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Vintage cassette decks -- which should I go for?

Excumbrian

Excumbrian

Active Member
First of all, I'm looking for bang for the buck.
Second, I wouldn't be looking for resale value.
Third, I am not a technician, so lower maintenance would be nice.

At the moment there are quite a few local options:
1: A Sony TC-WR710 on offer at $40 (private sale)
2: A Denon MR-44 from a reputable local vintage audio shop $65
3: Various Akai GXC series models from same shop $30-$85
4: Various Nakamichis (same shop), ranging from BX-1 ($75) to $210 (RX-202)
5: Akai GXC706D $25 (private sale)

Opinions please, ladies and gents...
 
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I have a Yamaha KX-1200U. It was as far as I know the nicest consumer deck Yamaha ever made. I have used a lot of decks over the years but this has been hands down the best for me. It cost around 800 dollars new in the late 80's. I do not see them often on ebay but when they come up they are in the 200 dollar range.
 
I found a perfect, working BX-2 in original box, packaging, with manual on the swap pile at our town dump. It's a low-end deck. A BX-1 for $75 is overpriced.

www.naks.com (EDIT: which doesn't seem to be responding at the moment... perhaps it'll be back)
 
I've been looking at the Nak 202's and that looks high. I loved my Nak LX-3 untill it developed buzzing sound I'm currently trying to track down with help here on AK.

I like Harman Kardon decks as well as Onkyo. Dennon are excellent. Never owned Akai but great heads.

Nice to be able to afford the stuff I could only dream of back in the day.

Here's my trusty H/K CD-191:

hkcd191.jpg
 
The BX-1 is a good machine. But I agree that this is too much. I regularly see comparable Naks (Bx-2, Bx-100, BX-150) for under $30 on CL.

While that was the BOTL Nak in its day, its performance was equal to that of many manufacturers TOTL decks. But some of the better Naks are much more worthy of pursuing, if you are patient enough to wait for one to show-up.
 
The thing about decks is that they age somewhat un-gracefully (I own about a dozen decks right now and used to work in a tape production house - GRT). They mostly need service and belts/tires.

Even direct drive decks will have slip clutches and idler wheels that harden and age with time. No matter what deck you buy, the odds are 50-50 that it will need service. Service runs from about $125 for a relatively simple (to work on) deck like a nice two head Nakamichi 480 to many hundreds if on a German deck with spare parts availability issues. That said, I would not own them if I did not like the technology.

The next issue is the tape itself. It ages and the internal (to the tape cassette) corner rollers and such get harder with time and drag on the now more brittle tape. One day - bingo, a favorite tape is toast. Oh Well - you got your enjoyment before it went. Tapes are like $.50 at the thrifts so this is a great way to get "vintage" music for cheap.

Now to the decks - My Denon 740 has the strongest transport of all the decks I own. It'll play a tape that others refuse to. That's playing with the devil, but what the hey - why toss the tape when I can get one or two more rounds. My Nakamichi's sound the best, but the Denon is a very close second. Especially on factory recorded tapes.

I generally say stay well away from dual well decks, so if any on your list are dual well - cross those off. The Naks are interesting, but I think the vendor is playing the price game, unless he'll warranty them? They Akai's are pretty bullet proof. They may not be as good as a Nak (not many are), but they mostly play forever and they have a large following due to their robust construction and that they do play well. Nothing taken away from Akai. In some ways they were leaders in cassette for years.

But if you want to buy one deck and don't want problems down the road, look for dual capstan three head direct drive models. MFG is not as important as this feature set. Decks built with these features were at the top of the respective MFGs range. They have the most robust drive/transport, best heads, best circuitry, etc. You can probably get one for around $75. Another $125 for service and you are in the door for ~$200 for a deck that may have cost $500-$900 new. It ran for at least 10-12 years before the drive parts started to age. Once serviced, it'll run that long again :)
 
Excumbrian said:
First of all, I'm looking for bang for the buck.
Second, I wouldn't be looking for resale value.
Third, I am not a technician, so lower maintenance would be nice.

At the moment there are quite a few local options:
1: A Sony TC-WR710 on offer at $40 (private sale)
2: A Denon MR-44 from a reputable local vintage audio shop $65
3: Various Akai GXC series models from same shop $30-$85
4: Various Nakamichis (same shop), ranging from BX-1 ($75) to $210 (RX-202)
5: Akai GXC706D $25 (private sale)

Opinions please, ladies and gents...
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I seem to have a few cassette machines. The Denon DR-M44 is very sharp. They came in black or silver face. The sound is excellent and they do last. They went for around $650.00 in 1984.
 
I've been through several in the last four years or so. And I do mean several.
Problem with cassette decks is that it's all a crapshoot on machines that are getting old. You need to run one through its paces a few times to see what problems pop up. At least turntables are fairly simple. If I was to completely dedicate myself to one model (and my H/K may be it) I'd make sure parts weren't going to be a problem and get service and operator's manuals for it.Then I'd buy another of the same model.
Cassette decks have so many frickin' little moving parts it's not funny.
Personally I've been soured on offerings by Sony, Pioneer, and Technics. I had a Kyocera that looked promising but it **** the bed too. I'd go with the Akai if parts were not a problem (and I don't know if they are) simply because there are a lot of them around.
 
