ALL Nakamichi owners, show your decks!
 

Please post a little story about your first/past experiences with Nak cassette decks, whether they were yours or not, and post up some pics if you got 'em! I'll start...


I've always been a big fan of Nak decks ever since I was a little kid. My father had both a 681ZX and 682ZX. I used to love sitting there watching those highly active meters bounce around along with the peak hold segments trickle down.

Then when my oldest brother came back from the Army, last stationed in Germany, he brought back a BX-1, BX-125 and the Dragon, as well as a Harmon/Kardon CD491. He still has a Nak DR-1. Again, I really enjoyed watching the highly active and responsive meter on that Dragon. Boy that thing moved fast!

For me, I just have an LX-3 and RX-303. Not the TOTL Naks, but both still sound excellent and perform flawlessly. Fortunately, I have a full library of excellently recorded cassettes from my brother that he made on the Dragon. The really cool thing about these tapes is the "art" that he did on them, making them look just like the actual album art. (He did drafting and such in the Army).

A few pics...
http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s1/...77338575-5.jpg

http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s8/...42150776-5.jpg

RX-303 Auto Reverse in action...
http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s10...78960646-5.jpg

This is just a small example...
http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s9/...94153115-5.jpg

Cool artwork - your brother is very talented. I recently donated my BX-125 to GW along with all of my tapes - I don't know why I did that though. My evil twin made me.

I'm a bit of a Nak addict. Here are some photos

HiFi Photos by jazzgene | Photobucket

I purchased my Nak in college. A BX-100 and loved it. Sadly, when I was on spring break, the house I shared with bunch of room mates were broken into and stolen...

Well, now, I have a fleet all restored and maintained by ESL. I have a 682zx coming to me from ESL shortly completely restored.

I know this is an old thread.

My first cassette deck was a Nakamichi 500 Dual Tracer. I swapped out the white side panels and bought the wood panels which made the deck more luxurious. Sometimes I wished I still had it.

Those were the good 'ol days.

My Dragon is all boxed up in the basement. I haven't used it in 10-15 years and only have a handful of personally made tapes remaining.

I won't sell the machine because I know I will regret it as soon as it goes out the door.

Sorry for the SLIGHT Hijack - I have a BX100 in storage. Are there maintenance items I can do on my own to resurrect it? It is functional, but old and unloved for I have that is worth keeping. Point me in the right direction please. I won't dig deeper in this thread without a picture of it. Craig

i will try and dig out some pics of my DR1 which has been in storage for the last 10 years! prices of naks seem to be going up. just out of interest what would other members think be an alternative rival for the dragon?

Over the years, since the early 80's, I've owned the following Nakamichi decks:

1000ZXL
700ZXL
LX-5
ZX-9
CR-7

Today though, the only one's still with me are the LX-5 and the 700ZXL.

TDK-SA tapes, the Burmie of it's era.

Older Nak decks that have been stored really need to be refurbished by a quality tech. More than a belt replacement and relube. Capacitors need replacement along with old, hardened grease.