20 Best Vintage Cassette Deck (2022 Updated)

Delivered next day and a great price. I have just upgraded all of our systems and after a house move many years ago the old cassette collection went into storage. I did have a Rotel all in one that would play them fine but wanted to play through the main amp and speakers.

First I bought an “old” one off the auction site and although it was perfect and worked, it didnt last more than a few days and then it failed in all areas. Now to decide. the W1200 or put them back in the attic? The TEAC arrived perfect and was up and running in minutes.

The machine is good enough or exceeds the quality of my old cassettes. What it has exposed is that of my 70’s, 80’s and 90’s tapes, not all are perfect today which surprised me. The good ones really play well (way better than I thought), especially when cranked up.

OK they hiss when its quiet but as this was my upbringing, not a problem. I would imagine that with a brand new tape, the sound would be very acceptable. Do not compare to a CD, its just not that good.

All in all a good purchase and its a handy machine to have in the system. Shame its not silver to match the rest but I just put it on a different shelf. Also, if you have kids they will be amazed that such a good listen can be had with such a strange mysterious set of gear! Spot on.

Our ancient double cassette deck had been broken for ages but we wanted to keep and listen to our many cassettes and had been considering trying to get it repaired but research identified the Teac W1200 as a good option.

Richer Sounds pricing and, even more importantly, customer service, stood out like a beacon. Being able to discuss the product and availability and refundable guarantee on the phone with such a knowledgeable manager clinched the decision and the deck also arrived much sooner than expected.

The deck was easy to set up and connect to the existing amplifier. The sound quality is outstanding and some of the very old cassettes sound even better than CDs. Although there are a number of features such as recording and karaoke that are available that weren’t on the deck it replaced, there are also a couple of functions that are we used to have which don’t appear to be available on this one (skipping to the start of the next track seems to have to be done manually and the tape has to be manually turned over to play the reverse side) but the sound quality is so good that we have accepted these work rounds.

As I have been a VIP at Richer Sounds for more than a decade I decided to get their help and advice on the TEAC W 1200 cassette deck as I always do when I am buying from them. My last purchase was a 65″ LG TV which is working as expected, this time it was for a new cassette deck, I know that some people consider cassette tapes etc dead, I on the other hand have a large collection of cassette tapes that I was wanting to listen to and I started to look at what was out there.

I came across the above machine and read all the information that was available, I wondered why TEAC were still making cassette decks after such a long time had passed by the formats demise and considering that they have a really good reputation for tape decks I decoded to contact Richer sounds for advice, I spoke with Simon at the Glasgow store and he provided me with all the details that were available for the product.

I decided to wait a week or two prior to making my final decision, I called the Leeds branch who were happy to help me with my purchase and much to my surprise they gave me an offer that I could not refuse, I bought the product there and then along with a 6 year warranty which if not used I could simply get my money back.

I received the cassette deck the next day as promised, upon opening the box I found a securely packed item and after removal of all the boxes contents I checked the unit out, the unit looks pristine and came with two sets of RCA phono leads , a remote control and loads of instructions, I was confused a little by the two pin plug that comes as standard with the machine, I quickly found the adapter plug which was also included and after securely connecting the power pins in to location and screwing the plug back together I was all set to go.

I quickly brought out all the other HI FI equipment that I had put in storage and began to build my system up again and to be honest I had forgotten just how good it looked, all the other HI FI separates were also bought from Richer sounds way back in the day, the amp and mini disk player were all working as they should and the recently purchased turntable from the Glasgow Richer sounds store took its place proudly on the top shelf of my HI FI unit, so its now time to get all those Lp’s and cassette tapes out again and listen to them.

I would fully recommend Richer sounds for all your HI FI needs as they really know what they are talking about and the genuinely want you to be a happy customer for life, I have always been treated very well by the staff at my local shop in Glasgow and that is why I keep going back time after time.

