When I was a teenager, cassettes were my favorite medium. Couldn't stand most walkmans so I saved my pennies and bought a Sony WMD-6C. Always wanted a nice Nakamichi three head deck but the Sony worked out better (covert recording and such). I've read about the various three head Nak autoreverse decks (The Dragon, the tape-flipper, etc). Never knew other companies had three head AR decks until now. Saw one at a local thrift - I think the model # was 919. The rec/PB heads were on the central rotating mount and there were two outboard erase heads flanking the main heads.

Considered buying it but passed. While it worked, it just didn't lift my kilt. The tape bias adjustment was manual (unlike most high end decks of the 80s) and the $25 pricetag was more than I had in my wallet. I rarely listen to cassettes anymore but if I was to buy a deck, it would be a BX-300. I still need to order a bunch of idlers for four idle (i.e. broken) Nak two headers (BX-1, BX-125, BX-100 and CR-1a iirc).

JVC made a few three-head autoreverse cassette decks that also featured auto record calibration. The last model they made (to my knowledge) with these specifications was the DD-VR9 in 1984.

If you've got the guts, here's a link about the DD-V9 (1983) - very similar to the DD-VR9 - with the same features.

http://k-nisi.hp.infoseek.co.jp/dd-v9.htm

Yesterday I found a different Teac 3 head autoreverse deck R-888X. Even has memories for different tape cal settings. Too bad it has transport issues. Rew/FF rarely work and only once did I get the heads to fully rise. Sounds like the belts are shot. Dirty as hell too.