Back in 1992....

[NAD613]

...I wish I would have bought a nice, single well cassette deck w/bias adjustment instead of my first CD player. J&R Music World had a great cassette deck selection back then. Come to think of it, I believe Montgomery Wards & Best had a decent selection of cassette decks back then, too, as well as an awesome selection of blank tape. The stores still had lots of pre-recorded cassettes available. I could have waited another year or two for a CD player. If I could go back in time, I'd definetely forgo the RCA single tray CD player I bought for a nice Sony, TEAC, Technics, etc., cassette deck.

[ferriteman]

Had I known how things have dwindled for tape since then, I would have REALLY stretched by budget and bought the most TOTL deck I could get my hands on...at least a SONY ES series deck, or possibly something better, like a Revox or Tandberg or Nak. I'd still own it, which isn't farfetched, as I still own by VPI tt I bought in 1988...my preamp same year...and so on. If you acquire good hifi gear, you never want to let go of it!

At least I never let go of my tapes and my LPs...I still have 'em all.

Hindsight is always so clear!!

[stuwee]

I can seriously back up the J&R Music World experience, I was lucky to have lived in NYC then, kid in a candy store listening room, super nice sales folks, I could play anything I liked on anything I wanted, unlike some salons like the beyond snooty Sound by Singer. A-holes wouldn't give me the time of day until my ex-lover who was a Dr. wrote them a nasty letter. I digress.

I bought the entire SAE system at J&R and they even wrapped up my crazy buying spree of amp, pre and EQ with twine and handles to get it home on the subway( that's a story for another thread) Their prices back then on MA-XG's were not the lowest, so I *hangs head in shame now* bought elsewhere. I think Tower Records had the best deals at that time. I was saving up for the SAE deck and a $4 savings was that much closer to the goal!! Thanks for the memories NAD*check*

[NAD613]

Had I known how things have dwindled for tape since then, I would have REALLY stretched by budget and bought the most TOTL deck I could get my hands on...at least a SONY ES series deck, or possibly something better, like a Revox or Tandberg or Nak. I'd still own it, which isn't farfetched, as I still own by VPI tt I bought in 1988...my preamp same year...and so on. If you acquire good hifi gear, you never want to let go of it!

At least I never let go of my tapes and my LPs...I still have 'em all.

Hindsight is always so clear!!

Yeah, just 7-8 years ago, Sony, Yamaha, NAD, etc., were still making top-notch decks. Now, I think Tascam is about the only company making any decent cassette decks & I can't find anyone making a cassette deck with a manual bias adjustment control.

[stuartypoorty]

Yeah, just 7-8 years ago, Sony, Yamaha, NAD, etc., were still making top-notch decks. Now, I think Tascam is about the only company making any decent cassette decks & I can't find anyone making a cassette deck with a manual bias adjustment control.

There's a German manufacturer, T+A, that have decks in production, high end and expensive.

www.taelektroakustik.de

[niklasthedolphin]

There's a German manufacturer, T+A, that have decks in production, high end and expensive.

www.taelektroakustik.de

Data for the T+A cc 820M Cassette Deck:

Technische Daten des Cassettenrecorder CC 820 M
Laufwerk hochwertiges Autoreverse-Metalllaufwerk mit drei Metallschwungmassen und verschleißarmenm Revolverkopfmechanismus
Signalverarbeitung Dolby B-Rauschunterdrückung, HX-Pro Headroom Extension, abschaltbare MPX-Filterung 19 nd 38 kHz
System 4 Spur, 2 Kanal-Stereo, 2 Kopf
Frequenzgang
- 20 dB unter Vollaussteuerung Metall 15 – 20000 Hz
Chrom 15 – 18000 Hz
Normal 15 – 17000 Hz
Geräuschspannungsabstände
Chrom 400 Hz, 0 dB
Dolby B > 68 dB
Normal > 58 dB
Löschfrequenz 105 kHz
Löschdämpfung > 75 dB
Gleichlaufschwankungen < 0,08 %
Klirrfaktor 1 kHz, -10 dB < 0,3 %
Kanaltrennung > 45 dB
Eingangsempfindlichkeit 100 mV
Ausgangsspannung nominal 0,745 V eff, 47 Ohm
Netzanschluss 100 V über PA 800 M
oder 220 / 240 V 50 Hz
Abmessungen 8 x 30 x 30 cm
Gewicht 5 kg
Farben Alu schwarz, Alu silber, Chorm (Sonderausf.)
Fernbedienung über M-System

I'm not impressed on paper.
It could be interresting to listen to it IRL.
I don't know about the price.

