About to make a huge cassette buy

[NAD613]

Within the next month, I'm seriously considering buying a case, i.e. 10, 10ct. boxes, of the Akai GX-90 cassettes. I may go nuts & buy 2 cases, which drops the price from $80/case to $70/case thru B&B. Needless to say, if I do that, I should have all the cassettes I'll ever need. The way I see it, I have to get them while the gettin's good.

[vinyldavid]

Within the next month, I'm seriously considering buying a case, i.e. 10, 10ct. boxes, of the Akai GX-90 cassettes. I may go nuts & buy 2 cases, which drops the price from $80/case to $70/case thru B&B. Needless to say, if I do that, I should have all the cassettes I'll ever need. The way I see it, I have to get them while the gettin's good.

200 cassettes?

Hmmm....if Ihad 200 cassettes....I'd prolly use them in about a year.....

[Scorpion8]

Within the next month, I'm seriously considering buying a case, i.e. 10, 10ct. boxes, of the Akai GX-90 cassettes. I may go nuts & buy 2 cases, which drops the price from $80/case to $70/case thru B&B. Needless to say, if I do that, I should have all the cassettes I'll ever need. The way I see it, I have to get them while the gettin's good.

Can you PM me your street address? That way I'll know where to come shop for 5-fingered discounts when the tape supply artifically dries up due to hoarding ..... :-oo

[Web Police]

Damn they are going to run out of those Akai tapes. :(

[Mr. Lin]

Damn they are going to run out of those Akai tapes. :(

I do wonder how many they actually have. I actually just got a few boxes - not cases, boxes!

[braxus]

I got 5 boxes myself which shouldn't break the bank. 3 of SX and 2 of GX.

[Web Police]

Too bad their websites doesn't know. I put the max of 999,999 in the basket and it doesn't say they are out of stock. :-oo:

I guess I will need to email or call them on availability quantities. :)

[Des-Lab]

You guys want to stock up? I applaud your endeavors. Fest your eyes on the stash of Yours Truly*Spin*

http://x-2000r.angelcities.com/images/tapestuff/XLI_Cass_MegaLot.JPG

http://x-2000r.angelcities.com/images/tapestuff/MaxPackHigh.JPG

http://x-2000r.angelcities.com/images/tapestuff/Maxell_Metal_MegaLot.JPG

http://x-2000r.angelcities.com/images/tapestuff/DenonCassettes.JPG


It's a little incomplete. A few Maxells, all of my BlackWatch, Reel Cleer, and two bricks of Sony UX tapes aren't shown. Plus the pictures are several months old. So there are a *FEW* minor changes: a few less and a few more than what's shown. So the quantities are slightly off. But still, about 99% of what's shown, I still have.

[Scorpion8]

My stash is not for public viewing. I dun want none o' youse guys gettin' no funny idears.

[Mr. Lin]

Wow, I wish it were easy to stock up on those kinds of tapes.

[NAD613]

Wow, I wish it were easy to stock up on those kinds of tapes.

You said it. I don't live in a huge city (pop. 57,000), but 15 years ago there were at least 4 or 5 stores that had a selection of blank cassettes that we'd all be drooling over nowadays. Sony & Maxell metal tapes, lots of Maxell XLII-S, BASF, Fuji, Sony UX-Pro, TDK SA-X, etc... Then there was always the J&R Music World catalog, too. I never knew how good I had it.

[Mr. Lin]

You said it. I don't live in a huge city (pop. 57,000), but 15 years ago there were at least 4 or 5 stores that had a selection of blank cassettes that we'd all be drooling over nowadays. Sony & Maxell metal tapes, lots of Maxell XLII-S, BASF, Fuji, Sony UX-Pro, TDK SA-X, etc... Then there was always the J&R Music World catalog, too. I never knew how good I had it.

Well, we do the best we can now out of love for the hobby. I was a kid in the 80s and early 90s, so even though I played with cassettes for all kinds of purposes all the time, I never knew anything about them at all. Back then a fancy cassette to me was one that was over 100 minutes long, and ironically those are now the lengths I avoid!

So I'm just stocking up on the best readily-available tapes while I can - like the Akai and TDK SM - and also slowly building a collection of metal and NOS tapes by buying them here and there on ebay. Not cheap, but eventually I'll have a lot of them. Then I'll probably still want to stash more away.*?conf?

[Web Police]

I am always looking to add to my stash. I don't know why but I am. :D

[braxus]

I am always looking to add to my stash. I don't know why but I am. :D

I'd agree because I've got around 275 tapes of which I don't have 275 things to record onto them, so I have more then I need at the moment. But I look at these tapes as an investment.

[Acoustic]

My stash is getting better! I've got 200+ blanks to play with right now. But I'm going to have to try some of those Akai GX-90's though.

