Looking at 20 Vintage Cassette Decks
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- Опубліковано 20 чер 2024
- A rapid fire commentary on 20 tape decks. From quality to reliability and repair, if you are considering shopping for your first stereo cassette deck or just want to spend 10 minutes learning random facts about vintage audio, this is for you! #cassette #1980s #cassetteplayer
0:00 Intro
0:30 Avoid This "Sharp" Object
1:00 Unique Dual Speed Marantz
1:30 The Frankenstein JVC KD-V40
2:00 Let's Hack the Teac!
2:30 Cassematic 12 Toaster Changer
3:00 Mitsubishi DT-156
3:28 Technics M-222
3:58 A 1990s Pioneer CT-WM62R
4:28 The Very Reliable JVC KD-A3
4:55 Sony "Styles" and Low Miles
5:25 JVC TD-W801 Dual Recorder
5:53 Blaupunkt Micronic C-60
6:22 Realistic SCP-25 is better in theory
6:50 A Large Beocord 6000
7:21 Pioneer CT-F2121
7:50 Teac 210 Stereo Cassette Deck
8:19 Adopting an "Orphaned" Tape Deck?
8:49 Sanyo RD-S45
9:19 A Higher End Yamaha K-960
10:18 Pioneer CT-F650
11:20 Conclusion - Наука та технологія
I think that if I saw any one of these tape decks at a garage\yard\estate sale, or at a second hand store, for a low price, I would buy them!
I have a sony TC-WE475 and really had great use of these unit and never had to replace belts yet! And it has a lot of features!
I own an Aiwa AD-f 990 (first version)! The poor man's Dragon! what a great cassette deck!
I'm repairing an F-660 !
For a moment I thought I too had that deck, but no. It was a massively loaded 3-head with computer adjusted bias I think. It had a huge volume knob on the left side and "a lot" of pretty LED lights (!) - it was spectacular to look at. Looked very techno but seriously conservative. The "990" rang a bell. Will try to find it.... no lucky so far, may be difficult.
10:19 I have three Pioneer CT-F950 cassette decks, but only one of them is fully working properly, but they are so cool with their blue Fluoroscan Vu meters.
Which price of them would you consider being reasonable today?
Working properly of course.
I had one but sold it a while ago. Sadly their heads and motors are starting to fail.
Nice video Guys, good job. I've got a Pioneer CT-F1250 I bought back in late 70's and I love it. A true audiophile dream machine. 🙂
Thanks for the comment! Yes, the CT-F1250 looks very nice and is a good investment. I started tracking eBay prices of the CT-Fx50 line back in 2019 on a spreadsheet, should have bought a 1250 then because prices have skyrocketed.
I own a Braun C4 Atelier Grey. Beautiful machine.
Yes those look very nice, drawer loading and high-end. Thanks for watching/commenting.
I have a ads c2 sounds great
Still love my army green TEAC C3-X I bought at an HiFi sale when I was 18 years old.............now I'm close to 60 and it still runs fine. 🙂
2 years ago I gave it a big service, new belts installed and 2 new rubber square rings for the FF and REW function.
It is amazing how good the TDK-MA tapes still sounds great if I made the recording yesterday!
I visited Japan on the way back from China in the late 1980's, and came home with a Nakamichi Dragon. It is currently in a box, along with a Kyocera PL-910 turntable and Perreaux electronics. I was going to move, but now they sit stored away half way across the country at my mother's house.
While stationed on Okinawa in 1978, I purchased the Pioneer CT-F900 cassette deck. It was Pioneer's first deck, featuring the closed loop, dual capstan tape transport system. I am convinced that they had not perfected this system and it soon began eating tapes caused by the malfunction of the drive. I replaced an idler wheel and that worked for awhile, but it soon started eating tapes again. I contacted Pioneer and they had no interest in repairing this deck. Instead, they sent me 8 pages of instructions on how to do it myself. This involved replacing the idler wheel again, plus removing two belts and applying belt dressing so that they would not slip. This procedure, required detailed dismantling of the machine and was above my expertise. As much as this deck cost, I was very disappointed that Pioneer refused to take responsibility for the repairs. I got rid of this deck and went with a Teac.
Thanks for sharing that story! I am always amazed at the access to advanced audio gear by military personnel in the 1970s. Over the years, I've had multiple older neighbors offer to let me repair or keep their Vietnam era reel-to-reel decks.
I really enjoyed this "offroad" selection of seldom seen decks, a change from those always same "top decks lists" I have 100+ decks and not a single one of those ones you showed, so thank you for having a heart for the lesser known ones.
