Cheap good “starter” cassette deck

[ramsden]

Thank you. May I ask what Aiwa model replaced the JVC? What was better on JVC?
I have searched and D55 model is out of my range, more like £250-300, but one available is serviced. There is also A55 model for quite cheap, but no idea what differences are there. And I think the people like V662 model too, unfortunately that one is also close to £300. There is one double deck W55 on eBay for cheap. Has it got something to do with D55? One can be confused with those model numbers..

[ramsden]

Thank you for advice, just it’s too general. I guess all major manufacturers had plenty models in various ranges, some very average, some excellent..

[ramsden]

The only cassette decks I have used were/are an old Sony machine, whose model number I have forgotten, and a couple of Nakamichi decks which I still have (a BX-2 and a BX-125E).

I would recommend either Nak, but good samples are sadly out of your price range.

Might I ask why you want a cassette machine? Is it to make up your own tapes for, say a party - if so a CD burner might be a better option.

Probably a nostalgia. When I was young in 80s, I used to borrow CDs and record them on cassettes, then listened them on walkman. Then in recent years I tried vinyl and bought many LPs (music I was listening when I was young). Then it started to occupy a lot of space and it required a lot of attention to keep them clean, in addition to not perfect condition of records sometimes. Then I gave up vinyl, and sold most of the records. Nowadays the prices are high, the cassettes are more affordable. The CDs are fine, but still there are memories how I listened to that era music during multiple occasions. Also tape recordings from radio was absolutely first step for me, and songs from that era would be nice to listen to using the same media. And so on 🙂