Des, your in pretty good shape with what you got.

I showed this pic to people at work and I got some strange looks!! *el_loco*

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3030/2616631005_204f064547.jpg

[braxus]

No Matt had the foresight to collect what he did when he did. No body would have ever guessed that tapes would go away from the market, so why stock up? When we realized that the tape market were shrinking, many of us weren't even using our decks much by then to warrant stocking up. Its only after that some years we realized what good sound tape has and got back into it again. This was me for sure. I still remember in 2003 buying some Sony UX-Pro tapes in the local London Drugs and they had a decent selection there still. Now its all low end tapes left. If I still kept my turntable in the late 90s, I would still have been using my deck.

[Mr. Lin]

My stash is getting better! I've got 200+ blanks to play with right now. But I'm going to have to try some of those Akai GX-90's though.

Des, your in pretty good shape with what you got.

I showed this pic to people at work and I got some strange looks!! *el_loco*

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3030/2616631005_204f064547.jpg

Looking good. I have a comparable stock that I'm going to photograph and show here and on AK fairly soon. Might take a few pictures though! Not bragging, I swear.

Tonight I ordered six more boxes of the Akai tapes: two boxes of the SX, two of the GX60, two of the GX90. That'll probably do it for those right now, I'm going to try to focus more on picking up some really good NOS tapes on ebay.

[Mr. Lin]

Des-Lab, how are those Denon HD7s? I have five of those coming in the mail, never tried them.

[Des-Lab]

HD7's are great. Pretty much all of the Denon tapes are IMO great and fun to use and listen to. HD7 performs just like a Maxell XLII or a TDK SA.

[Acoustic]

Looking good. I have a comparable stock that I'm going to photograph and show here and on AK fairly soon. Might take a few pictures though! Not bragging, I swear.

Tonight I ordered six more boxes of the Akai tapes: two boxes of the SX, two of the GX60, two of the GX90. That'll probably do it for those right now, I'm going to try to focus more on picking up some really good NOS tapes on ebay.

Thanks... I'm thinking about getting one more order in... those GX90's are a good price. Are they as good, or better than the Fuji's or the TDK's?

For your photo's... just use a wide angle lens!!:)

[NAD613]

Personally, I think the Akai GX tapes are the best deal around anywhere, especially at only $8/box for the Akai GX-90 & $4.50/box for the Akai SX-90. They are well-built, use regular-size boxes, have plenty of space to write on the J-cards, & sound fantastic. Those TDK Pro Media SM tapes are a different classification unto themselves, being as they're studio quality tapes & therefore sell for $15-$20/box & are no longer made in 90 minute lengths. They also sound great. The Fuji DR-II tapes are quite good as well, but I got to give a slight nod to those Akai cassettes. You can't really go wrong with any of those tapes. Personally, here is how I rank them:

1. Akai GX
2. TDK Pro Media SM
3. Fuji DR-II

I have bought several boxes of each & intend on buying more of the Akai & TDK SM cassettes. No one seems to know if the Akai are currently in production & why only 2 tape retailers sell them. For pure bang-for-the-buck, it's impossible to beat those Akai cassettes.

[macster]

I just bought 3 boxes, hopefully they are as good as you said.

M~

[Mr. Lin]

Thanks... I'm thinking about getting one more order in... those GX90's are a good price. Are they as good, or better than the Fuji's or the TDK's?

For your photo's... just use a wide angle lens!!:)

I pretty much agree with what NAD said about these tapes, although for me it's hard to say if I prefer one over the other between the Akai and TDK. I definitely liked both better than the Fuji.

I do have some pictures of recent arrivals in my "Look what showed up in the mail today" thread, which includes some really neat Denon HD7 tapes.

[macster]

UPS just dropped off 2 boxes of the GX 90's. These are qued up right now, and I'll be reporting back on what I found. I'll record some Bill Evans to test them out. *reelspin*

M~

[Mr. Lin]

UPS just dropped off 2 boxes of the GX 90's. These are qued up right now, and I'll be reporting back on what I found. I'll record some Bill Evans to test them out. *reelspin*

M~

Good choice, what album? Let us know the outcome.

[NAD613]

I just ordered 40 Fuji DR-I's from Tape World, $32.55 w/shipping included.

http://www.tapeworld.com/product_detail~id~74~title~DR%20I%2090+Audio%20Cas settes%20%20Normal-Bias%20Type%20I~brandname~~producttype~Audio%20Cas settes%20%20Normal-Bias%20Type%20I.htm

[Mr. Lin]

I just ordered 40 Fuji DR-I's from Tape World, $32.55 w/shipping included.

http://www.tapeworld.com/product_detail~id~74~title~DR%20I%2090+Audio%20Cas settes%20%20Normal-Bias%20Type%20I~brandname~~producttype~Audio%20Cas settes%20%20Normal-Bias%20Type%20I.htm

Are you possibly the reason there seems to be no more of them on ebay?:D

[macster]

Okay, I'm done. The verdict is based on use in my system, which is as follows:

1. CJ PV5
2 . CJ MF2500A
3. AQ cables
4. Nak CR7A
5. LP12/Ekos/LingoII/V15IVSAS
6. Vandy 3A sig speakers

Biases ----- I like my music warm and fuzzy. I hate a "detailed" musical presentation which I associate with "etched." I'm a tube guy, give me tubes or give me death.

