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Cassette decks. How good can it get?

I know some guys are going to just want to say a bunch of negative stuff about tape decks and tell me how bad they sound.  There is a lot of music that comes out on tape only (you usually get download too) so I have been acquiring quite a stack of cassettes.  I have a couple of Nakamichi decks BX100 and BX300. The 300 is not working and was thinking of trying to repair.  I am wondering how good of sound you can get out of cassette?  Has anyone taken the leap up to something like the much more expensive Nakamichis or other brands even.  I enjoy the sound. Mainly it's the background noise more than anything but even that is somewhat tolerable.  

128x128ejlif
roadwhorerecords
284 posts
 

Had the Nak 1000 and CR-5A, CR-5A was better. My CR-5A had been tweeked by our 2in R2R tech and biased to TDK MA-XG tapes. Was better than any 7 1/2 ips R2R I ever owned ( admittedly i've only owned 3, but have listened to many in and out of the studio. Supposedly this was the 2nd CR-5A in the USA, per our NAK rep. I truly enjoyed it 'till the day some scumbag stole it.😢

td_dayton
320 posts
 

had an akai gx9 back in the day that was superb...that was hands down the best tape deck i've owned. never got my paws on a high end nak though. maybe someday.

right now i use an akai gxz9000 which i believe was a japanese-market-only 3-head deck, and then upstairs a nakamichi bx1 (their entry level 2 head from 83 iirc) that i picked up for super cheap. both awesome, reliable decks that sound excellent. all in all i've owned maybe a dozen decent ones, give or take. before these current two i had a suckface luxman, truly 'love it or hate it' lookswise, but for a 2 head deck just great sound. an old harman kardon 292 that was a workhorse for years. a whacked out jvc that looked like a coked out executive's idea of "futuristic tech"...a couple really nice sonys..etc etc

i'm not adding much here since the OP asked about TOTL stuff but i had to weigh in because i love the format and the gear.

emrofsemanon's avatar
emrofsemanon
292 posts
 

pioneer came out at the last with a cassette deck [CT-W616DR] that employed a refined form of digital DNR and also "digital flex" [dynamic treble enhancement above 10kc], that reported nearly the same s/n ratio as [average quality 16 bit] digital equipment. reviews were mixed-

http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=59361

jimijam
61 posts
 

My JVC KD-A77 I brought new still sounds great , it was good enough for Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab . I'm going to sell it .I just found a Technics RS 9900 US in perfect condition I'll keep this one 

richopp
760 posts
 

Nak 1000 and Nak Dragon are about the best. Adjustable azimuth heads help. We hooked up the 1000, I think, and A-B’d it with the vinyl back in the day.

Biggest difference was that the Nak added a hard-to-describe "hollow" sound to the playback. Other than that, it was identical (Audio Research/Magnepan system) using a Linn Sondek, as I remember. Can’t remember the cartridge--moving coil, I am sure, but we also tried it with moving magnet ones as well.

I think Tandberg had a good one as well...hard to remember that far back any more.

Cheers!

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