Thanks for the kind comment! (You should upload a video of some of yours as well...)
Wow, 100 (!) I have stacks of audio components in my house and many decks and was disappointed I didn't have one in the list. But you take the cake! Impressive? QUESTION: What are your Top 5 faves?
Nice video.
Just picked up a 1979 AKAI GXC-706d in excellent condition.
Everything works, beautiful big VU meters.
Belt slipping slightly on startups, something I’ll fix soon.
Highly enjoying playing my old cassettes again.
That looks like a good one! If you can't spend the time replacing the belt now, you might be able to revive the current one a bit by removing the cover and applying some rubbing alcohol on a q-tip. Thanks for the comment!
3:59 I have that same Pioneer CT-WM62R 6+1 cassette deck in excellent working condition and it's awesome! :)
I Have a CT-M6R 6 cassette deck too, was a pain to restore as it was internally broken during shipping, but i managed it.
My first "component" cassette deck was the CT-F2121 in 1974. After military service I was broke and had to get a budget deck. Most were still top loaders and the F2121 was a quasi-front loader. I made a lotta tapes on that deck and though the meters were small, controls basic and heads were Hard Permalloy. It sufficed till I could afford better performance. Always hated the angled cassette compartment and frequently tried to eject tapes while stoned with the door closed, jammin' the tape inside the cassette well. Minor carping.
Just bought a JVC KD A3 on your recommendation. Love it that you got your son into tape decks and vintage gear too!
Yes that is a great deck hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the comment!
@ACBMemphis I hope so and I haven't bought another dud off ebay. Its not the brand, I love JVC stuff, especially from the 80s (and Technics and Hitachi too), it's whether this seller has been honest. Hit and miss sometimes, had some great bargains and other times got totally ripped off.
Great fast format! Also awesome talking about belts and repair issues. Wish you would have mentioned if 3-head and bias (metal, chrome, variable). Surprised no Akai, Aiwa and Nakamichi
The B&O and Yamaha at the end, are both gorgeous! Sound great too apparently.
Wow, I would get any of these in a snap, except for the Realistic, because I’d definitely use the recording mode to create good ol’ mix tapes. I’m going to try a couple of the very few thrift stores around here, hopefully I’ll find one that is relatively easy to fix. Thank you for the great content, keep up the good work 😊
Great video!
Thanks!
No Onkyo's huh?
Great video! I love finding channels that make me seem not so crazy. I'm up to 28 decks now. I have the Optonica version of that Sharp deck. I fixed it but I don't really like it.
That CTF-900 restore you did looks great - new subscriber here! (No you're not crazy it's a fun hobby and evidence suggests a lot of people agree.) It seems like prices for cassette have skyrocketed.. About 7 years ago I would be driving around the neighborhood and see tape decks, receivers by the curb now even broken ones are expensive at the thrift store...
Thanks! Yeah, anything analog is starting to be big money. My bank account hates me, but I'm not stopping anytime soon.
I have Aiwa 3700 with double capstan and Teac v1050. They are in laboratory for fixing and set up. What do you think about these two decks?
I have not used those, but they look like quality 3-head decks. You should post a video of them!
I have the RT-3388. Hasn't seen power for YEARS though.... might try and see if it even still works for fun. I wasn't happy with the sound quality either...
I checked this video out to see if my deck from the 70's was on this list and sure enough it was, LOL. In fact it was the first one with the computerized search feature. Basically all it did was search for the blank spots between songs on the tape. Only difference is that mine was a Luxman model. The front face is identical. I paid the stupid amount of $500 for it, which is about a a couple grand in todays money. Just a dumb kid back then.
But yea, I remember that computer did give up the ghost at some point. It still played fine from what I remember and I ended up giving it to my Dad. After that it just sat on a shelf. I remember he asked if I wanted it back and I said no. I was done with cassettes at that point.
I basically gave away all my stuff from the 70's. JBL speakers, Harmon Kardon integrated amp. Only thing I still have is a Yamaha turntable that still works perfectly but gets little use.
Do I miss any of it? Not really. For me the audio hobby is about moving forward, not back. But I did enjoy them while I had them.
Luxman isn't too bad as a brand. They made some good equipment back in the day.
I agree that the Yamaha K960 is a champ! I had one for many years before selling it and replaced it with a Pioneer CT-F1250. The only drawback with the Yammie is if you record using DBX you can only playback in the same deck. DBX sounded better than any noise reduction I've ever heard. BTW, I bought my first real cassette deck in Yokosuka at the Navy Exchange. A TEAC A-350. A work horse of a deck and built like a tank. In my vintage Sansui rack I have a SC-5330 and used it to transfer all my cassettes to mp4 (Apple lossless format...and a dumb decision, but worked out okay in the end).
