What makes of cassette decks should i look out for second hand

sk8

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I'm after a second hand cassette deck to add to my system and after looking on flea bay there are many makes. What should i avoid and what should i hone in on?

Thanks in advance :smashin:
 
I had a top of the range Akai GX65 player that performed without a hitch for over 10 years. IIRC the head even had a 10 yr guarentee. It was recentlty flogged on Fleabay for £40.

Obviously Nakamichi spring to mind as having a very good reputation for being one of the best.
 
Nakamichi is the most obvious choice for a guarantee of both build and sound quality. If you are after something less esoteric/more common then decent well known Japanese brands usually comes up trumps.
 
japanese as in Sony, denon, yamaha?
 
Naks are famous for being well built, so look out for the CR-E range, in particular the 2-E or 3-E. The more modern DR-2 and DR-10 are great but they still fetch £100- 150 2nd hand. The DR-1 is the one to get but rarely comes out below £250. However, make sure, with any of them, that they have been serviced fairly recently. Belt and head wear are a nightmare with any well used deck over ten years old. Which they all will be.

Elsewhere, the Denons are pretty good, but the modern decks were much more 'hit and miss'. The older 24' and 44' are good buys, again if serviced recently. The more recent decks DRM-640 and 650 were good but watch the price on these. They were only 'budget decks'.

Teacs higher end decks, like the 6030 are worth looking out for but the lower end decks while ok, are just that 'ok'.

The Yamaha range were great value for money, but suffered from quite a high (for Yamaha) returns level, so be careful when looking at them. The recent KX-580SE is a terrific buy sonically, but again retailed at around £250 so don't go mad.

For Sony the TCK-611S made a big name for itself as a 'budget' Dolby S deck, and is very good with tapes you make yourself. However, it's not as hot with pre-recorded tapes.

Aiwa. They make superb budget decks and offered amazing sound quality at the sub £200 level. However, they tend to have been thrashed by their owners as a result! Steer clear unless the deck is spotless. For them it's worth seeing if one the XK-S7000 or 9000 turns up. Try and get one thats been serviced though.

Overall, the best buys for recording and playback of pre-recordeds are Nak's. They may be 'manual everything' buy sonicaly they are worth it.

Rule of thumb with cassette decks though, is try and get one with a recent service behind it, a FSH (if possible), and avoid the budget decks. The budget decks were great when new, but tend to have been well used and their owners aren't likely to bother getting them serviced.
 
thanks for that comprehensive reply :thumbsup:
 
previous posts been deleted - just to clear it up - will post a tape deck on the classified forum this evening :thumbsup: if it's of interest then details will be there
 
I recall a superb Akai GX95 and a very nice Pioneer with wooden side panel (CT series?)
 
previous posts been deleted - just to clear it up - will post a tape deck on the classified forum this evening :thumbsup: if it's of interest then details will be there
thanks for that. Thought they might get deleted
 
adam4478 and sk8...in reply to the comments above,you should both be aware that this is not a trading area.
The correct place is in the forum classifieds..since you have both traded here before,you should be aware of this.
 
Nakamichi again is the obvious choice. Built like tanks and wonderful tools.. I had a RX-505 years ago, the one with the Fixed head - swivaling door mechanism. Awesome piece of kit..
However the one I'd look out for would be a Pioneer CT-95. A stunningly built cassette deck, which was probably one of the greatest Pioneer products ever made in my opinion ( A long with the Pioneer M6 mono block power amps ). I wish i never sold mine :( .. Still, if you find one on the net, go for it ! :smashin:

Tim. :)
 
adam4478 and sk8...in reply to the comments above,you should both be aware that this is not a trading area.
The correct place is in the forum classifieds..since you have both traded here before,you should be aware of this.
Yeah, sorry about that. After i posted i did think that it should have been put on the trading forums.
 
Also consider the Sony Walkman Pro. Add a decent powersupply and you have a stunning player
 
Also consider the Sony Walkman Pro. Add a decent powersupply and you have a stunning player

Thats nice of you to send him on a hunt for a Walkman Pro.......might as well try and find some hens teeth while he is at it......:D

I just checked Ebay and there are a couple on from the USA heading £130 +

Its a lovely bit of kit though, mate of mine had one but would not sell it to me, it was more like a collectors piece than anything and infact, you do see them in museums !
 
Thats nice of you to send him on a hunt for a Walkman Pro.......might as well try and find some hens teeth while he is at it......:D

I just checked Ebay and there are a couple on from the USA heading £130 +

Its a lovely bit of kit though, mate of mine had one but would not sell it to me, it was more like a collectors piece than anything and infact, you do see them in museums !
I have a walkman pro! I didn't realise they were that rare?!:confused: I also wouldn't recommend one as a stand alone cassette deck. It's good (very good) but unless you get really good (and I mean really good) incons the gains are lost when compared to a standard deck.
 
If you're not in the Nakamichi market, the Aiwa 3-head decks such as the AD-F850 or AD-F950, or similar models, are all good, if you can find a lightly used one.

Avoid the ordinary Aiwa decks, of which you will find plenty on eBay, etc. But the upper range ones (as above) really are good - very different from their mass market budget models.
 
alex2.... apologies mate, my mistake, random thought and was testing the water pre-post in the classifieds... should have know better... unintentional !!!!
 
wel i've bought a yamaha ha now :)
 
If you're not in the Nakamichi market, the Aiwa 3-head decks such as the AD-F850 or AD-F950, or similar models, are all good, if you can find a lightly used one.

Avoid the ordinary Aiwa decks, of which you will find plenty on eBay, etc. But the upper range ones (as above) really are good - very different from their mass market budget models.


Have to agree. I have an F850 and it is stunning.
 
KX-580SE

Good enough for my purposes :thumbsup:
 
KX 580 is a mighty deck, Yamaha ran that as the 580 then the 580se for about 10 years. I used to sell them, and very rarely had any problems with them. TEAC could lose their timing sometines, as could the cheaper Yammies, but 580'S were great!
 

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