Nakamichi cassette playback in non-Nak deck?

Thank you all for some very good feedback on this rather obscure topic! It's a little silly in this digital age of iPods but what the hey - I've always enjoyed time spent making recordings to tape real-time while listening to the music.

Buying new seems out of the question esp. for a single-well design. They truly look to be extinct on the consumer side of the market. In the meantime, I have a pretty decent single-well tape deck built into my early '90's era JVC "executive" micro system to get me by (dolby B, metal tape capability, U-turn autoreverse, full-logic controls) but not even close to a good standalone deck, I'm sure. The JVC was built a few years before the cassette part became an afterthought (or vanished) on those systems. The big issue for me with the JVC is no Dolby C (or S, for that matter) and no line out - you can't output to your main system, aaargh! But it has an Aux In which is being put to good use connected to iTunes via my AirPort Express in the bedroom :) -jz

Pryso - that's good advice that I will use if buying local. I am looking beyond just Nakamichi now and am seeing some nice older decks for sale made by Yamaha and Denon, too. Will even consider a 2-head deck if it's quality. Always wanted a 3-head deck, though! I'll keep my eyes peeled for the NAD, too. We'll see what transpires.. -jz

Hey Swampwalker, I'm going to look at a NAD 6100 deck from their "Monitor Series" line (circa 1989) for sale locally. Probably a step or two down from the 6300 (It's not a 3-head deck), but looks like a very nice deck nonetheless with low hours offered by the original owner. The price is right and this may be a fine choice for my needs. Pryso- I will bring my walkman to see how the tapes recorded on it sound. Thanks all! -jz

Well Audiogoners, sometimes you just get lucky. On Friday I went to look at the NAD 6100 cassette deck and ended up buying the matching cd player and receiver, too! The seller would have sold the tape deck by itself but the other components were so nice I just had to buy the set. It didn't hurt that his asking price for all three components was very reasonable. Thanks John, if you are reading this! He included the original remotes and the owner's manuals and a brochure for the whole NAD Monitor Series lineup from the early '90's. Lots of good information and detailed specs with color photos.

The tape deck is virtually like new, as advertised, and lucky for me so are the cd player (model 5000) and receiver (model 7400). Although the tape deck is not a three-head, it does have Dolby B, C and HX Pro, adjustable fine bias, remote and great specs. Looks like I found my deck! Everything was plugged in so I got to make a sample recording. The tape sounded very , very close to the cd source AND it sounded great in my walkman. This system will become my main rig in the house for stereo music once I move my surround gear to the garage for the new home theater I plan to build out later this year. I can't wait to hear that NAD amp with my Rev One's!