Looking for a technics cassette deck

[hemantwaghe]

4 k IS RATHER VERY VERY good price . buy if working!

 

[hemantwaghe]

Thanks and rem this is a deler saying. In fact my hunch is that in case of minor glitches and if u have good mechanic pick it up!

 

[ramram2000]

The 480 series of Naks is an unassuming series of Nakamichis which have to be heard to be believed. Even the so called puny 480 with 2 heads has a beautiful dual capstan transport with the classic mechanism which is in itself a work horse.
It handles tape extremely gently and so causes minimal head wear. This deck will blow most manufacturers 3 head decks out of the ball park in terms of sound quality.
Sourav, your deck isn't recording right because of its age. It perhaps needs competent servicing to the record circuit.

Even the 480Z( with dolby C) and the 482 Z are great decks with the 482 being a 3 head iteration of the 480.

 

[ramram2000]

Welcome Ram!!
20 Nakamichi Decks!!!!!!!!
My head is already spinning??????
Would love to hear more from u. Can u please post your views on the Nakamichi Transport vis a vis others about which a debate is already on here.

Well, mine is spinning as well as I try to host them in my modest abode. lol.....
Nakamichi made a dual capstan transport thats miles ahead of anything else that anyone ever made. The capstans spin at different speeds( as the capstan diameters are different- and the belt had differential tension on the motor pulley and the supply flywheel) so as to put just enough tension on the tape, that a pressure pad is not required in any dual capstan Nak. There is a lifter fitted to the playback head to lift the cassette's pressure pad out of the way and hold it here until the tape is stopped. There dramatically less head wear and tape handling is most gentle. Moreover, scrape flutter induced by the pressure pad holding the moving tape on the playback head is eliminated, resulting in the "Nakamichi" sound! No other deck comes close in transparency to a 3 head Nak. None. Technics made a joke of cassette decks compared Nakamichi. I can't even start to compare the two. Its plain futile!
I heard someone mentioning plastic parts in a Nak transport and heard them ridicule it. Nam made some parts plastic to eliminate vibration in the transport. More soon if anyone has more queries!

 

[souravin]

Thank you Ram for your suggestion. I have run this deck through a learned mechanic in Kolkata but was unaware of mentioning the record circuit to him. This is now on my to-do list.

The 480 series of Naks is an unassuming series of Nakamichis which have to be heard to be believed. Even the so called puny 480 with 2 heads has a beautiful dual capstan transport with the classic mechanism which is in itself a work horse.
It handles tape extremely gently and so causes minimal head wear. This deck will blow most manufacturers 3 head decks out of the ball park in terms of sound quality.
Sourav, your deck isn't recording right because of its age. It perhaps needs competent servicing to the record circuit.

Even the 480Z( with dolby C) and the 482 Z are great decks with the 482 being a 3 head iteration of the 480.

 

[Technics_Fan]

Well, mine is spinning as well as I try to host them in my modest abode. lol.....
Nakamichi made a dual capstan transport thats miles ahead of anything else that anyone ever made. The capstans spin at different speeds( as the capstan diameters are different- and the belt had differential tension on the motor pulley and the supply flywheel) so as to put just enough tension on the tape, that a pressure pad is not required in any dual capstan Nak. There is a lifter fitted to the playback head to lift the cassette's pressure pad out of the way and hold it here until the tape is stopped. There dramatically less head wear and tape handling is most gentle. Moreover, scrape flutter induced by the pressure pad holding the moving tape on the playback head is eliminated, resulting in the "Nakamichi" sound! No other deck comes close in transparency to a 3 head Nak. None. Technics made a joke of cassette decks compared Nakamichi. I can't even start to compare the two. Its plain futile!
I heard someone mentioning plastic parts in a Nak transport and heard them ridicule it. Nam made some parts plastic to eliminate vibration in the transport. More soon if anyone has more queries!

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Now I am clearly able to envisage and distinguish "the State of art" transport in Nak and other transports.

