I have a need for an in-dash cassette player and have found that they are understandably pretty rare. Anyway, I found a double din one on eBay that seems to fit the bill but I’d like some opinion on the quality of this particular model, a Clarion ADZ625. Any word from 'philes who remember these dinosaurs would be appreciated.
The price listed is of no comcern to me.
Peace,
mangeorge
don’t know anything about that specific model, but Clarion’s usually decent stuff. They make their own mechanisms which they also supply to the automotive OEMs so they know what they’re doing.
It was probably a decent unit when it was new . . . but used? Anyone’s guess.
the other question is what kind of car is this going into? Are you sure a double-DIN deck will fit?
FYI, Crutchfield still lists some cassette decks in the website.
Edited to add, it looks like there are two; one for $100 and the other for $50.
The unit that’s in the car (2006 Ridgeline) is 2 din, and it looks close. I can get the manual and check the specs for the distance between the rails, etc. Other stuff can usually be adapted.
Why not buy a home tape deck, hook it up to your computer, and record the tapes digitally? You could play them on an mp3 player or burn them to CDs.
You could probably find a home tape deck cheaply on your local Craigslist.
Does what’s in the dash now have an I-pod accessory type jack? You could run a Walkman style cassette player through it and not lose what you’ve got.
I could do the cds but it has to be in real time and requires some editing. That’s a lot of time per tape. If I can, I’d rather just pop the tape in and play it.
This is what I was going to suggest. You can also use an FM-transmitter if the car doesn’t have an Aux-in port.
I think the chances of one of the new cheap-o cassette decks or an old used one sounding as good and/or being as reliable as your OE stereo are pretty slim. An old-school walkman plugged in or on an FM transmitter should sound decent.
An acc port is the first thing I looked for. No dice. Also, if by FM transmitter you guys mean one of those devices you tune to a dead spot on the FM radio, I haven’t had much luck with those. I suspect it has something to do with the radio antenna location on my car.
One other crazy idea: I think Toyota still (or until very recently) has OE radios that are CD and cassette deck combos. They’re also 2 din radios, so I’ll bet if you could find one online or at a junkyard a car audio installer could adapt the wiring. Then you’d be able to still have a newer relatively nice stereo with a cassette deck.
I looked at the spec sheet on the radio (in one of the pics) and it says “feb 2002”, which is at most 4 years older than my Honda. It also looks like it has most of the wiring. Maybe a little cleaning and a new belt. Hope springs eternal. eh? 
Anyway, I boldly bought the thing.
Here’s a cool link for anyone who plays around with car stereos, etc.
How about going to Crutchfield, and finding a radio fits, and that while does not have a cassette port, has an aux in on the front panel. Pair that with a walkman and cable and you are golden.
This will almost certainly give you better sound quality than the FM radio method or a used tape deck, both of which are somewhat klugey when you get down to it.
Isn’t any deck used once you, you know, use it?
I think maybe the term “worn out” would be a more accurate fit.
Many forget, or maybe never knew, the absolute joy of the 8-track player hanging under your dashboard. 
I got my first in 1965 in Japan while in the Navy. Believe me, the cassette was welcomed with open arms as are the newer digital systems.
Mostly.
The trouble is that they haven’t made good new tape decks in any real numbers for about 15 years. I agonized over this with an old car I have. It originally had a shaft-style AM radio, which I’m sure was great back when the car was built but is nothing but talk radio around here these days. I didn’t want to hack a hole in the dash to fit a DIN CD player, so I kept buying the two models of tape players I could find locally at that time (about 6 or 7 years ago) and the damn things lasted weeks on average (I took the car on a roadtrip once where the tape deck broke on the way out and then the replacement I bought there broke on the way back). I finally got one where only the drive broke, so I could use the adapter but not listen to tapes (leading to the silly situation where I needed to use a tape adapter and a walkman to listen to a tape). Thankfully now you can get MP3 players that fit in the old shaft-style openings!
Maybe a higher quality used one would be better, but the newest nice ones you’re likely to find are 15 years old and, let’s face it, even nice cassette decks were never exactly the most reliable things in the world. That $100 Pioneer one at Crutchfield might be okay, or else like I mentioned I assume the Toyota ones are probably decent. But, yes, getting a modern stereo with an aux-in is probably the way to go.
I’m not totally sure what shaft style refers to, but I think what you’re talking about is where the two radio shafts go through holes in the dash.
Anyway, my car is 2 din and so is the Clarion. It looks like it’ll fit where the OEM unit is. Dimensions look good. I found a couple reviews that said that Clarion model is pretty good. All I need from the car is 12vdc and the speakers. Oh, and the antenna. Didn’t think about that :eek:. I listen to radio a lot.
The proof is, of course, in the pudding.