It seems to me that Tascam is living up to it’s heritage with this deck. It plays new and old cassettes reliably. I’m torn on the particular bells and whistles that used to be offered in the 1990s, like 3 heads, auto reverse, input / auto monitor.

but the truth is I have tapes and simply wanted to have a brand new deck to play them on. While the price seems rather steep for lacking said features, it’s considerably cheaper than buying a good deck with those bells and whistles from 25, 30 years ago and then having to ship it to someone who can refurbish it.

Have you seen the price for a Dragon? YIKES. Even the professional offerings of Tascam from the 90’s command a pretty hefty price if they are in tip top shape. All that being said, I’m very happy with the 202 mk7.

It is a no frills deck that I expect to last many years. If I had it to do over again – I would.

I was tired of vintage tape decks that I was used to having. I had a Pioneer CT-F750 that was great, but it quit working. I then got a Denon DRM740 that was defective when it came in, an Akai GXC 730D that also came in defective, then another Denon DRM740 that had the same problem as the first one.

SO I got tired of all the B. S. and ordered the Tascam 202MKVII. I own a Tascam 424 MKIII 4 track recorder and a Tascam DR-70D so I am familiar with Tascam’s quality. I was not disappointed. The 202MKVII is a beautiful deck with straightforward controlls, the operation is smooth and quiet.

In fact the only thing I would add to the impressive features is auto reverse.

Both sides have crapped out on me. I bought this a few years ago. It’s mounted in my rack but I hardly ever use it. not a surprise. it’s a cassette deck. I use it for those occasional times when somebody has a cassette they need digitized.

I bought this because of the TASCAM name. but it’s a cheap piece of junk. The belts have come off. I put them on again which means 1) pull it out of the rack, 2) take it apart and fix (not fun), 3) put it back in the rack.

After doing that twice in a week I’m not wasting my time any more. It’s just sitting there with a tape that won’t eject. My advice is to look for something more reliable.

I was hoping to get the best of both worlds, a fun, retro player and great sound. Not so much. The sound quality on this is terrible. There is static when I play the radio, AND static when I connect via bluetooth.

There is a toner knob, but so far that hasn’t made a bit of difference. This thing is for looks only – or if you need a cassette player for some reason.

My boyfriend loves it! There dad who is a big tec guy said he is suprised how nice the quality is. Beautiful and amazing can’t wait for picnics with our new radio!

Its perfect! So cute and a great color, and works really well! Im so happy you can still find new tape players for a decent price.

Simple yet effective and I love the color. Perfect for listening to cassettes anywhere you go.

Love the aqua color! Just as shown in the listing.

My eldest nephew just bought me a brand-new cassette tape. My tape player didn’t work. Decided to buy a walkman, this does the trick. Good value. Good memories.

Amazing product, just like the one I had as a kid. Good quality, works well, nice and quiet, unlike other cheaper casette players I’ve tried.

Really happy with my purchase my mum is now happily listening to her cassettes once again. Like new.

1. no indicator on dials. 2. the whole mp3 complex did not work 4. It did not record anything on the flash drive. 5. headphone output not there, audacity showed only a shshing sound. 6. graphic equalizers did not work well.

7. cassette seating loose and questionable 8. no autostop, it did not work, tore the leader off, ruined the tape. 10. made in china 11. electrical problems with the switches on the tape controls, very poorly put together, poor quality.

12. humming sound when all turned off but plugged in. 13. short wave bands, very bad reception. 14. The handle works great. 15. the indicator lights flashed each time you pressed a switch. 16. the radio.

Just got it today and didn’t take long to receive it. So far, I’ve only tried the radio. Haven’t tried other stations but the one I’ll be leaving it on has very good reception. I like the style of it.

That’s one of the reasons for buying that one. The reason I’m only giving it three stars is because , like another reviewer said, the cord falls out. It seems to not go on the prongs far enough but, whatever the reason, there’s definitely a problem with that.

It played a tape once and stopped, any time I want to play a tape I have to hit it repeatedly. The radio does not work and the bluetooth option works for two seconds before “rebooting” and saying bluetooth mode in a British accent.

It also does not light up letting me know that it is powered on when play is pressed, all of these problems persist both with several sets of batteries and plugged in. The only reason this product is not a one star product is it’s great looking “retro” design and that it still plays tapes if you hit it multiple times, and hold it at an angle.

