I started my journey of tape duplication with a Sharp cassette deck. Then I really dove into the higher end of audio. My local store sold me a Nakamichi BX-150, quickly traded for the BX-300. I thought WoW! How can it get better than this? Then I was offered a use Nakamichi ZXE-700, which I later added the NR-200 Dolby unit. At this point, I was proud that everything in the system was either made in the USA or Europe. So I hid the deck on the lower shelf behind doors and bought a Tandberg TCD 3014. It was nearly, or equally as good as the Nak. Then I got a chance to purchase the second Nakamichi CR5A that came in the country, after the AUDIO and Stereo Review got their deck to measure. Before I even unboxed it, the R2R tech that did all the tweeks on our studio 24track machines, said he would calibrate it for me for free, if I let him take it to measure. The CR-5A was the best performing cassette deck I ever came across. He biased it for TDK MA-XG and SA-XG tape. You couldn't beat it!
Audiophile Equipment
I learned the value of audiophile equipment early in my pursuit of the high end. I had accumulated enough gear for a system and was looking for the best possible tape deck… with Dolby C. From the popular magazines… Stereo Review, Stereo Times… the Harman Kardon T392 seemed to represent the pinnacle. So I bought one. It was OK… but such a huge step down from vinyl that I was genuinely bummed, especially since it cost something like $650… a lot of money at the time.
A few months later I was browsing a high-end audio shop and, somewhat morosely, told my story to a salesman. He just started laughing. “Those things are junk… you need a real tape deck.” He led me over to the window, where there was a seven-year-old used Nakamichi 1000… huge, with wood paneling all around it… looking more like a reel-to-reel than a cassette deck. He wanted $1,200 for it. That was an astronomical amount of money… and it was old. Then he said, “Take it home… try it.”
My first real jaw-drop moment.
It had the full depth and bass of vinyl… it was simply astonishing. It made the so-called “flagship” Harman Kardon sound like a cheap plastic transistor radio and without Dolby C. All that glossy magazine talk about bandwidth and specs… page after page of marketing… well, that’s all it was. This old, purpose-built audiophile machine performed leagues above the consumer-level product.
I was hooked.
It wasn’t my last audiophile purchase… but it was my last consumer-level purchase for decades.
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@mapman I had a Tandberg cassette deck. It rewound so quickly that it broke tapes. It had lead weights around the wheels for the drives. My first real high end bit of kit was a Phase Linear 400 that true to form blew up. The ADS 710 speaker’s in use survived. Used a B&O turn table then. It was inexpensive. Had those boss speakers for a long long time untill Braun 810’s. After rent and my music jonesing fed there wasn’t a lot left. Happy days for a young clueless buck. Less was more. |
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