Cheap and cheerful casstte deck?

[admin_exported]

I've been looking for a way to bring my cassettes out of retirement that will be cost effective but hopefully listenable.

I recently saw a revox B215S in a second hand store which I think I can get for around the equivalent of 100-150 GBP (I actually live in Switzerland). I understand they were well regarded back in the day but would a cheap new player out-perform it? If so any recommendations as to brands/model numbers?

If it is a reasonable route to go down any advice for me as to how I can test it in the shop to make sure it's going to work?

My tapes (there are several hundred are mixture of commercial releases but mostly mix tapes acquired over the years, mostly chrome, SAX, metal tapes).

Thanks for any advice

John

 

[MajorFubar]

Even great decks are worth very little nowadays except to collectors who only really go for certain models.

Seeing that you're only wanting to replay and not record, hunt down a less-collectable Nakamichi, such as a DR3 like mine. It'll do you proud unless it's been abused to within an inch of its life, and afterwards you can probably re-sell it for what you paid (little more if you're lucky).

 

[matthewpiano]

Yep, hard to beat a Nak IMO and if you go for one of the less well known models you could get a bargain.

If you really want to do it on the cheap there are several mainstream decks worth considering - Yamaha KX580, Aiwa AD-F810, some of the top end Sony models, and some of the better Technics machines too.

 

[MajorFubar]

...Aiwa AD-F810...

Funny that model-name should crop up...it was the exact model I owned before buying my Nak, back in the day. Its dual-capstan transport suffered from end-of-reel stability problems which I never could cure, but when I chopped it in for the Nak, I did miss all the features such as track-search and three heads. But in terms of SQ as a playback device the Nak blew it away, so that made it all worth it.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, I had an Aiwa ADF810 myself once, got rid of it back in 2003 and I think I got 50 quid for it...should have found some space somewhere...

One thing I'll mention as well is that the hifi market here in Switzerland is pretty thin (both new and secondhand) so it might be a while before I come across any of those suggestions ... hope springs eternal though!