Drool Fodder

I don't know what I want more, the tapes or the deck!!!

I will start crying in 5,4,3,2....

Someone could ebay the tapes one by one and probably end up with a free Nak Dragon here. Those MA-R's go for around $50 a pop.

If this was a BIN auction JT, it would probably be gone by now. That's one hell of a deal especially with the shape that the deck is in. Watch this one climb over the next few hours, and a mad scramble at the end. UP UP UP!

while this was under $1000, I was thinking about it!

Yea, this action is going to go for over $2k is my guess.

I think that the seller could have maximized this auction much better if he had listed the tapes as part of the auction title.

What I really, really want is a good condition RX-505. The three head deck that has the unidirectional autoreverse. I always thought those were the absolute coolest tapedecks, ever!

jt

Damn! Look at all those sealed MA-R 90s! Just the tapes alone are almost worth the current $1,775 bid.

i have never been able to get even one.

You were right JT, final price= $2124.00
Someone got a great deal!

In regards to your RX-505 dream JT, I just found a 505 on Craigs' list locally, and scored it for $350! It's a real beauty, near pristine shape from the 2nd owner, with all the original paperwork and manuals, and new door cover without a scratch! Been looking for a long time locally, didn't want to have to do shipping on such fragile electronics, as we all know these sensitive decks can easily be damaged in the mail.

I was happy that the seller was willing to let me make a few payments after a small deposit. I should have this baby in a couple weeks, and will post full picks! Very excited also to finally have one! Has to be one of the coolest decks EVER!

...and that's mine:



also got it lately... like it better than a dragon - just for the undirectional autoreverse... Dave, you'll do so as well, i bet...

Yea, that is the bomb-diggity tape deck as far as I'm concerned. Good score, congrats!!! And thanks for posting the pic with your LX-5. You've got great gear there!

I've seen the RX-202 go for under $100 several times as well... as low as $61 the other day! But if I'm going to go through the effort of eBay and such, then I will do it right and get a three head version of this deck. So that means ether an RX-505 or an RX-303. Only difference I see in the two is that the 505 has that source/tape monitor button. Other than the monitor swicth, they should spec out identically. I guess the 303 is considered more "rare" because it had a much shorter production life, but I don't really care too much about that. I intend to fully use the deck. I can live without the monitor switch. Gonna bid on one tonight, so wish me luck.

Great minds think alike Auto. Your LX-5 is my cassette grail, and that 505, wow, it's a beaut! Yeah, I expect I'm gonna like mine just fine Good luck Skippy, and if you have a choice, get the three header. Always more attractive to the buyers out there...

WHOOO-HOOOO! I won the RX-303 I was keen on, shipping and all for $153... Seller has great feedback with over 2100 transactions.

I can't wait till I get it in the mail!

Yeah ,

I'd love the tapes. I have a Dragon, and it is kinda fun, but If I really want auto reverse I prefer my RX-505. And if I want top quality a Tandberg TCD-910 does it for me

Congrats on the 303 JT! Sounds like you found a seller that will give her the proper care and pack the unit well. Good Luck!

Nikamichi, you have good taste in decks. Can't argue with your Tandberg 910 thoughts. Do you have one of these?

Howdy Daiwa,

Yeah I bit the bullet about 4 years ago, and imported a secondhand one from the states.

It is a rather impressive deck, and if you get the opportunity grab it. I believe only 400 were made

I have this Nikamichi...




... and it's taken about a year to get it dialed in. I doubt I could afford the 910, that's some rarified air right there! Got a pic?

WOW, Nice deck! Looks downright industrial grade...

How does Tandberg stack up vs. the top of the line Revox?

jt

JT
You can imagine I've had this discussion before!

I wager those in the know (I've never used a Revox but have always wanted to try one out!) will tell you the Revox B215 OR some prefer the B710, with their "direct drive" capabilities and perhaps the best build of all the big players, can't be matched. For sound and build, most discussions come down to these Revox machines.

Some say the 3014A, Dragon Slayer, is the best they've ever used. From my experience, there is no better interface, with the lean towards manual settings, than the Tandberg 3014, with it's cool record staging, and it's THE most solid a build as I've ever used! It's a joy to record with because you always know "where you're at" with this deck. Positive, logical controls and power to burn.

The biggest problem with my "Slayer" is that it's so sensitive, and just when I think I have it dialed in, something else goes wacko. (You can manually adjust bias and azimuth with a special plastic screw driver provided with the deck - I had to track one down on epay) But I have my tech set it up for type II Maxells, it sounds incredible! Great for us analog junkies!

Many tout the Nak 1000ZXL, the ZX-9, or the Nak CR-7 as the best recording decks ever. If you like manual adjustments and control, you can't beat the Nakamichi Dragon, long regarded as the king Hi-end of decks.

