Pioneer's Top Deck
Pioneer CT-F1250 cassette deck
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PLAYBACK RESPONSE (TDK test tape;-20 dB DIN) B
20 50 100 200 500 IK 2K 5K L ch: +1,-31/4 dB, 40 Hz to 12.5 kHz R ch: +1 V2,-3 dB. 40 Hz to 12.5 kHz 10K 20K RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE, "CHROME' TAPE (-20 dB) DB
0 5 Z 20 50 100 200 500 IK 1F1/"N2 2K 5K
- L ch: +0,-3 dB, 32 Hz to 14 kHz R ch: +0,-3 dB, 32 Hz to 16 kHz With Dolby noise reduction
- L ch: +0,-3 dB, 32 Hz to 10.5 kHz R ch: +V.,-3 dB, 32 Hz to 14 kHz 10K 20K LEVEL INDICATORS TAPE COUNTER "METER"-MODE (PEAK/PEAK-HOLD/AVERAGE) 8 AUTO-FUNCTION SELECTORS TAPE SPEED LOCK PILOT PLAYBACK SPEED ADJUST.
AC POWER REWIND FAST WIND STOP PLAY/RECORD RECORDING INTERLOCK PAUSE RECORDING MUTE FUNCTION INDICATORS TAPE-ADJUST. INDICATORS MIKE LEVEL IL, RI LINE LEVEL IL, PLAYBACK LEVEL IL, RI
- MONITOR ITAPE/SOURCE)
CC-cc L MIKES HEADPHONES DOLBY N/R (OFF/ON/WITH FILTER) RECORDING-Ea ADJUST.
RECORDING-LEVEL (DOLBY) ADJUST.
BIAS ADJUST.
ADJUST. MODE (OFF/BIAS/LEVEL/EC.) TAPE SELECT. (METAL/FERRIC/CHROME/ FE-CR)
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Pioneer Model CT-F1250 cassette deck, in metal case.
Dimensions: 16 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches (front, 13 1/2 inches deep plus clearance for transport superstructure and connections. )
Price: $695. Warranty: "limited," one year parts and labor. Manufacturer: Pioneer Electronic Corp., Japan; U.S. distributor: U.S. Pioneer Electronics Corp., 85 Oxford Dr., Moonachie, N.J. 07074.
Though metal-particle tape is still in short supply, the same cannot be said of metal-ready decks. Many manufacturers have rushed to market with decks capable of handling the metal formulation, yet close examination reveals that only a minimum amount of alteration separates these decks from their nonmetal progenitors. Not so the CT-F1250, Pioneer's top-of-the-line model. So much new engineering has gone into it that, aside from a filial resemblance to the CT-F1000 (the company's previous top deck), it must be considered as a separate limb on the family tree.
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40 Tape calibration proceeds from left to right (with Dolby off) via TAPE selector and four calibration controls (MODE, BIAS, LEVEL, and E0). Automatic end-of-tape rewind and playback is available via REPEAT/END or COUNTER REPEAT. Deck can also be programmed to rewind to a specific spot and either stop there or proceed to playback via MEMORY-STOP or-PLAY.
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S/N RATIO Ire DIN 0 dB; A-weighted) "chrome" metal playback (without noise reduction) 5944 dB 593/4 dB Dolby playback 67 1/2 dB 68 dB record/play (without noise reduction) 56 dB 57 dB Dolby record/play 64 1/2 dB 6544 dB ferric 57 dB 6544 dB 54 dB 6216 dB METER READING FOR DIN 0 dB +5 dB METER READING FOR 3% DISTRIBUTION lat 333 Hz) "chrome tape > +8 dB metal tape +5 dB ferric tape +5 dB do
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The two-in-one head (with separate gaps for recording and playback) has been retained, and the monitoring function this affords has been put to use in an extremely accurate bias, equalization, and Dolby-level tuning system. In this setup, three test tones derived from a built-in oscillator are recorded, and the tape output is continuously compared with preset reference levels. Whereas in some other decks the whole procedure is automated via microprocessor circuitry, here the user must determine optimum levels by rotating the fine-tuning knobs in sequence until two LEDs (representing high and low values) for each parameter light simultaneously. The tuning procedure is logical and progresses quite quickly. Tests at Diversified Science Laboratories attest to its accuracy: to within 1/2 dB of preset levels for each setting. Considering how narrow these control "windows" are, users should not be disconcerted by a later double-check, in which failure to confirm the settings can be due to inconsequential tape inconsistencies.
