New Cassette deck recommendations

[hitechluddite]

My Nakamichi went toes up today and seeing as it is nearly 40yrs old and I spent a couple hundred dollars servicing it 6yrs ago I think it's time to use it as a conversation piece. As I still have 400 tapes recorded with either a ZX-7 or a CR-7 I would like to still have the ability to play them from time to time. I am looking for recommendations on a deck built in this millennium. It would be nice to have 3 heads but not a deal breaker, it must have Dolby C and no double decks.

TIA

[jbl4ever]

Hello, I do not know what your budget is but you might try and look at some of the decks on
US Audio Mart. Have some nice Nak decks on the site. Had the 1000 and their 700 models

[hitechluddite]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look them up. Not going to spend whole lot, around $200. I have converted all my analog music to FLAC but in my office I have a small system with a pair of JBL 4311's and like to listen to a tape now and then....

[macaroonie]

I would stick with Nakamichi , they are more readily serviced than most. If you can find a BX300 in good shape that would be good.
Changing the pinch roller and small belts is a dream it's that easy.
Not sure you will get one for $200 though.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303520007818

[hitechluddite]

I've found lots of lower end Naks for around $200 A dr3 can be had for around $200 but they are still 30yrs old and yes you can get them serviced but ESL, Magnetic tape or some such place is going to be another $200 to get one completely gone thru and at that age no matter how good the service is you're rolling the dice.

I will go that route if I must but given the resurgence of vinyl I thought maybe somebody was building a deck worth having..

[macaroonie]

It could well be that with the advent of CD in the 80's , and later the ability to copy them in your PC , would have rendered many cassette decks redundant , consigned to the attic etc.
The same rules apply though Nak , Teac , Sony generally lasted well.

You may not know that the largest part of Nak business was making cassette transports for the client market.

[hitechluddite]

It could well be that with the advent of CD in the 80's , and later the ability to copy them in your PC , would have rendered many cassette decks redundant , consigned to the attic etc.
The same rules apply though Nak , Teac , Sony generally lasted well.


I'm sure that was the case but i was hoping someone made a decent deck after the turn of the century...

[Mr. Widget]

I'm sure that was the case but i was hoping someone made a decent deck after the turn of the century...I haven’t seen one and would assume if anyone in the world was still producing compact cassette recorder/players they would be very low end units similar to the last VHS decks that were produced before they became globally out of production.

I agree with the others... find another Nak.


Widget

[Titanium Dome]

There's nothing new here, but if you haven't read it you might find it useful. The article is from 2017.

https://thevinylfactory.com/features/the-8-best-tape-decks-for-home-listening/

[hitechluddite]

There's nothing new here, but if you haven't read it you might find it useful. The article is from 2017.

Thanks, I did a quick search on ebay for every deck listed and only got about 3 decks available and didn't get any hits for a price lower than a lower end nak of the same age. I'm really concentrating on low end Naks that have had some sort of service in the recent past...

[macaroonie]

BX1 in clean shape should do you well.