Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Agree with you that this is the position today, Arkless, and it has been so for many years. However, I have to add that back in the day (1970s - 90s-ish), ordinary consumer-level decks purchased from Comet(!), etc, such as the Pioneer I acquired, delivered stable performance for years. Hence, for our generation, they became very popular. Every dog has its day!
I completely disagree. All of the hundreds of cassette decks I've heard have been unacceptable on W & F other than a few TOTR models. Some of us are much more sensitive to this than others!