When my old Pioneer cassette deck finally bit the biscuit last year I went shopping for a replacement - entirely because of my large collection of tapes - most of them personal recordings of live music that I made at clubs that I used to "bounce" at to pay my way through university (in the late 70s - thanks for reminding me Soundhound ) I managed to pick up a Nakamichi RX-202 in mint condition - for less than $100US. I've already used it to make a few dubs for my Mom (she's not yet graduated to CDs) and it's a supern unit. I could only conclude that other Nak products are probably good bets as well - especially in the "RX" line.

Regarding taping onto VHS: it works. And it works extremely well given the cost of either a hi-fi VCR - or the blank tape. There's not much noticeable difference between taping at EP or SP speeds. I have used it to tape lengthy segments "off-air" - as well as to make 6, or even 8 hour "party" dubs. (Soundhound: in the 70s, while living in res at university, we used to mix 6 hour floor party tapes onto reel-to-reel! Played through a set of Klipsch La Scala with a 100 Watt SAE amp if I remember correctly. I remember one "all Stones, all the time" tape that we did with great fondness.

Regards.

Jeff Mackwood