A convenient if unpalatable scapegoat?

[Prince of Darkness]

Never heard 8-track myself. I did here it had a lot of potential, but was let down by poor reliability (particularly a tendency to jam). They didn't really sell well in Britain, but did seem to be popular in America for a while.

[Marco]

I have, erm, 'fond' memories from the 70s as a child of day trips with my parents in the car listening to Perry Como on the 8-track in my dad's (then) Opel Manta. The Manta was lovely, although I couldn't say the same of Perry Como.

Marco.

[Slatedeck]

Never heard 8-track myself. I did here it had a lot of potential, but was let down by poor reliability (particularly a tendency to jam). They didn't really sell well in Britain, but did seem to be popular in America for a while.

Well I do have a mains player somewhere as well......if you really must I suppose I could..........No !! Ok cool .........

[Togil]

You definitely should Darren, if the heads are still in good nick. The best Nakamichi tape decks had a way with music that not even some of today's top CD players could manage, never mind a bloody plastic iPod!

These 'new generation' boys have so much to learn

Marco.

Agreed , I also had a 582, although it developed a screeching transport.

In 1999 I met Mr. Kobayashi, their chief engineer and now president who told me that no spare parts were available for these decks ( although B&W whom they fell out with may have some spare parts left )

[Beechwoods]

I love tape, and to that end I've got a Nak deck which sounds superb, but it cost a hell of a lot more than the Sony's and Aiwa's I bought from Richer Sounds in the early 90's.

My old Sony was a 3 head deck with HX-PRO and all the gubbins, cost me a lot when I wasn't earning much, and was definitely better than most machines friends had, but compared with the Nak it sounds shite. But my ZX-7 did have an RRP of $1,250 when it was new, so that's hardly surprising.

Compact cassette only sounded consistently good on a select few expensive decks, and people were content to live with the generally 'muffled' sound at the price point they were prepared to pay. iPods and Bose wave machines sound better than they used to put up with out of budget midi-systems, for the same price, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised when people aren't prepared to pay more for better kit.

It's always been that way, for most people...

[Marco]

Hey Beechy, have you seen this post:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...0344#post20344

I'm waiting on your expert opinion!

Marco.

[David Price]

Of course, as I'm a purveyor of all 'proper' audio formats which don't pander to convenience at the expense of sound quality!

I'm glad you've now made the distinction, although perhaps you should also add Studer, Revox, Tandberg, and a host of other masters of the art of cassette tape, to your list

Darren, 8-track? I remember it well. Now that *WAS* pish!

Marco.

Indeed - Naks are lovely but it wasn't exclusively Naks that did it right - even B&O had some stunning cassette decks. Also, once again it's all part of the setup; it's perfectly possible to have a nasty, worn out old Nak that sounds awful. The good thing is that they are (largely) rebuildable/serviceable at Bowers & Wilkins, unlike most classic cassette decks.

By the way Marco - we're doing a Walkie Pro servicing feature soon - I'm sure you'll love it!

As for me, I use a Walkie Pro, plus Nakamichi car cassette decks in my cars (I've ripped the OEM CD players out because they don't sound as good)!

[Beechwoods]

And it should be said that Nakamichi continued to trade on their reputation for good quality decks long after the bean counters had taken over calling the shots and the reality of build was turning out somewhat different.

Tascam decks should also be mentioned in the roll-call of good machines. The 122 in particular was a great deck and can be found second hand these days at very attractive prices. Studer / Revox and the best of the Nak range are hard to find at such good prices.

[Marco]

David,

By the way Marco - we're doing a Walkie Pro servicing feature soon - I'm sure you'll love it!

Brilliant. I'll look forward to it! I tend to do my own 'servicing' in terms of keeping the heads and tape rollers clean, but I'd be buggered if any parts had to be replaced...

As for me, I use a Walkie Pro, plus Nakamichi car cassette decks in my cars (I've ripped the OEM CD players out because they don't sound as good)!

Haha, that's mad. I thought that I was the only one sad enough to do that. I knew you were a man of class

OEM car CD players sound utter sh*t!

Marco.