Stereo Cassette Decks like vinyl phono are still popular as people still avoid technical jargon as if it were a disease!  The S/N ratio and Frequency Response of Vinyl and Cassette are about equal.  As toys such equipment is useful in showing how entertaining poor audio can get!  As toys Cassette Decks are a bit of fun, something to do on a rainny day, record from a CD you've already got, so why not just listen to the CD?  '-I want to know what a Nakamichi DRAGON Cassette Deck sounds like on Hi-End Hi-Fi?'

'-Sounds just like the average CD player on Hi-End Hi-Fi but with the treble tone knob turned right back to minimum treble!  So it's a big, bassy sound on Hi-End, really quite entertaining, until you listen to the CD player they recorded it from!  Okay keep the tape deck - CD wins!' 

Hey this old Hi-End Cassette Deck has been sitting all day wearing a hopeful expression and it's   s t i l l   here!  Any Suggestions?

Sure!  Start the price at $1 and let the Ebay bidders reach today's real market value, taking into consideration all the high quality digital recording formats available today!

What sounds better than either a Nakamichi or REVOX cassette deck?  -Almost any CD player!

There's a person who collects REVOX and Nakamichi Cassette Decks on Ebay and pretends they're the original 'from new owners.'  But they've got too many, that the dead giveaway!

How do you know a potential Cassette Deck buyer when you're in an International Airport?

See these Glad Bags in the luggage rack?  Glad Bags are for trash right?  Cassette Decks are for trash as trash wasn't always trash.  Glad Bags make good suitcases like Cassettes make good Hi-Fi music!  Don't record from CD to cassette -just buy a DAC instead!  -That's a DAC not a duck! 

Below left.  Technics RSM260 3-Head Sendust (like Nakamichi) SX Head Stereo Cassette Recorder with Dolby B Year: 1981, Double capstan - dummy type- with erase head on dummy capstan making the closed loop.

See SONY TC-K555 3-Head, better than the Technics M260 when new!

1981 year Technics Cassette Decks were styled after machines like the award winning 1979 SONY TCK-81, just beating Nakamichi and Tandberg!  Who can beat SONY - honestly!  I suppose we're all using NAKAMICHI camcorders and NAKAMICHI laptop computers?  I suppose NAKAMICHI bought over CBS and is now selling Oscar Peterson as a NAKAMICHI label, did REVOX?  -No but at the price of them I guess they were hoping to get there before SONY!  Anyways these 1981 Cassette Decks were all manual decks although the tape transport was automatic.  The rubber roller in a tape transport is better the bigger in diameter it is.  The L/R stereo record tracks are ganged in one knob, though on the entry level Technics of 1981 are still separate knobs for each track.  Technics later had a single large knob for recording levels with a Balance control!   The TECHNICS M260 has the 2-color digitron tube PEAK HOLD type bargraph readout.  This is a Vacuum tube type device in a glass envelope and it shows were the PEAK record level got to, as it's too fast for your eyes with just an LED or PIN type V.U. METER.  The 1970s had been all about these PIN METER recording level monitors, they are inferior and very hard to adjust.  Some tuners had a REC TONE feature in the 1970s allowing the rough adjustment of the the V.U. Meter to +3dB on the dial scale.  With the next generation of Technics and SONY METAL cassette decks, the digitron peak hold meters had 3 colors as METAL TAPE allowed higher recording levels above +3dB to +6dB or higher!  With 3-Head Cassette Decks you could hear how high to turn your recording level, sometimes right off the scale!  But there's a point where you lose high end clarity.  METAL tapes were less prone to PRINT THROUGH - the tendancy of too strongly recorded material to self-record on nearby windings of tape causing an echo effect.  PRINT THROUGH was also less marked in C60 tape that is thicker than C90 or C120.  Cassette Decks like the Technics M260 above couldn't use C-120 cassettes as it was too thin.  The ever moving capstan caught the C-120 tape and wound it up like a reel, locking the cassette into the compartment so it wouldn't open.  Repair shops then just cut the cassette out with pliers etc. 

Tape Position: Normal, Ferrochrome, Chromedioxide, METAL

Kenwood upmarket double deck with Elna caps, weak bass but nice tone!

Kenwood Double deck Dolby B/C, Swing 2-Head Auto-Reverse, Permalloy Head, 2 Capstan, 2 Pinch Roller.  Double cassettes began to dominate the market, the most expensive of these were large harman/kardon models with discrete circuitry.  The Swing Head allowed AUTO-REVERSE, meaning it played Side A and Side B.  Okay all these PHILIPS COMPACT CASSETTES, unlike VHS and Betamax videos have 2 recordable and playable sides.  Like the PHILIPS V2000 cassette, you could take the cassette out, turn in 180 degrees and put it back in to get twice the record/play time!  All stereo cassette decks used the PHILIPS COMPACT CASSETTE format but not all Videos were the V2000, it was slow to fully develop and the market lead was taken by VHS.  Many Double Cassette decks use a large Microprocessor chip and offer remote control of functions.  The SONY ones have a much better Bass than the Kenwood but the upmarket Kenwood shown has Elna capacitors like the Technics M260.  ELNA were once an American brand of capacitors with a mellow tone, easier on the ear.

