Top 10 vintage cassette decks

 Anyone wants this ? 

Auff

I think I saw ZX-9 on Reverb for about $5k. It will take at least $1k cables and Maxell Vertex tapes, currently about $250 a piece, to sound its best. Anyone wants this ? 

Loved my Nak. ZX9. It worked and performed without flaw and sounded incredible.

I  also had a Tanberg 3014. It sounded great but had problems with it eating tapes, even after sending it in to get repaired twice.......Jim

In terms of WOW factor, it is hard to beat the Nakamichi deck that does auto reverse by actually flipping the tape over instead of simply playing in the opposite direction.  The flip happens with incredible speed so it is a lot of fun to see the deck in operation.  It is also a pretty good sounding deck.  The Dragon and ZX-9 are pricey machines that, when fully reconditioned sound very good.  I like the looks of all of the top end Nakamichi machines.

A lot of cassette fans think that the Tanberg 3014 is the best sounding machine offered on the consumer market.  It has been dubbed the Dragon-slayer, by those who think it is better than the top Nakamichi machines.  It does not, in my opinion, look as nice as the Nakamichi machines, but, it certain is a great sounding deck.

You gotta add the B&O Beocords! Especially the 8004 (?) with the self-adjusting azimuth.

Excellent info @pryso I do like the Pioneer and the Aiwa a lot. I've decided to delay the purchase of a cassette and put my efforts toward a vintage R2R. Budget wise it makes better sense to me as a collection piece. Great information on this thread. I sure appreciate everyones effort to bring light to the subject. 

knolbrent, back in the '70s and '80s I owned a number of cassette decks.  They included Nak, Tandberg, Harman-Kardon, Aiwa, Pioneer, and Denon.  Because of the time interval my comments today must be only general terms.

First off, beware of prerecorded tapes you may find in used record stores and thrift shops.  Even brand new and undamaged I always found tapes I recorded myself were of better sonic quality.  A main reason was likely the high speed duplication necessary for volume production.  And at the time cassettes were the #1 sellers.

Nakamichi has become the standard "go to" brand and with good reason.  They were well designed and built.  But they were complex and are now old and the average electronic repair person may not be able to update them properly so be prepared to find a specialist if you buy one.  I owned a 480 and found it only "average" so I wouldn't pay for the name there.  Spend more and find something higher in the line.

The "sleeper" among those I owned was the Aiwa f990.  It was not so well known then but now I see substantial prices for refurbished examples.

I still have a good collection of tapes and a Pioneer CT-900.  That is also a very good deck but mine has a broken belt which is a pain to replace and not high on my task list.

Anyway, with proper selection of blank tape and careful recording procedures you may be surprised by the sonic quality you can enjoy. 

Nakamichi Dragon was nice, but I'd pick the ZX-9. The Dragon did everything automatically, where the ZX-9 allowed for manually fine tuning the heads, etc.. With (I think) Maxell CR02 tape I made the best sounding cassettes I ever heard. It did a better than excellent job on prerecorded tapes, too. Like most, I wish I'd never let mine go.

Brent,

Lot's of replies for various decks.  Can't say one way or another which is best.  But, I would like to interject.  If you are not looking for absolute performance (and I can only assume you are not if you are looking at cassette decks), I would suggest looking at a cassette and a R2R that match each other.  My go to pair would be a Pioneer RT-909 and a Pioneer CT-1250.  Neither of these decks is the best in their class and neither of them will be a bargain.  But they can give you decent performance and they'll look good doing it.  At least that's my opinion. 

Good luck however you proceed.

I remember auditioning cassette decks in the 70s. My goal was a deck that was indistinguishable from the LP. I settled on an Aiwa, way too long ago to recall the number but cost about $350 I think. Nakamichi was considered the tops. Anyway, the first deck didn’t live up to expectations back home, so I traded up to the next Aiwa model for the difference in price with my local audio store in Dallas. That did it. I had an ARxa turntable at the time, probably a Shure cart, Marantz 2230 and large Advents — very 70s lineup. By the time the head wore out CDs were here so I didn’t pay for the repair. I remember CrO2 tape was the best.

AIWA AD-F1000 - pretty much indistinguishable from vinyl when using Sony UX-Pro tapes.

Nakamichis were clearly overall the best performing decks, but not all that reliable, Same for the Tandbergs. Great when they worked. The Japanese decks with solenoid controls overall were as reliable as they got, but tended to be a little noisy electronically. The JVC were sleepers, extremely reliable and quiet and the HK 300 & 400 (3-head) were another. Mine never gave me any issues.

I purchased new and still have the lowly Nachamichi 480.  It was still working years ago, but is it really worth a rebuild?  With modern streaming and records, why spend money on this medium?  I'm asking because I know that those on this thread find value in cassette tape.

