As someone who came to audio adulthood in the 1970s I have always been a fan of the cassette. Compact and reusable, they allowed me to record the music that I loved in the order that I wanted. My first deck was a Sony with Dolby B noise-reduction, and its audio quality was good. Somehow, though, it got away from me. I replaced it with a workman-like Akai machine that was OK, but not a shining star. It's belts finally deteriorated, and I could not find replacements.
The solution to this problem was obvious: I needed a direct-drive deck, but which one? After much research and searching, I found it: a used Yamaha K-2000. Mine is all black (like the one shown below) and came equipped with removable rack-mounting brackets. The eBay Seller advertised that it worked; however, upon arrival the hubs would turn for a second or two, and then the transport would disengage. No rewind. No fast-forward. To his credit, the Seller refunded the bulk of the purchase price, and allowed me to keep the deck.
After nearly eight-hours of disassembly, diagnosis, repair, and reassembly, I got the deck working last night, and all that I can say is WOW! For a machine that is more than 40-years old (this model was manufactured from 1982 to 1985) it sounds great. I'm looking forward to revisiting some old favorite tapes, and recording some new ones.
The solution to this problem was obvious: I needed a direct-drive deck, but which one? After much research and searching, I found it: a used Yamaha K-2000. Mine is all black (like the one shown below) and came equipped with removable rack-mounting brackets. The eBay Seller advertised that it worked; however, upon arrival the hubs would turn for a second or two, and then the transport would disengage. No rewind. No fast-forward. To his credit, the Seller refunded the bulk of the purchase price, and allowed me to keep the deck.
After nearly eight-hours of disassembly, diagnosis, repair, and reassembly, I got the deck working last night, and all that I can say is WOW! For a machine that is more than 40-years old (this model was manufactured from 1982 to 1985) it sounds great. I'm looking forward to revisiting some old favorite tapes, and recording some new ones.
Last edited: