[ben]

It is pot luck with cassettes. If they have been stored okay, and in boxes, then they will be fine. But with used ones, who knows? The rule is, don´t pay much!

The problems of crashing used to be due to drop outs, either through cheap tape or it having been crinkled by someone touching the tape surface, dust on that spot of the tape (always store rewound so the leader tape protects the programme) or a bad pinch roller. Often, using a higher volume setting would work. Or copying the tape using a slightly higher rec level.