I have recently acquired my father’s old technics system from 1987. I am blown away by how awesome the cassette sounds.

I recently bought a 1987 Technics RS-B105, just a basic manual 2-head deck. The seller had replaced the belts and cleaned the pots and said it was refurbed. Didn't sound so great, and recording was terribly dull, it was in very nice cosmetic condition as stated though. I found the original service manual online, with the listings for all the electrolytic capacitor values. Ordered all electrolytic capacitors through DigiKey, choosing mostly Nichicon specific audio replacements. After replacing all the capacitors, oh wow! it sounds amazing! I have never heard Dolby B actually sound any good, the Dolby circuit works perfectly and you want to use it, with all caps replaced it likely sounds better than originally delivered. Well worth the effort to do so. I also needed to adjust the azimuth, but the speed was still perfect. Not sure about wow and flutter, I don't quite have enough knowledge or equipment to measure that, but I hear no audible wow/flutter. Quite impressed with the results.

What we need is a crowd funded new cassette mechanism project. Once that high end platform is available with good recording heads and a solid transport mechanism, various audio brands can make their own electronics and enclosure with it.

Thanks for all the great videos. I've been an audiophile since the age of 12, now 68. I've learned so much in the 2 yrs following you.

Cassettes still live !! Thats an amazing thing. My background is an Electrical Engineer/ Technician/ Geek and have spent a lifetime working with the intricacies of communication and sound reproduction and even used Cassettes too but only out of necessity ie in my car pre CD and USB and even though I had high end Cassette players/ recorders I never had a lot of time for the humble Magnetic Cassette tape (nor vinyl for that matter) until one day I came across a Yamaha KX-1200 deck at a recycling centre for just a few dollars, after I cured its minor problems I recorded a DDD CD to tape on it using TDK SA tapes, my god I was blown away I could not distinguish the CD direct from the Cassette recordings I had made. Certainly changed my mind as to the capabilities of the humble cassette.

There’s no shortage of quality used decks. I have absolutely no interest in a new deck. There would be so much less waste if more people repaired and used old electronics.

I have found that with the right equipment , vintage gear is the way to go. I have a good amount of vintage along with cassette decks. The sound and build quality is excellent. Unfortunately build quality doesn't seem to matter anymore unless you spend way way more money.

I still use cassette decks, they just seem like magic! AND I will stick to my Nakamichi RX505, LX5, and 480. The 480 is one of the best used decks to buy! You don't have to have "Willie" work on them, although I did with my RX505 and his work is tops! There are many great guys to tune up an old deck.

The sound of cassette on a good cassette Deck is amazing ..

I came to the same result, when I searched the market for new cassette player. No device has convinced me, so I am now looking on the second-hand market. That makes more sense!

Hi, many thank's for this great statement👍 I'm so happy with my "Tascam 122 MK3". Sound's still great after all the years with a small service. Keep on rocking😎

I still have my NAD 616 Double Tape Deck. I've had it for about 23 years and it still works great.

That days are gone when superior quality decks were made with 3 heads and 3 motors with dual capstan drive with best possible specification and built to last.

I still have a Sansui D-W10 cassette deck that I bought new in 1986 and it still works.

I keep a top of the line Nakamichi and a Teac Esoteric for playback transfer for clients. We have every type of external noise reduction made by Dolby, DBX and Nakamichi so we can properly decode just about any cassette, or open reel studio tape.

I am always amazed at how good cheaper consumer tape decks got at the end of the 1980's and into the 90's. I have a Revox B215 but also listen to my Tascam 302's and 122Mk3 and a non pro Pioneer CT606DR which for the price is amazing. The digital noise reducton is incredible. If you get an old deck: Make sure you get it serviced (new belts) and make sure it has HX Pro.

Great that you keep us updated for new cassette decks in the market. Some of these are not that great in terms of specs. Hopefully we will get better decks in the next few years!

