The greatest consumer cassette tape deck ever produced?*

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Cowboy Kim, Feb 3, 2017.

  1. rfs

    rfs Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lansing, MI USA
    I used to have a Luxman K106 that had dbx, but I never used it (dbx I mean).
     
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  2. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    In fairness, the noise on MTS stereo broadcasts might well have been down to the equipment used to:

    * Record the original scenes
    * Edit the program
    * Store the final edit
    * Duplicate the final edit
    * Playback and transmit the program

    The reality is, the audio chain in a lot of TV production facilities and a lot of broadcasters wasn't all that great until the '90s.
     
  3. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    So the list of manufacturers whose decks came with dbx includes:

    Akai
    Alpine
    Luxman
    Marantz
    Pioneer
    Samsung
    Sanyo
    Teac
    Techniques
    Yamaha

    Since Sanyo is on that list I thought, "What about Fisher? Sanyo bought them in '75...". So I Googled and sure enough, I found a video of a Fisher cassette deck in Europe that came with dbx:



    Fisher was mostly junk by the '80s in America - rack systems and such. Maybe the good stuff was all being sent to Europe...
     
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  4. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    The Yamaha was the worst sounding deck I owned so once I realized this, it saw very little use. Also, when I made tapes, I marked which machine they were recorded on to ensure I played them back correctly.

    As for dbx, I can't say I noticed any real downside. But since I mainly made tapes for the car, I didn't use it very often. Tapes made with Dolby C on either the Teac, or the Pioneer sounded better than anything the Yamaha did I thought.

    I posted this earlier in the thread (post #97, 2017) so I'll show it again. I owned a Teac V-800x, a Pioneer CT-90r, and a Yamaha K-1000u.

    Back in the early 90 Glenn Poor's Audio in Champaign, IL had a Nakamichi sales event where they offered a free cassette check.cleaning promotion. A Nakamichi rep came in to do the service and sell his decks. "Free?" I'm in. It was a bit of a shock how well my Teac V800X deck measured. The rep actually told me there was no real reason for me to upgrade.

    The best of the decks was the Teac:
    [​IMG]

    Not far behind was the Pioneer with Dolby B and C. This deck made tales which were (to me) pretty much indistinguishable from the source.
    [​IMG]

    In last place, and it surprised me, was the Yamaha. The deck with Dolby B and dbx made tapes that always sounded rolled off. Even with the tape optimization system, it was noticeable with just a casual listen.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2020
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  5. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    The FCC demanded that MTS have some form of noise reduction, as they didn't want it to have the same problem as FM stereo, where fringe area viewers would have to choose between tolerating noisy stereo or switching to mono. They tried several other noise reduction systems, including Dolby B and CBS's CX system, but dbx performed the best in their tests, and won approval. It generally worked well, except some older TVs had the stereo threshold set too low, so in some cases on a very weak or fading signal the stereo noise would overwhelm the dbx decoder and you would hear a large rush-up of static just before the decoder reverted from stereo to mono. Newer MTS decoders fixed this problem.
     
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  6. Hymie the Robot

    Hymie the Robot Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    My mom owned that Pioneer after we were robbed and had a better system stolen. I didn't use it much but many of my high school buddies would come over and make tapes for their cars and record all my vinyl using that deck.
     
    timind likes this.
  7. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    It really was an excellent deck, as long as you avoided using the reverse function. Made beautiful tapes.

    I gave mine to my son-in-law after I stopped using it. He probably hawked it.
     
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  8. Hymie the Robot

    Hymie the Robot Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I remember my mom picking up that cassette deck along with a Hitachi hifi VCR a Kenwood receiver and Bose 501 speakers. Sounded great but not quite as good as the system that was stolen.
     
    timind likes this.
  9. john morris

    john morris Everybody's Favorite Quadron

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Love it here. Always learning new stuff.
     
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  10. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

  11. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Okay.. how much did peewee herman wacked you for the service?
     
  12. john morris

    john morris Everybody's Favorite Quadron

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Not cheap to send it to Willy Herman but he is the only guy I would trust with a Nak deck..
     
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  13. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I cruised by here just to check and see what's going on with the cassette world. If there is any brand new 2 head deck (playback purpose) that's really good today, please let us know. I might buy another one. I just finished recording 16-90 minutes tapes this weekend. Man incredible job done by my Nak bx-300 recorder. Im currently playing it now on my 300b system and its just incredible!
    I wanna keep on doing more but I'm running out of 80's music format...
     
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  14. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Oops yes okay. That's what I meant. You told me he's good.
    So., any reliable brand new 2-head player in the market today?
    I need it man... I need it... badly. I can feel the taste...

    PS.. I backed out on a pioneer ct6 cassette deck carousel deal. I thought that was a machine that will end up like a death trap deal.
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2020
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  15. jeffmackwood

    jeffmackwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    Before I had my Nak, I had a Pioneer CT-8R. It was a fantastic deck - chock full of features and it made incredibly accurate recordings and dubs. If I were looking to buy another deck (I'm not - I already have a spare Akai in storage) I'd look for a CT-8R, or it's senior sibling, the CT-9R. Expect them to need an overhaul by now, but good gosh they were great machines.

    There's a glowing review by Julian Hirsch of the Pioneer CT-8R here (page 25). If I recall correctly, it was that review that caused me to rush out and buy one!

