FM/AM 4-Channel/2-Channel Receiver Devised for the budgetconscious music lover. Model SA-5600X 4-channel/2-channel receiver nevertheless embraces many of the premium-performance features, now characteristic of the entire Technics family. Its outstanding cost/performance ratio projects it above its competitive class with such features as OCL amplifier circuitry, 4-pole MOS FET in the FM front end and the total power availability in either 2-channel or 4-channel operation made possible by Balanced Transformer-Less (BTL) circuit design. There has been no economizing in the application of Technics technology. Total Discrete 4-Channel Capability The 4-channel sound of the future—the near future—will be discrete. There are already some open-reel 4-channel tapes and numerous 8-track cartridges available, and CD-4 discrete disc recordings are now beginning to assert the superiority that will undoubtedly make them the predominant -4-channei source of the future. The SA-5600X is ready for this situation, even ahead of it. It can handle every discrete 4-channel source now available or to come. Tape sources can be directly connected. The complementary Panasonic SE-405H CD-4 discrete-disc demodulator can be added simply. And a socket on the back panel provides direct access to the FM tuner circuitry for instant connection of an FM 4-channel accessory demodulator, whenever the Federal Communications Commission approves a method for broadcasting 4 discrete channels. SA-5600X Total Matrix 4-Channel Capability A built-in decoder provides immediate recovery of the 4-channel mode from any matrixed program source, whether on disc recording or broadcast. Moreover, there is a real solution to the problem of matching different matrix systems. Instead of the usual single, compromise decoding network that does not quite decode any system accuratefy, there are two matrix positions on the modfc switch to cover the full range of systems in use. MATRIX 1 matches the so-called Regular Matrix which embraces matrixed material available in the United States with the excep- tion of sources encoded via Matrix 2. The MATRIX 2 position matches the method most widely used in the United States for disc recording. Necessary matrix phase shift is built into the decoder, so that no separate adjustment is required. Precise 4-Channel Balance, With Individual Level Controls For Each ChannelThe startling, dynamic potential of 4-channel sound is best realized when the sound field is properly-balanced. Such balance is not automatically assured because it is affected by room conditions, speaker placement, musical content and individual taste. The SA-5600X facilitates optimum adjustment with a control arrangement that combines outstanding flexibility with ease of operation. There are four individual level controls, one for each channel, grouped in a square around the main volume control so as to correspond to the normal pattern of speaker placement. With these, the output of each speaker may be adjusted to accommodate such variables as differences in sound character, efficiency between front and rear speakers, physical or acoustic variations in the room, departures from ideal speaker location and other problems. Once these relatively permanent adjustments have been achieved, the master level control may be used for all channels simultaneously without upsetting the carefully established relationship among all four speakers. In addition, the user may wish to alter overall balance temporarily to correspond to his position in the room (without having to confine himself to the precise center of the sound field). He may then wish to restore normal balance. This is readily accomplished with the simple addition of the Optional Remote Balance Control, Model SH-1010, which plugs directly into a back-panel jack. With this single-lever “joystick” type of control, the balance can be temporarily tilted to favor any direction. It can also be used for such dramatic effects as "walking" the sound around the listening area.