Thanks for the comment! Would like to own a CT-F1250 myself some day. That Sansui looks very nice as well...
What do you think about the Sony TC-K555 cassette deck? I bought mine new in late 1982 and it has performed flawlessly ever since with great sound quality.
That is a 3-head deck from the ES line? I have tried to bid on one of those several times but not won yet - looks very nice!
@ACBMemphis , not an ES model although one VERY similar was. I read a very favorable review in one of the then 3 hi-fi magazines and bought it. About the best $400 bucks (in 1982 dollars) I've ever spent ZERO on repairs and it still sounds great.
Was just wondering. I am wanting to have the ability to view vu meters on my system. If I have a three head cassette deck, does recording have to actually be engaged to view the meters?
It depends on the manufacturer of your cassette deck.... You could probably just put your deck in "Record Pause Mode" and the meters will run fine without recording, but when doing that, be aware that the motor will probably be running too. Sometimes you can work around that. For example, on the JVC KD-A3 in this video, while I have to press record and play with a tape inserted to _actually_ record, I can also bypass record prevention with a finger and press the record button by itself without a tape in, and the meters will work without the heads engaged or motor running.
Won’t mind getting a Pioneer deck with Fluorescent Display. I do have a JVC KD-A5 and it build like a tank similar to KD-A3 but the KD-D40 is a bit on the flimsy side and not as refined.
I love vintage cassette decks and I've got a bit of a deck hoarding problem too since I have at least 40 cassette decks (some of which need belt replacements at this point) which is utterly insane to me, but they are too cool. Hahaha!
Brands I have include:
- Bang & Olufsen (2 decks)
- Nakamichi (2 decks; the RX-202 and BX-100, but not the Dragon which is priced into the stratosphere these days)
- Harman/Kardon (8 decks)
- Tascam (4 decks)
- Sony (3 decks)
- Akai (8 decks)
- Pioneer (4 decks)
- Denon (1 deck)
- Aiwa (2 decks)
- Toshiba (1 deck)
- Mitsubishi (1 multi-tape deck; a 6+1, I think)
- Sansui (1 deck)
- Scott (1 deck with matching amplifier)
- Hitachi (1 deck in pristine condition still with original tags, but rotted belts)
- Nikko (1 deck and only $5 from a Salvation Army Thrift Store, so it's tough to beat that)
:)
That is an impressive collection! I hope Dr. Zaius will let you take a vacation to make some videos of them. Back in the 1980s, a Nakamichi Dragon always seemed like a mystical sort of cassette deck I heard rumors of, never saw in person, and could never hope to afford... and in 2024 it still is!
@@ACBMemphis, thanks, yes, I've got to stop procrastinating to get on with making some vintage gear videos.
Regarding Nakamichi Dragons, I remember seeing them on eBay about 20 years ago typically selling for $300 to $400 which is nothing compared to the thousands they sell for these days with aggressive bidders. It's pretty nutty. So, I'll never own one either unless one magically pops up at a thrift store and I happen to be at the right place at the right time. Haha! :)
@@TorontoJonhey if you need help selling your decks let me know. I run the biggest stereo shop on Facebook
You used any of the later Technics direct drive quartz lock units?
No, tried bidding on a RS-M280 once, but lost the auction. Very limited budget at this point...
I am surprised you didn't profile any Kenwood or Denon decks. I'd love to see a critic's opinion on just how good (or bad) they are!
I had a Kenwood KX-780 a few years ago and liked it - was a 3 head deck. Eventually sold it to try something different. Not a lot of experience with Denon yet, other than a couple of drawer-loading decks from the 1990s. Thanks for the comment!
@@ACBMemphis 😁👍
Didn't you have an Aiwa model? They had a bunch of great and beautiful cassette decks 😉👍
I had a Pioneer 6 cassette changer and a Pioneer 6 + 1 cassette changer they were awesome but if you looked at them really hard something would break
Had a mint CTF-650 needed a belt changeover, probably gave it away for a few bucks about 25 years ago. was a companion to my SX-3700.
Great Decks, but where is the best of all time? Nakamichi
Expensive brand - high quality - top of the range - the uploader would love to own one but it's a bit pricey.
