e JUNE 1987 NAD 6300 CASSETTE DECK by Craig Stark, Hirsch-Houck Laboratories HE Model 6300 cassette | neq circuits to extend high-frequen- | sical octave (10,000 to 20,000 Hz) deck from NAD is designed | cy recording potential, and it Pro- |The tape transport is solenoid- within a tradition of high | vides a control to compensate for | controlled The two capstans have performance with few frills. | playback irregularities before the | Stehuty diferent diameters so. that A’ three-head, dual-capstan deck | Signal is processed by the Dolby cir. | 8hU% “iferent diameters so tet with Dolby B and Dolby C noise | cuits, Allthis sophisticated technol | ee gene or eae ee Feduction, it is unique in incorpo- | ogy is packaged in a distinctly plain | oes rapmek tension ane the rating both Dolby HX Pro and Dy- | wrapper that deliberately eschews | re labe,nojdbuck scnsion, and ther Such fancy features as program: | Thi “Getigh “approuch minionioes x mable music selection, memory fe- | yemardhifutter in secondings. be wind, and automatic bias/equaliza~ | eventing the capstans hom reine | tion switching. As if to compensate, forcing rather than damping out ir- however, the Model 6300 comes | regularities in the tape motion. A srs fuheatre wis remote | Sp str hed ot control. reel hubs for high-speed tape shut- The record and playback heads of | ting. aeceeaal Pee A ea Serer ceed The cassette well is of conven- conained ina singl case enablNE | cgnal design. providing 2 small comparison between the sound | Ceara | | quality before and after recording. lity t Tra dectgn also permits the wos of | 400" is easily removable for routine wwide-gap record head, to maximize | ‘leaning and demagnetizing. signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), and a | It has long been known that the harrow-gap playback head, to repro-_ | amount of record bias that produces duce the highest audible’ frequen- | minimum distortion and maximum cies, Because cassettes recorded on | S/N at low frequencies also restricts ‘other decks often lack proper high- | the amount of high-frequency infor- frequency response. a defect that | mation that can be stored on a cas- can be exaggerated when the tapes | sette. The Dolby HX Pro head- room-extension system, originally developed by Bang and Olufsen, continuously monitors the high-fre- quency level being fed to the record | are decoded by Dolby circuitry, the | Model 6300 provides a front-panel | PLay TRIM control whose boost or cut is restricted to the highest mu-head, and when it senses that the treble saturation point is being reached, it slightly lowers the record. | bias to give the tape more high-fre- | quency headroom. At normal signal | levels the bias level is unaffected and can be set for maximum low- frequency performance. ‘The HX Pro circuitry in the NAD 6300 is supplemented by the Dyneq system invented by Tandberg's Hei man Lia. Like HX Pro, Dyneg monitors the high-frequency cur- rent being fed to the recording head. ‘but instead of lowering the bias, it momentarily reduces the treble boost (record equalization). The problem with treble saturation in © Separate record and payback © Buat-capstan, solenoid-controtted © Dolby HX Pro and Dyne headfoom-extension cireatry Playback high-frequency 1D Infrared remote control FEATURES 0 Scere Peta bo Secmerre are & Bree malls Ser Fastforward time (C-50): 62 second Rewind time (C10): 60 seconds Speed error: 0.0% Dolby B tracking error: +0.9, “35 Dolby € tracking error: +0.5, Ts de Wow-and-Autter: 0.018% wr @ DIN peak-weighted Line input for indicated 0 4B: t0 Line output at OAT volt ication at IEC-standard OdBe +0 dB CO Tape: TDK AD (Type I, ferric) jeated 0 dB: bt dB noise ratios (in decibels) Cnet utd CCR 500 BIS 59.3 625 JOR ba 85.0 790 NR off |] Dolan || doer c LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS {in decibels) unde COIR is 39.0 Dots B18 700 8 Dolby 635 761 783 Tape TDK MA (Type 1V, metal) IEC 0-€B distortion: 1.8% Meter indication at 3% third. harmonic distortion: 3 dB ‘Output at 3% third-harmonic ‘distortion: 44 dB Signal-to-noise ratios (in decibels) Unt std COIR NRoff 38.0 “60.6 58.0 Dom's 615 69d B83 Doth C 683 980 7A 7% cs cassettes is not that, like a sponge, the tape reaches a point where it can hold