Talk:Pioneer CT-S 450 S

So, year of manufacture 1996. One of the last "bolides" with everything in it what has to offer analog. Dolby S and with it also Bias measuring computer...but also all other variants like B, C, HXPro etc. everything available. Since Dolby no longer sells any licenses (for tapes) that was it. Nevertheless, the frequency response is quite low, only 17,000 Hz for Type 1 (the only one that is still manufactured) is a bit lukewarm. Why actually? The type designation points to a middle class equipment...others always indicate more. Is Panasonic just more honest, or do they hide their light under a bushel...or did Panasonic build in intentional barriers to distance themselves from the high class devices? Has anyone measured or compared the device? My guess is that this frequency response is about the same for all units with Dolby S and about the same year of manufacture. In the 1996 model year, chipsets were certainly distributed that combine the calibration computer and Dolby S...and probably all units have the same one. So is there a significant difference to e.g. the CTS 550 S or a Sony TDA TC-S1?