The most important things about a cassettedeck are recording stability and recording balance with all type types , no audible wow and flutter and good musicality which comes from the power unit and its design.. Then you have sound character and lineairity but that favourable .. I would never recommend dbx , recordings are without tape hiss but when you listen more closely you hear it sounds unnatural , and distorted and without air and openess
Grabbed a Pioneer CT-F750 for a pretty great deal, but unfortunatly aside from melted belts the transitor that controls speed on the motor had literally exploded. Have a replacement transistor on it's way now, if the repair's succesful it'll have many more years of use ahead for it.
Congrats, that looks like a good machine. The CT- F750 adds the benefit of auto reverse and still has the intuitive control layout. Thanks for the comment and good luck on the repair!
Good luck with the repair. I had one of these and two more parts machines. The mechanism in these things are the most complex I've ever worked on. I was able to source the belts, but not the 5 rubber idler wheels. I got it to work a bit, but without the idler replacements it just wasn't reliable. At that time I was into buying, repairing and reselling. However, the CT-F750's ended up in the electronic junk pile. I was able to salvage a CT-F1250 and I restored it for my own Pioneer system. What a beast! I love this series of Pioneer's and find them easy to work on. CT-F850 through 1250.
@@henrychinaski5223 Thanks, since I commented the repair was successful! (Though not after a couple more failures.) Something on that motor board was just too screwed up to fix, even with a new transistor, so in the end I found a Mabuchi on ebay with the same specs and swapped it in. Worked first try, and after a belt kit it's been totally perfect! Shame you weren't able to save yours, had failures in my repairs before and it's hard to let them go, but sometimes they're just too far gone to be worth it. But I love this series of decks, they just look and sound awesome and this one pairs great with my RT-707.
The best were Nakamichis they sounded great owned a few always bought used but when they go bad they are very hard to repair.
Is Teac V9 okay?
Had a Pioneer ct-320 $120 in '82? Blew away my uncles $300 technics with its fluorescent display. Have a Pioneer dual deck with dolby S nowadays
What happen to Nakamichi Decks? Hard to believe that you did not include one.
These are the tape decks I own and could afford, but if any viewers want to ship me a Nakamichi Dragon for free, please do!
Watch out for bad rew/ffwd in the Pioneer decks. If it has trouble rewinding it can be hard to fix. The Pioneer decks are built well, but some have weak rew/ffwd designs.
The FF/REW motors can be restored, but it is a tedious operation and not for the faint hearted. I've done about 5 of them with great success.
Doesn't the drive motor on the capstan Run whenever any cassette deck is powered on
It depends... some stop when you press stop, others stop if no cassette is loaded. Thanks for watching/commenting!
A lot of decks (from the '70s and '80s) that are mostly mechanical have micro switches that are meant to totally shut off the motor when STOP is pressed or turn it on when PLAY / FF / REW is pressed (they are not designed to have the motor running constantly when stopped and/or empty). Some later-model/high-end decks won't start unless a tape is inserted due to the presence of detection sensors and/or logic circuits.
The Sharp is a POS. The reason being is that the clear cog gears break randomly even if it still work. Theses are hard to find and replace.
i have 3 decks in my main system Pioneer CTF-1250. Technics M235X and a Realistic sct-33. The pioneer ans realistic deck are both 3 heads.
I very much enjoyed your 30 seconds short reviews.
Thank you for watching!
Miss my nakamichi rx 505
I know you warned folks away from 90s decks because of the "plasticky" look of them. However, the later Pioneer decks have a lot of features, they present no serious problems when changing belts or pinch rollers (which are available), and since they were from the time when cassettes were on the way out, they have less hours of use on them. I have a CT-W606DR (world-wide version with all the features) and since it has digital noise reduction, I never use Dolby at all.
Yes with everything there are exceptions/tradeoffs... thanks for the comment!
Really a very surprising list. Especially the jvcs, so far I only found comments of the poor cassette mechanism built in jvc decks, without any exceptions.
I have a ads c2 which is great
Oh! ... and what about some Nakamichi's 😉
DENON M 11 IS ALSO COMPUTER CONTROL MECHANISM AND WITH VERY HIGH SOUND QUALITY💝
No Denon decks?
How could I buy system's please send me the details
No Use a HIFi Stereo VCR Sounds almost as Good as Reel To Reel
I thought they were going to start trying to sell me knives.....
How come none of them is a 3-head?
In all cassette decks the best ones are JVC,HARMON KARDON,TECHNICS,MARANTS another things you look for is the highest recording levels and anything past the L/R channels of 6+ and above is the best if you have one that goes from +8,9,10+ these are also great the rare ones go past a level of 12+ but in that area you are looking at tapes in METAL forms only the Cr02 is limited but does just as well only you have tio adjust your INPUT levels and for that I'm done now.
