Old Technology: Cassette Deck

Lawrence Grand
Lawrence Grand Posts: 21
edited March 2010 in Electronics
Just picked up a used Nakamichi CV-1 cassette deck for cheap. Figured, what the heck, I still have a lot of old music on cassettes, this is an inexpensive way to hear the old stuff. I've been trying to find reviews of the circa '88-'91 machine, but no luck. Anyone know anything about this deck? Is it a good, reliable unit? Thanks.
LG
Post edited by Lawrence Grand on
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  • vfx
    vfx Posts: 34
    edited September 2008
    my dad still uses cassette deck. it's ancient but it still has its value
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,432
    edited September 2008
    Lawrence Grand wrote: »
    Just picked up a used Nakamichi CV-1 cassette deck for cheap. Figured, what the heck, I still have a lot of old music on cassettes, this is an inexpensive way to hear the old stuff. I've been trying to find reviews of the circa '88-'91 machine, but no luck. Anyone know anything about this deck? Is it a good, reliable unit? Thanks.
    LG

    Do you mean CR-1? No such thing as a CV-1. I have a CR-1 currently that hasn't been used in about 4 years. Nice, simple, basic 2 head cassette deck. Nothing special and the last generation of decent Nak decks.

    Look here

    http://www.naks.com/

    In the left hand column click on "naks" to get an overview of all the models and them click on your model to get specs.

    The CR-1 was the least inexpensive of the day, but still a solid deck and IMO, a better deck than anything else available at the time.

    I've owned a lot of Nak decks over the years when home taping was popular, including the Nak Dragon. They were the best at what they did.

    Enjoy

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul!
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  • Lawrence Grand
    Lawrence Grand Posts: 21
    edited September 2008
    Thanks, HP. I appreciate your comments. Anything you'd recommend in terms of pm? Although the unit was described as being in excellent condition by an online seller with a 100% satisfactory rating, I haven't received it yet. Many thanks.
    LG
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited September 2008
    There's a cassette deck in both my rigs. A Tandberg TCD-310, and a Sony ES with remote. Indispensable items in my opinion. They make great cassettes for the car too, because I'm not sticking any cd's in that thing.

    Some cassettes I've owned since the late 60's. Sentimental value, not available on disc or vinyl, etc.
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  • mmadden28
    mmadden28 Posts: 4,283
    edited September 2008
    Don't cassettes, or any mag media for that matter , lose thier 'strength' so to speak as time goes on?
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  • tugboat
    tugboat Posts: 393
    edited September 2008
    I still have cassettes I recorded back in '83 and they have degraded only slightly from time and use. If you start with a quality cassette and recorder, they have a pretty good lifespan.

    I have a Pioneer 603R with auto bias and EQ that I use to record my type IV cassettes and a Pioneer CT-F9191 that I use for recording of type II and playback of type II and IV (as well as prerecorded types). For higher quality tape I use my Akai R2R, but those darn reels are as portable as cassettes. :)
    Driver carries only 20 dollars in ammunition

    Pedestrians have the right of way, unless they are in the way
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  • nikolas812
    nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
    edited September 2008
    This thread is pretty ironic.

    We were rinding around in my dads car the other day and he threw in a 25+ year old cassette and it was glorious. We couldn't believe how good it still sounded.

    He said he recorded it about 25 years ago from a half speed master recording on a Yamaha TT to a Nakamichi Tape deck.

    The sound was amazing!!




    Nick
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  • Lawrence Grand
    Lawrence Grand Posts: 21
    edited September 2008
    So how do you guys maintain your cassette decks? Is there any maintenace you have to perform, like cleaning the heads, changing belt drives, etc?
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  • tugboat
    tugboat Posts: 393
    edited September 2008
    nikolas812 wrote: »
    This thread is pretty ironic.

    We were rinding around in my dads car the other day and he threw in a 25+ year old cassette and it was glorious. We couldn't believe how good it still sounded.

    He said he recorded it about 25 years ago from a half speed master recording on a Yamaha TT to a Nakamichi Tape deck.

    The sound was amazing!!




    Nick

    I currenty use the 3M Blackwatch 4040 type IV cassette and can get quality recordings from CDs while taking the harsh edge off the ditital recording. Now if I record from LP, it can be hard to tell the difference on all but the high end systems.

    I have a bunch of cassettes from the early 80s with recordings from local radio stations when they had 45 minute long music blocks. I'd set it to record and go over the recording later to see if there were any songs I wanted. I'd then transfer all the songs I wanted to a single cassette. Guess I never recorded over the originals. Kind of like a time capsule being opened. You get the old DJs, music and commercials.
    Driver carries only 20 dollars in ammunition

    Pedestrians have the right of way, unless they are in the way
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  • tugboat
    tugboat Posts: 393
    edited September 2008
    Lawrence Grand wrote: »
    So how do you guys maintain your cassette decks? Is there any maintenace you have to perform, like cleaning the heads, changing belt drives, etc?

    Get some non shedding cleaning swabs, head cleaning solution (you can use isopropyl alcohol) and a good head demagnatizer. How much you use the cassette deck will dictate how often you clean it. I usually clean the heads every 10 hours of play/rec and demagnatize the heads every 3 months or so.