I can also point to a number of GREAT Luxman decks, personal experience with the KX-102 (pictured below) leads me to believe that Luxman was a bit overlooked when it came to cassette builds. Have always wanted to find a 5K50M, and would love to compare their high-end against the big boys. My KX-102 has more sensitive LED"s than my Nak LX-5, and makes sonic mixes! Not a bad looker either...

Here's some pics I just took, closeups of my Luxman RX-102 with Nakamichi LX-5







Recently picked up these little Infinity Bookshelf Reference speakers, unbelievable what comes out of these little gems and teamed them up with a wall mounted JBL surround on each side.





I'm pushing those with a recently aquired NEC Surround amp with a COOL surround interface. Here it is with my BSR 3000:





Excellent controls on the NEC, it allows you to target any area of the room using a four sided select button...

Oh, and my new Hitachi!



SWEEEEET!

Daiwa,

Thanks for the pics and the dialog. Yea, I still really love tapes and have always wondered about the European high-end decks. Back when I first got into audio gear, my dad was in the service and we lived in Germany. I used to always grab the marketing slicks at the base exchange and read about the features and specs. The Revox became a holy grail to me at that time, up until I laid my eyes on a Nak Dragon and the first RX unidirectional autoreverse deck. When CDs came out, I quit pursuing any higher end deck and my priorities shifted.

I do have to give Onkyo some props, though. My 3-head TA-2058 that I picked up in a pawn shop for $25 roughly 5 years ago has been a phenomenal deck. It is my first three-head, three motor deck. The Accubias feature works fantastic and it makes fantastic recordings. Additionally, it plays tapes that I originally recorded on my previous decks better than I remember them ever sounding (but that could be for lots of other reasons as well). Thank goodness I kept all my cassettes over the years! I probably have around 200 tapes kicking around that I recorded over the last 30 years.

Other decks I've owned were the Pioneer CT-7R (with a remote) which really only lasted me about 6 years under heavy use from 1982-1988. Then I bought a Nakamichi BX-125 which I used for about 15 years beyond that under moderate use. The Nak would still be around if I'd not have lent it to an irresponsible friend who dropped it from his car when he was bringing it back to me.... For a 2-head deck, that thing was pretty damn good. I was able to test it head to head vs. the Onkyo after I got it, and the Onkyo really was noticeably better. Less noise, warmer bass and crisper highs.

Feeling the need to get a second deck to trade some tapes with friends, I recently purchased a TEAC V-750 three head unit on ebay for under $30 (shipped). Functionally, it works pretty good but it can't hold a candle to the Onkyo and I'm really not satisfied and don't want to invest time/effort/money to have it properly calibrated. So, now that the Nak RX-303 is coming, that TEAC will be going to one of my neighbors, who's Technics deck recently died.

Thanks again and take care...

Oh, and on completely different note... I see you are from Denver! Very cool city as I remember it, I used to live there back in '75-'76 when my dad was stationed at Fitsimmons Army Medical Center (which I think does not exist anymore). I remember going to the Casa Bonita as a kid and almost died when I recently saw that South Park episode!!! LOL!

Right now, I am in San Francisco for a photograpy related print workshop and head back to Tampa on Tuesday morning. On the way home, we have a three hour layover around lunchtime in Denver and was thinking about hopping into a cab and going on a short tour of the city, or maybe even taking my wife to show her the Casa Bonita because its so over-the-top.

How is mid-day, work-day traffic in Denver? Is that feasible, or do you think I should just stick close to the airport?

Hey JT
Firstly, you won't get far at lunchtime, and three hours is not much to get downtown and back. Highways here are unpredictable like any big metro area, the airport is off THE worst highway, highway 70.

I'm teaching a class until 1 p.m., and I have a new job at my school as student adviser in the afternoons. I'll PM you my cell, call if you're bored out there at DIA. It's a nice airport for an airport...

Cool that you were into Revox as a kid. I can personally tell you that my Onkyo Integra 5.4 DVD player is awesome. Onkyo made some really cool stuff. I went with a higher end player after a 3 tray JVC brokedown in 4 yrs use. The quality is on this Integra is noticable. Sound quality is steller! Through my system, this thing shakes the foundation.

Ha, wish we had more time. Denver has some great Mexican, and unless you really want to see the cliff diver again, I have some REAL mex secret establishments, you'd think you were in Mexico. Damn, now I'm getting hungry!

Thanks for the info on the airport, I think we're going to hit the nicest restaurant we can find there and chill. Or should I say we'll avoid the chill. Denver deserves its own visit!

I'll hit you up when that happens.

Gotta run! need to sleep a few hours before we head out.

Thanks again and take care...

JT

Yeah JT, you won't have any problem chillin' in Denver today. It's 17 degrees, and we have at least 3 inches of new snow! Hope that doesn't affect your flight, but if you get stuck, let me know!