Surprising sound - JVC TD-711 3-head Cassette Deck... yes, a cassette deck!

I sold my last cassette deck, a Yamaha 3-head deck at a Garage Sale probably 17 or more years ago. I think it sold for $10.

A few years ago I was given a non-working JVC TD-711 cassette deck. It sat in my closet for at least 5-years. I finally found a local repair tech and he completely refurbished this deck and when I picked it up he told me it was one of the best he's ever seen. According to him it was approaching Nakamichi quality.

So, I bought some Type II tape and made a recording directly from my Chord Hugo TT2 to the JVC. I chose a favorite album from Qobuz in 24/192 resolution that I knew had a lot of dynamics, plenty of acoustic instruments in a naturally echoic venue.

To my surprise... it sounded great. Of course this deck has every kind of noise reduction available and can make the most of the best tape types. But darn if that recording doesn't sound wonderful. My first thought, was "Why did we dump cassettes?" except that I know why.

I don't think I'm ready to go down that rabbit hole and start recording and collecting tapes, though I know many folks do that. But I wanted to at least comment out-loud that cassettes can sound really good.

The answer is that just about any type of sound event capturing mechanism can get all the important boxes ticked, if enough effort is made to sort out the various, 'natural' shortcomings. Usually the best devices come out just before the particular medium dies - and the latter occurs because there's a "new kid on the block"; everybody gets excited about the newness, so manufacturers quietly retire the efforts made on the previous format, and exploit the enthusiasm for the latest and greatest - even if their models of the new stuff fall well short in key areas of performance, as compared to their best in the previous generation format ... there's always a learning curve.

Pretty cool.  I had a Nakamichi and a TEAC back in the day- I used them to record albums to cassettes for playing in the car on my mid 80s Pioneer car stereo.  

 I traded them for other audio gear, and doubt I got much for them.

I remember preferring the TEAC, but I didn’t have the TOTL Nakamichi, the “dragon” I believe at the time, which was way over my budget then.  I am pretty sure Nak Dragons are still collectors.

1 minute ago, cpcat said:

I didn’t have the TOTL Nakamichi, the “dragon” I believe at the time, and was way over my budget then.  I am pretty sure Nak Dragons are still collectors.

Still selling used on eBay for close to $1000+.

I sold my JVC above on eBay for $300 and the new owner says it's a great deck.

I know there's some press reports of a cassette come back, but who need another physical medium to spend money on? I understand that some local/indy bands are self-publishing on cassette due to low cost and selling them at shows.

On 1/30/2024 at 6:19 PM, creativepart said:

... My first thought, was "Why did we dump cassettes?" except that I know why. ...

 

 

My youngest sister, when she was a toddler, had a favorite activity of pulling the tape out of the body.  I was so happy when CDs came along...