I suspect the OP is looking to make his rig look a bit more sexy by adding a couple of nice looking decks. I owned the Luxman 5K50 cassette deck. It didn't spec out as high as the latter decks but man was it a nice looking deck! I would avoid it as repairs are probably a nightmare. It weighed a ton as well. The Tascams are what you're looking for I think. Nice looking VU meters and repairable. Keep an eye on your local thrift shops. It happens that one could show up. Even Craigslist. Look for classic mistakes people make when advertising such as not listing the model number. Good luck. Joe

Big recommendation for Onkyo 2600 or 2800.  I bought a 2600 new in 1989, and it still works fine.  Lots of useful features, three heads.  They come up on eBay occasionally.

Even though I use aligned and calibrated by a pro Nak 682ZX with Maxell Vertex tapes on an almost daily basis, I do not recommend spending a lot on any cassette deck, including relatively high cost of maintenance. I think, 682ZX and ZX-7 are audiophile best values. 1000ZXL is a masterpiece, ZX-9 is excellent.

Yes, some say that Tandberg 3014A was the very best of them all.

My Nak has served me well for over 20 years but I really take care of it.

Oh, and I use $2600 cables with it, by the way. Yeah, I tried everything starting with Nakamichi cables, then going up Purist Audio line to Neptune, and finally settled on Wywires Diamond. It did take 20 years. I use Diamonds with phono too.

Anyway, if you want great performance - go for two track R2R.

+1 for Nak CR7A. Bought one new and still have it. I probably haven’t used it for serious listening in 25 years but can’t bear to sell it. Recently recorded a Qobuz stream on a metal cassette and the sound was amazing.  Only serviced once for new belts.  Many think it’s better than the Dragon.  

I will chime in and say ANY three head Nakamichi will likely outperform other decks out there... I have restored many and currently run a CR3A in my main system. It is an outstanding performer.

For overall good looks, it is hard to beat a Pioneer CT-F1250 or Akai GX-8.

I like the Nakamichi decks- they are built quite nicely...

BUT

the three-head models are prone to failure of the 3rd (record) head. The head is very difficult to find and expensive when you do. You may pay as much for that head as you do for the entire machine. IMO its not worth it.

If this warning is insufficient let's put it this way: Check the machine before the purchase is final; beware of 'one channel out in record'. These days that likely means a bad record head.

Looks like I'll wait on the cassette and put the funds toward an R2R instead. Great info in this thread nonetheless. 

Regarding cosmetics, 9/10 is what’s needed. A collector piece but not necessarily in price. My Luxman cost me minty fresh with two boards $1900. My Victor TT-101 drive cost $1500, redone by JP for $1750, original plinth with new Teak veneer $500 including 6 boards, $3750 for Victor which is legendary TT. I put my cassette budget at $3500 for my cosmetic requirements BUT 

Here ya go!

Wow, that’s a lot of information folks. Thanks!!! My main intention is too have a vintage cassette and R2R that i can display and use when I choose. I’ve got two killer TT’s, now it’s time to add a couple more piece. My goal is to purchase the R2R first, then in 6 months or so, get a cassette. R2R is first. The time for research is now.  I appreciate the info so far, plenty to pick from.

another vote for Nakamichi Dragon.

I never owned one but a friend of a friend had one.  It's operation and performance seemed awesome compared to anything I had heard.  Other components in his system certainly contributed, but the Dragon, in my recollection, was the star.

I having had Naka CR7E for home and TD700E for hi fi car for many years, the latter I sold last year with a new playhead spare.
Both had great sound better than all the home and car decks I’ve had.
However, there is a contender who aspires to leadership and has the name of Studer A721 or the brother for home use Revox B215S.
They will make the repairman happy in case of breakdown because the interior is in modules and is completely disassembled in less than 15 minutes for all maintenance unlike the Naka which have tangles of cables and curses to change the belts, idler or other.
Obviously the performance is state of the art.

The only cassettes I care about are those of my old bands either in performance or jamming, and me playing my musical instruments. No, we weren't very good, but it'd be great if I could hear how bad.

@spenav When I was first getting into audio the store local to me had one of those for sale, even back then it was out of my price range but I used to stop in just to ogle it.

@jond 
The Dragon Slayer!! That’s the best ever. 

Cassettes were a sh**ty medium so why waste your money on a over-engineered, difficult to maintain machine?  Just get any Nak 2 head single capstan deck with Sendust heads, metal biasing. Many to choose from. I have an MR2 pro version of BX2.  Another underrated winner in addition to those above…JVC portable with Sendust heads that outperformed the Sony.  Match your TT.

I'll just mention AKAI decks from the day....

Cassette decks are a double edged sword.  The best ones were (are) capable of astonishing performance, with a few of them in the list below even surpassing some R2R’s.

However these great “holy grail” machines cost a lot to purchase nowadays and will require a complete service (mechanical overhaul, and calibration) and in some cases at least a partial restoration in order to recover their legendary performance.

Here are some of these monumental machines to look at (in no particular order):

Nakamichi 1000ZXL, 700ZXE, ZX-9, ZX-7, Dragon, 682ZX.