no more and ignores attempts to fill it even further. When the tre- ble saturation point on a cassette is reached, further increases in treble input actually /ower the high-fre- queney output from the tape. By lessening the amount of treble boost at high signal levels, therefore, Dy- es the tape’s high-fre- quency capacity beyond the amount that HX Pro can contribute, The Dyneq system is less needed with Dolby C than with Dolby’ B, since the “dynamic skewing” built tito Dolby C already lowers the deck’s treble boost to some degree. Given the enormous amount of tre- ble boost that must be built into a cassette deck to achieve response ‘out to 20,000 Hz, however, there are potential sonic benefits from the in- clusion of both the Dolby HX Pro and Dyneq systems. The record-level indicators are relatively conventional, with twelve peak-reading LED's per channel cali- brated from —20 to +8 dB. The four-digit electronic counter can be switched to register either conven- tional counter units (reel rotations) or elapsed time, but it contains no memory-rewind or time-remaining ‘Three-position lever switches are used 10 control the Dolby circuits and to set bias and equalization for ferric, CrO,-type, and metal cas settes. A FINE BIAS control permits a user to compensate for differences in the record-bias requirements of different cassettes, though no built- in calibrating equipment is cluded. A reasonably good adjust- ment could probably be made by ear, however, by switching between source and tape while recording low-level (~15- to ~20-dB) inter- station hiss on FM. ‘An additional front-panel_ push- Dutton switches in circuits that compress the dynamic range and boost the bass and treble of record ings made for automotive playback systems, The FM-multiplex filter is switchable, but the switch is located, perhaps inconveniently, on the deck’s rear panel. The large record- level knob surrounds a concentri- cally mounted balance control The NAD Model 6300 measures 17%4 inches wide, 10 inches deep. and 4V2 inches high, and it weighs a little over 15 pounds, Price: $798, including remote control, NAD, Dept. SR, 675 Canton St, Nor- wood, MA 02062,Lab Tests The playback frequency response of the NAD 6300, measured with our IEC-standard BASF ferric (120. microsecond) and CrO,/metal (70. microsecond) calibrated test tapes, was exceptionally flat: within * 1 B throughout the entire 31.5- to 18,000-Hz range Overall record-playback response was measured at the IEC 0-4B level (250 nanowebers per meter) and at 20 dB, using our usual “‘center- line” samples of TDK AD (ferric) TDK SA (chrome-equivalent), and TDK MA (metal). Samples of Max- ell XLLS and XLILS supplied with the deck showed somewhat more elevated treble response, but for consistency in comparisons with other cassetie-deck test reports we present the TDK-based measure- ments in the accompanying table and graph At both signal levels the ferric and CrO,-type samples showed virtually identical response. At the usual =20-4B level the response was within +0, 2 dB from about 26 Hz to our 20,000-Hz upper meas- urement limit. The metal tape showed a slightly rising high-end re- sponse (+3.5 dB at 19,000 Hz), but it was well within the range of the FINE BIAS adjustment to. correct, The contribution of the Dolby HX Pro and the Dyneq circuits was most evident in the high-level high frequencies, where the metal tape retained perfectly flat response to 12,000 Hz and dropped off only to =4 dB at 20,000 Hz The S/N measurements were very good; only a handful of extremely high-priced decks have surpassed the NAD 6300 in this respect, and not by much. What impressed us even more, however, were the wow- and-flutter figures, which are easily ‘among the lowest we have yet meas- ured, We even wondered whether our flutter meter had drifted out of alignment until we rechecked our reference deck, which did show slightly higher figures! Dolby tracking (at —20-, —30-, and —40-dB levels) was also ex: tremely close, within 1 dB for Dolby B and within 2 dB for the more powerful Dolby C. High-speed ‘winding times were very fast, a min- ute in either direction for a C-60, and sensitivity and meter calibra- tion were normal. Output at 0 dB was slightly below normal but well within the