The 1250's recording flexibility is hard to top. Mike/line mixing is permitted by the level controls, each of which has separate channel balance elements. A recording mute on the solenoid-controlled transport panel can be used (either in connection with PAUSE or alone) to kill radio announcements without the telltale click that PAUSE causes. It also introduces a perceptible hiatus even when MUTE is not used, preventing seamless "splices" during copying. Dolby noise reduction ("double Dolby" here, to allow for the monitoring function) can be switched in with or without the multiplex filter. Playback pitch control is retained from the 1000, but the recording speed (which cannot be varied) is quartz locked.
Tests at DSL indicate pitch variation ranges from almost a whole tone sharp to more than a half tone flat of normal.
The twenty-four-segment Fluroscan "bar-graph" display has three modes-peak, peak-hold, and average-and is calibrated over a wide and useful range of from-35 to +8 dB with 1-dB divisions throughout the important region above-10 dB. In bench tests, the peak metering proves extremely fast, showing no overshoot and responding to pulses of just 0.1 millisecond (100 microseconds), whereas the intentionally damped. AVERAGE mode requires pulses of at least 65 milliseconds to come within 3 dB of the mark. In the PEAK mode, the bright blue display shows the peak value for approximately 2 1/2 seconds; in PEAK HOLD, the lab stopped counting at 20 minutes. If ambient conditions necessitate it, the meter's illumination can be dimmed.
As with the 1000, Pioneer does not recommend specific tapes by brand in the owner's manual. In theory, the 1250 can be optimized for any tape you choose to throw at it, making this brand information relatively unimportant unless you want to use the detented "normal" positions on the adjustment knobs. For that use, Pioneer pointed us in the direction of Sony HF as the standard ferric, TDK SA as the chrome equivalent, and TDK MA-R as a metal-particle tape. Pioneer does K encourage use of the adjustments (so do we), and the lab tuned for each tape before making its measurements, though it did use the suggested formulations.
Response proved excellent over much of the frequency range for each tape, yet the deck did not get as much from the TDK metal-particle tape as other decks we have tested with the Scotch metal tape. Midrange headroom with MA-R is approximately equal to that offered by the Sony ferric, and SA comes out better than both. As expected, MA-R is capable of considerably more headroom than SA, yet at lower frequencies it proves slightly less forgiving than SA. You'll note in the graphs of frequency response that we have cut off left-channel response near 15 kHz for the HF and MA-R tapes. The "missing" portions of the curves actually turn upward again in the lab data-not because response is miraculously restored at higher frequencies, but because of high-level intermodulation "birdies" that disappear as soon as the multiplex filter is switched in. While we could find no aural evidence of these products in the recordings we made without the filter, its use to prevent them might be desirable when there are lots of ultra-highs in the signal you are recording. The distortion curves generally are good, though (again) they don't show the advantage of metal tape that we're used to seeing. Channel output is fairly well balanced. Noise and flutter are very well controlled. The quartz-locked speed, which is unaffected by line voltage, runs a little fast but not seriously so.
Working with the deck, we found the switch markings more helpful than the cumbersome explanations in the owner's manual in sorting out the complexities of the microprocessor counter and memory controls. The OUTPUT level control might better have been called PLAYBACK since it does not alter the source-
monitor level. It does influence playback metering, however. A detent at the center position matches playback levels and metering to those of the source input; there is no means of adjusting source feed level to that of the receiver. This quirk aside, we generally admire the control system, which impresses us as well organized for so complex a design. We also give high marks to the tape adjustment system, which delivered sonically admirable results with every tape we tried, and to the metering system. The convenience features (time.- operation, auto repeat, and so on) work well and, in a sense, epitomize the 1250 as a sophisticated, multifaceted design addressed unequivocally to the home user who enjoys "bothering" with the complexities that today's technology makes possible.
ERASURE (333 Hz; re DIN 0 dB) "chrome" tape metal tape 74 dB 70 dB CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 333 Hz) 45 dB SPEED ACCURACY 0.45% fast at 105, 120, 127 VAC SPEED ADJUSTMENT RANGE +10.1,-8.2% WOW 8 FLUTTER (ANSI/IEEE weighted peak) playback record/play average
± 0.07%
0.09%
SENSITIVITY
(re DIN 0 dB; 333 Hz) line input mike input maximum
± 0.09%
±0.12% 98 mV
0.36 mV
MIKE INPUT OVERLOAD (clipping)
48 mV OUTPUT (from DIN 0 dB) playback level at normal [detent] playback level at maximum 630 mV 850 mV
(High Fidelity, Jan. 1980)
Also see:
KLH Model 3 loudspeaker system (review, Jan. 1980)