Cassettes Are Back, and It’s Not About the Music

[Sal1950]

The only negatives I would say are:

Thanks !
I though about how they were sized perfect for LP's though I don't have any. Maybe I'll start collecting. LOL

Yep, gotta put something on the back for sure.

Didn't see the caster add-on here, I'll look again. Not going too heavy and I like shit that's easy to move around.
My AudioAdviser equip racks have casters, makes it great when I have to get behind the gear.
Thanks again

 

[Sal1950]

On the upside, there is a whole community of 'Kallax hacks' that people have posted online to make interesting mods.

Oh my Lord, I never realized there was so much stuff out there for playing with this cheap furniture.
A simple google returns all kind of things LOL

 

[Zerimas]

I had the chance to use one of these some. Surprisingly good machine. Especially when used in double speed. Anyone remember the BIC Venturi Speakers of the time?

View attachment 30584

What is this thing? It is super freaking cool! A BIC T-4M is what it says on it?

That is thing is like the incarnation of the 80s "high-tech" aesthetic. I want one. What other devices have this sort of look? I do "need" (not really—the mid-range Sony DVD player circa 2001 that I am using works fine as a CD player, but it doesn't look very cool) a new CD player, and also tape deck. Are these badboys super expensive? I don't really want to break the bank on something I won't use that much, but I also don't want to buy a piece of crap—because when I do use it I won't enjoy doing so and it would probably be better not have bothered at all.

 

[Blumlein 88]

The Preludes 4-wheel steering! Apparently in 1987 slalom test performed by Road & Track the Prelude did the best. I apparently bested entries from Ferrari, Porsche, et cetera.

But yeah. They are lacking in the power department. Only 140hp or so. Still I bet they'd be fun to drive.

Yes, I remember the 4 wheel steering. Nissan 200SX had an optional 4 wheel steering as well it was called super H.I.C.A.S. I knew someone with the Nissan, and someone else with the Prelude. The Nissan version was far better. It gave great road feel, and allowed the car to have balanced handling well beyond the norm at the time. It also was nifty in both vehicles for lane changes. All 4 wheels turned to drift the car over into the next lane. Both cars also had very small turning radii. Something that would be great in the huge oversized pickups and SUVs of today. Alas after a few years 4 wheel steering just disappeared.

 

[Blumlein 88]

What is this thing? It is super freaking cool! A BIC T-4M is what it says on it?

That is thing is like the incarnation of the 80s "high-tech" aesthetic. I want one. What other devices have this sort of look? I do "need" (not really—the mid-range Sony DVD player circa 2001 that I am using works fine as a CD player, but it doesn't look very cool) a new CD player, and also tape deck. Are these badboys super expensive? I don't really want to break the bank on something I won't use that much, but I also don't want to buy a piece of crap—because when I do use it I won't enjoy doing so and it would probably be better not have bothered at all.

BIC made some fairly serious gear for a time late 70's and 80's. I think there were 5 models T1 thru T5. If I remember rightly the T4 was the only one that didn't have VU meters with a needle. I think the T5 looks the same other than having VU meters. Or it could be they varied depending upon which year they were made. You never saw very many of them. They could record at normal or double speed. One of the models was a dual dubbing deck, but was fairly high quality also having 2 speeds. I think all of them were 3 heads, but I may have that wrong. I don't know how reliable they were.

You will see them from time to time on ebay. In other gear, DBX made stuff with a very similar style back then. I don't think they made a cassette deck however.

Tandberg made some nice decks that were very similar in style. Most Tandbergs were silver with wooden sides, but not all. These were definitely well made for cassette machines.

I thought these were pretty, and had nice feeling controls.

You might like this style though I didn't think they were great machines.

You might like later Pioneer decks. Like this CT-A1.

 

[Zerimas]

BIC made some fairly serious gear for a time late 70's and 80's. I think there were 5 models T1 thru T5. If I remember rightly the T4 was the only one that didn't have VU meters with a needle. I think the T5 looks the same other than having VU meters. Or it could be they varied depending upon which year they were made. You never saw very many of them. They could record at normal or double speed. One of the models was a dual dubbing deck, but was fairly high quality also having 2 speeds. I think all of them were 3 heads, but I may have that wrong. I don't know how reliable they were.

You will see them from time to time on ebay. In other gear, DBX made stuff with a very similar style back then. I don't think they made a cassette deck however.