The best cassette deck I ever had the experience to use was an early 80's (1981?) Yamaha K-960 Natural Sound in the mid 2000's using NOS (also early 80's) TDK SA-X 90 Chrome tapes. I still have most of them and they sound great to this day. The adjustable bias even made Normal Bias tapes sound fantastic. Wish I still had it!

There are still good vintage decks if you keep looking. I scored a 1979 JVC kd-a2 at a thrift store. The Dolby NR that is has is not very good, but turn it off and it sounds very close to digital (your own recordings anyway). And that's with type 1 ferric tape. Yea quiet bits of a song you're going to notice hiss, especially with headphones, but for speakers it's negligible. They run for decent prices on ebay for anyone interested. I haven't replaced the belt but I did boil it, it has a very easy to replace main drive belt, I can have it out and back in in about 10 minutes personally. I have good things to say about Technics m218 decks, I had one briefly, it took a shit on me though, it's hopeless and I have to take the loss. But it sounded very good while it lasted. So that's also another good deck, can be found at a good price.

Also AIWA made very Good Decks on the 80s , myself have a Revox b215

I have a Realistic single tape cassette deck. It still works exceptionally well for its age.

In the mid 90's I picked up a new jvc dual tape deck. Still looks and works like brand new. This was the time everybody was dumping the component system and mostly interested in large THX receivers and DVD home theater systems.

I miss my Denon DN-790R with Dolby S cassette deck. 20-20khz / 90 db snr. Great deck with balanced / xlr io. Rewind and forward speeds were quick while gentle on the tape.

I have an Onkyo TA-2120 Stereo Cassette Deck, and it produces really good recordings. I got it from Deseret Industries for only $4.24 with tax.

I have a Tandberg TCD 910, Just had it serviced. The sound through my Sansui AU 717, is terrific !

i love cassettes this could be a New era of cassette

Italy is so beautiful I'm 100% italian I would love to visit one day. Im vintage since I'm old so my Teac V670 3 head do just fine.

I recently acquired an excellent, built-to-last cassette deck from the mid 90s in mint conditon. It came in really nice packaging - a minty Mercedes Benz E-class sedan of W124 vintage ... also excellent, built-to-last and in perfect working order. Both items produce sublime music when pushed. The whole deal cost a little less than a new modern stereo setup, and while its sort of "different" ... I couldnt be happier

I have a Sony 3 head and it does a great job, even with Type I (normal position) cassettes.

This is an excellent and informative video! This is exactly what I found when comparing new and vintage: I was undecided for to listen to and digitise old cassettes if I have to buy an expensive, new tascam w1200 at around 380/400 euro or a vintage product. I visited a few shops in my area (Milan). In one I found a nakamichi cr3e sold to be serviced for 500 euro or more to which the maintenance cost of a few hundred euro had to be added. Maybe a bit too much for my needs. I went to a second hi-fi shop which had a number of used cassette decks (in Italy, it seems to me, the cassette revival has not strongly started as elsewhere) and also has its own repair workshop attached to the shop. The shop had a bit of everything from an Aiwa excelia to be serviced over 500 euro but also much cheaper vintage decks. For 50 euros I found a Technics m45 that I had repaired for about the same price from the same shop. So a refurbished deck for more or less 100 euro. I chose the Technics following a quick comparison with a Yamaha k950 at the same price but with much more consumed heads and other issues. Checking the specs I noticed that these two 1980s items are already better than the tascam/teac w1200, so I made up my mind: partly on the basis of your very useful advice on the world of cassette tapes and partly because of the low cost compared to the specs of the vintage product compared to the new products. Thank you very much for the work you do in spreading the culture of analogue listening, but I must say that even on digital I find your videos enlightening. Bravo e grazie di tutto!

Yes, in 80's and 70's the deck manufacturer did seriously for building cassette deck machines with heavy duty designing (for example die cast aluminum alloy parts), but in early years they do it very funny-chip and with many plastic parts, also some beautiful view decks but cheap inside. for example: 3 head decks with one capstan!.

