Looking for a great cassette deck

I was introduced to the high end with a Nakamichi 1000 deck… just blew away all the highly touted competition, then an LX-5 which I bought ~82. And finally the Dragon… definitely, get a Dragon.

jnovak - there's an interesting website where I've found a lot of useful information on cassette decks (and reel decks, too).  I poked around there recently seeking information on cassette deck repairs/restoration, as I have a well loved Nak DR-10 in need of servicing.

https://www.tapeheads.net

Tapeheads.net  buy a restored one from a member there, the members seem to have a bevy of different models.

I own the Tascam 122 mk3, Teac V-8030s, Sony KA-3ES, Pioneer CT-43, a couple of Nak DR-10s and a vintage Pioneer from the early 80's.

My opinion is if you are transferring to digital the Tascam may be the best and most uncolored of all. Of course over the years any deck can be out of spec so people may have different experiences. The Tascam has the most clarity of anything I’ve heard. Its strength in that area led me to the Teac V-8030s and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s more of a romantic sound compared to the Tascam but equal in clarity and is probably my overall favorite. The Sony is great and was my reference for awhile but I’d rate it behind the Teac and Tascam, overall. The vintage Pioneer is pretty great, in fact. Once my tech serviced it, I couldn't believe the sound quality.

The Nak DR-10s are pedestrian and short of the performance of the others. Not as much extension, saturation, clarity, etc. But the DR-10 is easy to change belts on when needed and is the newest of all of them. Both my DR-10s sound the same so I’m confident saying that’s just the way they are. I plan to sell both and while they’re probably better than anything made and sold today, they’re behind the others as I hear it.

If your Tascam is working well, it might be the best option for doing your transfers. You can most likely still find someone to service them, too.

I recently purchased a Nakamichi LX3 that was listed on eBay, which I do not necessarily recommend. The reason I took a chance on it was it had been restored by one of the world’s best Nakamichi men, Willy Hermann.

It managed to make it to me intact and it works well but your chances of lucking out on such a purchase are not good. Even when the listing states that a unit has been recently serviced, I’d still be leery because, while there are some electronics techs who will replace belts and get them running, there really aren’t that many techs out there who have the necessary skills, specialized alignment tools and test tapes required to make sure they’re properly calibrated. Simply replacing the old belts that have turned to goo does not constitute a complete service.

One thing that would be really nice for transferring tapes that have been recorded on many different machines is a deck with adjustable playback azimuth. There aren't a lot of decks out there that have a front-panel mounted dial for that which allows you to return the play head back to center. Nakamichi has the CR-7, Cassette Deck 1 and the DR-1. The Dragon adjusts the play head automatically.

As stated, Tapeheads is THE place to go for further information.