A Monitoring Head and Other Deluxe Features
Marantz Model 5030B stereo Dolby cassette deck in metal case.
Dimensions: 16 3/8 by 6 3/8 inches (front panel); 11 3/4 inches deep plus clearance for controls and connections.
Price: $470; optional wood case, WC-121, available for $25.
Warranty: "limited," two years parts and labor. Manufacturer: made in Japan for Marantz Co., Inc., 20525 Nordhoff St., Chatsworth, Calif. 91311.
The virtues of three-head decks-once rare in cassette equipment but now ornamenting the tops of many lines-are obvious to the tape enthusiast: off-tape monitoring and, generally, increased bandwidth. Marantz's 5030B manages to wrap a separate playback "head" with many other desirable features into an attractively priced package. Here the electrically separate recording and playback elements are combined physically into a single head assembly, a technique that is increasing in popularity because it makes user adjustment of recording-head azimuth unnecessary. The recording and playback sections are fabricated from hard permalloy; the erase head is ferrite. A single DC motor powers the transport.
Separate concentric controls for the microphone and line inputs permit source mixing. The two elements of these controls, which serve to adjust channel balances, rotate independently; the MASTER control increases or fades the recording level of both channels at once-a feature we welcome. The recording level appears on two large averaging meters that are clearly illuminated by backlighting, the "safe" area (-20 to 0 dB) in blue and the "danger" area (0 to +6 dB) in red.
The meters are aided by a pair of peak-responding LEDs that trigger at about -10 on the meter, depending on the high-frequency content of the program material. Either the input signal or that from the tape can be routed to the output via the MONITOR switch, the mode being indicated by another pair of LEDs. The multiplex filter can be defeated via a rear-panel slide switch.
Marantz recommended that Sony tapes be used for testing the 5030B's three switch positions: UHF ferric for NORMAL, plus chrome and ferri-chrome. Only the last tested really well, however; the other two appeared somewhat over-biased by the deck. Consequently the NORMAL (ferric) tests were made with TDK AD, those for CHROME made with TDK SA. The curves show some evidence of under-biasing with both, but we believe most readers will prefer a slightly peaky high end to a dull one.
The manual specifies no single tape for use with the deck; the TDK products are widely available and are more to our taste than Marantz's suggestions.
The record/play response with all three tapes exhibits excellent bandwidth, and low-end "head bumps" are well controlled. The response remains within close bounds to below 30 Hz. Dolby tracking is excellent, and the noise reduction is almost a full 10 dB at high frequencies. On our test sample, the left channel delivers smoother response than the right in the region between 5 and 15 kHz. Once correction is made for the difference in low-frequency equalization between standard test tapes and current practice, the 5030B reproduces recordings with a worst-case (right channel) error of + 2 3/4, -1 1/4 dB. Signal-to-noise ratio is solidly in the ballpark we consider good. Erasure and channel separation are essentially complete for normal stereo applications. Distortion at a recording level of-10 dB is about average, though in practice it is likely to be somewhat less than the figures would indicate because of the extra headroom afforded by the recording meters: A standard-level recording is produced when the meters indicate approximately +4 dB-well into the red. Absolute speed accuracy is reasonably good, varying only slightly in response to line-voltage changes. The flutter content is excellent in the play mode, and almost as good when the deck records its own tape.
The cassette-loading mechanism operates smoothly, and the front door can be removed for fairly good access to the heads for cleaning and demagnetization. You can go directly from a fast-wind mode to PLAY without pressing the STOP, but we would discourage such practice, because the deck can throw a tape loop under these conditions and might jam. The pause introduces no audible click but does create a short-lived speed perturbation.
After working with all three types of tape, our personal choice for the 5030B is SA; it made first-rate replicas of the original, the main difference being some added noise and flutter. The noise level is lower than that for AD, and the response is notably smooth. Some recordists may prefer to use AD, however, since its high-frequency response--to the ear, at least-is extra bright. The sound on Sony ferrichrome strikes us as somewhat muddy and a trifle dull, but its noise level is a little lower.
The limiter on the 5030B serves best as a safety precaution. and only when recording live. It comes into play and reduces the gain only at a relatively high signal level. The comparative slowness of its recovery causes an audible decrease in program level after a transient has triggered it--in effect, punching a hole in the reverberation. But with the metering and peak-indication LEDs of this deck, it is unlikely that you should need to rely on the limiter for normal dubbing. The LEDs give adequate (and perhaps excessive) warning of overload; we quickly accustomed ourselves to the characteristics of these peak indicators and adapted our recording practices accordingly, preferring to ignore occasional flashes and record at a somewhat higher level to make better usual the dynamic range.
After living with the Marantz 5030P for a while we would single out as its strongest points its wide bandwidth and the convenience afforded by the 3-head format and master level fader At a price comparable to that of many 2-head decks, it offers competent performer'-e and an unusually large array of features. As in other instances, the key factor in reaching a decision may well he the stability of the features for your needs.
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Marantz 50308 Cassette Deck
Speed accuracy 0 83
----------------DIN PLAYBACK RESPONSE (0 dB =-20 VU)
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(High Fidelity, Jan. 1979)
Also see:
JVC turntables (ad, Nov. 1977)
Sansui DC amplifier (ad, Jan. 1979)