peterr (12/19/82)
I've just bought a Sony Walkman(tm) WM-7 which I'm quite pleased with. It's
a play-only Dolby-B equipped unit with auto-reverse and an ingenious remote
control on the headphone cord that allows one to start, stop, and change
direction without requiring extra conductors in the headphone cord (so the
unit will take any stereo headphone with a mini plug). However, if I sit in
a quiet room, turn the volume of the unit to zero, and start the tape going,
I can hear a distinct and objectionable hiss. This is not from the tape, as
the volume is set to zero, just basic noise coming from the amp.
My question: Do merket pricing considerations force this sort of performance
in the Walkman series? When I listened to the unit in the store, I couldn't
hear the hiss, so I assume it is masked in most listening situations. Have
Sony made a calculated psycho-acoustic decision to reduce costs by being
able to use a noisy amp, or do I happen to have a bad unit?
I'll summarize replies for the net; thanks for any help. peter rowley
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