Is the Cassette Recorder Dead?

I use our little mini system with a dub deck to listen to my wife's collection of some 300+ tapes. I do not patch it through the main system as the sound quality of the deck "and the tapes" are not that good. They sound "better" on the little system through Polk RT15 speakers. They also sound fine when played on the stock stereos in our old, older and oldest Honda's. I cannot think of a good reason to buy a better main deck to make dubs for use in the cars (due to their lowfi sound quality). And in the main system I would just as soon play a CD. I need to make dubs of her tapes as many are from the 70's and early 80's and they are going down hill very quickly. So, we really just need a deck to enjoy this old music library (mostly R&B and Disco) and to dub the old tapes onto new stock. Their are some very high quality cassette decks that come "close" to the sound of vinyl, but what is the purpose if you are dubbing from CD? If I wanted better sound in the cars I would just install a modern CD player (all in one unit with amps) and new speakers at a very reasonable cost. Since we don't mind lowfi in the cars the little dub deck and the old tapes are fine. I recently ran across a Tandberg 3014 deck at the local pawn shop and went through this thought process. The deck was a steal at $950.00, but I found that I really did not need it. I would be better off spending the money on CD players for the cars. Also when buying used tapes you will find that many of them have been trashed from being played on cheap portable machines.

I'll bet that 75% of all audiophiles use some type of cassette system, car or portable. The sad thing is that the cassette recorder is totally invisable to all high end mags. Due to the demise of Audio and Stereo Review the only place to find reviews is in Consumers Report. I recently invested in a Mini CD recorder and portable player but frankly the analog cassette reproduces vinyl better. I just hope the manufacturers don't completely abandon these machines.

This is very much a Ralph Nader sort of thing. Those that have been in the high end 20 years or more lets band together to stop the never ending landfill fonder of formats and japanese machines that led no where. Except to corporate deception of new technology with lower tolerance parts presumed to be of higher musical value. Please check out the rear ends (glutes of mass consumers to get a sense of what I am expressing). Remember the song "In the year 2525 I will not need my eyes ....."

HiFi Choice Magazine still reviews cassette decks I believe, although model numbers are sometimes different between UK and USA. Web site is www.hifichoice.co.uk I agree that new formats are risky if they do not catch on. Cassette is a safe bet.

One comment about switching from cassette to CD in the car: Be aware that car CD players WILL damage your CDs by scratching them up (especially from being jarred by bumps when the unit is off and the car is moving. (The optical pickup bangs into the CD) And from droping them in the car, and mis-handling them. I have a separate set that I use only in the car and consider disposable. So please be aware of that problem with CD in a car. I bought the LAST Stereophile recommended cassette machine, a JVC 711 cassette player. And use it sparingly, and maybe it will last 30 years. (just to create tapes for my Walkman.) I would be searching for an Aiwa 990 or another JVC 711 as a low price replacement. For the more affluent, The top Nak's are the choice items. Othe used cassette machines may also have a decent sound, but these are the units I know of. And to answer the original question: Is the cassette dead? Not yet. 8-Track is DEAD, EL cassette is DEAD, Beta is very near DEATH, Phillips DCC is DEAD, Mini Disc is in the hospital, struggling, LaserDisc has been in a severe accident and the jury is out, but it looks very bad. The thing that saves the cassette is the CAR.. and Walkman. Both formats have CD available but they have not come to dominate the market yet.