Top 10 vintage cassette decks

100% on any Nachamichi. When they and cassettes were at their height, they blew everything away. I sold most of the major brands back in the 80-90's and Nachamichi's always sounded best. But it is really important to have any deck checked or purchased from a reliable source as these are mechanical machines and many things can wear out, or at the least need a good cleaning, demag and oiling.

I still have a shoe box full of cassettes but I haven't had a machine to play them on in at least a decade.. In any event, way back when I went through a number of cassette player brands including Nak, and ended up enjoying my Denon the most.

I bought an NAD 6300 monitor series when they first came out. Many of my friends had NAKS and others mentioned here. Anyone that listened to tapes made with or mass produced tepes played on this rig were extremely impressed with the reproduction. I still have mine and it still works well. The only deck I would consider trading it for would be a Dragon. 

Best cassette deck ever : Akai   JX 9 ! The perfect sound !

Nakamichi 1000 was the king as far as I'm concerned, if you can find one in survivor or reconditioned shape.  Much cheaper but still quality: Tandberg TD310 (controls non-solenoid and a bit clunky); TD330 (solenoid controls, much better aesthetics for not much more $$ used).