Tandberg made some nice decks that were very similar in style. Most Tandbergs were silver with wooden sides, but not all. These were definitely well made for cassette machines.
View attachment 30635

I thought these were pretty, and had nice feeling controls.
View attachment 30636

You might like this style though I didn't think they were great machines.
View attachment 30637

You might like later Pioneer decks. Like this CT-A1.
View attachment 30638

That Pioneer is super cool! I like the LED (or whatever call them) level metres. I prefer those over the "analog" VU metres. I feel like these things are probably pretty expensive pieces of kit though.

 

[Zerimas]

Yes, I remember the 4 wheel steering. Nissan 200SX had an optional 4 wheel steering as well it was called super H.I.C.A.S. I knew someone with the Nissan, and someone else with the Prelude. The Nissan version was far better. It gave great road feel, and allowed the car to have balanced handling well beyond the norm at the time. It also was nifty in both vehicles for lane changes. All 4 wheels turned to drift the car over into the next lane. Both cars also had very small turning radii. Something that would be great in the huge oversized pickups and SUVs of today. Alas after a few years 4 wheel steering just disappeared.

Apparently the Nissan system and the FC RX-7 are "passive" systems which allow the rear wheels to "toe-in" when cornering hard. People on forums seem to dislike for some reason. Seems useful to me. I guess the like to drift or something, which "objectively"—according to a Mythbusters test—isn't really any more efficient than "grip" steering. I don't know.

It seems pretty cool to me. Then again I like overly complicated stuff (like my linear-tracking, Biotracer Sony PS-X800) so maybe I am biased. I also know basically nothing about cars. I mostly want one because that is what the antagonist drove in the anime Initial D (which is pretty sweet BTW).

I am kind of manchild. I just want to own a "cool" car. I've only ever driven boring automobiles. I can't even drive stick (I need to learn and have never owned a car with a manual transmission). I feel like the inability to drive a standard somehow impugns my masculinity.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Apparently the Nissan system and the FC RX-7 are "passive" systems which allow the rear wheels to "toe-in" when cornering hard. People on forums seem to dislike for some reason. Seems useful to me. I guess the like to drift or something, which "objectively"—according to a Mythbusters test—isn't really any more efficient than "grip" steering. I don't know.

It seems pretty cool to me. Then again I like overly complicated stuff (like my linear-tracking, Biotracer Sony PS-X800) so maybe I am biased. I also know basically nothing about cars. I mostly want one because that is what the antagonist drove in the anime Initial D (which is pretty sweet BTW).

I am kind of manchild. I just want to own a "cool" car. I've only ever driven boring automobiles. I can't even drive stick (I need to learn and have never owned a car with a manual transmission). I feel like the inability to drive a standard somehow impugns my masculinity.

I wouldn't worry about it. My Dad sneers at anyone who can't drive an old car transmission that lacks synchronizers. DCT's (dual clutch transmissions) are probably going to make stick shift basically extinct anyway.

 

[Zerimas]

I wouldn't worry about it. My Dad sneers at anyone who can't drive an old car transmission that lacks synchronizers. DCT's (dual clutch transmissions) are probably going to make stick shift basically extinct anyway.

I will probably never be able to afford a "new" car. Seriously, they're so expensive. My sister bought a 2018 Toyota Corolla. For such an unassuming car it is quite costly (at least in weak Canadian dollars).

 

[Wombat]

I will probably never be able to afford a "new" car. Seriously, they're so expensive. My sister bought a 2018 Toyota Corolla. For such an unassuming car it is quite costly (at least in weak Canadian dollars).

Rule-of-thumb: Buy a car that is three years old(major depreciation has already occurred) and dispose of it at eight years old( when reliability lessens).

DIYers can keep them longer.

 

[Sal1950]

I wouldn't worry about it. My Dad sneers at anyone who can't drive an old car transmission that lacks synchronizers.

Only little girls can't do a double clutch and not grind the gears when the synch's are bad. LOL

DCT's (dual clutch transmissions) are probably going to make stick shift basically extinct anyway.

There's always going to be some of us that love the involvement of driving stick. But sadly probably not enough to keep them in production too much longer.