Don't know if anyone noticed, but the frequency response of the new ones is rated at the 4 db down point and not 3db which was the established standard. That is cheating, if it was rated at 3db down the high end might only extend to 10k!

I'm more than happy with my Revox B215!

I am so glad that I still own two Optimus cassette decks that are still fully functional, the single cassette auto-reverse auto tape selects HX Pro Dolby B-C noise reduction Optimus SCT-91 and the Dual deck full logic control Optimus SCT-57 with auto tape calibration, HX Pro and Dolby B-C-S noise reduction.

I'm happy with my Sony TC-K 661S and my parents old Technics RS-B33W. There are enough old tape decks around still if you put a little work into them.

About two years ago, I bought a wonderful JVC TD-W203 dual well cassette deck from a thrift store for $8 USD. It was built in 1990 and still works. I have not had it serviced or calibrated, but it works well and I've been able to enjoy my old cassettes again. I also have my dad's old Kenwood (Trio) KX-800 single well deck, which comes from about 1979. It has amazing build quality, but it doesn't currently run. I need to get it serviced and running again, because I know it will sound good.

I am not a rich man. I don't have $10,000 speakers. I have got a set of Marantz from 1985. I don't have a Pioneer 1200. What I have is an AT-LP120XUSB. My receiver is a Sony STR-DH590. My headphones are very old. Philips SBC HP 250. I was sort of disappointed that your review of the TEAC AD-850 (which I have) was not more positive. In viewing VWestlife's video about the AD-850, I purchased one. It is good enough for my lower-end system. Anyways, have a good vacation!

I still use TEAC V 7000 and I am very satisfied. Fantastic recorded sound.

So to recap, we hold on to our Technics decks. Thanks 🙏🏻

I had a Teac C-3X that I bought in Japan in 1980. It was pretty awesome and I recorded tapes with an external DBX 224. I'm not a big fan of Dolby and I really liked and still do like DBX. I always wanted a Nakamichi Cassette Deck, but was way above my price range. I always loved the cassette medium. I was using cassettes when a lot of people were using eight tracks and I hated those : )

11:16 Panasonic RX-D55 Boom Box ... Sounds real good and records on Type 1 very well with little hiss.

Not only is the Marantz deck not made by Marantz, it's not even the 'real' Marantz brand. Their Marantz Professional name was sold to the Chinese a few years ago.

I had a Toshiba deck, with the dolby noise reduction system. one head one drive and it was a good as anything today, it cost £200 in 77 which was a huge amount of money then, I'm glad compact cassettes and vinyl is making a come back,

Wow, thanks for this video. I had been considering that dual-well TEAC

This is why there is absolutely no chance of ever selling my Sony KA6ES.... (great up-to-date video, thanks!)

United Home Audio should make a cassette deck. They continue to make new reel-to-reel decks that are of the highest quality.

TEAC V270 single bay deck that I have owned since the 70s all works but soft control button for PLAY. Tooth pic fixes that. Sounds like new. Also, Kenwood T3510 Auto Reverse single bay. Dolby ABC and auto bias sensing. Works perfectly from the 80s I believe. Decks are NOT the problem. It's the 45-year-old tapes. We used cassettes to play mostly album content in our cars back then. Finally, we just bought new music on tape vs albums. Then, of course bought it all over again when CDs came on the scene.

I have a W-1200, its a decent deck. It serves it purpose, sound decent on my system and I found buying used, which I have, has never worked out. I have a couple of junk deck now......

Well good review of decks apparently the new standard for these is "low fi" (not over 15 kHz on high end response) not even close to bottom end Nakamichi decks of past years, so technology on current cassette decks takes a big step backwards. Disappointing. Todays economy means producing low quality goods at low cost = current batch of cassette decks. My thoughts. Thanks for your reviews always the best!

How I wish someone make new VHS players that can transfer them to digital (without the ugly process with a PC)

still love my akai gx-31 had it fully restored and sounds great .