The comparison was made between the GX90 and the new TDK SA (the blue wrapped one), using the Bill Evans at Shelly's Manne-Hole, Hollywood California lp, using the CR7A with Dolby C

The results. I preferred the TDK, as it was smoother through out music range. It was easier for me to listen to. The Akai was noticeable (to me, I have bat type hearing) as being brighter and didn't like the piano as well as the TDK SA. I liked the feel and weight of the Akai tapes and... the imaging which was outstanding, the high-hats and brushes were killer and there was no straining to hear them.
Okay done with that part. This tape (Akai) seems to be an excellent candidate for my B-215’s which are very smooooooth sounding decks. It should be a perfect match. For the Naks it's a bit too bright IMHO. If I had to use it, I would swap out the input cables from my pre-out. I'm using Straightwire Maestro’s, I would insert my AQ diamonds in place of the Straightwires.

Would I buy some or am I going to buy some more, most likely. I'll know more after I test them in the B215. Bottom line, I think that they are a good deal for the money.*reelspin*

M~

[NAD613]

Are you possibly the reason there seems to be no more of them on ebay?:D

Nope, at least I don't think so. The guy that was selling those 12 packs cheap must have run out. Seriously, he'd been selling those Fuji DR-I 12 packs for opening bid of $2, BIN of $5, $2.99 shipping, for months. I had another bid on one when I got an email from Ebay saying that the auction had been pulled. He must have finally sold out.

[Mr. Lin]

Okay, I'm done. The verdict is based on use in my system, which is as follows:

1. CJ PV5
2 . CJ MF2500A
3. AQ cables
4. Nak CR7A
5. LP12/Ekos/LingoII/V15IVSAS
6. Vandy 3A sig speakers

Biases ----- I like my music warm and fuzzy. I hate a "detailed" musical presentation which I associate with "etched." I'm a tube guy, give me tubes or give me death.

The comparison was made between the GX90 and the new TDK SA (the blue wrapped one), using the Bill Evans at Shelly's Manne-Hole, Hollywood California lp, using the CR7A with Dolby C

The results. I preferred the TDK, as it was smoother through out music range. It was easier for me to listen to. The Akai was noticeable (to me, I have bat type hearing) as being brighter and didn't like the piano as well as the TDK SA. I liked the feel and weight of the Akai tapes and... the imaging which was outstanding, the high-hats and brushes were killer and there was no straining to hear them.
Okay done with that part. This tape (Akai) seems to be an excellent candidate for my B-215’s which are very smooooooth sounding decks. It should be a perfect match. For the Naks it's a bit too bright IMHO. If I had to use it, I would swap out the input cables from my pre-out. I'm using Straightwire Maestro’s, I would insert my AQ diamonds in place of the Straightwires.

Would I buy some or am I going to buy some more, most likely. I'll know more after I test them in the B215. Bottom line, I think that they are a good deal for the money.*reelspin*

M~

Thanks for the detailed report. I too tend to prefer a warmer sound, but the Akai seem to work well with my Nak. Granted my Nak (BX-1) is far inferior to yours, so that could account for the difference. I like the TDK SA as well, and the TDK SM Pro is my second favorite, now pushed down a notch by the SA-X.

So you're using AQ Diamondbacks? That's funny because I'm using an older pair of those from the outputs on my Nak to my headphone amp, which I use for most of my tape activity at the moment.

[Mr. Lin]

Nope, at least I don't think so. The guy that was selling those 12 packs cheap must have run out. Seriously, he'd been selling those Fuji DR-I 12 packs for opening bid of $2, BIN of $5, $2.99 shipping, for months. I had another bid on one when I got an email from Ebay saying that the auction had been pulled. He must have finally sold out.

That's what I was looking for but I don't see them. Oh well, not like they're hard to find cheap.

[NAD613]

I like the TDK SA as well, and the TDK SM Pro is my second favorite, now pushed down a notch by the SA-X.

