Maxell UDXL-II - 1980 - US/EU
"Made in 1980, when cassettes were relatively expensive, this Maxell UD-XLII gets our vote for the best looking cassette ever. You think of a stereotypical cassette, something that looks like this is usually what you think of.
Gorgeous to look at, a heavy well made shell and tape that really does capture music well.
This is the version that has a tougher, printed, outer wrapper, so is better for collecting purpose than the 1977 version with the fragile clear cellophane wrapper.
You need to put negative bias on these cassettes to get the best out of them.
The more modern UDXL-II admittedly sound better (after ~1985, new formulations), but these are a true classic, very iconic and very high on the nostalgic table standings. " Tony Villa
NOTE 1: 90 Minutes: Superbly kept cassettes, with some mild scuffing on the wrappers. The back of these tapes may not be what is shown in the pictures. If this concerns you, please contact me. Thank you.
NOTE 2: 90 Minutes: B-Grade. This tape... very clean wrapper, 100% sealed, no rips, no scuffing, no cracks on the case... so then, why is it not an A-Grade cassette? Well, take a look at the picture provided. It shows a "sort of mild scratch" on the cassette window that occurred during the manufacturing process. It's there! How can it be graded A-Grade if it's not? How would you like to get it for nearly $20 and then have to live with that annoying defect? As long as the slightest defects or "annoyances" such as this one can be visibly detected, it will not be sold here as a higher grade tape. Cheers.
About Maxell:
Maxell Holdings, Ltd. (日立マクセル株式会社 Hitachi Makuseru Kabushiki-gaisha), commonly known as Maxell, is a Japanese company that manufactures consumer electronics.
Maxell was formed in 1960, when a dry cell manufacturing plant was created at the company's headquarters in Ibaraki, Osaka. In 1961, Maxell Electric Industrial Company, Limited was created out of the dry battery and magnetic tape divisions of Nitto Electric Industrial Company, Limited (now Nitto Denko Corporation).
On March 18, 2014 the company was listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.[7]
The company's notable products are batteries—the company's name is a contraction of "maximum capacity dry cell"—wireless charging solutions, storage devices, computer tapes, professional broadcast tapes and functional materials.[4][5] In the past, the company manufactured recording media, including audio cassettes and blank VHS tapes, and recordable optical discs including CD-R/RW and DVD±RW.
On March 4, 2008, Maxell announced that they would outsource the manufacturing of their optical media.[6]
During the height of the Compact Audio Cassette's popularity, Maxell's audio cassettes were held in high regard, producing some of the finest examples of the standard available. The performance of the XLII-S (CrO2) and MX (pure metal particles) cassettes was regarded by many audiophiles to be the ultimate achievement in the pre digital domestic recording medium.
In the 1980s, Maxell became an icon of pop culture when it produced advertisements popularly known as "Blown Away Guy" for its line of audio cassettes. The original campaign conceived by Art Director Lars Anderson began as a two-page spread in Rolling Stone Magazine ad in 1980, and was made into television spots in 1981 which ran throughout the 1980s.[10]
Maxell UDXL II - 1980 - US/EU