Great how many folks remember Nakamichi fondly. I remember being rather broken hearted after purchasing the new teen Nakamichi CD player and having it sound terrible.... then over time them become a consumer goods level company. So it goes. But in the seventies and early 80's they were a tremendous force in the high end.
Audiophile Equipment
I learned the value of audiophile equipment early in my pursuit of the high end. I had accumulated enough gear for a system and was looking for the best possible tape deck… with Dolby C. From the popular magazines… Stereo Review, Stereo Times… the Harman Kardon T392 seemed to represent the pinnacle. So I bought one. It was OK… but such a huge step down from vinyl that I was genuinely bummed, especially since it cost something like $650… a lot of money at the time.
A few months later I was browsing a high-end audio shop and, somewhat morosely, told my story to a salesman. He just started laughing. “Those things are junk… you need a real tape deck.” He led me over to the window, where there was a seven-year-old used Nakamichi 1000… huge, with wood paneling all around it… looking more like a reel-to-reel than a cassette deck. He wanted $1,200 for it. That was an astronomical amount of money… and it was old. Then he said, “Take it home… try it.”
My first real jaw-drop moment.
It had the full depth and bass of vinyl… it was simply astonishing. It made the so-called “flagship” Harman Kardon sound like a cheap plastic transistor radio and without Dolby C. All that glossy magazine talk about bandwidth and specs… page after page of marketing… well, that’s all it was. This old, purpose-built audiophile machine performed leagues above the consumer-level product.
I was hooked.
It wasn’t my last audiophile purchase… but it was my last consumer-level purchase for decades.
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@ghdprentice : Sorry to disturb your thread again.
I was really lucky to bougth the ADS L2030 because in those old times my Audio ignorance levels were way way higher than today and because I born and live in Mexico all my life .
In those times even we can’t introduce audio electronics/speakers in our country, was forbiden but thighs are that my father had family at the USA-MEXICO border in Laredo and we gone 2-3 times a year to visit tha family. In Laredo, TX there were low-fi stores and the best names that you can seen were Pioneer, Denon, Technics, Sansui and the like. Well one of those stores handled ADS and for the last 2 years I look that they still had its L2030 sample and I ask why and the seller told me that were to big a no one was interested on them and gave me 50% discount that was an excellent price and can afford but the critical probles was how made I to introduce in Mexico those very big speakers inside 1,000 miles at my place. Anyway I bougth the ADS and after 1.5 year finally were in my home and I was truly exited to listen paired with Crown amplifier..
That’s the way I started to learn about audio in wider way and was a hard road to walk with trial and error and patience. Just learning as some one else of us.
Btw, the Google link I posted has some errors made by the IA information.
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