Good video and always nice to see cassettes getting some more love. I have two Yamaha's, a Technics and a Pioneer all awaiting a service/ refurb- just looking to justify the cost to my wife. Same applies to my R 2 R' s and home 8-track unit. Then again, the outlay should be worth it in the long run ( work in progress). Really liked that Technics with DBX that you featured a few weeks ago.

Tascam used to make a CD recorder (not just a player) with a cassette deck in the same component. Wish I could get my hands on one of those.

If a company is going to make a new deck they should at least add some new features. I think a DPS (digital signal processor) built into the deck could solve a lot of issues. It could have a noise reduction function (to replace Dolby and DBX but single ended and better), it could have an exciter to restore lost high frequencies, maybe even some way to compensate for wow and flutter with a real time macro tuner. It could even compensate for tape speed issues with a real time adjustable tuner. That way if your tape was made on a machine that was slow or fast you could adjust it in digital without an expensive tape speed controller.

I was thinking to buy a new deck to add to my system After check you video I decide go for a full refurbished Tascam 112R MKII. (Purchased and refurbished in Japan) At the moment works great and very happy with the purchase

new belts yes; all new caps no absolutely not required. test them and you’ll see that they do probably work fine. if one has issues replace it - not all of them. audio at the end here is broken ps!

I recently bought the teac w 1200...gotta say I'm pretty satisfied.

was lucky to find 2 NOS yamaha decks (KX-R730 and KX-360) at a thrift store a few months ago. I do hope cassette decks make a comeback though.

It's nice conversation Thanks

I totally agree with you. I have SONY TC-K777ESII restored.

I still using my Sony walkman EX-501 and I really enjoy my 80's tape recordings !!

I did buy Tascam CD-580 a few months ago, but returned it immediately because the material used was not of good quality and what really pissed me off was the digital (USB) recorder's recording standards were far lower than I was expecting. It is recording low quality MP3, but such professional devices should be recording linear format. My workplace has a few decades old Tascam tape deck, wish I had it myself, it is much better in quality.

Interesting video! i just bought an old Siemens deck from early 80s for about 40 euroes in great condition, and all the specs are far superior to these new ones, as are those in my early 90s JVC double deck (which i've only ever needed to clean the pinch rollers and the heads). i'd def rather pay for an old one with needed maintanance a few hundred euroes rather than any of these new lousy ones. i could still have the Siemens serviced if need be and pay a couple of hundred and it'd be a great deck (but it doesn't need anything at the moment!)

I still have tapes and a nice old Yamaha deck, but rarely use it. Tapes are history to me. Nice video, though.

Having great fun with my NEW Teac W1200. Have the usb digital output routed to my Sony Tazh1es via my Mac mini running Audacity pass through. Reliving my youth. It sounds great. I have messed with 3 vintage decks from NAD and Sony. All failed to be consistent….and at a cost. I owned a Sony TCFX44b in the 80s. The Teac holds its own……

I bought a standard Sony piano key double deck from the early 90s from a guy on Facebook back in 2017 for about $10. It didn't perform the best when I got it, but then I decided to grow a pair, replace the belts and tune the speed pots using a combination of a studio pre recorded cassette of a song along a PC stream to get the speeds just right. However, one thing I have found disturbing is that even in the 90s, a copy of "Nevermind" I bought at a yard sale was recorded disturbingly loud, so I have the feeling that even if cassettes came back in the same way LPs have, there would be actual record labels who wouldn't put out a quality recording.

YOU are right there are very good used deck on ebay beware fixing them up can be a right pain i have worked on alot if you get the belt kits you may find fixing a right pain

Picked up some old decks from the 80s and 90s that have been looked after. $50! Akai Technics, etc.

I have 2 mid 80’s high end Harman Kardon decks that retailed for 500 dollars back then. It’s a shame no one makes a high quality deck any longer. Imagine how expensive they would be be.

