Buying a Cassette Deck

[audirvana]

Since I decided on getting a cassette deck, I have been reading up on it and I thought I'd share the following links with the members. They help to shed some light on the subject for a novice buyer.

JR.com: Product Guide - Cassette Decks

Buying a Cassette Deck

I would welcome the members to please share their knowledge/experiences particularly in the context of buying and owning one in India.

 

[greenhorn]

what is your budget?
why are you buying it ?

 

[reubensm]

in my opinion, stay patient and with open eyes. you'll be able to get yourself a good pre-used deck. prefer nakamichi.

 

[greenhorn]

to be honest, unless you are dead serious about cassettes, I'd stay away from Nakamichis, especially the higher end ones. Actually ANY higher end deck with anything to complicate things.

It's like buying a classic ferrari. When they work they are awesome, but god help if you something goes wrong - I Know parts etc are available, but getting them serviced locally is another thing.

 

[audirvana]

This being my very early days in the audiophile world (moving on from PC based music setup) I am not aiming for Nakamichis.
Also I have learnt the hard way that getting an exotic/old or not your run of the mill setup (not just in audio) you always end up spending a lot more time trying to keep it in working condition than enjoying it. I won't have a lot of time to go hunting for spares and service technicians or getting my hands dirty on a DIY repair job.
I am following your thread on restoration of your deck, greenhorn. Its fun to read but I wouldn't want to be in your shoes.

 

[greenhorn]

Not to dampen your enthusiasm, but any tape deck you can get your hands on right now is not going to be 100% maintenence free. (and I'm not talking about cleaning the heads and pinch rollers) I have a bunch of tape decks, and not a single one of them has been 100% reliable, though all of them work fine once the issues have been taken care of.

 

[navinsinha]

I agree that it is not easy to maintain the cassette players in good conditions but they are excellent machines and even some of our Indian (Norge) players have been value for money. I recorded a LP of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi on a Norge deck in 1979. I still play that cassette on a Nak and also the LP. I can tell you that with closed eyes I can't distinguish between the two.....my view of course.

 

[reubensm]

we grew up listening to a series of tapes that were recorded on an Akai GX39D Dolby deck and my, what a deck it was. Here is a pic of that model:

even today, I still maintain my deck in pristine condition, only this time, I've ensured that I've achieved my dream of owning a Nakamichi and am enjoying every moment of it. What a lovely deck my Nakamichi DR3 really is.

 

[Sandesh]

we grew up listening to a series of tapes that were recorded on an Akai GX39D Dolby deck and my, what a deck it was. Here is a pic of that model:

even today, I still maintain my deck in pristine condition, only this time, I've ensured that I've achieved my dream of owning a Nakamichi and am enjoying every moment of it. What a lovely deck my Nakamichi DR3 really is.

Im totally jealous of you! Btw are you free to help me with my Nakamichi CR2 deck now?

 

[reubensm]

Im totally jealous of you! Btw are you free to help me with my Nakamichi CR2 deck now?

Shall check with my brother and post tonight.

 

[Selvin]

Rreally very cool deck.........

 

[reubensm]

Shall check with my brother and post tonight.

Hi Sandesh, he's ok with taking a look, have some spare time running up to Christmas. Thanks.

 

[Sandesh]

Rueben, sorry I was off the forum for a while. Let me know how we can do this? Pm me the details

 

[rpm]

we grew up listening to a series of tapes that were recorded on an Akai GX39D Dolby deck and my, what a deck it was. Here is a pic of that model:

even today, I still maintain my deck in pristine condition, only this time, I've ensured that I've achieved my dream of owning a Nakamichi and am enjoying every moment of it. What a lovely deck my Nakamichi DR3 really is.

Any suggestions on getting a reliable cassette deck (pre owned)? I am based out of Delhi.

 

[reubensm]

There are many options available, but condition is very subjective. Must be checked in person for cosmetics/functionality (especially recording) before purchasing.

Here are some examples with a random quickr search: cassette deck in Quikr

 

[jimmy_tulip]

Our good old forum member HemantWaghe had a couple of Yamaha Decks for sale . I brought one of them. His post can be found in ForSale forum. He shipped mine on Friday. Expecting delivery today

 

[reubensm]

my suggestion is to prefer single cassette decks.

 

[sumit.kolkata]

AhujaTP50 will be a good choice

 

[reubensm]

My honest opinion, stay away from Ahuja. They had el-cheapo Chawla mechanisms. Also they were meant for public address use and not hi-fi use. And cosmetically, they were perhaps the ugliest pieces of equipment one could find at the time.

 

[jawedsoft]

My honest opinion, stay away from Ahuja. They had el-cheapo Chawla mechanisms. Also they were meant for public address use and not hi-fi use. And cosmetically, they were perhaps the ugliest pieces of equipment one could find at the time.

No exactly. Most of the tape decks had very good (rugged) mechanisms. But yes, they were not Hi-Fi grade. Except their 4040SM model. I had the opportunity to use one and I found the sound quality exceptional. This particular model (4040SM) was having recording facility and had higher specs compared to the other tape decks which were mono and play-only.

I don't know if they are available today. But if you get the opportunity then please listen to a 4040sm model. My gut feeling is that if they are paired with a good speaker set then you will get good output.

regards,
Jawed