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Cassette tape resurgence ?

JumboMumbo said:
I'm afraid my WA9ES is going to need service. I was listening to it the other day and deck A randomly slowed down play speed. Maybe new belts are in order. The question will be whether I want to try and tackle it myself or pay someone for service. From what I've read on here gremlins are not uncommon in the WA9ES. It sounds amazing, though.
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Any chance it could have just been that cassette binding?
 
Thats a crazy price and I wouldnt pay that much. That seller is just greedy and its got nothing to do with a cassette resurgence. There averaging $2. in my neck of the woods.
 
3db said:
Until I see companies making new casette decks like turntables, then I'm afraid that it will be nothing but a passing fad.
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IIRC, Tascam/Teac is offering a new dual deck atm, but the specs are pretty awful (Unacceptably low frequency response for a brand new deck, and it's not exactly cheap).

I will agree that it's going to take either production of new, quality decks with decent specs, or more part reproduction efforts to keep old decks going/restore them to keep the cassette revival going.

The latter might be more practical, as I don't see a good, new deck being price competitive with some of the decent turntables available right now in the $500-1k range (brand new), relative to the sound quality.

Not saying it's impossible, but someone would have to build something that can sound very nice, and stay within that price range. Licensing issues for things like Dolby NR and HX Pro may be also be roadblocks to new, quality decks.
 
3db said:
Until I see companies making new casette decks like turntables, then I'm afraid that it will be nothing but a passing fad.
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Crazy quote, nothing affordable these days could ever compete with a MoTL or ToTL deck from yesteryear. For a company to make a cassette deck that competes with a modest Nakamichi BX-300 would cost close to $2000 or more. BTW, the passing fad means that's it's been a passing fad for 35 years for most (that's a long passing).
 
Hajidub said:
Crazy quote, nothing affordable these days could ever compete with a MoTL or ToTL deck from yesteryear. For a company to make a cassette deck that competes with a modest Nakamichi BX-300 would cost close to $2000 or more. BTW, the passing fad means that's it's been a passing fad for 35 years for most (that's a long passing).
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If you look 35 years ago, cassette sales had a big chunk of the pie . Its nothing now and it wont even catch up to vinyl, so yes, there is no resurgance, thus making cassette comeback a fad.
 
I listened to tapes growing up in the 80s and when cds came out I pretty much stopped listening to tapes. I ways took care of my tapes and never played them on cheap decks in the car. I saved my tapes and left them in the garage for over 20 years in the hot summer sun and the cold winters of Colorado, I was givin a free Denon deck for my system and figured I would try to play my old tapes. They sounded great so I played them. That was 2 years ago. Tascam makes a new cassette deck and bohemian rhapsody has made their soundtrack on tape also.

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Taketheflame said:
IIRC, Tascam/Teac is offering a new dual deck atm, but the specs are pretty awful (Unacceptably low frequency response for a brand new deck, and it's not exactly cheap).

I will agree that it's going to take either production of new, quality decks with decent specs, or more part reproduction efforts to keep old decks going/restore them to keep the cassette revival going.

The latter might be more practical, as I don't see a good, new deck being price competitive with some of the decent turntables available right now in the $500-1k range (brand new), relative to the sound quality.

Not saying it's impossible, but someone would have to build something that can sound very nice, and stay within that price range. Licensing issues for things like Dolby NR and HX Pro may be also be roadblocks to new, quality decks.
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I heard somewhere that nobody is manufacturing the quality playback heads and likely the other components that go into cassette decks anymore. Manufacturers of new decks are limited to only the cheap Chinese playback heads made nowadays, which seriously impacts the sound quality of the device.
 
beej said:
Fad or resurgence, I don't really care. I like listening to vinyl and I like listening to tape. My 2 cents.
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Im not against cassettes. In the last 3 years, Ive purchased 5 cassette decks and use 3 of them regularly. I've got my sights on a KX1200. Until companies start manufacturing decent heads and bringing back decks (im not talking Pyle of sh.t decks either ) , its not going to amount to anything. I hope Im wrong but from what I see, its just not there.
 
Hmm, I wonder if the new BR is any better than the original tapes I have of it.... I don't have much Queen in any format.
 
Right now, I know where their is a good vintage Yamaha deck and there was an amazing heavy AKAI cassette deck there too. I know the AKAI was a good one, heavy with two horizontal slide controls. I couldn't find a picture of it on the internet. I just couldn't get myself to buy it though. I feel vinyl and CDs will stick around more than tape. I hope I'm wrong, I'm just not a tape person but I understand the interest.
 
Well I'm listening to Asleep at the Wheel that just came out of it's wrapper today. Picked it up for a buck along with 12 other new tapes. Playing them on my Nak BX 300 that I just rebelted. It looked like brand new inside and it's a 9 outta 10 on the outside. Paid too much but thought it could play well again and it does.

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sanford12 said:
Well I'm listening to Asleep at the Wheel that just came out of it's wrapper today. Picked it up for a buck along with 12 other new tapes. Playing them on my Nak BX 300 that I just rebelted. It looked like brand new inside and it's a 9 outta 10 on the outside. Paid too much but thought it could play well again and it does.

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That looks nice. This thread got me more interested. I said I saw a good looking AKAI at a thrift store, I went back today for a GW auction, it wasn't on the shelf anymore. Then I happened to see it way out of place on another shelf. I thought I might as well grab it. To me it's not "all" about performance but from a collector's point of view there is the "history" factor as well. $14.99, now I've got to get some cassettes. I'm going to clean everything but it looks like everything works, ..play, forward, reverse, everything moves.
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