Nakamichi's

Alternatives to a Japanese big box:

I thought all the Naim boys still loved their walkman pro with the obligitory 6v snaps powering it.

I once heard the Naim cassette deck and it was uncanny - it just WAS radio 4 until JV pressed the stop button. Big shame it never made it into production. Bet there's a prototype or 2 kicking around somewhere.

I thought JV was a fan of the old Neal machines, wonder if you could still pick up one of those.

Finally I've always had a hankering for a serious reel-to-reel (big Revox or similar). This was how to prove you were a man of taste and wealth in a 70s movie. I think the equivalent symbol in current movies is a monster turntable, preferably with an air-tangent arm.

Phil

I have a bx300. This flips the tape 180 degrees in a very 1980's sort of way. I think it had a cameo in nine and a half weeks, although I was distracted by other things at the time....

It has two, not three heads and is therefore more in line with bx150 type performance. With no dolby on a good chrome tape ( tdk sax-90) the results are really nice, open and sweet. Trouble is I only make recordings to listen elsewhere. These days everything is so CD centric ( car,work,friends, walkman)so I bought a pioneer pdr509. This is not bad at all, especially as I have to record CD and Vinyl via the analogue converter within the unit. So the Nak just gathers dust lately, although I think it has an edge over the CD recorder coming off vinyl.

Simo

quote:
______________________________________________
I thought JV was a fan of the old Neal
machines, wonder if you could still pick up
one of those.
______________________________________________

I'm pretty sure JV did like the Neal decks, as I think that was what prompted my father to get one. The problem was the parts/servicing. The heads and rollers went on my Dad's one, and IIRC, the quoted price for a replacement playback head was almost £200 in 1988. By that time things had moved on from when the deck was made, and you could get an almost equal deck for £150.

Chris L (who gave up on cassette and now uses CDR or mini-disk)

If you get one of these buy a new one (they're still available I gather), and be prepared to experiment with tape types to get a bias match (there's no external tape tuning).

Older ones are likely to need some atttention, and have worn heads, idlers etc if well used.

They are bandwidth limited, relatively noisy and have limited dynamic range when compared to a Nak but have superb speed stability, a major factor in their musical sound and will blow away most full size decks. They are remarkably long-lived as there aren't too many rubber idlers, belts etc to wear and deteriorate with time.

A SNAPS or home brew PSU will improve sound, and their are some minor mods (if you're so inclined) to quieten the internal power supply a little.

I've had mine longer than my LP12 (14 years +) and it still works, but is now in need of attention again. It's had one new head, and two new dolby IC's, along with a few rubber bits over the years.

It won't take up much space in your system either. Get Chord co. to produce you a lead and you'll have one of the best portable systems around.

Andy.

Do you really need cassette as a recording medium? It may be worth investigating minidisc and CD-R otherwise. You will at least get more consistent performance across different media type than you will with tape. If you're investing significant money in a NAK why not consider something even more exclusive like DAT, Sony do (did?) some sexy portable versions.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

thanks.

i bought a Pioneer PDR-05, one of the early CDR's off s/h off robert ritchie and off vinyl/cd/tuner its pretty good. bass is excellent and top end isn't too bad, but the mid sounds like it is a but 'forced' and doesnt have ease of the original source. it gives you the impression of a more forward and dynamic sound but it doesn't soudn right in my book (i think i am quite sensitive to this in my hearing and therefore struggle with digital generally).

my old nak dr3 was worse than the pioneer.

Dev,

My brother still has a Nak ZXL 1000. He lent it me for a while about 15 years ago. I believe this was their top of the range model, and I don't think they subsequently made a more expensive model.

Through my system at that time - LP12 / Ittok / Asak - 42xo - 2 X 110's and active Sara's, the performace was incredible for a tape machine - just a slight dulling of the sound and a little HF loss compared to vinyl.

He has the Nak, plus a Revox B77, both re-conditioned, stored in the loft. I'll ask him if he wants to hang onto them. Give me a call.

Colin Lorenson

i have a nakamichi 582. this in fact is the oldest component in my hifi system, followed closely by one of my nap250's. its a basic, (no sutoreverse, remote is on an umbilical!!) but in my view, very good machine. i have to admit i bought it on the basis of "best buy" rating in all the hifi publications i read at that time.

i still use it every now and then to play tapes i recorded a long time ago, and they sound very good.

enjoy

ken

I have a BX1 whose primary purpose was to make tapes for car useage. In car I have a Nak TD400.
Car wise the performance is great. The last shop to install the car system was amazed by the performance.

