OT: Vintage audio part 3

[William]

Let's talk cassette decks. Whaaaa...I know, I said cassette deck.


Bare/Bear with me for a moment. As I stated in one of the earlier threads, we recently dug up my old album collection, and with it my cassette collection from back in the day. Some commercial, plus many tapes I made. Our daughter just left for school and didn't want to take her receiver and turntable to her dorm room so instead she took a Sony boom box. She digs cassettes about as much as vinyl so I let her take them.

Which brings me here, I've set up my own vintage turn table, integrated amp, FM tuner, CD player, and now I want to add a cassette deck to be able to record my albums and send them to her in care packages. So, what to look for in vintage cassette decks?

I have my eye on a couple of units...

TEAC V-3RX & 5RX
Denon DR-1M
Yamaha KX-1200
A couple of Nakamichi 2 & 3 head decks

Any other suggestions?






William

[dustyrider]

I love mixed tapes as much as I love full albums! Alas, my iPhone shuffles my music upon request, so I’m useless at this point.

[josephr]

are you sure you're doing this for her????

The Nakamichi models were the gold standard for their day...but, any of those would be good. Cassettes were made on the cheap with inexpensive media and what's left of worn out on your copy of INXS-Kick has probably degraded from sitting in your attic for the past 30 years.

[dmurphey]

my brother is a jazz musician who had an old VW bus outfitted in the late 70's with a Nakamichi cassette deck running off 12 volt power plugged into Adcom or Advent integrated amp that also ran off 12 volt power, going to 2 large home speakers bolted in rear over engine. The best Maxell UD XL tape were used. Although a car is never a place to find high fidelity, this was a noble attempt at the time.

[jtakeda]

I think a 3 head nakamichi is a little ridiculous if all of this is for your daughter playing them out of a boom box. Unless you like spending hundreds of dollars and searching down something that will likely need a bit of repair.

I’d just go for. Teac or technics deck. You should be able to find one at your local thrift.

[pdmtong]

Nak dragon for the win, Nak 600 for the looks. Or get the portable that all the folks at Dead shows used to make their cassettes for trade.

Go find some TDK SA or Maxell UDXL II as well

[joosttx]

Awia AD-F770

[Peter B]

<snip>

The best Maxell UD XL tape were used.

Blast from the past!

[Bob Ross]

Agree that Nakamichis were the gold standard...but any 2nd-hand cassette deck will in all likelihood have enough head wear to make it a more even playing field*

I would instead buy a new Tascam; a couple models are still available from pro audio vendors.




*though it's worth noting that one of the things that made Naks so good was that they machined their precision playback head gaps to a far greater depth than any other manufacturer so that frequency response did not suffer as the heads wore.

[William]

I think a 3 head nakamichi is a little ridiculous if all of this is for your daughter playing them out of a boom box. Unless you like spending hundreds of dollars and searching down something that will likely need a bit of repair.

I’d just go for. Teac or technics deck. You should be able to find one at your local thrift.

I get it, but who needs a classic Porsche or Ferrari either.:)


The cool thing is there seems to be a number of techs in the area who originally worked for some of these companies who repair vintage audio and bring it back to spec. There is even a long time nakamichi tech who is in CT that that far from me so there is that option if needed.








William

[drewski]

I still play my Maxell UD XLII c-90'S from the 1980's. They sound great!!!!


These were recorded on a basic Pioneer Tape Deck. I used to obsessive about keeping the heads clean.


I have some concerts off the radio I really love to play every now and then.
My personal esoteric favorite is Blue Oyster Cult live. I can't remember where. I love the song 7 Screaming Dizbusters. I love Eric Bloom and the boys live.

[GOTHBROOKS]

ive had an onkyo cassette deck for almost 20 years but its starting to act up. the record side just stopped working completely. only occasionally will the playback side play or ff/rw. i dont know if that means the motors are going out? i should probably just go out and buy a new one and throw this one in the trash.

[Gern]

I have had a Yamaha KX 1200 since 1988. It sounds good and still works well. At the time, it was the best of the decks that I auditioned.

[William]

ive had an onkyo cassette deck for almost 20 years but its starting to act up. the record side just stopped working completely. only occasionally will the playback side play or ff/rw. i dont know if that means the motors are going out? i should probably just go out and buy a new one and throw this one in the trash.

If it's a belt drive unit you may just needs a new set?





William

[William]

I have had a Yamaha KX 1200 since 1988. It sounds good and still works well. At the time, it was the best of the decks that I auditioned.

Yes, the KX series was very well regarded.





William

[chiasticon]

making mix tapes for your daughter, I love it! :banana:

[Plum Hill]

Advent.

[William]

ive had an onkyo cassette deck for almost 20 years but its starting to act up. the record side just stopped working completely. only occasionally will the playback side play or ff/rw. i dont know if that means the motors are going out? i should probably just go out and buy a new one and throw this one in the trash.

If you like it, see if it is belt driven or direct drive...

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/onkyo.shtml?category=cassette-deck






William

[GOTHBROOKS]

it just says the motor is a dc servo. complete replacement decks are around $50 on ebay. im just gonna replace it outright.
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-JH0pprnAu0q/p_580TARW255/Onkyo-TA-RW255.html

[Ken Robb]

it just says the motor is a dc servo. complete replacement decks are around $50 on ebay. im just gonna replace it outright.
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-JH0pprnAu0q/p_580TARW255/Onkyo-TA-RW255.html

I followed the link to Crutchfield where the page states the item is no longer available.

[GOTHBROOKS]

heres a used one (https://www.ebay.com/i/283127720799?chn=ps) on ebay for $40. with some bonus nazareth, wishbone ash, black oak arkansas, and thin lizzy cassettes included.

[jtbadge]

heres a used one (https://www.ebay.com/i/283127720799?chn=ps) on ebay for $40. with some bonus nazareth, wishbone ash, black oak arkansas, and thin lizzy cassettes included.

Woah!!! Instant party.

[William]

heres a used one (https://www.ebay.com/i/283127720799?chn=ps) on ebay for $40. with some bonus nazareth, wishbone ash, black oak arkansas, and thin lizzy cassettes included.

Pug included? You could crank "Love Hurts" while giving a hug to a pug! GO FOR IT!!!!!:D






William