Best of the 3 Head Cassette Decks

[braxus]

I guess since we have a 2 head deck thread, why not a 3 head deck one? I know its been discussed in other threads before, but never in just one place. From my research and understanding, the best 3 heads decks from many manufacturers Im aware of are this (not in any specific order):

Tandberg TCD 911
Tandberg TCD 910
Tandberg TCD 3014/ 3014A
Tandberg 3004
Nakamichi ZX-9
Nakamichi CR-7
Nakamichi Dragon
Nakamichi 1000ZXL
B&O Beocord 9000
Teac Z7000
Teac Z6000
Luxman K-05
Luxman K-04
Sony TC-KA7ES
Sony TC-K555ESJ
Sony TC-K909ES
Aiwa XK-S9000
Aiwa XK-009 Excelia
Revox B215
Revox B710
BIC T-4M
Pioneer CT-93
JVC TD-V1010
JVC TD-V711

Everyone else feel free to add to the list. If you're really brave do a top 10 list in order of the best decks.

[niklasthedolphin]

Hehehehehehe

Here we go again.................


Where is this and that deck?
Which one is better than the others?
This is only a wanna be deck........
Is it from build quality or sound quality?

Well, let's see.............

My opinion is the 911/910 on the very top.

And I could think of some decks missing that sounds better than a few of those mentioned.


"dolph"

[braxus]

Originally Posted by niklasthedolphin

And I could think of some decks missing that sounds better than a few of those mentioned.

Be my guest. That is what this post is for- to inform others who may have missed it.

[Scorpion8]

HK 400Xm
HK 491
Sony TC-K81
Teac V-1RX
Sony TC-K670

Yea, as paraphrased from above not every 3-head deck was a priceless gem w/o flaw. Many were a great idea cheaply implemented just to have a "3-head deck" in your product lineup. Honorable mention goes to the Nak 581 here. Three head (or "discrete" head as they term it) but no off-tape monitoring and considering the machine is large enough to house 12 illegal immigrants compared to a say Nak 482, you wonder what was accomplished besides lots of doo-dads to adjust bias and equalization. But they look cool..... Great idea, less than fully implmented.

[Dimitar Georgiev]

Revox B215 would be my favorite.

[Mignun67]

A couple more that should probably be in the list - the two "daddies";

Nakamichi 1000ZXL
http://www.thevintageknob.org/THEVAU...L/1000ZXL.html

Tandberg 3004
http://www.thevintageknob.org/THEVAU...4/TCD3004.html

And one that never made it into production but I'm reliably informed had the potential to put even a top Nak in the shade: The Naim Cassette Deck. Mechanism designed by Neal/Ferrograph and Naim electronics.... sadly killed off by too long a development time at which point CD had taken over.

[braxus]

Originally Posted by Mignun67

And one that never made it into production but I'm reliably informed had the potential to put even a top Nak in the shade: The Naim Cassette Deck.

Sounds an awful lot like the Luxman X-3K deck that was being developed, but killed by Alps when that company took over Luxman.

http://www.thevintageknob.org/INVISI...uxman-X3K.html

[Fast Forward]

How about adding the Teac C3X 2 speed ,,or the Nakamichi BX 300

[niklasthedolphin]

Originally Posted by Mignun67

A couple more that should probably be in the list - the two "daddies";

Nakamichi 1000ZXL
http://www.thevintageknob.org/THEVAU...L/1000ZXL.html

Tandberg 3004
http://www.thevintageknob.org/THEVAU...4/TCD3004.html

These two machines were in my mind too.
As was the B&O Beocord 9000.
Not for build quality or tape transport. Purely for the sound.

"dolph"

[Sanyomichi]

Originally Posted by Dimitar Georgiev

Revox B215 would be my favorite.

mine too,outstanding build quality and records type I tapes that sound great on ANY deck.

[macster]

Originally Posted by Sanyomichi

mine too,outstanding build quality and records type I tapes that sound great on ANY deck.

If you want to tweak the Revox sound a bit, try a set of Blue Jeans LC1's on the the input side of it. It's a wonderfully inexpensive tweak. Also, changing the pinch rollers, wow what a difference.

M~

[Alshalan]

Originally Posted by braxus

I guess since we have a 2 head deck thread, why not a 3 head deck one? I know its been discussed in other threads before, but never in just one place. From my research and understanding, the best 3 heads decks from many manufacturers Im aware of are this (not in any specific order):

Tandberg TCD 911
Tandberg TCD 910
Tandberg TCD 3014/ 3014A
Tandberg 3004
Nakamichi ZX-9
Nakamichi CR-7
Nakamichi Dragon
Nakamichi 1000ZXL
B&O Beocord 9000
Teac Z7000
Teac Z6000
Luxman K-05
Luxman K-04
Sony TC-KA7ES
Sony TC-K555ESJ
Sony TC-K909ES
Aiwa XK-S9000
Aiwa XK-009 Excelia
Revox B215
Revox B710
BIC T-4M
Pioneer CT-93
JVC TD-V1010
JVC TD-V711

Everyone else feel free to add to the list. If you're really brave do a top 10 list in order of the best decks.

May I ask if TC-K990ES is better than 909ES ?

[Akai man.]

Could you please add Akai-GX95 Reference Master to the list as it's up there with the best imho.

Thanks.

Geoff.

[braxus]

Originally Posted by Alshalan

May I ask if TC-K990ES is better than 909ES ?

I would say yes, but I don't know the 990 all that well. The 909ES was newer and had Dolby S.

[iamhifi]

Dragon Dragon Dragon!
Angel

[braxus]

Originally Posted by iamhifi

Dragon Dragon Dragon!
Angel

Tandberg Tandberg Tandberg! :P

So there.

[jdurbin1]

To put that into pictures:









John

[heiff]

How does the JVC TD-V531 compare to some of the others on the list? I recently got an NOS one off ebay for cheap and so far have been really pleased with it. It's a non-auto reverse, single well deck that's fairly basic - Dolby B/C/HX Pro, bias fine adjust, AMS, and the ability to monitor directly from tape during recording are really the only frills. The bias adjustment works brilliantly - in retrospect, I'm pretty sure that feature (or lack of it, I should say) is what prevented me from getting really good sounding recordings back in the day. I am getting fine results even with the lowly Maxell UR (current stock, not old) - when I crank down the bias adjustment almost as far as it will go.

[LesX55]

The higher end Naks are superb, but the mid range CR4 is as good for a lot less cost.Mine has been flawless for over 15 years.
My other deck is a modern ( 1995 ) Dolby S Kenwood KX-9050s, and is very close to my Nak, loosing just a small amount of warmth and detail.
One very important factor i feel is the dual capstan drives of the high end decks,more so than even Dolby.

[Lance Lawson]

I just got my thrift store find SONY TC K670 set up with some fresh quality tape and transfered some of my digital studio recordings onto it. I am very very impressed with it! There is precious little difference between the source sound and the recorded sound. This is by far the best cassette deck I've ever had.