Ultimate cassette recorders before Nakamichi went under - as elegant as, twelve years earlier, the 580.
The mechanics inside hold a surprising move, quite different from what Niro and Etsuro Nakamichi put in their late 1980s recorders : the drive isn't based on belts or direct DD motors but... gears !
There are three models : the 1 and 2 here shown, plus a 1.5 for a few select markets. Black color for all and silver for... a few select markets.
The differences between the 1 and 2 lie in the number of heads (3 for the 1 and 2 the 2), the presence of Playback Azimuth on the 1 and the absence of variable output level knob on the 2, Crystalloy heads for the 1, Sendust for the 2.
Also, visibly, the 1 has a flap hiding controls, the 2 doesn't ; said flap doesn't hold much more than what is visible sans flap on the 2 but for the added variable output level knob which is placed between the MPX switch and the Rec Balance knob.
The other features are the same : Dolby B/C, MPX filter, dul-mono structure, rec/play amps placed on the heads' PCBs, multi-regulated power-supplies, Silent Mechanism for the heads' movements and reels braking, non-symmetrical capstan sizes to avoid resonances.
Plus all the common conveniences of 1980s decks : digital counter with search function etc.
Outside Japan, the silver version of the (black) CassetteDeck 1 was named "Cassette Deck Limited".
The CassetteDeck1.5 has the flap of the 1 but no added function than those of the 2 besides being also available in silver (unlike the 2) (still following ?).
Before completely vanishing from visible sight, Nakamichi made a quickie low-grade version of the CassetteDeck in 1993 : the DR series. The latter had different looks (far less interesting) but the very same basic appearance : even if designed differently, the knobs, switches, functions and buttons are all exactly identical and the DR-1 even uses the same two heads as the Cassette Deck 1 !
However, the drive motors are belt-driven in the CR and DD in the Cassette Decks - tape recording in 1993 wasn't worth much anymore.
Besides all this, the most striking feature of the CassetteDeck and that of the Amplifier 1 is design : a well balanced set of proportions encased by the two protruding side stoppers. Striking in silver.
A real CassetteDeck1 here ; another one here ; a real silver CassetteDeck1.5 here ; the same in black here ; and a real CassetteDeck2 here.