range of any audiophile- quality preamplifier or receiver. Comments In our listening tests, we were | very impressed by the clarity and transparent quality of the NAD 6300's high-frequency response, which probably result as much from the deck’s exceptionally steady tape handling as trom its electronic headroom-extension circuits. Using ‘wide-range CD's as atest source and listening at an elevated level, it was still possible to hear some tape hiss even with Dolby C, but that can be ‘said of the most costly decks. The remote control's “ergonom- ic" design made it very comfortable to grip and use—indeed, we found ‘buttons easier to manipulate than those on the front panel. Truc, ‘we would have appreciated a head- phone jack and a front-panel output control, but these are minor cayils. In all, we find it hard 10 do much but praise this newest addition to the NAD line, Others might seek a more feature-filed and stylish-look- ing deck, but for us, the wide-range, unsullied sound quality was an ex- cellent match for the unadorned exterior. We suspect many other au- diophiles will agree. IMEABONS 171 BAY, CHE (ROR, 1 NEN DP PS ‘ARAN FR CONT AND CORRECTION AC CONVENIENCE UT ONE ASHE (ANP, OF AOU WATS, AX Pc WARANT "MT ON YEAS AN AB lent performance, and ultrafunctional styl ing into a cassette deck of unusual v This last point may be difficult to discern, however, since the 6300 stands alone in its field; any price/performance comparisons other brands look upon simplicity and so- Phistication ax opposites. NAD's top mod els, like this one, offer both and turn the amalgam into an unmistakable hallmark. Among its deck’s approach to high-frequency head. oom stands out, both because NAD makes tmuch of it and because the 6300 is truly lunigue: It is the only deck to combine the BKO-developed Dolby HX Pro headroom extension system with Tandberg's Dyneq system, NAD is, in fact, the only user of DDyneq besides Tandberg, Hort systems seck toforestallyel-erasure overload of high-lev cl high Frequencies by dynamically manip lating recording parameters that are usually fixed. 1X Pro the Dolby circuit reduces recording bias when senses treble energy in the signal reat enough to cause ape satura tion i full bias were maintained: Dyneq re duces high-frequency boost in the recording EQ under similar circumstances, To what extent the 6300 simply mates to ichesand tosehat extent itis mentaryappr marriage forged by clever NAD engineering, Divers. fied Science Laboratories evidence, it docs work, tee can't be sure. But on the bas Less easly documentes sat possibly‘even mote successful a its job—is the (al unique) car-stereo compressor Funct This feature enables you to make cassettes that will have an optimally restricted dynam icrange for automotive playback from orig nals whose dynamic range is engineered for home playback. The approach, which com: presses the middle portion of the dynamic range but leaves the extreme peaks and val leys intact, i unlike that of any other com pressor we've ever reviewed. Then there are the bias-trim feature which can be used to adjust high-frequency behavior in recording to compensate for the differences between tapes, and play-trim feature, which equalizes the same range in playback to compensate for either poor biasing when the tape was recorded oF poor azimuth match between a different re- cording deck and the 6300. We've reviewed these useful features before (in the NAD. 66155, August 1986), but playtrim remains Equally unusual in compo quality and price class are the 6800's rou ed-corner windows and doors, plus the deep-gray color accented with black, white red, and green, The NAD look may strike Yous more like raihsay-car design than high fidelity. but we find thai wears wel. I par ticular, it replaces the sallow techno-gltter with true rents of this of some competing equips Functionalisn ace WPS A wa p10 teed OT So Bagh DA Most radical in this reyardisthe supplied G30ORD wireless remote powered by wo AA cells Its shaped like abstract sculpture with a “foot” that angles the infrared ele- ment slightly upward when the conteol is, resting on a tabletop. This design lets you place the heel of your hand on the control’ nearest surface in order to steady it while your index finger presses