Interesting read for sure. Especially since it was written in 2004 when the last of the good (read: not great) Sony ES machines (TC-KA3ES) could be found on the internet and at discounters for a mere 200 bucks - and because the writer picks 2010 as forwarding looking date.
Well, it's 2010. Resurgence? Not quite. Interest and demand for used decks and NOS tapes. Certainly.
I found this article searching on the model number TC-K870ES, which happens to be my all-time favorite deck. The amazing thing is that next year my 870 will be 20 years old and it still performs extremely well. Tapes I made back in the early nineties on the same deck still play like the day I recorded them. The compact cassette is a great platform but the true need for portability, capacity, conveniece of use and relative indestructability has brought digital to the forefront and the masses are responded. Tape is niche. Which is cool by me. But turntables have a different alure if you ask me and the whole tape deck thing doesn't seem to compare in my estimation.
It will be interesting to revist this thread in 10 more years...
Well, it's 2010. Resurgence? Not quite. Interest and demand for used decks and NOS tapes. Certainly.
I found this article searching on the model number TC-K870ES, which happens to be my all-time favorite deck. The amazing thing is that next year my 870 will be 20 years old and it still performs extremely well. Tapes I made back in the early nineties on the same deck still play like the day I recorded them. The compact cassette is a great platform but the true need for portability, capacity, conveniece of use and relative indestructability has brought digital to the forefront and the masses are responded. Tape is niche. Which is cool by me. But turntables have a different alure if you ask me and the whole tape deck thing doesn't seem to compare in my estimation.
It will be interesting to revist this thread in 10 more years...