1983 Sony Walkman Professional WM-D6C Vintage Stereo Cassette Recorder – NOS All Original Example, Near Mint in Orig. Packaging

– For your consideration is this vintage Sony Walkman Professional WM-D6C Stereo Cassette Recorder / Cassette-Corder.
– This incredible fine example, serial number 507054, is in unused like new NOS condition, and includes; the original Sony rubberized cover, the original MDR-51 dynamic stereo headphones, the original RCA cable (remains factory sealed), original hand strap (remains factory sealed), and the (4) original Sony branded AA batteries (remain factory sealed), and the original silver box with ALL of the original packaging material.
– This unit has never been used once, and while it’s near mint, we hesitated to clean the styrofoam storage wear from the vinyl cassette recorder cover. Even the original fragile silver shipping carton is in very excellent condition.

The pinnacle of the Walkman cassette range, produced for pro users with a host of features.

This updated model added to the strengths of the WM-D6 by offering an important extra feature: Dolby C noise reduction. This system, which operated in playback and record, improved the dynamic range considerably. Including Dolby C noise reduction in a compact portable was not easy, and the integrated circuits which performed most of the functions had to be made by Sony themselves. The fact that this extra function could be fitted to the WM-D6 without making it any larger was amazing, though it forced some changes, for example the second headphone socket was no longer fitted.

Other useful modifications were made at the same time. Most useful of these was the addition of a line-in connector, which allowed direct connection to other audio equipment without having to use the microphone socket. This was a great improvement and helped to reduce the background noise level when recordings were made from line sources, such as a CD player, second tape recorder or a mixing desk. The level meter was also altered so that as well as showing the recording level or the battery condition, it could be switched off to save battery power.

The WM-D6C can easily be identified from the earlier WM-D6 version because the “professional” script on the top cover is green instead of yellow. The WM-D6C could not really be improved upon and so remained in production almost unaltered for many years. However, two significant changes did occur, both in the latter part of the production run. Firstly, the excellent and very effective amorphous head with its distinctive parabolic grind was replaced by a simpler, cheaper permalloy type of a cylindrical section. This later head is noticeably more wear prone and therefore could not be considered an improvement. Only latterly was the “amorphous head” script removed from the badge on the front of the machine so it cannot be used as a reliable guide to which type is fitted. Secondly, the printed circuit was re-drafted to use surface mounted components. These were much smaller than the types used originally, though as the size of the recorder stayed the same the only advantage was a reduction in the cost of assembly. The circuit remained substantially the same as before and offered near identical performance.