one of the function Ihuttons (recording, play, pause, stop, oF ‘either direction of fast win). That’ bmi ‘ed array of functions fora remote by today’s standards, but it encompasses all that most recordists would want (level-setting is best accomplished at arm's length) and avoids the confusing clutter of overinclusiveness The control also works wellifyou pick i up. substituting thumb Forindex finger At the left of the transport door on the front panel are the round AC poser button (green) and door latch (black). Buttons on the other side of the door control recording (red) and the ear processor (black), both with plot lamps peering out ofthe counter/ meter window just aboxe them. In the wit dw itself are smaller buttons to reset the counter and to toggle its made between turns” and elapsed time in recording or playback. The time mode doesn't respondin fast wind but the eurns counter does, and either mode can be reset 10 ze10 separately The transport conteols also are butions Thereisno recording interlock pressing the red recording button alone pats the deck d- caly into the recording: pause mode. I'you change vour mind and press Py to hear the previous recording. vou will e se it unless sou first press sror to cancel the recording tod, The ravst is admirable: I leaves no hiatus oF click of any sort so you really can use it for undetectable midphrase editing if wand-ear coordination i quick enough, (ur only reservation is that in recordin bat not plasback—ihe pause backs the tape tp slightly before sisitching to recording pause standbs. This mav help promote s Tent pauses, but not ultraprecise cueing However. the deck's oxerall cueing abilities ate far superior to those of most others. Further tothe right along the bottom of the front panel ate the noise reduction selec tar (Dolby B, Dalby C, and off), the pls trim, monitor made (source/tape), and bias tuning controls, a3 well as a manual tape sel spe automatic ssstching that fs hecomte the rile, Ou onl real complaint with the deck sa whole is the tmonitor ssitch, a pushbutton that gives a: tnost no indication as 40 the selected inode for tape), which seviausty inhibits bits sting Manual tape-type selection may strike std don't alas check all sour contro se tings before vou begin recording. We have ‘enough tapes kicking around in nonstan dard shells that we welcome the opportunity to play land record) them correctly without some automatic system overriding our EQ. {and bias) wishes because it can't find necessary keyvays on the shell. If you're ex ceptionaly forgetful, we'd suggest you stan dardize on one tape type and leave the switch setforit although you should be able to detect a missetting i you listen carefully oxour recordings as they are being made. At the upper right is a dual-lement re cording-level knob. The outer ring adjusts levelin both channels, while the inner knob: balances them, The peak-reading metering, to the lel, has sch channel ndis calibrated from ~20ta +84B, with2- AB steps bewween —7 and +5-dB and L-dB, stepsbetween ~ 1 and +1 dB. The only oth erfront-panel features the pair of noise re {duction indicators for Dolby Band C. There is a separate multiplen filter sitch, but iris on the back panel The imple cation isthat you can leave it off permanent ly unless the pilot filtering of your tuner is substandard, but the manual declines to say 50 unequivocally—perbaps inhibited by the Dolby licensing agreement, which mandates the filter (at least for Dolby B). Early ver sions ofthe manual state that the multiplex Fiker, when switched in allects playback 38 wwellas recording. Aecording to NAD, this is untrue: ‘The filter is always out of the play back circuits. Otherwise, the manual is typi= cal of NAD's efforts: exceptionally dow cath and communicative, with notes on, some matters (such as possible multideck hookups that you won't often find covered, One item not taken up is recommended Lapes. ALNAD's suggestion. Diversified Se: tence Laboratories ested th 6300 with three Maxell formulations: XLAMS ferticobalt a3 the “chrome compatible” Type 2 tape, MN. asthe Typed metal, and NLS as the "sta dard ferric” Type Speed accuracy and stability proved ex: ceptional (no doubt thanks to the dual-eap- stan drive), the noise figures