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Top vintage 3 head cassette decks

progger7

progger7

Active Member
I'm looking to round out my vintage system with a classic "silver" 3 head cassette deck. It seems alot of people think the Pioneer CT series decks were some of the best of this era. What are some other decks of this era that one should consider? (Of course, this assumes they are in top shape with some refurb expected.)

So, what are your favorite vintage 3 head decks for sound and build quality?
 
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JVC, Akai, & Teac/Tascam would come to mind, as well as Nakamichi. I have several nice 2 head decks also, the only real benefit to me would be able to monitor the recording, which I never do anyways. I have a nice JVC KD-3030 and Nakamichi 480 that are very strong performers with much less of the problems associated with the the Pioneers. If they're in top shape, they need no refurb. Some people here do total teardown/rebuilds on these things like you would an engine in a cherished auto. To me, cleaning, and belt replacement is the extent of my skills.
 
For Pioneer, starting with the best (IMHO):

  1. CT-F1000 (big lead here)

  2. CT-F1250

  3. CT-F900

  4. CT-F950

  5. CT-F800

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
Nakamichi 700 II

Pioneer CT-F1000 - fun to restore and great, solid sound.
JVC KD-95 and 85 perform pretty well. I actually think ANRS was a pretty good system. Too many decks have crap Dolby setups and recordings are better without Dolby or ANRS anyway!
I loved the Nakamichi 600 II and 700 II - both again pretty easy to work on a great sound.
One of my favourite decks is the Advent 201 - I have restored a couple of these and have one still. Fantastic, quirky.
What about TEAC? TEAC did some nice decks...I sold several excellent TEACs (V95RX - ignore DBX and they are a good deck) Even the 'basic' top loader TEACS were really well made. I had a wonderful TEAC A-550RX
Current tape restorations underway: TEAC A-440, A-460, A-650, Marantz SD9000 (the non-DBX version), Nakamichi 700 II, JVC KD-85 and KD-95 and an old Sony TC-209 SD
I agree that 3-head decks attract higher prices but with careful setting up and decent tapes, any of the quality 2-head decks can produce very impressive results.
 

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ModernClassic said:
I always go for the long lasting AKAI GX head decks, because any excellent deck with worn set of heads are like junk!
Click to expand...

2nd'ed, but there are other great decks too in the Sony, Nakamichi, TEAC or H/K lines.
 
hi fello Ak'ers....
I like my Sony three head TC-KE500S cassette deck...it has calibration for bias, and dolby record level per tape...2 motors, .can use metal or ferrichrome tapes....it has dolby B, C, and S, plus HX pro.
also, I got TWO wonderful performing DENON DRM-740 three head cassette decks with three motors, cal for bias....dolby B, C and HX pro...
and a dandy SONy 3 head TC-K700E.....three motor .
i found the above machines t Goodwill...so you never should STOp looking....
blooeyz
 
Kenwood KX-2060 is a beautiful sleeper...quite possibly the only really great cassette deck they made (makes a KX-1030 look really crude by comparison)

...best of all, they are going for practically no money. I've picked up several over the past year, and after a good cleaning and some replacement belts, they're running perfectly!
 
Luxman 5K50, Tandberg TCD-330 and the NAKs.

Oh you want one today so skip the Tandberg, no service, the lux is rare but a few have shown up on the bay. The Naks have a following and folks are still repairing them. Aiwa had some nice units the 6900 was versatile and performed well.
 
Silver decks, The nak 700 II is the only silver nak 3 head. Look for the Aiwa AD 6900 It is a great deck.
 
this is a very helpful thread. Lots of worthwhile suggestions to explore.

It would be great to see to pics of these decks since I can't seem to find images of some of them nor find them on ePay.

Anybody care to share some pictures of their prized decks?
 
I have been fortunate enough in my lifetime to own two great tape decks:

1. AKAI GX-F90 Silver Face. Auto-Reverse. Hope I got that model # right.

2. NAKAMICHI CR-7A Black Face. Still have it.

I'd feel confident with either of these decks to last me the rest of my days.
 
I can come up with a couple of scans for some of these decks,will try to submit some later...I have the Kenwood deck mentioned earlier,it is a nice deck.I been hording any 3-headers I find lately,found some nice Sansui decks,and a Denon one too,they're getting harder to find,think everyone else is grabbing them while they can!! :yes: :music: :scratch2: Rob
 
Would love to own one of the Pioneers, but I sure do love my Sansui SC-5100.

Best I have heard...

Dave
 
Marantz Model 5010

This is not a fancy looking deck. It isn't auto reverse. No solenoid switches, only old-fashioned lever types. I've had many many cassette decks including the famous CT-F1000. I've had Teac, JVC, Sony, Kenwood, and more. They were all great decks.

The Marantz had the greatest record/play sound of all of them. The recordings I made from it had a certain presence that none of the others had.

I haven't searched for any more decks lately, but If I wanted one I would definately look for a Marantz. Especially one that had more gimmicks than the 5010, like auto reverse, music search, solenoid switches for the transport and so on.

My friend has this giant Nakimichi the size of a R2R that is awesome but he only uses it for recording live music in his studio and never hooked it into a stereo system. I've never had a Nakimichi, but I would look into them also.

I have a Tascam deck that is just fantastic. But it's not silver! Nor is it vintage. Tascam makes professional decks for studios, radio stations, etc. As does Marantz and others. My Tascam is a consumer version (Made by Teac) and has been reliable for 10 years of solid use. It has a bi-directional record/play feature that is very handy.

Anyway, that's my toosense

Let us all know what you've been checking out! AKers love this kind of stuff!

Rick in Lutz, Fl.

WHOOPS!! I'm such a windbag. Forgot you're looking for a 3-head vintage deck. Please disregard this writing, thank you.
 
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