I've had good luck with Yamaha decks lately. After 20+ years, my trusty Harman Kardon 2000 started having problems even after servicing. So a few years ago I picked up a Yamaha KX330 and KX530, both with Dolby B & C, HX Pro, and play trim, which tweaks the highs when playing dolby tapes recorded on other machines if needed. I replaced the belts on them, which I would consider routine maintenance, and have had zero problems with either of them. No complaints about the sound either!

But like a lot of us, I am still tempted by the idea of a Nak deck. But I am having a hard time drawing an objective conclusion about their reliability/high maintenance, since there seems to be so much conversation about it. Wondering if it would be like going from a used Honda to a used Alfa...

Good luck with your search!

Best regards,
Mike
 
I owned a Nak 580M back in the day (mid 80's)...simple two-head unit, but SUPER stable and smooth...I eventually traded it for $250 and a BX-1...the BX-1, IMO, could not carry the 580M's jock, but I was in college at the time and needed the $$$...
 
ampegdan said:
I had a Kyocera that looked promising but it **** the bed too. I'd go with the Akai if parts were not a problem (and I don't know if they are) simply because there are a lot of them around.
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The Kyoceras are easy to service. They share essentially the same Sankyo transports that the Latter Naks used. So they had the same problem: Primarily tires that wear-out. But these are easy to replace.

I'd actually highly recommend these machines, as they were probably the best two-head decks ever made. Yes, these were even better than similar two head Naks because they featured built-in tape calibration controls, and also used the same direct-drive tranports as the 3-head Sakyo-transport Naks). These easily out-performed the majoriy of three head machines.
 
I'm an Akai fan, they can be had for dirt cheap and are nice machines. I personally wouldn't pay more than $20 for a deck unless it was a TOTL model with 3 heads. I see vintage tape decks all the time at thrift shops for $10 or less.
 
hypertone said:
I'm an Akai fan, they can be had for dirt cheap and are nice machines. I personally wouldn't pay more than $20 for a deck unless it was a TOTL model with 3 heads. I see vintage tape decks all the time at thrift shops for $10 or less.
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Great debate guys -- thanks for the advice! I've heard good things (through AK) about the Denon deck so I may be tempted to have a look. I know Akai were high quality machines in their day but my lack of technical prowess worries me. Having said that, if I can pick one up dirt cheap how much damage can I do? ;)

The Nakamichis certainly have that great reputation but, at least round here, they seem to be expensive, and I wonder how much of that is price inflation due to the name. It's the same with anything with "Sansui" written on it.

Needless to say, please feel free to add your 10 cents' worth, because I am new to this game and want to make sure I have lots of info. before spending.

Many thanks,

David in BC
 
I'd recommend a Teac A-360. It has classic top load styling, an AC motor, is built like a brick crap house and will need only cleaning and belts to run for years.

I've futzed with a lot of other models and it is hit and miss. I have three of these Teacs and they amaze me. They were built in a day before plastic crap and disposable parts, they were built like the old reel to reel decks...apart from belts and head wear, they'll outlast you.
 
You might want also to consider some of the pro decks, such as Tascam 112, 122 models, which are excellent performers and are less of a pain to work on compared with the Naks - Sansuis are my LEAST favorite deck for working on. I run a nice TEAC C-1 and it only cost me $100 and is totally mint, mind you I had to add two pinch rollers $70 from Terry Witt's firm, but now it sings like the proverbial bird. I have had two TEAC CX-650R's which were excellent, plus a whole boatload of other vintage high-end TEACs and I would not hesitate to recommend them to my best friends! Sony ES decks can be excellent performers but can get pricey at times, although recent sales values have not been too bad. I agree with one poster who said it's a crapshoot - you might want to find one that has been fitted with new belts at the very least and don't be afraid to test or query fast wind/rewind speeds - especially if you should be tempted by Pioneers - pretty, but those idler wheels can be a pain in the butt! Naks are great sonically although some of the lesser models are not great build quality (I used to work for a Nakamichi distributor in the UK - B&W/Nakamichi in Worthing). The higher end decks are superb. My favorites are the older tri-tracers, the 600 Mark II and my own deck, the 700 Mark II. I sold my Dragon but you are looking then at around $500+ anyway, so that's probably not your thing right now. Still, if you buy a cheap deck, you'll only end up replacing it, so consider getting a deck that really makes you want to enjoy taping and listening to tapes. For many of us at AK, tape is still a very, very big deal. Good luck.
 
Sansui Louie said:
I'd recommend a Teac A-360. It has classic top load styling, an AC motor, is built like a brick crap house and will need only cleaning and belts to run for years.

I've futzed with a lot of other models and it is hit and miss. I have three of these Teacs and they amaze me. They were built in a day before plastic crap and disposable parts, they were built like the old reel to reel decks...apart from belts and head wear, they'll outlast you.
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I couldn't agree more!
 
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