excellent, era sure betier than average, meter calibration sensible and useful and most of the remain- ing record play data in need of no apology even compared to far pricier decks. The Type 4 response curves are extremely at andl probably could be made hetier still by increasing bias a bit over the detented set ting. ‘The curves for the ather two tapes aren't quite ay flat; both ster from te Hlenes to ag in the loser treble. which isn't tuncommon with duallasertapes, The curve forthe left chanel (not shossn) of each of these tapes later that that fr the right As sou might hope from a pairing of Deneq and HX Pro, the high-level response curves for the metal tape hold up superbly into the ultrahigh. Liule compression isi ible to besond 10 KH? in the eurves made without noise reduction, andl with Dolby C response at O dB i nearly ay flat a i 6 at =204B. The Ferric tape also does anus well in this department, thonigh the Type 2 Isehich inherently fas the poorest shor athigh-frequency headroom) falters sor what, ls hard 10 say just hove much, because of the response sig in the frequeney region ‘where rllolf begins 0M ANE 20 me ‘sm pi - SSS Sem rb ee MURA Tipe pte Tope bape aa —r ——— TER es mind ss SOT Loa 359 sat ‘Aquicx ouIDE TO TAPETYPES. ‘Ow toe contheaton. ows Tough oe Scted on he ntoal incrtecnes! Com "TIPE IEC Toe ope ov lncs easing gmat es and |20-mconecond payoort THPER|EC Type! tapes cr tender ute win ooncronacond layoocs EO onde ‘tnd ovomige sone, Yodo they nce eae soho the lr PEI IEC Tyo il pes oe duc oyeres Nea Tea oe ws anal Di aiand etonng ne Tomcronacond £0 of The lab made no attempt to adjust the Fine-bias contral away from its detent, be- cause it offers no abjective calibration, In bother words, you must listen to the result and judge by ear when the setting is correc. This isn't co difficult, given the 6300's sep arate playback head and monitor switching (and an appropriate signal, suchas low-level FAM interstation hiss or pink or w from a test-signal CD), But its a subjec- tive—and therefore essentially unreproduc 'ble—evaluation Inveterate recordists may be dismayed at Sirs by the calibration of the bias contro: negative numbers for increased bias and vice versa, As our adjustmentrange curves indi- cate, however, the upper-teble produced by the bias trim in recording is ‘very similar to that created inplayback by the comparable setting of the play-ttim control The latter is logically calibrated, with i. creasingly positive numbers for increased high-frequency boost. negative numbers for rolloff, Since increasing bias attenuates Inighs and decreasing it boosts them. the bias calibration matches that ofthe play-trim, ‘making assimilation easier for neophytes, if not for old hands 1W'simportant co remember thatthe play- trim contro equalize the signal fore Dolby decoding, The idea sto undo the response: disturbing effects of a poorly recorded tape embodying a bias or azimuth mismatch) before they have a chance to cause Dalby ‘mistracking, which could compound the dif- ficult. The 6300's own measured playback response is to0 good to need the minista ‘ions ofthe play-iim; the azimuth match be ‘oveen the deck and the lab's BASF test tape is very good to excellent. There isa slight downward cant to the curve, but tweaking the play-tim would tlt only the top octave ‘or two back upward. Again, there is no ob jective calibration, and all measurements ‘were made with the control atits detent Few radio stations and hardly any TV.sta- tions seem able to limit dynamic range as naturally and as effectively as does the car- stereo processor built into the 6300. so we hope professional audio engineers wil take note ofits properties. Standard practice puts the compression (or limiting) atthe top of the dynamic range. squashing the transients that give music its punch and resulting in high-level mush. fa many broadeass limit is put on the louds and then, all {00 often, the musical dynamics are jammed up ag that limit, By Leaving the p pressed, the NAD design keeps all the punch fn the music When DSL tried progressively lowering a L-AHz tone, it discovered no level alter: ftion down to — 14d Astheinput tone was Towered 16-dB more, recorded level did drop steadily, but by only 2¥ dB. From there (~$0 