Product works reasonably well. As a Sony product, Play back Sound quality is pretty good. Tape mechanism fast forward, rewind, auto shutoff all good. It is fairly priced as I bought it for the posted price.

Design has a sliding volume control rather than a rotary style. Sliders tend to be a bit cumbersome/less precise and tend to get scratchy over time, but so far ok. Nit Picking The in-door plastic tangs that hold the cassette on insertion to play/record are broken.

A bit clumsy, but workable. These products tend to come in a package with an outside power supply. This item did not have that with it.

I bought two of these units. Both were clean and work with out problems in the play-back mode. However, I use these units to record and erase as much as I do for playback. I use a plug-in mic for superior recording results and effective tape erasing.

I am having problems with both units in these recording/erase modes while using the plug-in mic. I have two other units (purchased new 14 years ago) identical to the ones I purchased and they are still working which is the reason I chose the same model again.

If playback is the main function needed, then I can recommend these units without qualifications. I appreciate that the units were sent immediately upon order and arrived the date promised. Nice job.

Thanks, PSC.

I’ve been looking for a portable cassette recorder/player to record my keyboard on for quite some time, and this is the BEST one I’ve ever had by far! The mic is super sensitive and picks up everything perfectly! I absolutely LOVE it.

Plus it has a counter dial so I know where to stop when I need to go back and listen to a recording! Seriously happy with this purchase! I suggest buying this if you like to record stuff the old school way!.

This works fine. Unfortunately my son can’t use it in his residence hall because the WiFi and everyone’s cell phone signals cause too much interference with the tape player. I guess the people who designed tape-players had no way to anticipate the reality of our electromagnetically saturated environments.

It works fine at home though, where we’re away from all that stuff.

A boombox without any “boom” Weak bass. Style is nice, and looks like a vintage 80s boombox. Need 8 D batteries if not using plugged in. I guess this is a good thing if power ever out for days or weeks, just stock up on batteries again.

I might return, but I’ll give it a chance. Would be a talk of the party if you bring it or hanging out by a campfire.

I really like this thing because I’m obsessed with cassettes. This thing is definitely loud enough for our kitchen or our porch and you can bluetooth something as well if someone insists on doing that.

These are made of a vinyl faux wood veneer over a pressed cardboard like material. They are very cheaply constructed. The box was dented in shipment causing damage to the stereo. A corner was broken and peeling.

The volume cuts out rapidly when it reaches a certain point on the dial. The radio tuning dial isn’t accurate, and the pointer hesitates when turning like it is stripped. The cassette deck worked once, but immediately broke when I ejected the tape.

It would no longer allow a tape to be inserted. I returned it for a full refund.

Bought as Christmas gift for my boyfriend. He loved it! I was very overwhelmed because I didn’t know anything about vinyl players, but decided to go with this one because of all its features and I read that the built in speakers were really good.

This was both of our first time ever using a vinyl player and it was very easy to understand and use! Came in perfect condition. The built in speakers are really good, they can go really loud. Overall I am overly satisfied with this purchase, really recommend for anyone looking to buy a vinyl player.

I had read various online reviews to the effect that the TEAC W-1200 was a fancy bit of kit hiding a fairly cheap cassette mechanism. I had bought from Richer Sounds before and had been impressed, so I sought their advice.

After that, I decided to buy. I’m glad I did. The deck has what looks like a complicated interface, but it works intuitively even for a technophobe like me, and has been producing perfect cassette-to-mp3 transfers that are far better than I expected.

The disappointing results (and there have been a few) have always been down to the quality of the original tape, or ageing cassette pressure pads, or poor storage for 30 years in dampish conditions in a loft.

The litmus test is always: “Would I buy this again?” Yes, I would, and I’d buy it from Richer Sounds.

Already had a vintage Technics cassette deck and was looking for something to run alongside it. This is the last dedicated new cassette deck manufactured and the overall performance is pretty decent with the sound quality and measured specs better than Teac indicate.

Playback quality is good with or without the (non Dolby) noise reduction system and the remote control is a handy addition. Best snapping up one of these machines while they still exist.

