Tascam 102 MKII

[NAD613]

This was the last single well deck Tascam made & it became discountinued earlier this year. A few online stores still carry it for around $320 w/free shipping. Man, I'm tempted to buy it. What to do?

[macster]

This was the last single well deck Tascam made & it became discountinued earlier this year. A few online stores still carry it for around $320 w/free shipping. Man, I'm tempted to buy it. What to do?


It depends on what you are after. If you want a deck that can record and play "all" types of tapes well, then I don't think that this is it. I'm basing that on both of my 122MKIII's. They record on TDK and Maxell very well and other brands pretty good. Now my Revox B-215 records and plays back very well on all brands of tape and is a rock solid deck. This is the deck that I would buy if I wanted to get the "best" value for my investment dollar in this hobby. Now I'm still a Nak guy thru and thru, but the B-215 is hard to beat for value and performance.

M~

[Des-Lab]

In addition to what Macster said, you also have to ask yourself if this is a purchase you are contemplating because it's something you want or need as opposed to a "closeout" panic purchase-you know...buying it now because you won't be able to in the near future.

If it's the former, then I'd say yeah. Go ahead and get it. But if all you are thinking is "I don't want it, I don't need it, but I better buy one before they're gone", then no. Save your money for something that you CAN use.

[NAD613]

In addition to what Macster said, you also have to ask yourself if this is a purchase you are contemplating because it's something you want or need as opposed to a "closeout" panic purchase-you know...buying it now because you won't be able to in the near future.

If it's the former, then I'd say yeah. Go ahead and get it. But if all you are thinking is "I don't want it, I don't need it, but I better buy one before they're gone", then no. Save your money for something that you CAN use.

Yeah, I don't really need it. I've already got a nice NAD, Teac, my Sony dual cassette deck, not to mention a 70's top-loading Realistic. No, I don't really need it. I'd like it & I can afford it, but I can't really justify buying it. For that same money, I could buy another Teac A-103 & get it pretty much fully restored.

[mmay519]

NAD,

I'll add something else about this particular Tascam that I have found curious. All of the factory literature (reproduced by numerous dealers) mentions that the '102 has "bias fine-tuning:" it does not. A local guitar shop had one on sale about ten years ago, and I noticed it then. I emailed Tascam about it, and got a "oh, yeah, you're right" response from them.

At one time, I too thought it might be a "last cassette deck" choice, but quite frankly there are better ones to be had.

Some of them even have bias fine-tuning!

Take Care,

Mike

[NAD613]

NAD,

I'll add something else about this particular Tascam that I have found curious. All of the factory literature (reproduced by numerous dealers) mentions that the '102 has "bias fine-tuning:" it does not. A local guitar shop had one on sale about ten years ago, and I noticed it then. I emailed Tascam about it, and got a "oh, yeah, you're right" response from them.

At one time, I too thought it might be a "last cassette deck" choice, but quite frankly there are better ones to be had.

Some of them even have bias fine-tuning!

Take Care,

Mike

Yeah, I noticed that, too. It says it has it, but on the pics online I can't find the knob. A fine bias adjustment is something I would need to have, as it really brightens up type I cassettes. If/when I get another deck, I'll probably have an old Teac rebuilt that has that feature on it.