dB and below), output once ‘again fell proportionately to input. Asa re sult (and again, unlike typical broadeast pro: cessors) the silences don'ttend to illin with biss—or, in concert recordings, with horren dously loud audience noise, But DSL'stest tells only partof the story ks uncom: 1 doesn’t address the compressor's attack and release times, which have been wel cho: sen to avoid unnatural-sounding artifacts (pumping and the like). Some response shaping—a.ka. loudness compensation— further hones the effect to compensate for 3 car's high level of low-frequency noise and the attenuation of treble by upholstery and the effects of non-ideal speaker location “There were times when we could detect the processor at work by ea alone, anda li tening progressed, we sometimes became aware that soft passages were a bit more i sistent than normal, But considering the de saree of compression involued, we were as tonished, in home listening, how few—and hhow enildwere our complaints fora system not designed for that purpose. Ifyou play a Tot of cassettes—classical music, n particu: lar—in your caror on your Walkman and are sick of missing the soft passages obscured by talfic/subway/sacuunt-cleaner/lawn-mow- ‘er noise, this feature may be just what you've been looking fr In short, we are very impressed with the NAD 6800, Despite its relatively plain ap pearance, its far more than attin-ol-the-mnll, ‘deck, Sonically, it can bear comparison (0 any deck on the market, and its mechanics should delight most serious recordists. Is, rejection of features (other than the remote) that contribute nothing to performance per seisrefreshing—and very satisfringif you're Impatient with gewgaws. No $400 deck can be called a budget model, but the 6300's so: id performance and unusual capabilities cer. Lainly justify NAD's continuing reputation for exceptional value =HI-FI REVIEW (GREAT BRITAIN) ‘The 6300 was predictably excellent in what it could do with prerecorded tapes in its abilty to resurrect poor cas- settes with play trim, the 6300 was clearly superior to the reference ZX-9 and all other decks . .. Recordings on Maxell MX were quite astonishing High frequency quality was perfectly maintained, giving clear, bright treble and moreover fast, strong transients free from splash and grain... The 6300 rivals the abilities of Nakamichi. ‘BX-300 with metal tape and was clearly better than others... This sophis- ticated dual-capstan, three-head re- corder embodies all the latest in cassette deck technology and has been thoughtfully designed to provide the highest standard of performance when recording and when playing back pre-recorded tapes—an aim achieved, tests revealed, SOUND INSIGHTS (AUSTRALIA) At a time when most of the other manufacturers are tending to stress operational simplicity and brash visual impact, NAD are stressing visual simplicity and operational complexity. The NAD 6300 comes with some revolutionary design advances . . . Much to my surprise this cassette recorder, unlike the other imported cassette recorders on the market, sensibly incorpo- rates an unswitched ac accessory output socket . .. The replay fre- quency response characteristics of the unit exhibited extremely smooth and unusually flat replay response for all tape types . . . the record to reply frequency responses at ~20VU provided by examples of type I, type II and type IV tapes, without any special adjustment of the controls, are particularly im- pressive . . . This particular set of record/replay frequency responses display show the benefits of the Dolby HX Pro and the Dyneq cir- cuitry which shows up to great and unquestioned advantage . . . The channel separation is 75 dB at 1 kHz which is unusually high (and good) In practical use the NAD 6300 deck cassette corder is extremely easy to use, requires no special use of controls or settings and yet pro- vides first class performance, al- most without trying ¢ NAD 6300 recorder is unquestionably the best cassette recorder that NAD have yet produced. It offers a perfor- mance which is truly ‘avant garde and in the top league for cas: recorders in the under $2000 bracket This is one cassette recorder that I would not be scared to buy nor to recommend to anybody in the market for a new recorder: