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In Reply to: RE: Need Advice on Cassette Deck Brand posted by buffumjr18@yahoo.com on November 29, 2016 at 15:17:27
...Nakamichi, Tascam, and Revox (in that order) before any of the brands you listed. The trick is finding one that's been in regular use. Anything that "worked fine before we put it in the attic 10 years ago" should be ignored. Unfortunately, so should a vintage deck claimed to be brand new or never used. Old "new" ones do not improve with age.
Follow Ups:
and sold all my Naks and Tascam except for the Revox B215 of which I just had it refurbished and recapped from top to bottom about 2 years ago. Sound wise I'd rank them like this Nakamichi, Revox and Tascam although both Revox and Nakamichi sounds very close it just that Nakamichi add sweetness to the sound as oppose to Revox, which is very neutral.
In terms of reliability I'd rank them like this Revox, Tascam and Nakamichi. Nakamichi and Revox machines are very hard to refurbished now a days especially the Dragon and B215 as the parts are hard to come by and if they do it'll be very expensive. And then to find the tech that you can trust is another issue.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
... Nakamichis are the best sounding :-)
Nak Talk is a Yahoo site that attracts Nak owners from all over the world. In the U.S. there are at least two very dependable (but no, not especially cheap) Nak service centers, one in Connecticut and one in California. Though I'm on the East Coast I wouldn't trust my Nak to anyone except Willy Hermann in California.
Luckily, you don't need a Dragon to enjoy a Nak.
I compared the Revox B215 against the Dragon and as far as I'm concerned they did sound very close to each other. My other Naks the RX-505 and ZX-7 that I compared to the B215 didn't sound any better. If it wasn't for the Dragon's reliability issues I would have kept it. BTW, the Revox B215 cassette deck is the only true direct drive mechanism as it doesn't employ any belts unlike the Nak or any other cassette decks direct drive system in the same era.
Anyway, another cassette deck to ponder as well is the Tandberg TCD 440A, which surprises the heck out of me as it sounded just as good as the Tandberg TCD 3014, which is 4 times more expensive. The only problem is their reliability issues.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Magnificent setup.
I'm interested more in toughness and longevity than sound. It is, after all da blues. Now, if I were a Mozartista, it would be different.
So, Revox and Tascam float to the top?
Is there any difference between rack mount and shelf models?
The rack mountable design supposedly were geared towards professional use, however it was diluted overtime as some cassette decks incorporated rack mountable option as part of its cosmetic design. All cassette decks will last for a long time during normal usage and with proper care and maintenance. It just that some design were well executed and constructed that it will withstand much better during the years of rugged and abusive use. These machines were very expensive and of course they were very expensive to maintain as well such as the likes of Nakamichi, Revox, Tandberg, Tascam, Sony, Luxman to name just a few.
I can't really tell you which machines to buy as it will depends on your budget. The best thing to do is buy one that has a very limited usage, but even then there's no guarantee that it will last you a long time.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Thank you all.
OK, here's the plan. Lose the JVC. Buy a Tascam or a Sony on Ebay. Test it. If there is ANY problem, send it to a rebuilder. May end up pricey, but the net effect is a good-as-new machine that will last awhile. The JVC just couldn't hang.
Just a quick question. The Marantz 1810 looks awesome, and it's a Marantz. What is your opinion of Marantz?
I have a Marantz direct drive turntable I bought in 1988, and it has never given me a moment's problem.
If there is a real issue with Marantz, I get the Tascam 202 MKIII.
professional machines like Tascam as some of them are worked to their death and then discarded afterwards and most of them ended up in ebay. Marantz are very nice sounding machines, hopefully it was well maintained by the previous owner.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
I remember, Marantz was expensive. Brutally. Never heard of Tascam, back in "the day". But then, I was not a broadcast pro.
A rebuilder will charge me between 400 and 600 to make it new. If I'm going to spend that much, I'd like to spend it on a machine that cost about that, new. The ones on Ebay are all hurt, so the rebuilder is necessary, regardless. I know the Marantz would have been out of my league in the 1970's. I'm going to guess the Tascam was the same.
Now, it comes down to appearance. What a choice!
Just keep searching and hopefully you'll find something that's worth spending your hard earned money on.
Good luck!
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Decision made.
I found a guy, locally, who repairs cassette decks. I took my JVC in to him. He's checking it out. If it's repairable, I go with that. If it's not, there's a Marantz 5025 or a Marantz 5020 available on Ebay. He likes to work on Marantz, and has parts sources. He said the Tascams, Revox, and Nakamichis are usually so worn out from professional use, it would cost an arm and a leg just to get them to work.
According to the other tech, who wrote up my order, this guy has been in the business since he was 15, and he's older than I am. More than half a century fixing TVs, radios, tape decks, and other home electronics. He still works on tube TVs!
My next door neighbor is a professional machinist. He makes dies for the plastic industry. He's very dependent on his old EDM machine. He just had to swap out boards in the controller/power supply. I'm telling him about this guy. He can take the bad board in to him to get the blown transistors replaced.
My Sansui 8 Deluxe has not been serviced in over 20 years. Maybe I should consider having it done(?)
This whole process has been a wonderful process of discovery. Amazing what you find in your own environment.
Thank you all for your help in this.
Thanks for the info. Another poster recommended Teac and Sharp, too.I found, online, JoeyStumpf@hotmail.com . Claims to be a refurb business. From what you are saying, either in constant use, or just refurbed?
Ebay ranges in price from $25 to $250. "Ya pays ya money and ya takes ya chance."
With the filters set to Teac, Sharp, Revox, Tascam, and Nakamichi, I'll look at the offerings. Not really in a hurry, but I'd like to hit a good one first go.
I see several formats. Dual tape, single tape, both vertical doors, 5" x about 14", all plastic front, aluminum front, tape door on the top instead of the front. Rack mount? Does any of that make any difference?
Edits: 11/30/16 11/30/16
Monitor Series. Mine is 28 years old and still bullet proof with terrific sound.
"Man is the only animal that blushes - or needs to" Mark Twain
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