Having mastered this revolutionary Asymmetrical Dual Capstans + pressure pad lifter design why did Nak bother building the single capstan models with no pressure pad lifter? Is it simply to appeal to the broader market. I see that models like CR-1 , CR-2, DR-3 and few more were built with single capstan with no pressure pad lifter.
How do these fair against the classic Nak transport models? I believe these lower end models would be prone to head wear like any other cassette deck
and also the scrape flutter that you were referring to. Appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,
Technics_Fan

 

[ramram2000]

Great question. Nak started single capstan 2 head decks with the 350, then the legendary 550, followed by the 600, 600-II, then the others.
The pressure pad lifter can only be employed when there are two capstans in the transport as the precision required to handle is only present in a dual capstan deck where the tape is isolated in between the 2 capstans and brought over the heads with precision. No matter what, a single capstan deck will not be able to achieve that precision. hence the lack of the pad lifter.
However, that said, Nakamichi heads were made in house to exacting tolerances with every rec/pb head having slots in them to cause even wearing. Moreover, the frequency response of these heads were( are) legendary and no other manufacturer compares even close. Some of the rec/pb head decks of Naks have a response of 20-20Khz., almost never achieved by any other maker ever!
Then we have some excellent play back and record amps in the circuitry to complement the heads, resulting in the famous Nakamichi Sound.
The scrape flutter will be there in a single capstan deck due to introduction of the pressure pad, however, that is compensated by the head quality and internal electronics of the deck.
I have a resident 600_II that will kill most other manufacturers 3 head, 2 capstan machines any day! Such is the Nakamichi cassette recorder legend!

Nakamichi made these 2 head single capstan decks to be in competition within their marketplace. They had to cater to every wallet.

 

[shafic]

Hello friends,

I recently purchased one NAK 600 markI in mint condition with user manual. I did not check the machine at that time.

I tried to start at my home. The power supply is coming to view meters but the motor not spinning. I had checked the belts. They are seems to be ok, but no action. What can i do? If any fuse between the power supply and motor.

Pls advice.

rehds,
shafic

 

[Technics_Fan]

Thanks for your detailed response. Real eye opener.. atleast to me.. I am already on a quest for acquiring couple of Naks atleast to begin with ..

Moreover, the frequency response of these heads were( are) legendary and no other manufacturer compares even close. Some of the rec/pb head decks of Naks have a response of 20-20Khz., almost never achieved by any other maker ever!

When you refer to frequency responses I am pretty sure that there are decks with better numbers than you quote.

Of many Technics decks that I own I find, my Technics RS-AZ7 and Technics RS-B100 having a superior frequency response.

Frequency response of RS-AZ7 is 20Hz to 23kHz (Metal tape) . Features a Amorphous Z head

Technics RS-AZ7 Manual - Stereo Cassette Deck - HiFi Engine

Frequency response of RS-B100 is 15Hz to 25kHz for metal tapes.. Features a Amorphous head

Technics RS-B100 Manual - Three Head Cassette Deck - HiFi Engine

Of course again these are paper specs out of the factory and nobody can vouch for the same level of performance at a given point in time.

But the question is that how much of this is reality vs paper specification.

I will certainly do a side by side comparison of these once I lay hand on my first Nak.

(Ofcourse, for a fair comparison one would have do a complete calibration / adjustment to factory specs which itself is quite a task)

Warm Regards,
Technics_Fan

 

[ramram2000]

Good query. Frequency response should be stated at the particular dB level. Usually in home recorders that reference level is at -20dB as seen on the Vu/Peak meters.
Next, the response is also measured with a deviation factor described also in db's of sound. This means how much the deck deviated while measuring from the stated response curve at every given frequency. The newer Naks from the Dragon onwards speced out on the Nak spec sheet 20-20000 Hz. +-3dB @ -20db record level.
Some manufacturers state a response that may exceed the norm( of 20-20K) by referencing the record levels at -30dB...etc. that may give a wider range but the -20db is the true comparison reference.
Nakamichis prior to the dragon/R7 etc. used to spec out on the sheet at 10-25000Hz, +-3dB. The decks which are in that range are the 670zx, 660zx, 680zx,681zx and 682 ZX.
The 1000ZXL I have ( now 3 of them, 2 Limiteds) all spec out from 12.5hz.-26,300Hz.+-3, and 20-20000Hz. +-0.75dB........that is a ruler flat response that no technics can get close to!
The Nak pb heads are capable of resolution in the ZXLs unto 50000Hz. and way down to 5Hz. Record heads go from under 5Hz. to an easy 35000Hz. resulting in these astounding real life responses.
Hope you get to listen to a good 3 head Nak running within specs to see what I mean.

 

[Technics_Fan]

My Bad.. I should have specified the frequency range with DB..
Looks like technics have spec'ed all their frequencies @ +- 3DB

Quick glimpse of the freq specs from the SM

B100

AZ7

I believe that these are good specs considering their TCO.

But the real question to me is how would it pan against a Nak. Guess I will know soon.

On another note.. Which is the good place to buy Nak belts from.. My Nak 480Z has arrived and I would like to rebuild the transport with new belts and idler.. ESL / Marrs / etc.. let me know your thoughts...

Thanks,
Technics_Fan

 

[Technics_Fan]

Again as you say there is no mention of recording level DB in the frequency specs.