The problems of cassette mostly are found in the speed and the 1/8" tape itself. Years ago when Stereo Review was around they would test the record decks recording at -10db peaks and -20 db peaks and at 0db. If you recorded at much over -10db most highs at 15khz were gone. At 0db you would be lucky to find anything about 10khz. The format was limited mostly by its physical nature. Of course the Nakamichi Dragon took cassettes to new heights, but it was crazy expensive. Plus, the format gave the average consumer a chance to do some recording and make tapes for their cars and the cabin noise was so high the HF really didn't matter much anyway. Any thing with a motor is going to be a problem with speed consistency, including turntables. Dolby B was an improvement As was C and S, but most car decks did not have an S decoder. DBX always had pumping and breathing issues. Recording studios had Dolby A for record and playback of tapes at up to 30 IPS which really helped masters.

What we really need is a new Nakamichi cassette deck. Time for the king to return and claim his throne.

Can you image a new deck, fully features, build by Burmester? Sure, it would cost 50,000€+, but what a beauty that would be.

This is very informative and exactly type of information I was looking for. Thank you for this video. I'm looking for a excellent quality and excellent condition (if not new) cassette deck to play back KY old tapes that I want to digitize and restore. The music I created on these tapes only exist on these tapes and irreplaceable. That's why it is important I get a high-quality and extremely reliable deck to play these tapes back on. I can't afford to end up with a machine that would ruin my tapes, destroying the music that's on them

Thankfully I got my hands on 1994 Yamaha KX-480 and it's brilliantly sustained

I gave these new machines a wide berth and went with a restored Nakamichi BX2. Blows this new junk away in the first second of playback. Looks way better too.

When I was in 6th grade I was at my friend's house and he got a birthday present in the mail. He opens it and says "its a cassette, I wanted one." I said "what's a cassette?" because they had just come out and I had never heard of or seen one. After that my dad got Teac decks and I installed a Teac cassette player in my first car. It had "auto-reverse" meaning you changed sides without having to flip the tape, but it didn't have reverse or fast forward - ouch. I always bought LPs and recorded cassettes for my car and brought cases of them when traveling (now in a bin in my basement). I have a few decks, one a Nakamichi, but I haven't plugged them in for 20 years. The only application I can think of is to digitize/recover existing unique recordings. Recording cassettes is obsolete and doesn't make sense.

I noticed something suspicious with the TEAC Decks Specs... the combo AD-850 has the frequence range of 50-12.000 Hz but at +-3db while the double deck W-1200 has a frequency range of 30-13.000 Hz at +-4db so they are not directly comparable. 30-13.000 db at +-4 could very well mean the same as 50-12000 at +-3 db if there is a 1 db rolloff between 30-50 Hz or 12.000-13.000 Hz... This makes me suspicious that they could in theory have exactly the same frequency range and the reason why they chose a different scale is to make the frequence range on the W-1200 look better. I guess we'll never know :D

I have the CT- S830s from Pioneer its a great tape machine!! 😁

Well I can’t complain about any of my good old 80’s cassette decks :-)

Since you are quoting them and using their information, you should put links to VWestlife's and Techmoan's videos in your description. This is a matter of respect for their work. Otherwise, thanks for your work. Nice video.

I got a used Yamaha off of ebay and made out okay. But then again I do not use it often. It is a model issued in 1985, and it was kept clean - well. If you know a good shop and you want to get a fixer upper (say, from ebay) check and see what parts it needs or what is wrong with it- and see if your shop has the parts before investing in the deck. In fact you may want to see if your shop is still in business (these days). This has been my experience.. in some towns and cities, places that will do the work may be hard to come by and you may have to invest some dough (unless you are a DIY kinda guy). But those new decks with the marantz name on them? I got 2 that had to go back to a very reputable dealer. Don't even bother. This is only based on my experience, folks.

I love my Harman Kardon hk400xm. Plays beautifully. Got it from my grandfather so not trading it for anything.

