Post Your Favorite American Cassette Player

[MyGeneration]

Hey guys,
I'm looking to buy an American made cassette player. I was hoping you guys would post your favorite ones.

 

[jan_stevns]

interresting i'm not aware of any American made casette player.

 

[guiller]

Probably these do not count, as they used Nakamichi transport and electronics: http://www.davidreaton.com/Cassette_Decks.htm

 

[KentTeffeteller]

There is ONE USA MADE audiophile grade cassette machine I know of. The Advent 201. It's electronics are made by Advent, the transport is a Wollensak/3M industrial grade audio-visual unit and a tank. Still one of the best built cassette decks ever made in sheer reliability and when well fettled sounds excellent. Has CRO2 and Dolby B, the second deck ever which had both.

 

[sregor]

Trying to come up with american made besides Advent 201. The only possibility I could think of would be Ampex, which had some cassette machines around 1970, but these were probably Japanese transports, and weren't that high in fidelity. There were American made tape duplicators, but they wouldn't count.

 

[AnalogDigit]

Was some Wollensak/3M cassette decks made in the USA?

 

[jdurbin1]

Big fan of the Advent also, specifically the 201A which was the upgraded version w/black faceplate, better head, and some other minor tweaks.

John

 

[goldear]

Didn't Advent outsource the transport on the 201A to Nakamichi? I thought that only the 201 can claim the fully american-made honor.

I've never seen an Ampex cassette deck, so I'd be curious to know if one ever existed.

 

[eddisc]

I've never seen an Ampex cassette deck, so I'd be curious to know if one ever existed.

...a quick google search showed many results, ie
http://www.vintagecassette.com/Ampex -tho not much at THAT site (sorry - got VERY sidetracked)

 

[rotovator]

isn't BIC an american brand?

http://www.vintagecassette.com/BIC

 

[jdurbin1]

I believe you are thinking of the Advent 200. The 201A uses the same Wollensak transport as the 201. The two are very close to identical other than the differences I mentioned.

John

Didn't Advent outsource the transport on the 201A to Nakamichi? I thought that only the 201 can claim the fully american-made honor.

I've never seen an Ampex cassette deck, so I'd be curious to know if one ever existed.

 

[goldear]

You're probably right. I wasn't sure of the details.

 

[quadraTOMic]

isn't BIC an american brand?

http://www.vintagecassette.com/BIC

It was an American brand at the time, but I had a T2 and it was Japanese made. I think BIC is now a Taiwanese company, same owner as AMC.

 

[TAGO MAGO]

isn't BIC an american brand?

http://www.vintagecassette.com/BIC

Yeah, my BIC T-4M was manufactured in Japan. I think the Advent 201 might be the only one made here. The only other ones I can think of used the same Wollensak transport, therefore I hesitate to consider them separate decks.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Yes, the Advent is it. The Ampex cassette machines were Japanese contract manufactured. The Wollensak decks in that era were the only other USA made cassette machines. And not as good as the Advent deck.

 

[Cactus Bob]

I used to have a Wollensak 4765 purchased new like the picture in the mid '70's. I sure wish I had it now. The walnut case & dust cover were cool & it sounded great. I loved that thing. I'm not positive if it was built here or in Japan though.

 

[MyGeneration]

How much is an Advent 201 worth?

 

[Tham]

Bigston.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEnJSxAPv1Q&feature=related

 

[pbda]

How much is an Advent 201 worth?

Not much, unfortunately. Some parts are very hard to come by. Super cassette deck, though.

 

[TAGO MAGO]

I used to have a Wollensak 4765 purchased new like the picture in the mid '70's. I sure wish I had it now. The walnut case & dust cover were cool & it sounded great. I loved that thing. I'm not positive if it was built here or in Japan though.

My guess is that deck was built here. Apart from having a much different chassis, looking at the transport controls, it appears to have a similar transport (if not the same) to the one used in the Advent deck. Not many decks had that funky play and stop configuration.