I’ve been looking for a cassette player that records cassettes for awhile. This one is great, allowing you to record from the radio, audio on Bluetooth, and beyond. It doesn’t take up much space, and it can play from being plugged in or with batteries.

Works perfect! Looks cute too. Nice design. Better sound than others.

Soooo cute and great quality. The description was spot on. Seems to be very sturdy as well.

I was going to give this to someone as a present, so I haven’t tried it out to see if it sounds any good. I’m only giving it a three star rating because the box came quite damaged and I wouldn’t usually mind but since it was a present for someone I was quite displeased.

I also thought they would package the product with something, however they just shipped it in the box it already came in so it could easily break in shipment. Buy at your own discretion.

Is a girt for my daughter so haven’t used yet but looks good. Prompt delivery. However was left outside the gate on main road in the rain. Bit odd. Not damaged though. Will update when she gets it going.

Sound isn’t brilliant, particularly when playing cassettes. I returned my item.

We bought this to play some old cassettes I had recorded back in the. ’80s, on a vist to a large theme park. We still had my renditions of Stevie Wonder’s and Willie Nelson’s hit songs. We had no cassette player however.

We jumped on Amazon to buy a little unit to enjoy my venture to the recording indust. ry! This GPX mini cassette unit was everything we needed to play the recording but also listento AM and FM radio as well.

The unit surpassed my expectations. Avery sensitive FM tuner gave many more station signals tham my other portable radios. The volume level surpassed my expectation as did the tape playback. It’s a slid mini cassette/AM/FM unit you can clip on your belt and enjoy ‘tunes as you go about your daily endeavors.

This little unit surpassed my expectations.

I never got this cassette player to work. It would play the tapes slower than normal but also warbly, with playback that is faster and slower in a back and forth shifty playback. It was not just a bad tape; the player did this with every cassette I tried it on.

It never played any tape I had normally. That player had to have been defective because I couldn’t imagine a normal one operating that way. I would have returned this to Bi-Mart, where I bought it, but I misplaced the receipt.

I would also be cautious about getting another one because maybe it was a manufacturing issue. Also, closing the tape inserting section was always out of alignment, and I had to really angle the cassette compartment to align it closed correctly.

I bought this product in the ending days of February, and got it around March. At first it played my cassettes crazily good. With or without an auxiliary speaker attached to it. About two days later I’m listening to completely fine tape and it’s like the speaker for the (untouched) tape player just starts breaking.

For the sound to emulate something awful like a distinct stratching sound. Kept stopping and tired to play it back again. But it just keep making that sound but in different timed areas. I didn’t use for a day, and then decided to put a different clean and strong tape.

But again, the samething happened to me. Just more into the album that I was listening to.

I for one like the Antique look. Today modern look is to fast and very little time to look at the simple things in life. Studebaker Stereo is very well made and very easy to get ready to use. If you have records and cassette tape and you will love this Stereo made by Studebaker.

It has great sound and comes in handy if you live in tight place with not alot of room. Highly recommend to all. Thanks.

This turntable has great sound. Easy to set up. I’m listening to all my old records from my younger days. The only disappointment is that the needle doesn’t return to the base when the record is done.

Not good for the needle if you don’t catch it right away. But I like the vintage look and it works well.

I was really excited about this record player. It looks very nice, has built in speakers, radio, cassette player, but the sound quality was just really bad. I saw some reviews that said this before I ordered it, but went out on a limb and ordered it anyway.

I wouldn’t consider myself very picky about sound quality so I thought it couldn’t be too bad, but it is. As someone else mentioned the “s” sound is messed up and almost painful to listen to. I thought maybe plugging it into a stereo would improve the sound, but even then it came out poor.

Everything about this machine is perfect, except the most important part, sound quality.

I had a Teac cassette deck many years ago and it worked a great and sounded great. Decided to opt for them again this time around – big mistake! This unit seems to have issues when playing cd’s – it’s like the laser inside is struggling to read the disc – even when it’s a brand new pre-recorded CD!! Have had to switch unit off as it’s really annoying when it happens during almost every track.

