Try a used Nak BX-300. Great deck, can be had for under $300, although sooner or later you must have the "gear-drive" upgrade performed, and these may not be available in the future.
Advent 201 tapedeck: Is good for a modern setup?
I just came across an Advent 201 in good working condition. It's famous for being the first true Hi-Fi tapedeck (an ancestor of the Nakamichi Dragon somehow), and some people even say that it "blows away" modern tape decks.
While it has a good reputation, I have doubts that it's suitable for my non-vintage setup. I do not have a tube amp, so having the sought-after Hi-Fi analog sound is probably not possible.
The #1 use of this deck will be to transfer my collection of old demo cassettes to digital archives. I want maximum playback quality, even if the tapes were dubbed on bad equipment or pro-duplicated at a cheap factory. It's possible that vintage equipment might not be right for the source or destination material. Any thoughts on this?
How would the playback quality compare to a modern tapedeck? This is the original 1971 design. While it supposedly has high-quality heads and a great drive mechanism, how might it compare to a 3-head Nakamichi for example? I expect that I will only need the included Dolby-B noise reduction since C tends to screw up DIY recordings in my experience.
(Stupid question: On multi-head tape decks, how many heads are used for playback?)
Either way, I think I'm gonna buy a copied manual to calibrate it properly. Before this, I was seeking out a Nakamichi and I'm really wondering if I'd be any better off. I like to learn as much as I can about audio, so I'd appreciate any input.
While it has a good reputation, I have doubts that it's suitable for my non-vintage setup. I do not have a tube amp, so having the sought-after Hi-Fi analog sound is probably not possible.
The #1 use of this deck will be to transfer my collection of old demo cassettes to digital archives. I want maximum playback quality, even if the tapes were dubbed on bad equipment or pro-duplicated at a cheap factory. It's possible that vintage equipment might not be right for the source or destination material. Any thoughts on this?
How would the playback quality compare to a modern tapedeck? This is the original 1971 design. While it supposedly has high-quality heads and a great drive mechanism, how might it compare to a 3-head Nakamichi for example? I expect that I will only need the included Dolby-B noise reduction since C tends to screw up DIY recordings in my experience.
(Stupid question: On multi-head tape decks, how many heads are used for playback?)
Either way, I think I'm gonna buy a copied manual to calibrate it properly. Before this, I was seeking out a Nakamichi and I'm really wondering if I'd be any better off. I like to learn as much as I can about audio, so I'd appreciate any input.