Nakamichi Cassette Decks

I worked for a Nakamich dealer for a few years while in school until 1984, and I owned and loved a Nakamichi 250 (in my car), a Dragon and and LX5, not to mention the time I spent at work with all of their models, tinkering and recommending them to my customers.

I would agree that the "Naks" were legendary decks, and I would recommend them for their style and their functionality as well as the quality of their recordings.

Not sure, but my sense is that the MR2 was built during the early days of Nakamichi's decline, when they started to build more mass marketed gear including some very mediocre receivers and CD players. So to me, it would not deserve a place in their hall of fame.

I think if you found a "mint" and/or perfectly restored Nakamichi 680 ZX, 700 ZXL, Dragon, CR7 or other of that era, you would have more fun with a classic machine that would better hold its value.

As others have pointed out there are also many good cassette decks which will make surprisingly good sounding tapes. Tandberg was never my cup of tea, but yes they too made high end decks.

Believe it or not, my other favourite tape decks were circa 1979 Pioneers - check out the CTF 900, 950 and 1250.

All of these machines have cultish followers so you should be able to get parts and service.

Good luck and have fun.

Cwlondon
Am I correct to assume that the Dragon was Nak's flagship model? Please correct me if wrong.Also what price they usually go for now at days?
Regards
George

George

I would say, yes, the Dragon was the flagship model in that it was their top of the line model at the end of the Nakamichi's reign as king of cassette deck manufacturers.

However, you could argue that two earlier machine were even more exotic:

700 ZXL and
1000 ZXL

The 1000 ZXL was also made in an extremely limited edition, gold plated series and is prized by Nak collectors.

The specs on the Dragon may have been a bit better, and the Dragon also offered auto reverse.

My personal favorite would be the 700 ZXL with the outboard Dolby processor.

Re prices, not sure and they will probably vary considerably based on condition.

Most bank for the buck?

Ya can't beat the RX-505, ease of use, auto-reverse, bias tune, the list goes on.

I have five open reel decks and still come back to the 505..service and parts are iffy, Jeff Galin in Hartford, Conn is the go to guy for Nak, he is super honest, and has a great pair of hands!

Try fixing one these days. Naks Revox and Tandberg especially need proper equipment and well trained technicians for repair