I returned the unit to Richer Sounds Glasgow who were absolutely great and gave me refund – I would give a 5 star review to them for customer service etc and would use them again no problem. I purchased another unit of same model elsewhere (as Richer Sounds didn’t have any more stock due to discontinued item).

Got the unit – and same thing again – doesn’t play CD’s properly at all!!! I contacted Teac customer service twice and they never responded! I would never purchase another Teac product again after this and would recommend others to be wary! Big disappointment!.

Pros: It plays tapes Cons: Terrible remote controller and display. CD player struggles with some CDs (that includes brand new, good quality ones), even my cheap Blu-ray player does a better job. There’s no standby mode.

Poor quality built. Feels more like £150 unit.

This is a very well specified CD, Radio, Cassette, MP3 player and USB media player with a full size quality remote control handset and the build quality of the unit is superb, the plastic is solid and does not creak and groan every time you lift it or touch it.

The sound quality is also excellent with fully adjustable Bass and Treble settings, but the only massive failing with this is that there is considerable background hiss that can be heard up to a couple of meters away on all media playback functions, so unless you have the unit very loud or in a noisy environment I am sure you will find this very annoying as I did.

It also wasn’t a faulty item as I returned it 3 times as I thought it must be a fault but all 3 had exactly the same problem. A unit this expensive should not have this issue, you are paying for quality sound but not getting it.

So I was very disappointed with this unit.

Excellent Quality CD component system, unlike some other CD Cassette players available this is one of the better units you can get at a reasonable price, it certainly punches above it’s weight when it comes to volume and sound Quality, it even maintains Excellent sound at full volume, not that you need to have it up full as it’s very loud for such a small player, it was smaller than I thought it would be, but despite it being a small compact unit it still packs the kind of punch you’d Expect to get from much larger systems, it has the type of sound Quality you’d normally only get from a hi fi separates system, so it’s very surprising how such a small player like this can produce such a great sound, it’s also well feature packed, it has a good weight to it despite it’s small size.

buy one while you still can. highly recommended.

Absolutely excellent sound, and can play cassettes too- rare these days.

Product build code: May 2022: As many looking around may know, the options for quality cassette playback are very limited in modern times, but if that’s what you are after (and you get one with a cassette mechanism that’s not broken) the mechanism in this one is the best yer gonna find.

(most come out of the same factory anyways) It also has a stereo head so wanted to say that for those with the concern. Recordings are reasonable in quality but not perfect. (be sure to use good tapes that have not been recorded too much already) Beyond this product you are better off finding a good retro boombox from back in the day to do the job.

(those will also sound a more clear because of the inclusion of now dead extras like cassette Dolby Noise Reduction) I tested all features on the product and everything works. most important in my case being cassette can record from CD, radio, and a computer/phone as source using AUX port.

(adapter wires NOT included) It is also reasonable to use to copy tapes to computer using the output. (some audio cleanup may be required to remove hum/hiss as a result of missing Dolby features as already mentioned) The speakers are passable as well but I would suggest using output to send audio to better ones using an amp as the ones it has are meant to serve the portable nature of the product so are very small.

I have used it to create two tapes now and the recordings and playback contain no worble or distorted audio nor did it eat any of my tapes; yet. All in all it’s worth a shot and remains superior when compared to the horrible boombox retro knockoffs you will find for sale all over amazon.

NOTE: This product does not contain bluetooth options but you can buy that extra yourself and plug it into the AUX port. Also note that it has no SD or USB slot like you see on some of the cheapo boombox products.

you are better off using another device and the AUX port to make music selection and playback easier to manage anyways. (the CD player does seem able to play MP3 formats burned to a disc but I didn’t test this) Again, while the quality is passable for casual use, it’s obviously not going to be able to create production quality recordings; tho the playback quality isn’t “bad”.

If you want perfectly clean output you will have to buy a retro item created back when they bothered to license and include superior noise reduction features. You really can’t buy this and expect the quality of the ‘good old days’ to still be a thing so be prepared to compromise if you wish to use ‘new’ versions of any cassette players/recorders made now.

