Beta deck recommendations?
 

My Sanyo VCR-7200 is acting up and I'm wondering if I should look into getting a different deck to play my Beta tapes. I've heard the performance of the Sanyo decks is not up to par compared with some of the other decks. So what should I be looking for? I definitely want a Hi-Fi deck. B1 playback would be nice but is not necessary. (I only have one old-school B1 tape.) If there's a deck with direct drive that would be great, as the Sanyo has a complicated idler/belt drive system. Super/ED Beta are not necessary (unless Super Beta would make my old tapes look any better).

I see the Sony SL-HF900 goes for crazy money on eBay; is there a "sleeper" Beta deck that might be flying under the radar, and also performs well? (I don't have a brand preference.) Or should I just get new rubber for the 7200 and stick with it?

Thanks!

I try to repair mine when ever I can.

While the idler may be complicated on the Sanyos, they tend to be built like tanks. All they usually need is belts every couple of decades. In terms of Sony decks, the SL-HF3xx and 4xx models support Beta HiFi and SuperBeta playback and recording and go for much more reasonable prices. The only thing they won't do is playback B-Is tapes, but those are pretty rare anyway.