I still run my Nak Dragon in my system and it sounds great. Yes the negative reply will be plentiful but most of them are referencing back to their boom box days. They always want to compare to reel to reel and the speed of the tape. Recording an album through a good tape monitor loop like the Sansui 9090 had and using a quality metal oxide tape produced very good recordings. I also recorded many live concerts off radio stations and still listen to them. Is it the best source for critical listening no but it can still sound very good if you make it about just enjoying the music.
Cassette decks. How good can it get?
I know some guys are going to just want to say a bunch of negative stuff about tape decks and tell me how bad they sound. There is a lot of music that comes out on tape only (you usually get download too) so I have been acquiring quite a stack of cassettes. I have a couple of Nakamichi decks BX100 and BX300. The 300 is not working and was thinking of trying to repair. I am wondering how good of sound you can get out of cassette? Has anyone taken the leap up to something like the much more expensive Nakamichis or other brands even. I enjoy the sound. Mainly it's the background noise more than anything but even that is somewhat tolerable.