I have bought a technics m13 and it Sounds great at a Type 1 Cassette. The recordings are good

I thank you as always for the items you bring for discussion. Each is unique and contribute to the whole puzzle of analogue (and not only) music reproduction. In my opinion, analog recorders of these days are not more than nostalgic items, since digital recording surpass technically and is mature enough comparing to any existing analog recorders. I There for suggest that in order to complete your series about recorders, to add a third part, which will deal with current commercially available digital recorders. Have a great vacation and thank you again.

I've bought nad 6220 Tape Deck that has been fully serviced been told by a friendly saying great

There seems to be a surplus of excellent quality vintage decks about available cheap and they are all better than the current crop of floor sweepings from the current manufacturers to not too discerning buyers who never experienced that 70 to 90's quality, so no problems there but what really does concern me is the lack of availability of new premium quality tapes such as were produced in the past by TDK Maxell BASF and the others of good repute in the day.

Lots of used and even the odd new old stock decks available on eBay. I still have a Yamaha deck and 2 Denon CD tape combos that still work

Thank you! But what others have found when they have looked inside these decks, they have found that all use the same drive system, some even worse quality. Like you related, it would be best to get a deck from the 80's, maybe even the 90's. Atleast you would have true Dolby systems. Most of these new decks come from the orient, other than Japan. Look for an older name brand deck which was made in Japan.

I'm a huge fan of recording my own cassettes. I currently own Marantz PMD510, 19 yrs, which yields excellent recordings. The new cassette decks are the equivalent of those introduced in the late 60's: low sound quality and inexpensive. This strategy is how the mfrs. and marketers both build and test the market for cassette decks. This only means that as the results come in, these shrewd cos. will begin selling a plethora of audiophile grade and hi-end decks. Be patient, and give them a few years to position themselves. I am anxiously watching and waiting.

Yes, there is hope for magnetic recording systems, I have been working on new digital / analog technology base around my analog digital modulator (ADM) ideas, that I have been using with my AM radio transmitters. As AM radio and magnetic recording have a lot in common in dealing with noise as well as how the record process works, I have one working prototype and now building a second design to work with both cassette tapes and 8 track systems. If anyone is interested what has been tested so far? take a look my article on LinkedIn called the "Next Generation of Cassette Decks".

The 1986 AKAI deck I found thrown away onto a kerbside 15 years ago, that I recently got restored into working order with new belts and such (which cost me about $150 to do) was a bargain compared to these piles of shit with cheapo tape mechanisms in them plus mine has type 1, chrome and metal tape recording and Dolby B/C on it too.

I really don’t understand this “new” models. Beautiful outside, a garbage inside. I think that should be better the companies make available new components for the old models. A lot of fans around the world would be happy if this new components in the market.

Thanx. Now i know what i've to look for.

Still have my Pioneer CT-91a and my Tandberg TCD-3014a ans they both rund and sound like new, and I've had them since right after the great flood, or so it seems. It would be interesting though, to see someone make a high quality cassette deck again. And for TDK to get up from the chair and do the SA, SA-X and the MA-R again. Please... Kind regards.

I still use my Vintage Revox B710 Cassette Deck this is a masterpiece, and I agree the TEAC is the best choice if you want a new machine

Nice video, once again it's a proven thing that vintage decks - well calibrated and serviced - are the way to go!

i want more chrome cassettes produced... like the tdk sa90's!

Beautiful opening!

I still have my Sony TC-K620 but I think the motor died? It served me well for many years... My favorite blanks were TDK-SA and SAX then Maxell UDXL-II, which also smelled the best! ...next best were Sony UX-S and Metal-SR... I recall not liking Memorex and Fuji DR-II.

when digital first came out, it had every advantage over any analog medium, everything we complained about with tape and vinyl... so what did we spend the next 30 years doing? buying and developing digital emulations of analog systems to make our pristine digital recordings sound more... analog...