Top 10 vintage cassette decks

Even though I use aligned and calibrated by a pro Nak 682ZX with Maxell Vertex tapes on an almost daily basis, I do not recommend spending a lot on any cassette deck, including relatively high cost of maintenance. I think, 682ZX and ZX-7 are audiophile best values. 1000ZXL is a masterpiece, ZX-9 is excellent.

Yes, some say that Tandberg 3014A was the very best of them all.

My Nak has served me well for over 20 years but I really take care of it.

Oh, and I use $2600 cables with it, by the way. Yeah, I tried everything starting with Nakamichi cables, then going up Purist Audio line to Neptune, and finally settled on Wywires Diamond. It did take 20 years. I use Diamonds with phono too.

Anyway, if you want great performance - go for two track R2R.

Big recommendation for Onkyo 2600 or 2800.  I bought a 2600 new in 1989, and it still works fine.  Lots of useful features, three heads.  They come up on eBay occasionally.

I suspect the OP is looking to make his rig look a bit more sexy by adding a couple of nice looking decks. I owned the Luxman 5K50 cassette deck. It didn't spec out as high as the latter decks but man was it a nice looking deck! I would avoid it as repairs are probably a nightmare. It weighed a ton as well. The Tascams are what you're looking for I think. Nice looking VU meters and repairable. Keep an eye on your local thrift shops. It happens that one could show up. Even Craigslist. Look for classic mistakes people make when advertising such as not listing the model number. Good luck. Joe

I purchased new and still have the lowly Nachamichi 480.  It was still working years ago, but is it really worth a rebuild?  With modern streaming and records, why spend money on this medium?  I'm asking because I know that those on this thread find value in cassette tape.