They started tuning with a "good" inhouse tape, and complained that I shouldn't waste time with tape, whynot go CD, Its much better. I then produced one of my tapes, which they then used. It blew them away, they could not beleive that it was tape. Sounded better than 90% of the current incar CD systems then available. ( Today your results may vary - this was 10 years ago )

I found just about all prerecorded tapes sounded like crap - bandwidth limited and compressed as hell.

I do not do much listening at home via tape, except mix tapes as background. Quality wise, I lost a bit at both frequency extremes - soft bass, rolled highs but still very listenable - still alot better than most "normal" systems.

A friend has a Dragon along with LP12/42/160 and it is one sweet deck. Just does evrything better than mine, but then is should it was worth 5 times as much. A little annoying at times setting the bias trims - can be a pain but usually pretty slick. Sound wise the bass is more true, faster with less artifacts, the mids and trebble are clearer and more extended. Overall a wonderfull tape machine - only caveat is that it has been in the shop 2 or 3 times in the last few years. The repairs - although I can't remember what was wrong were not usually cheap costing on average 2-300 canadian a pop.

Would I by another Nak - yup but would also look around depending upon budget - Tandeberg perhaps

mykel

quote:

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try a revox or tandberg cassette deck

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The Revox is indeed a beautifully crafted machine which set - at the time - new standards in matters of user-friendliness and engineering. I've heard one about 15 years ago, I found then that the dynamics were impressive for such a 'supposedly' bad medium. But If you buy one, bear in mind that you should avoid by all means the earlier models, as the pitch wasn't always accurate, a problem that was solved afterwards.

Also, at least over here, Revox gear is still considered something special (made in Switzerland, blah blah) so second-hand items are, IMO, sold at crazy prices.

Otherwise, a tape machine doesn't only sound good, but it's also big fun if you like playing with tapes, composing jingles and stuff. It doesn't necessarily have to be a B77, an A77 in mint (means fully revised) condition is also worth considering (many recording studios still use them !!). BTW, I hope there are still good tapes available, like the AGFA PEM369 or PEM486.

Cheese - may all beings be happy

I bought mine when I visited Naim around 17 years ago and it's still with me to this day. I also have the Denon DRM44-HX which is a great machine for the money but the little Sony still puts it to shame. I do know where there's a second-hand dragon if anyone is interested.

I picked it up for $60 from a friend that frequents the local flea market (US-speak for boot sales) for stereo deals. It cost me another $90 after I snapped and had to replace the azimuth adjustment screw, but it sounds fab. It's built like a tank and runs smooth and quiet.

Both of the local used hifi sales and repair shops say that that era produced the last of the good Naks, that they haven't been the same since.

Cheers

Keith.

i still have (though seldom use) my ages old nak680. i've made some mods to the bias/tape sensitivity calibration circuits with options to disconnect the dolby modules (as load) from its supply, a new set of tape heads/guides, capstans, rollers, belts and some wiring redone.

while on campus...it sourced a headphone amp (driving AKG240Ms for nights) and otherwise a small amp driving a full-range (prolly only mids today) drive unit sealed into an earthen ghatam, listening to trilok gurtu...
all made while at uni...

some day, i'd like to swop it's RCAs to DINs and power it via a naim ps.

enjoy

Dev:

I have and still use a CR7. Its performance is very good but somewhat limited - there are losses - compared to that of a turntable such as a LP12. I use it for taping from my 02 tuner. It is very convenient to use (setting bias etc) compared to the Dragon but does not have automatic reverse (as with the Dragon). I have heard reports that the sonics of the CR7 are considered superior to the Dragon. I hae not made the comparison.

Paul

Dev:

I have and still use a CR7. Its performance is very good but somewhat limited - there are losses - compared to that of a turntable such as a LP12. I use it for taping from my 02 tuner. It is very convenient to use (setting bias etc) compared to the Dragon but does not have automatic reverse (as with the Dragon). I have heard reports that the sonics of the CR7 are considered superior to the Dragon. I have not made the comparison.

Paul

In the US, the DR10 (three head) is being closed out at $300. Check Harvey in New York (url is harveyonline, I think) or audiogon.

They may not be as good as older Naks, but that is a damned good deal. Just a week before I found out about these, I bought a DR2 (three head but no monitoring) NOS for $200. There is a lot of life in the sound.

--Eric