Cassette Deck??

you might go to a pawn shop and find a sony, kenwood or denon for 50 to 75 bucks. [i found a 350 dollar kenwood for 10 bucks at a flea market that has been playing fine for 3 years.] if it looks clean and not wore out it might give you some good service for a long time. see if they would give you a 30 day exchange and then clean the rollers, demagnetize and start enjoying. the other option is find a nakamichi or other high end deck here. good luck but be prepared for some old tapes to have dropouts and other deterioration.

Check your local Craigslist for a Nakamichi or Denon or a Harmon Kardon.

I would say to a avoid Nakamichi - many used a tape head configuration peculiar to Nak, so that any tapes recorded on a non-Nak deck will sound odd. Naks also tend to be pretty persnickety. I've owned a bunch of used decks over the years - I'd say a Sony, Yamaha, Denon or Technics are your best bet. I agree with the suggestion to go to a pawnshop or second hand store - cheap decks tend to be thick on the ground. As other have suggested, be sure to clean the heads and rollers thoroughly - I believe Radio Shack still sells a decent cleaning kit.