Good cassette player?

As long as the tapes were good quality, TDK, Maxell, etc. they should play fine. If they were cheap Radio Shack or other cheap ones, all bets are off. I was always a Nak fan, and would agree that getting a used Nak would be a good idea, (since you can be sure they have been well taken care of). But you should digitalize them as soon as possible by recording direct to a PC. Lots of adapters on Amazon and other sites you can buy.

I'm listening to a tape (Sony Super Metal Master)made 2 decades ago, Bill Evans Waltz for Debby, on my Tandberg 3014A. It still amazes me how good a lowly cassette tape can sound. I'm a Tandberg enthusiast so I'm a bit biased, but the imaging and soundstaging of Tandberg is superior to other decks I've owned in the past.

My less expensive Nakamichi decks (250/350/550/600) did not always sound right with tapes recorded on other decks (Aiwa, Akai to name a few).

The exception was my 700ZXE, but it retailed for around $2.5K in the early 80's.

This is why I suggested trying the deck that they were recorded on, though a T/F service would probably make more sense (unless the OP is going to get back into cassette tape on a regular basis).

DeKay

Thanks eveyone

I'm looking into a Nakamichi.. I've restored some music gear from that era and pretty familiar with the internals.. I recapped some yamaha gear with Audio Note and other stuff. The boards are really easy to work on. I think I should try that with a Nakamichi and see what they can really do :) 

Seems I want one with their discreet heads, but simple internals. Simple audio path. Some have tons of aged cable harnesses and whatnot...too many "features". Hm

Seems I want one with their discreet heads, but simple internals.

The ones with three heads have a way of the record head failing. The head is rare and expensive (+$300). So if you are looking at such a machine, make sure it records on both channels prior to purchase! 

None of them I've seen have 'simple' internals, whatever that means.