    Do not use the alcohol on any of the rubber parts, only the metal heads, capstan and shafts. For the rubber parts, you can get some Rubber Renew and it will clean and condition them.
    Driver carries only 20 dollars in ammunition

    Pedestrians have the right of way, unless they are in the way
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,432
    edited September 2008
    Teac used to make a 2 step process. One stpe was cleaning the heads and capstans and the other was a special rubber conditioner for the pinch roller. I have some left but it's like 10 years old and I won't use it; it smells funny.

    Look online there should be several hobbyist sites that should give you tips. If you do Isopropyl alcohol make sure it's 90% or better. Most over the counter cheap stuff is 75-80%.

    Rat Shack used to carry the non-shedding long cotton tipped sticks for getting in there. I'd stay away from a "commercial" all-in-one cleaning system unless you know a lot about it; ie; read testimonials somewhere as to how it works.

    Try sites like Crutchfield.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul!
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  • shadowofnight
    shadowofnight Posts: 2,735
    edited September 2008
    Here is a Dragon on the cheap :D

    http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/ele/830895608.html

    Rare Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck - $650 (campbell)




    I used to use tech wipes ( In cotton swab looking form ) so the cotton wouldnt have a chance to leave material behind.
    The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club
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  • Monster Jam
    Monster Jam Posts: 919
    edited September 2008
    Ironic. I just mentioned to my wife that I am considering destroying all of my tapes: Tapes I recorded from Vinyl - now long gone, another tape, or CD
    Original recording tapes

    I have it all on CD now, and the 4 tape cases are just eating shelf space and deteriorate a little every year.

    I'll probably hang on to the Pioneer deck. I have matching Pioneer receiver and CD player. They are obsolete too.
    Do you hear that buzzing noise? :confused:
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited September 2008
    I had a Blaupunkt Monterey and what a tape player that was. I also had an Alpine pre only head unit with an awesome tape deck. The Blaupunkt Monterey killed it!
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • doctorcilantro
    doctorcilantro Posts: 2,028
    edited September 2008
    I picked one of these up last year:



    Long live "analog"
    DC
    For Sale 2019:
    Tortuga Audio LDR passive preamp
    Decware EL34 amp
    Allnic H-1201 phono
    Zu Union Cubes
    iFi iDSD DAC, .5m UBS, iFI Gemini cable, Oyaide Tunami XLR 1.3M, Oyaide Tunami Speaker wire 1.5M, Beyerdynamic DT1990 headphones, PS Audio P3 power center

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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,545
    edited September 2008
    I had a Teac Z-6000, it was a beaut. dbx nosie reduction, manual bias pot adjustments, the works. I used my Teac X200RBL reel-to-reel head cleaner system on the casette deck for cleaning the heads and pinch rollers. Isopropyl can dry-out rubber--not good for pinch rollers. You need the blue rubber cleaner/conditioner.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Source: Rotel CD14MkII CD Player - Speakers: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • doctorcilantro
    doctorcilantro Posts: 2,028
    edited September 2008
    I picked one of these up last year:

    djtronix_2019_57991938


    Long live "analog"
    DC
    For Sale 2019:
    Tortuga Audio LDR passive preamp
    Decware EL34 amp
    Allnic H-1201 phono
    Zu Union Cubes
    iFi iDSD DAC, .5m UBS, iFI Gemini cable, Oyaide Tunami XLR 1.3M, Oyaide Tunami Speaker wire 1.5M, Beyerdynamic DT1990 headphones, PS Audio P3 power center

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  • Danny Tse
    Danny Tse Posts: 5,206
    edited September 2008
    Lawrence Grand wrote: »
    So how do you guys maintain your cassette decks? Is there any maintenace you have to perform, like cleaning the heads, changing belt drives, etc?
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Rat Shack used to carry the non-shedding long cotton tipped sticks for getting in there. I'd stay away from a "commercial" all-in-one cleaning system unless you know a lot about it; ie; read testimonials somewhere as to how it works.

    LOL....I still have the Rat Shack long "Q-tips" left over from my cassette days. Got a Sony TC-670K 3-head 3-motor deck from the early 90s and it's in storage right now. I used to used the Allsop cassette path cleaning system for cleaning the pinch rollers and the capstans. For the heads, I'd pull the cleaning head off of the Allsop "cleaning cassette" and do it manually with the Rat Shack long "Q-tips". Then I would demagnetize the entire tape path with a Discwasher cassette-shaped demagnetizer. Of course, I also have a Radio Shack wand-type demagnetizer and a separate TDK cassette head demagnetizer at my disposal.

    You can still get the Allsop cassette cleaning system....highly recommended!!
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  • Polkie2009
    Polkie2009 Posts: 3,834
    edited March 2010
    I'm wanting to buy a good used cassette recorder I can mount in the rack. Looked at some Nakamichis but have heard that tapes recorded from a different deck won't sound as good when played back on the Naks. I can understand there being a little degradation,but some of the info I read sounded like there was a very noticeable amount of degradation. Recording new material on the Naks and playing them back on the same Nak would sound great though. Suggestions for certain model #'s Naks that were better than others? Trying to keep my spending budget under $125.00.
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited March 2010
    Pssstt....I have a nice Nakamichi DM-10 head demagnitizer just waiting to find a good home!

    PM me if you are interested.

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
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