If you do succumb to the lure of a new/old 3 head deck then it’s hard to ignore the lure of something like a Nakamichi, particularly one of my favourites, the BX-300. Find a good one (avoid at all costs anything used for duplicating or any that look worn out) and you’ll have a deck that’s up there with the best, but is still relatively affordable. Comparing the playback of my own BX-300 vs. the ZX-9 and they were very similar indeed. It’s only with more extended listening that you begin to appreciate that the ZX-9 extends the space left to right and front to back. It’s also a bit better at extracting the best from any tape for recording. The BX-300 doesn’t have quite the (easily accessible) range of adjustments, just a variable bias, with the level pots kept under the cover. However, the BX-300 is still way ahead of just about anything else, and like most Naks, pre-recorded cassette replay is in another league.
Otherwise, I really like the Aiwa AD-F660 and 770. They are a bit space age in looks but they are fully loaded and tick all the boxes with 3 heads and a superb closed loop dual capstan transport. The 770 gives you smarter FL meters as well as auto tape tuning. There’s also a 990, but in some ways this took the automation a step too far and might be troublesome. The Aiwa also replay pre-recorded tapes very well, particularly the later examples.
My other favourite is the Denon DRM-44HX. Another closed-loop dual capstan 3 head machine, with direct drive to the capstan like the BX-300. The 44HX has an excellent auto-tuning circuit for the tuning in just about any tape you offer it. This one even looks a bit Nakamichi-like and makes great recordings.
And of you feel like going a bit old-school then there’s the deck that was arguably the first of the modern recorders, and the one of the first and best of the early Metal compatible deck, the Sony TC-K81. Again, this is a closed-loop dual capstan 3 head deck. It’s uniquely flexible in that not only can you easily manually tune in any tape for level and bias but you can also record onto Type III Ferrichrome tape, Sony being one of the few tape manufacturers to make Type III cassettes. It’s a lovely deck to use and also it sounds really good too. Only thing is that the silver looks do jar slightly against the black Naim boxes.
The selection and mixes made by a fellow Tape Head.
