Originally Posted by Stephen Coates:
I got the Akai cassette deck about 7 years ago on eBay for about £30. Its very nicely made and works very well. When I got it, I put some new belts in. The potentiometers inside for setting the bias, EQ, and levels really need adjusting properly as they aren't right (its probably not very noticeable unless you are listening specifically for issues). I had a fiddle with it last year, but it needs a bit more tweaking.
Its from around 1977 so its getting on a bit. I don't know the exact original price, but I wouldn't be surprised if it would have been in the region of £200.
To complement my 'vintage' stuff, earlier this year, I got a Pioneer CT-656 for about £70 on eBid. This is a 3 head machine with electronic controls and a VFD display. Very nice. Dates from around 1990 ish.
On that note, does anyone else here use eBid? If memory serves I first heard about it on this forum. I've only ever purchased two items on there; this Pioneer deck, and a Cumana floppy drive back in 2007. Funnily enough, I bought the Pioneer deck almost exactly 10 years after the Cumana drive, with no purchases in between. I have at least looked at the site from time to time though.
30 quid is a decent price. I might look around for some old separates, currently I don't really have anything other than (pretty crap) headphones or (cheap) phone docs to listen to music. Lady T's car has a good sound system in it though.
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