The PHILIPS EL3542 below is a 4-track reel to reel in North America and a half track in Britain, these machines have the AUTO TAPE SHUT-OFF mechanism.  Marantz is designed by PHILIPS!

PHILPS EL3542 REEL TO REEL portable tape recorder, 1962 version.

Marantz SD 420 Computer Control Cassette

Marantz SD 420 did away with the Ferro-Chrome FeCr position of the Technics M260.  The FeCr was about the most expensive of all cassettes coming before METAL tape it had been very difficult to make and had combined the very powerful bass of Ferrous (NORMAL) cassette tapes with the powerful highs of Chrome (CrO2) tape cassettes, but was more suited to SONY's Ferrite Rec/Play Heads.  The only Ferrite Head still in most cassette recorders today is the Erase Head, this wipes off the old programme when you go to record a new source on a tape already recorded with some other programme!  Around 1982 the pseudo chrome came out and, for this HIGH BIAS chrome cassette and certain METAL HIGH BIAS cassettes, the Marantz SD 420 had a BIAS FINE TRIM knob. 

But the SD 420 was a 2-Head type Cassette Recorder (Rec/Play and Erase), the 3-Head was the better for BIAS FINE TRIM, as it allowed you to hear the improvement in quality without removing the cassette and winding it back and playing it with various passages recorded at set increases in FINE BIAS level!  3-Heads have separate Erase, Record and Play heads, while 2-Heads use the same Rec/Play head to record or play.  So with a 3-Head you can listen with the play head to what you just recorded on the tape with the record head!  Meanwhile on the Technics M260 one knob is the TAPE TYPE POSITION Fe/FeCr/CrO2/METAL and the other knob is the OUTPUT LEVEL, you see the yellow and red light?  -Thet're the source/tape pilot lamps - these are not LEDs like today, they're long life pilot bulbs as on the REALISTIC STA-2000 source selector indicator lamps. Programme being recorded is going to the record head you're hearing when the yellow and red lights are on, push a button and the yellow light goes off and a green light comes on there with the red one, you're then hearing the tape you've just recorded, so if it's a bad tape it won't sound as good as the source, sometimes it will sound better than the source!  With FINE BIAS cassette decks like the SONY TCK-555, you can increase the FINE BIAS adjust while listening to the recorded effect, but the later computer optimised tone burst system could find the optimum BIAS and RECORD LEVELS for any tape formula.

TAPE POSITION: Normal, Chrome, METAL. 

REPEATING ONE TRACK! - The SD420's main stunt and practical value is repeating of one track on a commercial cassette, quite happily shuttling back and forth until you've had your fill of favorites!  The later remote control double cassette decks are useful too and you may find a suitable remote handset on Ebay!

About TDK, Maxell etc.  These brands were at one time recommended for the optimum Head Bias for replay and recording in brands of cassette deck, the optimum ie TDK etc cassette for each position was given in the owners manual.  But after computer tape bias optimisation with CD sources, the brand of cassette being used mattered a lot less.  The main problem with cassettes is instant track access and stiffness developing on repeating tracks, at worst causing slow running or tape eating.

The Marantz SD420 is what was called a Computer Controlled Logic Cassette Deck, it could repeat a track over and over again!  Unfortunately its Super Hard Metal Alloy tape head, like the early Sendust (Nak) Heads may stick to certain fabulous commercial chrome music-cassettes, thereby ruling out their role as near CD players!  The later SONY Permalloy type cassette tape head, doesn't stick to these Chrome commercial cassettes!  Some NAKAMICHI Sendust head machines have a problem with pre-recorded commercial cassette tapes and might eat them - Be Careful if a Nak eats a tape, your day may be ruined as the door may not open!  The Marantz SD 420 has a timer selector and in the year of its introduction around 1983 there were a great many new Cassette features on offer.

3-Head compartment of the Technics M260, typical rec/play Sendust Head.

IF YOU WANT TO PLAY CHROME COMMERCIAL CASSETTES USE A TWO HEAD MACHINE LIKE A SONY OR TECHNICS DOUBLE CASSETTE PLAYER.  DON'T USE A SENDUST 3-HEAD!  THE MARANTZ SD420 is excellent only for Ferro commercial tapes!  NAK ARE FOR RECORDING AND PLAYBACK - MAINLY FROM ANALOG TUNER.

DOLBY B/C/HX PRO

Dolby B gave 65 or 67dB of S/N ratio or Hi-Fi measure, ie +10dB noise reduction over 55 or 57dB. 

So Dolby B gave up to 67dB of S/N ratio, Dolby C up to 10dB more.  That's 77dB when most phono vinyl record players could only manage 70dB of S/N ratio or the S/N measure of High Fidelity!

