Cassette deck enthusiasts......

Two (or three) options with very good performance but less hype than the Naks (which were good once you got above the 400 series) were any of the three-head versions of Aiwa and Pioneer and Pioneer Elite.

I have a 680zx and is a great deck. If you carefully calibrate and bias the deck for half speed, the quality of the sound in half speed is quite stunning.

I owned the Nak. Dragon. With the Super Metal Master it was a superior unit.
When the Super Metal Master tapes run out of production, it wasn't the same anymore and I sold it.

Loved the LX-5 three head deck way back then in the early 80 's. Gave 20+ years of service! Nak ruled! (back then).

Teac A 300 was a good one IMO. Three head w/ vu meters. It made very good tapes from my vinyl and was no slouch for palyback either. I had that one back in the day. Don't know about parts etc, but I still have it in the closet.