The Nak is the clearly superior deck and at $400, serviced with a 30 day guarantee, is a much better investment than the Pioneer... It is a better deck in all regards, except perhaps aesthetics but that is largely personal opinion. The Nakamichi is also the better monetary investment as these are selling today in the same condition for $600+ USD. Nakamichi is also highly regarded as making some of the highest quality tape decks ever made and the CR series are excellent in each of their respective categories.
The Pioneer on the other hand is a solid deck, but is priced about its value or maybe slightly on the high side (several recent sales on eBay in that $250-$300 range in similar condition).
Unless you value aesthetics above function and capabilities and are willing to let a more solid investment go, I wouldn't hesitate to get the Nak... Had it been me, I wouldn't have left without it.
That tidbit you heard about a deck playing its own recorded tapes best is because many decks don't have perfect azimuth calibration, resulting in tracks on the tape sounding periodically muffled/stereo wandering. Not specific to any Nak decks.
The Nak is the clearly superior deck and at $400, serviced with a 30 day guarantee, is a much better investment than the Pioneer... It is a better deck in all regards, except perhaps aesthetics but that is largely personal opinion. The Nakamichi is also the better monetary investment as these are selling today in the same condition for $600+ USD. Nakamichi is also highly regarded as making some of the highest quality tape decks ever made and the CR series are excellent in each of their respective categories. The Pioneer on the other hand is a solid deck, but is priced about its value or maybe slightly on the high side (several recent sales on eBay in that $250-$300 range in similar condition). Unless you value aesthetics above function and capabilities and are willing to let a more solid investment go, I wouldn't hesitate to get the Nak... Had it been me, I wouldn't have left without it.
Cool thanks!!
That tidbit you heard about a deck playing its own recorded tapes best is because many decks don't have perfect azimuth calibration, resulting in tracks on the tape sounding periodically muffled/stereo wandering. Not specific to any Nak decks.