Hitachi D-800 Stereo Cassette Tape Deck

This Hitachi D-800 is a stereo cassette deck with Dolby B noise reduction, it was first sold by Hitachi in 1976 with a recommended retail price of USD $480 and discontinued a year later.

The main features of the Hitachi D-800 cassette deck are: 3 heads and off-tape monitoring, mechanical 3 digit tape counter, manual tape type selection and capable of handling normal, chrome and ferro-chrome tapes, belt driven single-capstan transport.

Typical front loading cassette deck with the cassette compartiment located on the left side of the deck. Tape eject is operated mechanically and the cassette needs to be placed diagonally in the cassette well.

Level meters used on the Hitachi D-800 cassette deck are analog needle VU reading meters. Mechanical transport controls for reliable Hitachi D-800 transport function selection.

The Dolby-B system reduces tape hiss on tapes recorded on the Hitachi D-800 by as much as 10 dB at the highest frequencies. The 19kHz multiplex pilot slgnal present in FM stereo broadcasts can cause false triggering of the noise reduction system. The switchable MPX filter of the D-800 filters out the pilot signal, and assuring proper Dolby processing of FM stereo programs.

To make live recordings this deck has 2 microphone inputs to connect microphones with a jack connector. For undisturbed listening a jack connector for a pair of stereo headphones is supplied. Connection to other audio components for plaback can be achieved by a RCA cable and recording from a source by a RCA cable.