Cassette tape

Just for the few dedicated souls who still actually play pre-recorded cassette tapes, you may find this usefull if any of your tapes have "the squeal"!

A couple days ago I played two back to back that developed the squeal part way through that just got unbearable before tapes end.

Now this I always thought was due to the transport getting sticky but  it now seems it is actually the tape itself that is sticking due to lack of lubricant. Who even knew that audio tape was lubricated??

And apparently the worse offenders are the XDR range of tapes that are claimed to all have been faulty direct from the factory.

Watch the youtube video, its got a bit too much blather in it for my liking BUT when he gets to the solution it is quite simple and I can attest to the fact that it WORKS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov9frNzqrhU&t=627s

Luvrockin
It becomes addictive!
I had a 582 that I had been heavily using and decided with all my tapes I needed to buy another deck so purchased a 660zx.
Well literally 2 days later I was offered a zx7 at a price I could not refuse so bought that as well.
Now 3 might be greedy so I sold the 582, put the 660zx in the closet and enjoying the glorious music the zx7 is making!

Now have Nak 660zx and a ZX7, having decided to sell my older 582.
The ZX7 sound is simply remarkable, I was a little surprised to genuinely hear quite an improvement over the older 582, I mean quite noticeable all round.
Still playing mostly pre recorded tapes which I have hundreds of and yes SQ can be a mixed bag on them for sure.
Have not tried to record on it yet,.....

Another highly regarded deck to consider are Pioneer CT-f series like the 950, 1000 and 1250.

Watching some on eBay right now and very tempted by a fully serviced 1250....

It never ends!

Tbh, I really cannot tell any difference between the 680 and my 582zx in either playback or recording ... Both are awesome ... Lol.
Agreed repair and service work on these series of decks is a bit more labour intensive but parts for the most part are still available, it's a reliable tech that's the biggest pain.
The guy I know who services R2R will not touch a cassette deck... Claims his hands are too big ...lmao!.

If you ever step up to the 580/680 series I would advise to try and find one serviced and restored, it will be less painful in the long run.

Prices have dropped a little on eBay of late, I have seen some deals on both 580 and 680 series decks.

@luvrockin .
Enjoy those 300 decks, I did have one of those but sold it when I added a 680 to the stable.
Very good machine for the money imho.

Think I paid $300 and sold it for same so at 250 you are right in the ballpark.

I never realized cassettes had "gone away" lol.
Always had a number of Nak and Akai decks lying around and hundreds of pre recorded tapes and quite a few home recorded ones too.

As already mentioned you can pick up cassettes at thrift stores for a quarter each or even less! Ten for a dollar one of our shops was doing!
Also if you are lucky you can find some good sealed blank media too rather than paying fleabay prices.
Found some sealed Sony and Maxell tapes lately.

Long live the humble cassette!

🎸🎷🎺🎻🎹🎶🎵🎼🔊🔉