DOLBY HX PRO

Dolby HX (Headroom Extension)(Professional) PRO was not a noise reduction system like DOLBY B or C.  It prevented high frequency loss - remember that HACKER 1000 speaker needing the REALISTIC 1310 to improve its high frequency sparkle?  Remember Ferro Chrome FeCr, the gold cassette tape below and what it did?  DOLBY HX PRO improved the high frequency loss and dynamic range at the top end of the frequency response curve.  So HX PRO could make the Blue AHF tape below sound more like the Gold FeCr tape below.  HX PRO could make the Orange CHF tape below sound more like the Green BHF tape below and the Green BHF tape below more like the blue AHF tape below, Get the Idea?  So DOLBY HX improved the sound of ordinary low noise tapes closer to more expensive METAL and CrO2 cassettes.  With DOLBY C and HX PRO 80dB S/N ratio could be reached with a stereo Cassette.  That's 10dB above the Shure M75EJ II magnetic phono cartridge!  These cassettes would mean mean many record players had bit bit the dust, but cassette decks were used to record from 'feedback howl' phono turntables like the REALISTIC LAB -395, they were fine for being recorded from quietly onto Cassette tape, with the volume at a low setting.

DBX

Some Technics Cassette recoders had a feature known as dbx that increased S/N ratio or dynamic range to 92db.  But like the CARVER Asymmetric Detector, it sounded artificial and wasn't popular!

HX PRO recorded enhanced other machine playback

The HX PRO system didn't need a playback decoder, it would improve the replay sound of any cassette deck it was played back on, but tape head Azimuth wasn't mentioned!  See in the World Of Hi-Fi there's always a negative to consider as it's like engineering for best sound!

AUTO TAPE SELECT meant no more tape buttons to forget about changing.  The Cassette deck sensed the type of cassette put into the cassette machine.

FLEX - Frequency Level Extension was a Pioneer only system for artificially extending and levelling out the high frequency response of cassette tapes - a bit like HX PRO but used by cheeky salespeople to mock the enthusiastic customer.  Has that Pioneer got FLEX?  -Yes all Cassette Decks come with a flex..!  Trouble is - they don't!  Some of 'em need a flex plugged in, (computer/kettle type flex) make sure it's got one in the price!  Others thrown in the skip have the flex cut off, get one of these on Ebay, chaces are it's stolen property!

The growth in Microprocessor technology around 1983 meant cassette decks were full of new fangled gimmicks and gizzmos, to match receivers like the REALISTIC STA-2290 of that time.  There was Intro Scan, Skip Search, Programmable Music Selector, Instant Programme Locating System etc.  This also led to 2-motor, 3-motor and 4-motor Cassette Decks, these weren't all better at everything but helped to allow better remote control of cassette deck features.  BEWARE - Old multi-motor decks particulary late 1970s/early 80s SONY - have a Solenoid failure problem, don't buy these decks!

Amorphous Combination Head - Technics, JVC, SONY and AIWA used this later 1983 version of the 1981 Sendust 3-Head above.  The Swing head in the next picture above looks like a 3-Head but where's the erase head hiding?   That's the erase head next to the Rec/Play head and so it's only a 2-head!  A combination head is usually the record and playback heads grouped with a separate erase head, so in total 3 Heads!

These SONY Ferro and Ferro-Chrome cassettes were the most useful type of cassette for the early type of cassette decks.  Sony AHF was the best Ferro Normal, BHF the middle of the road and CHF the premium performance.  SONY AHF was good for Jazz or Classical and will make a really superb Ferro cassette for Ebayers, BHF is good, CHF, widely counterfeited in Africa, but as an original very good as being better than TDK, Maxell and BASF premium quality ferros.  The worst cassettes for Audio are EMI, PHILIPS, 3M Scotch, etc.  TDK AD is a fine high quality used Ferro for Ebayers!  Note SONY's 1970s Ferrite & Ferrite 'F&F' heads are superb 'Ferro' tape recording tape heads, but of these machines and later Denons the horizontal deck, makes cassettes stiff.  To get over this, play these cassette decks through without stopping or any winding or repeating and after each side of play, wind the cassette through, back and forwards, six times, this allows these vintage decks to be used!  

People with equipment mismatch often report that Compact Cassette sounds better than CD.  On their equipment mismatched CD appears to give reference series 'CD sound,' versus their bargain hi-end Stereo Cassette Deck, but these folks lack the funds to listen to top quality CD systems versus Cassette.  The Luxman CD player is one more suited to Classical Music and over-priced for their basic electrolytic caps, so some CD players offer a poorer Digital to Analogue conversion and benefit more than others, from a separate D/A unit.  With some older amplifiers, modern speakers have the wrong tone and vice versa plus CD players don't match all older amplifiers.  Cassette Deck doesn't really sound 'warmer' than CD players, it cuts down the upper frequencies, that's not what 'warmer' means, cheaper amplifiers are more nasty in the high frequencies as are cheaper and many older tweeters in speakers.  Don't listen to bad advice from people claiming cassettes are better than CD, that's like Harley Davidsons are better than cars - save them for the rainny day Dude!  For CD you must listen on the appropriate system, if your cassette sounds better, there's something wrong with either your CD Hi-Fi system or your CD player is mismatched, it's that simple!