"dolph"

[Scorpion8]

Ah yes, 1980's, wandering thru the stacks at Stereo Discounters in (I think) Landover, MD. Walked out with my Sansui AU-717 tucked under my arm and I would have fought dragons to get that thing home safe. They had pallets of the Sansui SC-series tape decks, and all the other sparklies that made your head turn and your neck snap. If I had a time machine too ....... Ooooooooo, baby!

That said, I probably have $5,000 worth of 1980's-money tape decks sitting here that I paid $5-10 for each. Yea, have times changed.

[Web Police]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's I used to stock up on tapes at Best Buy before they got real big and Highland Super Stores before they bit the dust. They both used to have a whole aisle of tapes probably 24 or 30 feet long.

[NAD613]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's I used to stock up on tapes at Best Buy before they got real big and Highland Super Stores before they bit the dust. They both used to have a whole aisle of tapes probably 24 or 30 feet long.

I remember Best had a shelf of tapes, not quite that big, but they had some stuff no one else in town had. Not in 2-packs like a lot of stores had, but 5 & 6 pack bricks. Also, mall record stores, like Musicland, used to be real good places to get blank tapes, higher-end type II tapes, like Sony UX-Pro. Then, of course, Monty Wards. I swear, in the early 90's, they had some of the best selection & prices on blank tapes in town. Target also had a pretty decent selection of blank tapes, too. We didn't have a Best Buy back then, but I used to travel to another city my friends lived in & they took me there. Yeah, they had a good selection of tapes there, two. Those were the days.

[fsclaol]

...I wish I would have bought a nice, single well cassette deck w/bias adjustment instead of my first CD player. J&R Music World had a great cassette deck selection back then. Come to think of it, I believe Montgomery Wards & Best had a decent selection of cassette decks back then, too, as well as an awesome selection of blank tape. The stores still had lots of pre-recorded cassettes available. I could have waited another year or two for a CD player. If I could go back in time, I'd definetely forgo the RCA single tray CD player I bought for a nice Sony, TEAC, Technics, etc., cassette deck.

Yes, a BRAND new deck would have been so nice but still EXPENSIVE.... *eyepop*

Saved up at my second "real job" for my "FIRST" brand new deck, Nak 600, NICE. After that, upgraded when HiFi stores had to sell the demos to make way for the next season's decks and picked up a Nak RX-505 that way.

What made it particularly nice was the fact that demos were fully factory warranteed and being on the Left coast, the factory was within driving distance, so after buying the demo, had a "factory" tune up under warranty, 'cause she didn't sound right?.*wink*

The RX-505 (RIP)*brokeheart* died due to ESD and disappearing tech and still wanted a 3 head Nak so when the cassette was going the way of the dino, picked up a DR-10 (BNIB) at closeout prices...:)

Now, it's fleamarkets and trusting my own hand at revival.

Fred and know this is a really old thread....*bash*

[Pacific Stereo]

EDIT: Argh... thread is too old for my reply to mean anything.

[Dimitar Georgiev]

Yes, a BRAND new deck would have been so nice but still EXPENSIVE.... *eyepop*

There is only one hi end cassette deck which is in production still on the market and it is Tascam 122 MKIII

http://www.crmav.com/recording/75/tascam_122mkiii_three_head_cassette_deck.shtml


D.

[KatCassidy]

What would be the European equivallent to that? (220/240v @ 50Hz)

[El Monte Slim]

I have a very nice Pioneer CT-F750 that I bought as a "close-out" in the very early 80s. I had not originally bought a cassette deck to go along with my Pioneer SA-9100 and TX-9100. Fortunately, even though the CT-F750 was a later series than the 9100s, it still "matched" the silver face and blue dial.

Many years later (last year), I got to thinking that it would be nice to have a "newer" deck that matched my Crown gear. I was lucky enough to find a Sony TC-WA9ES deck via CL. The gentleman worked for a large national retailer of audio gear for quite a few years. When they "closed out" the units, he bought it. He also got an additional employee discount. As a result, he bought it for a pretty good price.

He told me that he used it a few times, and eventually it went into a closet. His wife later suggested that they sell it via CL. It was in mint condition, without a single scratch on it. Research indicates that it listed for around $900, and that it may be the last ES series cassette deck that Sony sold in the U.S. market.

It's a very nice unit and has made a great addition to my system.

[westgate]

There is only one hi end cassette deck which is in production still on the market and it is Tascam 122 MKIII

http://www.crmav.com/recording/75/tascam_122mkiii_three_head_cassette_deck.shtml


D.

hmm, not sure. click on the 'buy' icon and you get this-

http://www.zzounds.com/item--TAS122MKIII

[shadowlord]

According to the Tascam.com homepage the 122 is out of production and replaced with a 2head, dolbyB, 2-well deck. :(