Tandberg TCD-3014(A), TCD-911

Aiwa XK-009, AD-F990, XK-S9000

Revox B215S

Pioneer CT-A9X

Sony TC-K777 (ES)

The above machines are, in fully operational and calibrated states, capable of making subjectively indistinguishable copies from masters, making them all fantastic recorders.  The Nakamichi Dragon has the singular distinction of employing an elaborate automatic azimuth on the playback head, making it, combined with its overall excellent quality, the ultimate playback deck, though it is also a state of the art recorder.  However the ultimate recorder is the 1000ZXL, followed by the other above Naks and then the above Aiwa decks, in my experienced opinion.

Just chiming in that the Nakamichi Dragon is pretty easily the top. I made   thousands of tapes back in the day and could never afford the dragon. So I would always just spent as much as I could on another Nak model. I owned about 5 Nak decks over the years. The Naks always sounded best to my ears.  Then went DAT. 

All Nak decks broke but were able to be fixed. The consensus "best" was the Dragon. Three heads, azimuth alignment are the keys to a good deck.

You can buy them used but you may have to have it serviced. Once it is working as intended, it was considered the best back then and still is.

Now, as for TAPES, well, good luck finding the best ones--metal as I remember.

Cheers!

Back in the day I owned the Nak CX9. Could not afford the Dragon at the time. The Dragon was the ultimate deck. 

Many companies produced great cassette decks, most claimed big Nak killers, few did it though, some of the top ones came out late when cassette was dying and sported Dolby S. Many also never made it outside Japan so not well known, all were amazing piece of engineering and could demonstrate what the cassette was capable of, you cannot go wrong with any of these,

Nakamichi-ZX9, CR7, Dragon

Luxman/Alpine-K05/AL95 (same deck)

Revox-B215, B710

Pioneer-CT95, CT-A1

Sony-TC-K777ESII, TCK-A7ES 

Tandberg-TCD3014

Akai-GX-F95

Technics-RS9900

Teac-Z7000

Regret selling my TCK990ES (K555ES in Japan).

Nak CR-7A, out performed everything else in its class. Bought one new, and still have it. Every now and then I pop in a tape I made 25 years ago and still sounds great. Glad I never got rid of all my cassettes, have 100's

I use a JVC KD-A77 3 head deck it made great sounding tapes that I still listen to just put new belts still works great .

Just under the Aiwa f990, are  both the f770 and f660 models.  I’ve had the f770 for 38 years now, still going....the f660bis my back up. excellent 3 head decks. I sold my f990 a few years ago for top money, I was broke...these Aiwa decks could give nakamichi a run for their money and were way ahead of their time. Very futuristic looking decks. 

I owned a Nakamichi 600, and it was exceptionally well-designed. Not the highest performance of the Nak line, but a beautiful piece of gear.

Gotta be Nakamichi.   But any left will need a full service before use.   It still won't sound nearly as good as a decent record player though.

+1 @holmz    A badass B Series Revox reel to reel running 1/4 inch tape at 7.5 ips will sound an awful lot better.

Would like to add an excellent vintage cassette deck to my setup. Luxman PD444  and Victor TT-101 make up my vintage vinyl setup. It would be cool to include a badass old timer cassette deck don't ya think

Even the famous Swiss cassette recorder company moved onto digital.
Mostly they were reel-to reel rather than cassette.

Have you considered just digitising the vinyl?

Nak, Revox or Tandberg….but the Tand not all that reliable ( my opinion based on selling and servicing hundreds ….i know there are unicorns…. but let’s face it, NAK and Revox, the aint… Sonics on all 3 excellent. You got great advice on budgeting for a great tape tech to go thru your purchase.

Have fun, I have a 2 head Nak in the garage and greatly enjoy listening to tapes in made in the 70’s…. i guess, i am ancient…

Nakamichi 1000 was the king as far as I'm concerned, if you can find one in survivor or reconditioned shape.  Much cheaper but still quality: Tandberg TD310 (controls non-solenoid and a bit clunky); TD330 (solenoid controls, much better aesthetics for not much more $$ used).

Best cassette deck ever : Akai   JX 9 ! The perfect sound !

I bought an NAD 6300 monitor series when they first came out. Many of my friends had NAKS and others mentioned here. Anyone that listened to tapes made with or mass produced tepes played on this rig were extremely impressed with the reproduction. I still have mine and it still works well. The only deck I would consider trading it for would be a Dragon. 

I still have a shoe box full of cassettes but I haven't had a machine to play them on in at least a decade.. In any event, way back when I went through a number of cassette player brands including Nak, and ended up enjoying my Denon the most.

100% on any Nachamichi. When they and cassettes were at their height, they blew everything away. I sold most of the major brands back in the 80-90's and Nachamichi's always sounded best. But it is really important to have any deck checked or purchased from a reliable source as these are mechanical machines and many things can wear out, or at the least need a good cleaning, demag and oiling.