    Jeff
     
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  16. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    There isn't, unless you like dictation, radio news actualities, or church sermons. Which is all the new ones are tolerable for.
     
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  17. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Yes, the TASCAM 202mkVII / TEAC W-1200. Clearly not the best cassette deck ever made, but it's the best one you can buy new today. The mechanism is simple and the belts are incredibly easy to replace, so it should be reliable and it will be easy to maintain. Lately TEAC has been selling the W-1200 for $299 on their eBay store, but currently they're out of stock.

     
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  18. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I had a 202 early version in the late 90's. As far as I can remember they were okay player. It was actually the least deck that I was using at that time.
    Now I don't have much options, Ill think about picking up one and put an extended warranty in it. So I can use it on continuous playback. Ill probably try to order one locally like best buy or guitar center.
    I just hope the heads on these units wont kill my recorded tapes.

    I have an almost brand new Nak Bx-300 and a sony tc-k71 3-heads. The nakamichi is a hairline quieter than the other one. But I would use any of them for recording session only and having the same results which is phenomenal.
     
  19. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Its scary to look at cassette decks on evil-bay. Every seller has the same lines of pitch.
    Price: $475.00
    Condition: Excellent
    History: Im the orginal owner
    Functionality: I dont know
    Warranty: Youre on your own
    Photos taken: Right next to a trash can
    Come on where do you get these guys...? :biglaugh:
     
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  20. Ken E.

    Ken E. Senior Member

    I never owned a HE cassette deck but I had two friends who did, one was a lower-end Nakamichi the other an Akai three-head model. I remember that the tapes recorded on the Nak played back at a different speed than the Akai but that the reverse was not the case.
     
  21. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Well that's true..
    But I thought I gotta ask for any updates. I have no other source of analog player. I have a nice late 70's LP player but I hardly touch it. I prefer cassettes more.
     
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  22. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    Maybe I’ve just been fortunate to find used mid level cassette decks via eBay in good working condition.

    If I didn’t already have one, maybe I would take a chance on this. Even with a seller rating of 98 and even if it’s more expensive than most of the other used decks I’ve bought:

    JVC KD-V6 3-Head Stereo Cassette Deck 2-Motor Full Logic Tape Recorder | eBay
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2020
  23. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Looks like a good jvc deck. That might be a good candidate for someone that's looking at that category.
    All I want is a player typical 2 head but its gotta be close to new so I can use it as a workhorse. I just called guitar center and they have this Marantz.

    Marantz Professional PMD-300CP Dual Cassette Recorder/Player with USB
    Product Description:
    The PMD-300CP is a dual-well cassette recorder/player that features two speeds of dubbing and a USB output to digitize tape contents to computer for archiving. Two DC servo motors ensure stable, consistent speed for accurate recording and playback. This is the ideal unit to convert a valuable cassette tape collection into digital files.
    I'm thinking about giving this guy a shot. Its $159.00 plus I'll buy the 3 year warranty 43 bucks. If theres a problem repair or replace, they'll take care of everything including shipping. Ill be helping out the local business. and I don't have to deal with internet actors and con sellers.
    All I care about is the sound coming out of my tube system. I don't even use a dolby. If this will sound right, I think its worth $203.00 total 3-years extended warranty included.
    the con is I wont even think about using it as a recorder...

    [​IMG]
     
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  24. Ingenieur

    Ingenieur Just a dog looking for a home...

    Location:
    Back in PA
    When I was in the Army a stereo system was not practical so I got a Nak 550 and Sennheiser headphones.
    Should have never sold it.
     
  25. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    You should have never sold that... But then again, I did the same and got myself into a nut cracker.

    My contribution to the threading headline is just the best player I ever had. From 1987 to 2020 never failed. This unit is like a Toyota corolla. Not the best sounding but its already up there. Very consistent, never jammed, the easiest to replace the belts, the best playback head you can get on the golden hifi era (large teac japanese head). Nice big medium-hard pinch roller. The most problematic cassettes Ive seen as far as eating tapes are the smaller pinch rollers.
    Everything is manual even playback. Those are machines that last forever.
    I sold mine after 33 years a few months ago because I bought 2 high-end decks.
    On top of that, I truly regretted it.

    • Teac CX-310
    • Stereo Cassette Deck
    • MSRP $200
    • 1980 - 1982
    [​IMG][​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    These are the Teac CX-310 main features:

    • Exterior
      • 19-Inch EIA Rack Mounting
      • Front Loading
      • Orientation Left
      • Silver Finish
    • Head Configuration
      • 2 Head Desiǥn
      • 4 Track / 2 Channel
    • Connectivity
      • 2 Mono Microphone Inputs
      • Headphones
      • RCA Input/Output Connectors
    • Display
      • 3-Digıt Mechanical Counter
      • Analog Needle Meters
    • Transport
      • Sìngle Capsŧan Transport
      • Belt Drive (Capsŧan)
      • Mechanical Tape Loading
      • Auto Shutoff
    • Tape
      • Manual Tape Equalization
      • Chrome Tape Capabılity
      • Normal Tape Capabılity
      • Metal Tape Capabılity
      • Manual Tape Type Selection
    • Noise Reduction
      • Dolby-B Noise Reduction
    • Preamplifier
      • Individual Input Level Controls
    • Operation
      • Mechanical Transport Control
      • Line / Mic Input Select
    • General
      • Stereo
    Speed
    • 1⅞ ips - 4.76 cm/s
     

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