Have you seen that guy on Ebay selling all those TDK SA-X in quantities of 12?

http://search.stores.ebay.com/Hazel-Eyed-Pack-Rat__W0QQfclZ4QQfrppZ30QQfrtsZ0QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ2QQs aselZ58541802QQsofpZ0

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-Sealed-TDK-SA-X-90-Cassettes-BLank-Type-II-grp-e_W0QQitemZ160259801791QQihZ006QQcategoryZ14962QQt cZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262

[Mr. Lin]

Have you seen that guy on Ebay selling all those TDK SA-X in quantities of 12?

http://search.stores.ebay.com/Hazel-Eyed-Pack-Rat__W0QQfclZ4QQfrppZ30QQfrtsZ0QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ2QQs aselZ58541802QQsofpZ0

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-Sealed-TDK-SA-X-90-Cassettes-BLank-Type-II-grp-e_W0QQitemZ160259801791QQihZ006QQcategoryZ14962QQt cZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262

Yep I'm totally on it, but thanks for the heads up.

[macster]

Thanks for the detailed report. I too tend to prefer a warmer sound, but the Akai seem to work well with my Nak. Granted my Nak (BX-1) is far inferior to yours, so that could account for the difference. I like the TDK SA as well, and the TDK SM Pro is my second favorite, now pushed down a notch by the SA-X.

So you're using AQ Diamondbacks? That's funny because I'm using an older pair of those from the outputs on my Nak to my headphone amp, which I use for most of my tape activity at the moment.

Thanks, the tape works well, but just not to my taste. I like a warm tubey mellow type of music presentation and that's probably where the major difference is. I'm using Straight Wire Maestro cables for the input to the Nak. But tomorrow I'll test it on the B-215 and see what happens.

I have a BX-150 which I don't use a lot, I'll probably test it also and see what happens.

M~

[macster]

I tested this tape on my Revox B-215 and it is an excellent match. It is both detailed and smooth in it's presentation of the musical event. I tried it again on the CR7A and the results are the same as was previously posted.

M~

[braxus]

Nad,

I hope they still have lots of stock left because I just placed another order for those Akai tapes today. 4 boxes of SX and 1 GX. I'd thought I'd get some more of them since they seem to be good tapes.

I didn't think to ask them at the time, but when someone phones B&B next time- can they ask what stock of the Akai tapes they have. This may help use figure out if we need to be fair on what we order so some others can get a few. And it will let us know they are running short so we can adjust our own order to what we need for a last order.

[stuwee]

Okay, I'm done. The verdict is based on use in my system, which is as follows:

1. CJ PV5
2 . CJ MF2500A
3. AQ cables
4. Nak CR7A
5. LP12/Ekos/LingoII/V15IVSAS
6. Vandy 3A sig speakers

Biases ----- I like my music warm and fuzzy. I hate a "detailed" musical presentation which I associate with "etched." I'm a tube guy, give me tubes or give me death.

The comparison was made between the GX90 and the new TDK SA (the blue wrapped one), using the Bill Evans at Shelly's Manne-Hole, Hollywood California lp, using the CR7A with Dolby C

The results. I preferred the TDK, as it was smoother through out music range. It was easier for me to listen to. The Akai was noticeable (to me, I have bat type hearing) as being brighter and didn't like the piano as well as the TDK SA. I liked the feel and weight of the Akai tapes and... the imaging which was outstanding, the high-hats and brushes were killer and there was no straining to hear them.
Okay done with that part. This tape (Akai) seems to be an excellent candidate for my B-215’s which are very smooooooth sounding decks. It should be a perfect match. For the Naks it's a bit too bright IMHO. If I had to use it, I would swap out the input cables from my pre-out. I'm using Straightwire Maestro’s, I would insert my AQ diamonds in place of the Straightwires.

Would I buy some or am I going to buy some more, most likely. I'll know more after I test them in the B215. Bottom line, I think that they are a good deal for the money.*reelspin*

M~

Hey M, Great review :-)<- and don't hit and run with that Fab system, show us what it looks like, don't hold back, I've always liked the C-J tube gear, Linn, Vandies and Naks, Oh My!*hypnot**reelspin**reelspin*

[macster]

Hey M, Great review :-)<- and don't hit and run with that Fab system, show us what it looks like, don't hold back, I've always liked the C-J tube gear, Linn, Vandies and Naks, Oh My!*hypnot**reelspin**reelspin*

Thanks

But the room is a mess due to my retiring and buying a lot of unnecessary stuff. I'm cleaning it up "one pile" at a time. :-)

M~

[Mr. Lin]

Nad,

I hope they still have lots of stock left because I just placed another order for those Akai tapes today. 4 boxes of SX and 1 GX. I'd thought I'd get some more of them since they seem to be good tapes.

I didn't think to ask them at the time, but when someone phones B&B next time- can they ask what stock of the Akai tapes they have. This may help use figure out if we need to be fair on what we order so some others can get a few. And it will let us know they are running short so we can adjust our own order to what we need for a last order.

Good idea, but I wonder whether they'd tell you how much stock they have left. It seems to be a magical never-ending supply!