Ads cassette decks are great , I prefer German engineering
People saying where are the Nakamichis don't get this video. The decks shown are examples of cheap cassette decks which can be had for not a lot of money and they're not really sought after. Nakamichis are going to cost a lot more than nearly all these decks and there are a thousand and one videos about them already. It's a bit like a video showing cheap working 1980s cars and then people posting 'Where are the Rolls Royces?'.
Yes - thank you for this comment!! Sometimes personally you might not want a hamburger, but you should not then run into a nearby McDonald's and start yelling at the customers because they're not eating steak.
@@ACBMemphis Less is more. Quality vs. quantity. The more things they put into expensive decks the more that can go wrong with them compared to the budget basic-design models which fail less often and are easily affordable to most people. Just my 2 cents (adjusted for inflation). 😇
Where is Sansui e Nakamishi?
Nakamishi 480 z❤
If you're going to digitize cassettes you're safest doing so with a Dolby S deck. It's a shame Dolby S was available just after CD's took absolute dominance.
WIth a dubbing deck, your chances of having one working mechanism are doubled. I can't think of any other reason why I would buy one. If you ARE interested in creating your own cassettes, this is not the way!
I have a non op CTF 1050
You forget the Eumig FL-1000µP
The Yamaha is very good got a similar model sounds better than 3 others makes I have
No Nakamichi? What a shame, also no Onkyo Deck.... Most of the shown decks are quiet standard nothing exquisite. The Deck I recommended: Technics RS-B 605 with DBX and a good tapedrive mechanism.
No Akai ,Grundig or revox
No nakamichi dragon awww...
Pioneer CT-A1 🤔
No Nakamichi??
Someday... when I can afford one...
@@ACBMemphis lol
Can you say Mareeeeentz one more time?
And not a single Nakamichi in the mix…. Often a Nak CR-1A can be had for less than $100. None of these decks can touch a CR-1A in sound quality. The Pioneer blue line decks (especially the CT-F1250) have heads that have not aged well. They look great but now it’s decades later and their performance does not justify their price. Even a lowly Nak 480 is one of the best two head decks you’ll ever find and most can be readily restored.
In other words: the Yamaha is the best.
I owned the JVC KD-V40J for a short time when it was for sale in the 80s - what a horrible piece of j..k. The drive mechanism was very basic and poor quality. Mine lost the head two times, then I returned it.
Nope. Most of the old people are happy that this stupid cassette times are over. Nuff said.
Unless you are an experienced electronics expert that can fix and flip them, you should avoid them, even a perfect functioning deck can, and will fail at any time, sorry I've learned the lessons.
Buy only direct drive's - period
I’ll save everyone some time. No you should not buy a vintage deck. They were always the third format choice behind CDs and albums for Fidelity. Cassettes were offered for convenience in car stereos, and Walkman headsets. I know, I grew up in that area, and I had dozens of cassettes. They were great because I used to be able to ride my bike around my neighborhood in the early-mid 80s and listen to music. But, I dropped them and never went back when mp3 players came out in the late 1990’s. The hissing, the Dolby noise reduction that flattened highs to fight the hissing, the forwarding/rewinding and searching for songs, the relative complexity of the mechanisms, all zero fun. I get the nostalgia and the fun of albums, especially with modern turntables and stylus’s that let you enjoy music the way it was meant to be played pre-1985 or so. I get CD’s and their better dynamic range and lossless format especially from a digital source. But I don’t get cassettes. I have a pristine Onkyo deck I bought in ‘87; zero desire to ever use it. The CD player from onkyo I bought the same evening still works and plays 40 year old CD’s delivering pristine sound as ever. I’m scared to play my tapes; they’re gradually demagnetizing, losing quality without being played, weakening as they age.
Made in German new sound home made why
You know new cassette decks are available right?
Not nearly as good as a decent vintage deck.
@@e28forever30
. To what model are you referring?
@@TriAmpHiFi
Pretty much all new cassette decks are complete garbage.
Um, every cassette eventually gets eaten.
What crappy deck did you play your tapes on?
That's true.
That's true.
Cassette decks in 2024 😆🗑️
Why did you watch the video then??
this video is awesome..could you please make video about technics?
If you can deal with the mechanics and electronics, these are fun. Otherwise stay digital, stay happy. I bought a Sound Devices 702 used digital recorder for the price of an average used or abused cassette deck. I have had too many cassette decks. Kind of done. Last one was a TEAC A-460. Mostly for memory of family since passed away.