| BUYING GUIDE & REVIEWS - CASSETTE DECKS - UNDER £300 |
| PRICES SHOWN ARE THOSE AT THE TIME OF REVIEW |
| Cassette Decks |
£ |
Year |
Verdict |
| Aiwa AD-F580 |
£150 |
Apr 98 |
No Dolby S, but three heads and two capstans make the Aiwa a bargain. |
| Denon DRM-550 |
£160 |
May 96 |
Good enough for the price and no worse than the competition. |
| Denon DRM-555 |
£150 |
Jul 99 |
Its slant towards features prevent the Denon taking the audiophile honours at the price |
| Denon DRM-650S |
£230 |
Aug 96 |
Top sound quality with ferric and chrome makes this deck a steal. |
| Grundig CF4 |
£250 |
Jan 95 |
Fair on pre-recordeds, OK when recording, but speed stability isn't great. |
| JVC TD-V662 |
£300 |
Sep 98 |
Only the lack of Dolby S conspires against the otherwise excellent JVC. |
| Kenwood KX-5080S |
£200 |
Jan 97 |
Stable transport gives fine results on metal and chrome. Rough on ferrics. |
| NAD 613 |
£230 |
Jan 96 |
Decent playback and good recording when used carefully |
| NAD 614 |
£270 |
Sep 95 |
Excellent electronics are let down by a low-grade transport. |
| Rotel RD-960BX |
£230 |
Oct 95 |
A solid, competent machine which is reasonable value for money. |
| Sony TC-K311 |
£150 |
Dec 93 |
Auto-tuning is mediocre and the general results are unexceptional. |
| Sony TC-K490 |
£170 |
Jan 93 |
A mix of average heads and electronics doesnít make for happy taping. |
| Sony WM-D6C Walkman Professional |
£N/A |
Jun 00 |
Sony's very best high-end hi-fi cassette transport, squeezed into a box and run from batteries. About £200 S/H for a mint, low use example. |
| Teac V-610 |
£100 |
Apr 97 |
The V-610's performance matches its price well, but audiophile it isn't.- |
| Teac V-600 |
£150 |
Sep 94 |
Satisfactory for in-car recordings, but the low price shows. |
| Yamaha KX-580 SE |
£250 |
Sep 97 |
The '580 lives up to its SE tag with a fine performance in all areas. |
| CASSETTE DECKS - £300+ |
| Aiwa AD-S950 |
£300 |
Feb 95 |
Vice-free playback is mirrored by impressive recording. |
| Denon DRS-810 |
£300 |
Jan 92 |
On the right tapes, the Denon repays with delightful sound quality. |
| JVC TD-V1010 |
£400 |
Sep 92 |
Disappointing on replay but recording is another kettle of fish altogether. |
| Kenwood KX-7060S |
£330 |
Dec 94 |
Convincing all-rounder except for heavy-handed noise reduction. |
| Nakamichi 1.5 |
£500 |
Jan 92 |
The Cassette Deck 1.5 has no rivals in its ability to recreate a realistic performance |
| Nakamichi DR-1 |
£780 |
Jun 93 |
Not perfect but as close as you can get for the money. |
| Nakamichi DR-3 |
£300 |
Mar 93 |
Unfortunately keeping the price down keeps performance below Nak's norm. |
| Nakamichi DR-8 |
£550 |
Jan 00 |
A good product that is worthy of the Nakamichi title. It could be the cassette's last stand! |
| Onkyo TA250 |
£350 |
Oct 94 |
Top transport but the electronics aren't on a par. |
| Pioneer CT-95 |
£1000 |
Mar 97 |
On chrome and ferric, the '95 is smooth and natural. Not so good with metals. |
| Pioneer CT-S550S Precision |
£340 |
Feb 99 |
Three heads, ease of use and high quality make the Dolby S equipped Precision a strong contender |
| Pioneer CT-S740S |
£430 |
Jun 96 |
Complex but superb in every important area |
| Sony TC-K611S |
£330 |
Feb 94 |
A little muffled on pre-recordeds but pulls out all the stops on recordings, esp. with metal tape. |
| Teac V-6030S |
£550 |
Nov 97 |
Solid build and solid sounds. Top-notch at the price. |
| Teac V-8030S |
£650 |
Aug 95 |
One of the highest quality Dolby S decks available |
| Technics RS-AZ7 |
£300 |
Jul 96 |
Excellent bass but mid and treble lack dynamics. Auto-tunes poorly on metal. |
