As I mentioned in another comment on this thread, the place to start such a high-end cassette deck effort is with the late 70s Nakamichi 550. It is a true stand

As I mentioned in another comment on this thread, the place to start such a high-end cassette deck effort is with the late 70s Nakamichi 550. It is a true standout. Kind of like the Porsche 911: a bad idea raised to the level of perfection.