[ARSCLIST] Front Loading Cassette Deck Recommendation

[James Lindner <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A variant of the earlier question. The deck MUST be front loading - as
in - the heads are mounted in the back or the side of the machine, the
cassette gets inserted from the front, in a similar fashion to the way a
VHS tape goes into a VHS cassette player. There were several car stereos
that performed in this fashion. Any suggestions of a studio machine that
was configured this way - or a super top end car stereo that can be
modified?



James Lindner
Managing Member

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-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard L. Hess
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 9:09 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] seeking cassette deck recommendation

Hi, Claudia,

Gentle is part of the story. Sounds good is the other part. I am
convinced...and I've spent my money in this direction...that the
absolute
best reproduction of cassettes can be had by one and only one tape
machine:
the Nakamichi Dragon (well, there was an even more high-end model..but)

The reason for this is that the Dragon is the only machine that
automatically adjusts playback azimuth for each and every tape USING
PROGRAM MATERIAL.

I wanted a varispeed cassette machine and just got a Nakamichi MR-1 and
while it sounds good, it doesn't sound as clean as a Dragon.

The only real way to get these is on eBay...then send them to the
Nakamichi
depot in Long Beach California for a complete overhaul. Expect to spend
about $1200 or so for the whole deal.

I wish there was a better answer.

Cheers,

Richard
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/facility.htm (tho the Dragons show as
black
rectangles)

At 02:42 PM 3/5/2003 -0500, Claudia Depkin wrote:
>Can anyone recommend a cassette deck that will be gentle with old and
>potentially valuable cassette tapes?
>Thanks.
>
>Claudia Depkin
>Project Manager, Wilson Processing Project for Performing Arts
Collections
>The New York Public Library
>(212) 714-8507