Entry level Tape Decks (Please bear my rant).

[coprocessor]

Greetings folks.

Planning on buying one. Some research shows the Nakamichi 480 or BX-300 would be decent buys. Any more suggestions would be most welcome!

Concerns/History - I've had an old Philips TT which went bad around two years ago. Looking at most of the false advertisements and over priced vintage gear (on various Indian sites - OLX/QUIKR/HIFIADS) which again may have a very high possibility of going bad.. I resorted to an AT-LP1240. Yes, these is one of those Super OEM TT's regarded as a copy and modern 'junk' by a lot of vinyl enthusiasts. But honestly speaking is a really good one with a few decent upgrades like a rubber mat, a nice cartridge and phono amp (I don't trust the built-in ones). Since there were no Indian re-sellers for this TT, I got it from an Ebay seller who imports to India (the buyer doesn't have to directly deal with custom duties, etc.). End result - A brand new piece with no hassles till date.

Back to the tape deck topic - I tried to use the same approach for the tape deck but not finding any decent results. It seems 'decent' brand new tape decks are not being manufactured and there are only vintage/back stock ones available. Read through the forums and seen a few members recommending used/refurbished ones from Ebay sellers abroad. I would love to try out this option. Any leads would be of great help too. I think Ebay.DE would be a decent option. Please suggest. If any of you have experienced issues with customs when buying such stereo units please let me know.

Note - My experience with buying stuff directly from abroad is only limited to LP's, tapes and TT accessories. Nothing against the members here who swear by vintage gear. It is just that I am not tech savvy at all and prefer lesser troubleshooting with my gear.

Thanks for reading. I'm based out of Mumbai.

 

[reubensm]

Not sure what you are referring to as "rant" but what you say makes a lot of sense. I have seen it all, from the "plastic" stuff to the high ends of the TT spectrum, but was able to enjoy music on almost all of them. I have purchased a lot of gear abroad, including 3 Technics SP10 Mk2 turntables for myself and 1 SP10 Mk2 for my brother, 2 Garrard 401s, Garrard 301, amplifiers, LPs, phonostages, tonearms, etc. I have had great experiences on ebay.com, ebay.co.uk, ebay.de and ebay.com.au. The sellers with high feedback scores on these forums are extremely honest and courteous. Their description of the items are usually accurate. I am not sure though, whether it is a good idea to have a Cassette deck shipped. You may want to check the packaging details with the seller. Also customs duty and expensive shipping costs apply. Indian customs is usually very experienced but they can charge upto 30% of the cost of shipping+what you paid for the item, as customs duty. Shipping costs from the western world are high and the foreign exchange conversion rates also apply. Pay by paypal and prefer DHL for shipping. They are slightly more expensive but very efficient and help out with all the customs formalities with just the provision of KYC documents. DHL is the preferred shipping carrier by most sellers on ebay.de, the guys in the US tend to prefer UPS while Royal mail is usually preferred in the UK.

 

[greenhorn]

Unlike a DD TT, which , once set up will work for decades with only the occasional stylus change, a tape deck will need frequent belt, pinch roller changes, azimuth alignment, demagnetizing for optimum performance.

If you consider yourself non tech savvy, and are looking for appliance like reliability, tape decks may not be the right vintage hifi source.

May I suggest
Cassette Tape and CD Player with Radio | CFD-S70 | Sony IN

 

[coprocessor]

Not sure what you are referring to as "rant" but what you say makes a lot of sense. I have seen it all, from the "plastic" stuff to the high ends of the TT spectrum, but was able to enjoy music on almost all of them. I have purchased a lot of gear abroad, including 3 Technics SP10 Mk2 turntables for myself and 1 SP10 Mk2 for my brother, 2 Garrard 401s, Garrard 301, amplifiers, LPs, phonostages, tonearms, etc. I have had great experiences on ebay.com, ebay.co.uk, ebay.de and ebay.com.au. The sellers with high feedback scores on these forums are extremely honest and courteous. Their description of the items are usually accurate. I am not sure though, whether it is a good idea to have a Cassette deck shipped. You may want to check the packaging details with the seller. Also customs duty and expensive shipping costs apply. Indian customs is usually very experienced but they can charge upto 30% of the cost of shipping+what you paid for the item, as customs duty. Shipping costs from the western world are high and the foreign exchange conversion rates also apply. Pay by paypal and prefer DHL for shipping. They are slightly more expensive but very efficient and help out with all the customs formalities with just the provision of KYC documents. DHL is the preferred shipping carrier by most sellers on ebay.de, the guys in the US tend to prefer UPS while Royal mail is usually preferred in the UK.

Thanks! +1 on DHL (when I ordered a couple of heavy LP box sets from Germany). This surely is a totally different ball game. Alternatively, speaking to a forum member about a specific deck (nothing firmed up yet).

Unlike a DD TT, which , once set up will work for decades with only the occasional stylus change, a tape deck will need frequent belt, pinch roller changes, azimuth alignment, demagnetizing for optimum performance.

If you consider yourself non tech savvy, and are looking for appliance like reliability, tape decks may not be the right vintage hifi source.

May I suggest
Cassette Tape and CD Player with Radio | CFD-S70 | Sony IN

Appreciate the inputs, thank you! My bad but I forgot to inform you that I'm using a similar Boombox as a make shift arrangement. Also, checking on an option where services/maintenance could be taken care of by a technically sound individual when the need arises. Let's see how it goes. Have been informed that some deck repairs can take months. I shall also keep the Boombox as a standby playback unit once the deck is setup.

 

[greenhorn]

services/maintenance could be taken care of by a technically sound individual when the need arises.

Then find that induvidual now and use their inputs to buy a used deck.

Have been informed that some deck repairs can take months.

If you buy a mechanically simple single tape deck, then you should not have such issues (any problem can be solved with superglue, contact cleaner or a soldering iron!) . I have several tape decks, and while i do face issues with them, the downtime is not more than a day, and even the greater delays are because i take time time to learn and troubleshoot the problem, which should not be a problem with an experienced technician.
If you buy a Nakamichi, or some other deck with fancy features, which need parts to be sourced abroad, then yes, you may face downtimes of months. In return, the performance would be much better.

 

[elt93]

I got my tape deck from eBay.de. Very often you'll find serviced tape decks coming up for sale there. Mine has been performing flawlessly for almost a year now. Sellers are mostly honest when it comes to product description and if you go for the fully serviced ones, you get a virtually new deck for a small premium.