sound quality, such as a 1.6 mm thick mechanical chassis with extremely high rigidity and excellent flatness, a capstan shaft with FS treatment applied to the tape running surface, a flywheel with a large moment of inertia, a die-cast metal holder with a long support length with oil-containing metal, a reel motor with small torque ripple, a capstan motor with little cogging and low harmonic vibration components, and a head block with a double structure of zinc die-cast with optical jig for tilt / height adjustment.

Direct construction is used to minimize the signal path and to ensure proper placement.
The power supply section, control section, amplifier section, mechanical section and FL meter section are arranged so that they can be connected with each other at the shortest distance. Furthermore, the amplifier section is separated from other blocks to prevent internal signal interference.
In addition, the recording level volume and the recording balance volume are extended with a brass shaft to shorten the wiring distance and minimize the signal path. In addition, the recording / playback system and Lch/Rch are clearly separated from each other and the signal flow is arranged straight to prevent internal signal degradation and interference between signals.
The signal from the reproduction head is directly connected to a low-noise DC reproduction amplifier using a dual FET without using a capacitor. Furthermore, coils, which cause sound quality degradation, are eliminated from the reproduction amplifier.

Pioneer's original NEW cassette stabilizer is used to suppress vibration of the cassette half.
A special resin stabilizer is placed on the front side of the cassette half and a special rubber stabilizer is placed on the back side. When the cassette half is attached, the arm hooks the frame by the rotation of the motor-driven side cam gear the motor-driven side cam gear, pulls it back, and the stabilizer presses it firmly from both sides.
As a result of this anti-vibration measure, the wow and flutter components in the wide band due to vibration are greatly reduced, and in the vibration test to the cassette half, the speed of vibration attenuation is four times that of the case without the stabilizer.

In order to completely eliminate vibration and resonance in the deck body, honeycomb structures such as copper plated honeycomb chassis, large honeycomb plated honeycomb chassis, large honeycomb insulators, and honeycomb center stays. The honeycomb structure disperses vibration in multiple directions and quickly attenuates it.
The transformer case is equipped with a casted power transformer that uses cast iron with high rigidity, high internal loss, excellent vibration damping characteristics, and almost no resonance frequency.

Equipped with Dolby HX PRO.
When recording a digital source with many high-frequency components, the bias current is controlled in accordance with the music signal, greatly improving the high-frequency characteristics and dynamic range.

Each block of the amplifier, control system, and FL display system uses a dedicated power supply that is separated from the transformer winding.
The amplifier system uses a high-speed active servo regulator to respond to fluctuations in power supply voltage caused by music signals.

It uses parts such as oxygen-free copper winding bifilar wound power transformer, electrolytic capacitor for large-capacity audio, and oxygen-free copper wire power cord with polarity display.

Equipped with a meter range switching function to make better recording easier.
You can switch between the normal wide range mode of -35dB to + 12 dB and the expanded range mode of 1 dB steps of -4dB to + 16 dB. You can adjust the recording level strictly by monitoring the balance between left and right.

Equipped with a 3-mode tape counter consisting of a tape counter, a time counter that displays the elapsed time of recording and replay, and a main counter that displays the remaining time of the tape.

Equipped with a one touch Tape Return & Tape Play function that rewinds the tape to counter 0000 with one touch and starts playback automatically.

Equipped with an auto monitor that automatically switches between tape monitor and source monitor.
Manual switching is also possible.

It is equipped with a bias adjustment function which can set the bias level suitable for each tape.

Equipped with an auto-rec mute that can create a 4-second silent section with one touch, and an auto tape selector that automatically changes the tape position.

Model Rating
Type Reference 3 Head Deck
Track system 4-track, 2-channel stereo
Heads Combination type
Hard Permalloy recording head / laser amorphous reproducing head
Ferrite erasing head
Motor For Capstan : DC Servo Motor
For Reel : DC Motor
For Assist : DC Motor
Wow and flutter ± 0.040% W · peak (EIAJ)
0.024%WRMS(JIS)
Quick Winding Time (C-60) About 80 seconds
Frequency Response (EIAJ)
Metal Tape : 20 Hz ~ 21 kHz ± 3 dB (-20dB recording)
20 Hz ~ 16.5 kHz ± 3 dB (0 dB Recording)
Chrome Tape : 20 Hz to 20 kHz ± 3 dB (-20dB recording)
20 Hz ~ 12 kHz ± 3 dB (0 dB Recording)
Normal tape : 20 Hz to 20 kHz ± 3 dB (-20dB recording)
20 Hz ~ 12 kHz ± 3 dB (0 dB Recording)
Signal-to-noise ratio 57 dB (EIAJ / peak recording level, acoustic correction)
Dolby off : 58 dB or more (3rd harmonic distortion rate : 3%, audibility correction)
Dolby B on : 10 dB improvement at 5 kHz
Dolby C on : 19 db improvement (5 khz)
Distortion Factor (EIAJ/1kHz) 0.6% (metal tape, 3rd harmonic distortion factor)
Input Sensitivity / Impedance Line : 67mV/50k Ω
Output Level / Impedance Line : 316mV/1.4k Ω
Headset : 0.8mW/8 Ω Volume Max : 80 mV
Attachment mechanism Dolby HX PRO
Dolby B/C NR
MPX Filter
Bias adjustment
Automonitor
FL level meter with peak hold
Meter range switching
Headphone
One touch Tape Return / Return Play
Autospace rec mute
Auto tape selector
Music Search (front and back 15 songs)
Four digit electronic counter
Power eject
Timer recording and playback
Power supply voltage 100 VAC, 50Hz/60Hz
Power consumption 20W
External dimensions Width 420x Height 133.5x Depth 372 mm
Weight 9.6kg