Through the earphones (I tried several different ones with the same problem), there is a constant purring sound, which ruins listening. I sent it back to Sony and they sent a replacement, which has the same problem.

Frustrated, I sent them the following email: All this trouble to send this radio back and the replacement is still doing the same thing!!!! And, no, it is NOT my earphones, or anything else caused by me or anything around me!! Neither am I senile, or hearing things.

How do I know? Every other device I have works perfectly with no problems, my computer, my TV, as well as an old boombox I bought at a yard sale for $5! Did you even replace it or did you just send the old one back thinking I wouldn’t notice? The only purring sound I want to hear when I’m listening to my radio is coming from my cat.

I bought this a few months ago. Just got around to trying it out. I have to say. I absolutely love it! The sound is awesome. crisp. plenty loud enough. easy to use with many added features. radio works very well.

tapes play very well especially since they are very old recordings. I am very pleased!!! Sure this is not going to sound like high tech. But I believe it’s the next best sounding boombox out there in this price range.

I think I bought 4 others before this on another site. that I had to return. could not even get radio reception. which is difficult where I live. Having no problems at all with this. Ha, with times like they are right now, I’m thinking I’d rather have this going at night than my iPad and phone right next to me.

This was an added bonus I didn’t think of when I bought it! I also want to give a big shout out for the customer service this company provides. Everyone I spoke to was so kind and very helpful. That’s very rare these days.

So happy I found this site!!!.

For a 32-year-old piece of electronics the Sony WM-F41 Walkman has fared well. While the belts had belted away and needed to be replaced (as does happen with all these old units), everything else seemed in order.

Once I properly replaced the belts and cleaned out the mechanism the sound from the tape was great, better than newer models available on Amazon. This unit was a later release by Sony, being released in 1987, 8 years after the initial release of the Sony TPS-L2 Walkman of fame (recently popularized by Guardians of the Galaxy).

It amazes me that after 32 years it still sounds great and plays tapes without ruining them. The unit is small enough to fit into a large front pocket, and although it does have a belt clip I wouldn’t trust it with my life.

First day using the clip the Walkman slid off and collided with concrete. Amazing, the crash did little to it other than a few dents and dislodge the door flap. I can’t imagine an iPhone surviving a similar crash.

Pros: -Great sounding with both the radio and cassettes. -Easy to use. -Seems to have a great battery life. -Can really take a beating. -Easy to repair. -FM and AM radio. -Has a switch for Normal and Metal tape types.

Cons: -The belt clip is useless. -The door flap isn’t too well secured. -Rubber belts leave a mess after melting (however it was the best solution at the time). The Walkman is a classic,instantly recognizable, and will endure in the memories of those who used it.

I’ve been buying these forever, since Sony debuted them at $40 decades ago. A sci-fi movie featured robots using them so now the price is crazy! They last forever, the earphones were never very good so I switch them out with Phillips or Panasonic.

The battery door compartment has always been flimsy so I usually end up taping it shut. Great for oldsters like me.

The best feature of this player is that it only requires one battery for operation. I have purchased several of these for an elderly lady in Louisiana who is blind and listens to audio books for entertainment.

As she is on a very small fixed income, not having to buy as many batteries is very helpful. Before finding this model of player, I had sent others to her. This one seems to be easier for her to operate which she does by “feel”.

Occasionally, she has had tapes “hang” up in a player, or has dropped and broken a player, which has necessitated my finding another for her. Otherwise, this model has been perfect for her use. As long as the tapes are good and she doesn’t drop it, this has been a dependable player.

TDK D is a tried-and-true Type I ferric oxide cassette tape. Record and playback performance is quite good. For recording purposes, the TDK D oxide formulation is compatible with a wide range of tape decks and recorders.

The mechanism quality is pretty good though lightweight. The tape pack is smooth, it’s generally a dependable product.

TDK cassette tapes have always sounded excellent to my ear. I hope they continue to make them for a long time. They sound well and are quite easy to use…much easier than CD’s. ~Bill Massey

TDK results for recording music are very good. I have tried other brand of cassettes but often get inconsistent results. I am using the TDK dynamic and am pleased with results’