Cassettes that look nice when being played

Which cassettes look nice when being played? Suppose the deck has backlight. I personally like bigger hubs with a regular pattern, and it is best if the leader retaining clip is not immediately visible. Not interested in reel-to-reel style cassettes.



This is a rather unusual style, but what is more important, the reels have a repeating pattern. The clip breaks it a bit because other parts of the reel have two small "braces", but this irregularity is not very noticeable because of four wide "petals".



This would look nice if the hole in the clip were the same size as other ones:



This one is nice:



This would be a nice reel design if not for the break in the pattern:



I like the shell. Hubs - not so much.



Not bad, but again break in the pattern. Seems it is unavoidable. Are the hubs bigger than normal? I quite like it, but not for this much money.



This also seems to have larger hubs. Would be great if not for the blue "keystone".



This would be very pretty if not for green "keystones" and busy shell graphics:



This is different:



This is a rather unusual shell design:



Check out this reel-to-reel imitation. See it disassembled. Too bad the fake "reels" do not rotate.

 

that Goldstar cassette is great - do you know it‘s year ? i consider 90‘es (?)

 

@autoreverser I don't know. Pulled it from the Project C-90, but there is no date there either.

 

i‘m a big fan of those TDK‘s:

 

to my ears, and when played thru professionally restored Nakamichi LX-5, these MA-GX and Sony Metal Masters looked the best

GoldStar is weird, but someone here or at boomboxery posted custom clear cassettes with multi-color spirals painted on the reels. I had one, but NEVER used it during our Beer'n'Boomboxes sessions


Anyone - where to find one of those for my new collection?

 

@autoreverser: this metal TDK looks great in stasis, but the hubs are solid, and the black and red "clips" are clearly visible. Do you like looking at them when they rotate?

To everyone: please, post the photos of the cassettes you think look attractive when being played, especially with a backlight. Maybe you have several of them, and maybe you would not mind selling one for a reasonable price

This is Sony Hip Pop similar to the "What's Up?" cassette, it has a fun label and festive yellow hubs:



Hitachi Twinkle:



Hitachi UD-N



This one does not look bad, and it is Type II:



To my taste, this would look great if not for the irregularity of the pattern. I like large hubs:



It looks nice in this video:



The same cassette in a component deck:



This is another AD-X from an eBay auction, and its hubs look different, almost a regular pattern, I would not mind having one, but not for $24. If someone has this cassette, I would buy one for a reasonable price, say within $10 including shipping to the U.S.



TDK SF46 in action:

 

yep, besides the metal-chassis i like to watch those end-clips rotating - it got something relaxing in it, like watching a reel-to-reel unit playing...

there were two different types of those with slightly different chassis (MA-XG and MA-R), followed by the later models with black plastic and ceramic-frame...

 

Always liked this design:

 

@Reli, I have one like this, but it becomes stiff about halfway. Yours is a little different, seems you have a newer one with a "stabilized housing"



After browsing a bunch of cassettes I came to the conclusion that 46-minute or maybe 50-minute cassette is what I am looking for, they likely to have larger hubs. 30-minute cassettes on another hand are usually for dictation, so they have lower quality tape.

Here is a video about "big hub" cassettes:



If you have a cassette with large hubs and do not mind selling, I would buy one. But post a picture first!

 

I like them with this style ... i've kinda customized this

 

My TDK SA90 and Sony UX-S90 played in my Panasonic deck.

 

weird thing: I spent quite some time today searching for that mesmerizing 'vertigo' cassette discussed heavily 2-3 years ago, and found NOTHING thru GoogleSearch... eBay seller must have died or sold all his (sorry, I just can-Not imagine 'her') stock. So... I am sorry, but you must believe me that looking at a spiral reel while partaking in Beer'n'Boomboxes session puts you to sleep in no-time

back to the OP: while engaging in all the activities seemed proper for B&B session (Friday Night in... Malibu it is, plus my son's birthday is today) I realized why OP might have been misinterpreted by yours truly - when being introduced into the awesomeness of Hi-End Audio my then Guru said something like this: ‘you want something pretty - buy a painting!’....... McIntosh SACD player stayed in my system for almost a year, and it was the only time when our house-guests noticed my Stereo: 'Oh,.. what is THAT!!??!' Unfortunately, it sounded lame to me and was substituted for Wadia 781i for SACDs... and all the Prettiness was gone from my Naim Audio stereo...




Back to the original Q: why I do not give a %$#@ how cassette itself looks:


Not much to see, and even if you insert this same, my fav maxell XLII-S cassette into my fav bbox, the end-result looks about the same:



So... my 5-cents of advise to my friends here: make sure to check your priorities - good-looking stereo or a good-sounding stereo.

and before you throw a stone at me:

In my household I have to pay for both: B&O for my Boss and Naim Audio sound for myself: pricey x 2

 

Hi @Jorge , I agree that a cassette is first and foremost a recording medium, but nice looks does not hurt Also, some machines have bigger cassette windows or even no cassette doors at all.

What exactly is "nice" is in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I am not a big fan of R2R-style cassettes. But I have to admit they add certain flair.

 

I would not mind to continue defending my point but... over the last few days my angle been too often at the wrong with this 100-year old S2G-er of indeterminate gender (@CDV) to continue... I will excuse myself out and PLEASE do not hold it against me if I put ‘ignore’ onto his/her posts from now on.....

 

@Jorge, I suggested to discuss cassettes that look attractive when being played. You replied, "I do not give a %$#@ how cassette itself looks," and then got offended despite that I agreed that "a cassette is first and foremost a recording medium." Seems like a bad case of a Friday Night B&B session indeed.

 

...mod please

 

Check this one - I have made it recently

 

Here are a few of my favorites; the spiral is especially while being played...time to vacuum!:

 

Got myself a 46-minute Sony with large hubs.

 

The problem with the spiral reel tapes is that they printed the graphics backwards. So it doesn't spin in the correct way.
Here is the only "spiral" tape I'm aware of that spins the correct way:

(2) Sanyo yo - YouTube