Best of the 2-Head Decks

[Big Tuna]

Some very nice decks, fellas!
Here is my Pioneer CT-F8282. It's the next one down from the 9191. I had been looking for a 9191, but found a pristine example 8282 and just couldn't pass that up. Call me crazy but the sound from the 8282 is better than the CT-F950 that I had a few years back.

[darkstar078]

My favourite 2-header is a TEAC-360 from the 70's I had.
A simple gorgeous machine with Dolby.



Okay, beside the problems with the motor, when solved this machine was pretty easy and boy the recordings sounded very good.

darkstar078

[Scorpion8]

Originally Posted by darkstar078

My favourite 2-header is a TEAC-360 from the 70's I had....

That is a gorgeous vintage deck.

[macster]

Originally Posted by Scorpion8

That is a gorgeous vintage deck.

+1

I had a 450 or something, and it was my first high end deck. One of these days I'm gonna snag me one for old times sake.

M~

[Audiomayvin]

Hi Darkstar078!
Concerning the 360, it came out with 2 versions of heads. One, with permalloy and one(the later one?-please help me here Sam!) with a ferrite head. I would strongly advise you-with either head, to replace it with a Cobalt Amorphous head.
Interestingly, the 450 electronics are identical to the 360 and if I'm not mistaken, the transport is also identical-even though the 2 machines don't look alike!
All the best,
Leon(The Audiomayvin, Montreal(514)739-5403)

[Paolo Cipollone]

2 head decks:
95% of the times irregular and limited bandwidth, thick or thin sound, noisy, difficult to calibrate properly, unsteady transport if single capstan, giving often dreadful sound and no soundstage.
But... all is not lost :-) For example, the two head Naks are obviously in another league. Here is a (very) short and possibly not complete list of 2 heads decks in my opinion worth having, sound-wise:

Grundig CN-830 (not the 930 and NOT the 1000),
Pioneer CTF-650 (forget the rest of the series, especially the 850, 3 head),
Telefunken CT-450 (High-Com makes the difference).

I would also add the Teac A450 and the Luxman K-115 (I wish I hadn't sold these); two other fine decks were the Kyocera D-601 and 801.

[HyperDuel]

I'm going to have to put down the Nak CR-2A or any of the two head Naks in there because I just pick up this CR-2A and it is giving my Pioneer CT-F900 a run for its money.

[Cobra2]

I had the Naka LX-3 back in '83, it got me hooked...
Dual capstan, superb mechanics, and s.q. that killed most (affordable) 3-head decs!

Arne K

[Squank]

Originally Posted by HyperDuel

I'm going to have to put down the Nak CR-2A or any of the two head Naks in there because I just pick up this CR-2A and it is giving my Pioneer CT-F900 a run for its money.

I'll double that,hands down!!!
Definitely the best 2head deck I've ever owned or heard!
I regret selling it...

[franknstuff]

Ditto to everyone re: Nakamichi CR-2A. I'm the original owner of a CR-1A I bought in 1990 because it was on sale for $199 - hardly used it all for 20 years as I was stuck in the digital world for most of that time. I'm using it a lot more now along with a Pioneer PL-112D turntable (which I just bought in NM condition for $25) and a Shure M97xE. Been recording some of my most precious vinyl and I honestly can't tell any difference at all between the vinyl and the recording. The CR-1A is the same as a CR-2A, but without the remote and fine-bias tuning. As far as I can tell these Naks have only 1 belt in them (capstan) and use a gear-driven idler - simple, reliable, 20 - 20k, low wow and flutter.

Hifi Engine has PDFs of both the owner and service manual available for free download...

[speakerman1]

I just got the voltage converter for the Yamaha KX-580SE. I am blown away. I have it hooked up to my tubes so I haven't recorded yet. It has auto-adjustment for the bias. It also has manual bias. The play trim is neat. For just a lowly 2 head it does sound good. I never had a deck with Dolby S. Still don't like NR. It is a HX-PRO deck. I like it a lot. I wish I had my LX-3 here to go against it.

Larry

[Dimitar Georgiev]

My choice of two head deck would be Tandberg TCD420A.

D.