 

[Snarfie]

I honestly believe that the humble cassette tape was the most maligned format in audio. Magazines, reviewers, turntable fans etc used to deride it at the time as a lesser format, and it is undeniable that its technical performance is completely outclassed by digital formats (although so is that of vinyl, yet plenty tried to deny that). However, it was the cassette tape that made home recording accessible to anybody, created the mix tape, made decent music mobile without having to rely on radio stations deciding what you would listen to, these are all things we take for granted now (these days nobody would even notice the fact that they can carry their music with them or record things) but at the time it was hugely liberating. And the audio performance of cassette tapes was a lot better than some opinions might indicate, it was more than acceptable and could serve as a decent hifi source. I used to have a Nakamichi CR7E, it was easily the best engineered piece of audio equipment I've ever owned. Sometimes I see reviewers wax lyrical about engineering and quality of stuff today and when I look at it I can't help thinking that in their prime Nakamichi wouldn't have got out of bed to make stuff we see today. The CR7E delivered genuinely good performance and was a wonderful piece of equipment, I really regret selling in. Note that I'm not interested in a return to the cassette tape, it had its day and its day is past, but I do have very fond memories and a high regard for the contribution it made to audio.

For me the Nakamichi BX300 was relative one of the most expensive audio gear i ever ownd. Reason for buying at the time was i could copy cd & vinyl one on one. Whitin a year it paid back the investment. For what it's worth it was by far the most elegant audio gear i ever ownd. Because of this topic i was thinking to buy a used one, but from a practical & technical view i realised it is compard to digital obsolete.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Only little girls can't do a double clutch and not grind the gears when the synch's are bad. LOL

There's always going to be some of us that love the involvement of driving stick. But sadly probably not enough to keep them in production too much longer.

Yeah, well in some of my Dad's cars there were no synchros to go bad.

The skill developed on such came in handy when I briefly ran front end loaders with straight cut no-synchro gears, and when driving dump trucks with non-synchro gears.

And while I'd resort to double clutching in some conditions, my Dad didn't need to. He could listen and feel and change gears without grinding them straight up. I can do that most of the time. Not like he could.

 

[Blumlein 88]

For me the Nakamichi BX300 was relative one of the most expensive audio gear i ever ownd. Reason for buying at the time was i could copy cd & vinyl one on one. Whitin a year it paid back the investment. For what it's worth it was by far the most elegant audio gear i ever ownd. Because of this topic i was thinking to buy a used one, but from a practical & technical view i realised it is compard to digital obsolete.

I thought a slightly more elegant Nakamichi were the models that could reverse the tape. Rather than flop heads etc like everyone else, they had a mechanism that just flipped the tape for real just like you would. So it didn't upset their playback geometry. Unidirectional auto reverse playback.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Rule-of-thumb: Buy a car that is three years old(major depreciation has already occurred) and dispose of it at eight years old( when reliability lessens).

DIYers can keep them longer.

I agree with this pretty much. One exception is some cars don't depreciate enough. You are actually better to purchase it new and get the 3 extra years use of it. A Camry fits that category. They don't depreciate enough.

Of course all that may change if/when they have fully self driving cars. I think over time car ownership will mostly disappear. Whether that starts to happen 5 years, 10 years or 20 years from now I don't know.

 

[scott wurcer]

There's always going to be some of us that love the involvement of driving stick. But sadly probably not enough to keep them in production too much longer.

Sort of like playing LP's

 

[solderdude]

There was one technical advantage of auto-reverse in walkmans.
There were 2 flywheels (for the capstans) turning in opposite directions.
This lowered wow and flutter when jogging considerably...

 

[Hugo9000]

There are a number of videos on youtube showing the Nakamichi RX-202 in action. I recall a dealer that had a very short custom tape so the unit would flip the cassette every 30 seconds or so, they wanted to demonstrate the longevity of the mechanism. It may have been a different model from the 202, it's been so many years I couldn't say.

(I'm not sure what's wrong with the clear cover and why it's so crooked. A number of people on youtube commented about it to the uploader.)


Here is a beautiful RX-505E in action. I hate the music this person chose, but the machine is a thing of beauty.

I love the uploader's comment:

This deck is not for sale and never will be.

Someone actually uploaded the bit from 9 1/2 Weeks lol. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, it's the most interesting part of the movie haha!

 

[Sal1950]

And while I'd resort to double clutching in some conditions, my Dad didn't need to. He could listen and feel and change gears without grinding them straight up. I can do that most of the time. Not like he could.

Takes a real feel for getting the rpm's just right. It's an art.

 

[Wombat]

My early cars didn't have synchromesh on 1st gear. I soon developed the art of heel-and-toe to downshift into 1st whilst braking up to intersections.

Now, who is old enough to regularly have driven cars with no synchromesh at all?