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Advent 201 tapedeck: Is good for a modern setup?

I just came across an Advent 201 in good working condition. It's famous for being the first true Hi-Fi tapedeck (an ancestor of the Nakamichi Dragon somehow), and some people even say that it "blows away" modern tape decks.

While it has a good reputation, I have doubts that it's suitable for my non-vintage setup. I do not have a tube amp, so having the sought-after Hi-Fi analog sound is probably not possible.

The #1 use of this deck will be to transfer my collection of old demo cassettes to digital archives. I want maximum playback quality, even if the tapes were dubbed on bad equipment or pro-duplicated at a cheap factory. It's possible that vintage equipment might not be right for the source or destination material. Any thoughts on this?

How would the playback quality compare to a modern tapedeck? This is the original 1971 design. While it supposedly has high-quality heads and a great drive mechanism, how might it compare to a 3-head Nakamichi for example? I expect that I will only need the included Dolby-B noise reduction since C tends to screw up DIY recordings in my experience.

(Stupid question: On multi-head tape decks, how many heads are used for playback?)

Either way, I think I'm gonna buy a copied manual to calibrate it properly. Before this, I was seeking out a Nakamichi and I'm really wondering if I'd be any better off. I like to learn as much as I can about audio, so I'd appreciate any input.
demogorgod4cc
demogorgo
2 posts
 
Thanks for the info, bigtee.

I don't know what other company built from the 201, but Advent did make a 201A. Nakamichi's name is brought up a lot when people talk about the 201's design, but I don't know if they really made a deck that was based on it. I did notice that those old Wollensak tape decks that come with film projectors look almost the same.

This one has actually been sitting in storage for almost a decade. I "upgraded" to a junky dual Sony deck that I'll never be able to get rid of now. It's a good thing that I didn't copy any good music with it.

I'm sure I can find a good home for this if I get a 3-head Nakamichi. The controls haven't snapped off, the head works and the the roller actually held up pretty well.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Nak is great, Tandberg too but tapedeck for modern setup??
bigtee
803 posts
 
Yea, stay away from dual decks. Most are crap! The Naks probably your best bet.
The Sony I refered to was about $1000 new. Pretty decent deck and was more for commercial use.
davetherave
95 posts
 
The Wollensak (from 3M) and the Advent used the same drive system, though I'm not sure who borrowed from whom. I had a Wollensak 4765 cassette deck in the late 70's and it sounded fantastic.
xiekitchen
821 posts
 
Try a used Nak BX-300. Great deck, can be had for under $300, although sooner or later you must have the "gear-drive" upgrade performed, and these may not be available in the future.
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