[Lance Lawson]

I'm not convinced that 3 head decks are head and shoulders above good 2 head decks. Perhaps the biggest asset 3 heads affords is the ability to monitor and tailor the sound as it's being put to tape. In any event 5 of my 6 cassette decks are 2 head and 3 of the 5 are single capstan decks. My recently found Harmon Kardon CD 291 is the only cassette deck I have that approaches the reel to reel sound quality of my Teac. But approaching a standard doesn't qualify as meeting a standard and the HK is still a cassette deck and rightly can't be judged against a reel to reel machine. Nevertheless the HK sounds great with suburb detail, undetectable wow & flutter and the most transparent sounding highs of all of my cassette decks. So until something better comes along I'll go with the CD 291 as being one of the great sounding 2 head single capstan decks.

[nakaforme]

Hi there, for some reason I was thinking about the marantz sd930, did a google search and got a hit here and thought Id share my views on it before anyone raced out and got themelves a bargain!

I bought one of these back in the 80s new as it promised everything.

Unfortunately the tapes that were made in the sd930 were next to useless when played in anything else that didnt have auto alignment....

The problem with the Marantz was that it would record everything with the azimuth varying all over the place, this could be verified by playing it back in the machine with the auto function turned off, the meter would show it all over the place.

Tapes recorded in other machines and played back in the marantz didnt display the same problems, there was something screwy about how the marantz alignment behaved during recording.

While this wasnt a problem if the auto alignment was turned on, they sounded great, it meant that the tapes recorded for use in other machines(like for my car player at the time) had high frequencies that would drift in and out and generally sound dull.

I sent the machine back to Marantz, they claimed there was no fault, but conceded they were all like that! After a struggle i got my money back.

Replaced it with a naka bx125, which was far more basic, but no surprises and in my testing actually performed better in the high frequency repsonse than the marantz. Perhaps at the time the quality of tapes perhaps demanded something with autoequalisation, yet after basically just using sa tdk in the naka, there was never any need for it.

I have still have my naka, alas its not working atm, the dreaded idler wheel problem(its had three new ones), what a crock of a design that was, they should have taken them all back in and modified them to something decent for nothing

[rmmarvell37s]

i'm not a cassette deck owner (yet) but i've read this thread from the beginning to this last post trying to get some education and direction. it's impressive this discussion has gone on for 3 years.
i'm a R2R guy but my wife has lots of cassettes with nothing decent to play them on. one other specific reason i was reading this is i just today saw a 'buy it now' eBay item ( AKAI CS-M40R) and wanted to see if anyone mentioned anything close to this, which no one did. for 14.95 (it may be worth less?) i wondered if anyone has any opinions pro and con for this deck. richard

[Robroy]

Originally Posted by Fast Forward

Well I joined this forum late,,but my vote for a great 2 Head Deck has got to be the Nakamichi 600 series,,,great looks ,,tons of features great performance,,did I mention great looks ? Iv,e had mine since new,,seen the shop once

I bought a Nak 500 from Magnolia hi-fi brand new. It sucked. They ended up giving me a new one. It sucked. they let me step up to a 600 giving me full price from my 500 toward the 600.

That was more like it. ;)

[rosh1]

Tandberg TCD-420A. Super fast 3 motor system with auto tape slack take up. Silky sound. Great headroom .Best 2 head I ve ever used so far. Period.

[CottonSwab]

Originally Posted by faustus

My best 2-head decks are both BOTL Naks. I've got a CR-2A and a pair of CR-1A decks. Originally purchased from ebay as low-cost playback-only units, I'm amazed at the quality recordings that can be made with these decks. They are single capstan, no pad lifter, and the CR-1A doesn't even have adjustable bias. On the positive side, they're very easy to use and maintain and the heads are stout. Perhaps the best thing I can say is that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them as a first deck or upgrade deck or playback deck.

I have to agree on the CR-1a mine is devoted and definitely a proud performer. BOTL well maybe but they got it right the tapes sound right on. I like that. I had a 2a for awhile but actually preferred the 1a for it's simplicity and measure. Nice decks as all NAK's seem to be.
Ron

[Scorpion8]

Alright, haven't played with it for very long, but my new-to-me HK TD-4600 is very impressive. The sound is deep and full, yet still bright on old tapes. I like the features which include all-three Dolby flavors, B, C and S w/HX Pro. The meter flourescents are bright and easily ready and very nice. Well styled, and so far has been a killer joy. Not bad for a FREE Freecycle pickup.

[m00nr4k3r]

Hi.

I didn't wanted to start whole new thread for just one quick question. I have a shot at Luxman K-110 autoreverse deck for.. 8$. Did anybody have any experienece with similar unit? It's in working condition. Should i grab it?