I have a (defunct) Akai Vs-75EK but have sevetral tapes recorded on it
that do not play well (stereo sound wise) on more modern machines so
I'm looking for a working replacement; I'm assuming no one out there
has one but I have been told later Matsui models were based on it (ie
using the same electronics and heads). Does anyone, by any chance, no
which model number(s)?

Any help greatly appreciated.