i wonder why nak's are thought to be significantly better than other cassette decks. i have a harmon kardon 492 with fine-bias controls and an actual freq.response graph that came in the box- a/b tests are very close to the cd, although the soundstage is mostly gone, but the music is 95% intact. i also have a tascam 122 which has to be hand-biased for each type of tape you use, an autolocator, bal and unbal i/o's etc. bought it as a refurb. from musician's friend. they went pretty quick (about $600!). nak's have azimuth adjustments, which are nice, no question, but other than that, i would want a pro-audio person to show me test bench results as well as explain where the electronics are a higher grade than the competition as well. i'm a bit biased, since i had a very nice nak in my car but it had to be fixed after only 2 yrs (they gave me a refurb to replace it, but it was BROKEN, not just a part or two)