I was told that that it's almost impossible to get these 3 head decks repaired and it's even more difficult to get spares like belts etc for them? How do you'll owners of these decks maintain them and manage to get your spares? Please contribute as I am sure it will be of help to a lot of newbies like me who wish to purchase a Nakamichi.... Thanks!
Nakamichi 3 head tape decks
- Thread starter Sandesh
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reubensm
Well-Known Member
Well, belt kits are available, especially for NAKs. 3-head decks usually have more complex mechanisms and of course, the heads are hard to come by. The volume of 2-head decks vs the volume of 3-head decks produced and sold would be a simple indicator on the availability of spares that are long out of production. A NAK 2-header will sound as good, if not better than most 3-headers. The only aspect one would miss is the tape recording monitor feature of 3-headers. When I set out to buy may NAK, I had an option to go for a NAK 3-header or 2-header. I auditioned both and noticed no difference in playback or recording (since they were from the same series). The models were DR1 and DR3 (with different owners). Ultimately, wisdom prevailed and I bought the DR3, could not have made a better decision.
Another bit of advise with NAKs, as they are expensive, people tend to believe that they are built like tanks and are invincible. This is not the case. NAKs also need to be treated with care and respect. Handle them carefully and they will please you whenever you listen to them. At times I wonder why we have CDs when I listen to my NAK.
Another bit of advise with NAKs, as they are expensive, people tend to believe that they are built like tanks and are invincible. This is not the case. NAKs also need to be treated with care and respect. Handle them carefully and they will please you whenever you listen to them. At times I wonder why we have CDs when I listen to my NAK.
reubensm
Well-Known Member
Here is what I got when I did a search for Nakamichi Decks on Olx. Some pretty interesting offeres including the legendary Dragon (arguably one of Nakamichi's best ever decks). However my advise is to stay away from the Dragon (I was advised by an expert to stay away) as they are usually plagued with problems that are difficult to fix. A good Dragon in fully working condition can cost upwards of $1000 in the United States. Also getting the Dragon aligned is a very difficult proposition and has to be done by an experienced technician only. In my opinion, the DR3 is a wonderful workhorse with brilliant recording and playback. However the price quoted for the one listed is way over the top. Just providing the link for your info, don't have any interest or affiliation with any of these sales.
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reubensm
Well-Known Member
When I set out to get myself a NAK, I was offered many 3-headers, including a Dragon. Fortunately, I got the opportunity to meet our forum member Flanker in Chennai and after we discussed cassette decks, I was sure that if I buy a Nak, I'd buy only a 2-header. The 3-head cassette decks are good as long as they play well, however they usually are very complex machines. Once they start giving trouble or the heads wear, they'll end up becoming expensive paper weights. The only significant absentee on the features list or a 2-head deck is real-time monitoring while recording. I thought I can live without that feature and I've been spot on. My Nak Dr3 is a gem is plays fantastically well, without any trouble what so ever.
Another thing with NAKs, as they are expensive when compared to other decks, most owners perceived them as built like a tank and highly durable. As a result of this, more often than not, they ran their NAKs to the death (heavy use). In my opinion, Naks are even more delicate than the usual mass-market manufactured Akai or Sony deck, and hence should be handled with care.
Never use local spare parts in Naks. Always invest in OEM spares.
Naks, like Garrard Turntables, are very enjoyable audio components. You're grandchildren will be proud of you for owning equipment with such pedigree
Another thing with NAKs, as they are expensive when compared to other decks, most owners perceived them as built like a tank and highly durable. As a result of this, more often than not, they ran their NAKs to the death (heavy use). In my opinion, Naks are even more delicate than the usual mass-market manufactured Akai or Sony deck, and hence should be handled with care.
Never use local spare parts in Naks. Always invest in OEM spares.
Naks, like Garrard Turntables, are very enjoyable audio components. You're grandchildren will be proud of you for owning equipment with such pedigree
In my opinion, with proper know how and the correct set of tools and test tapes fixing a 3 head machine is not more difficult than any other decks. Especially naks. Their transports are way more simpler than the usual auto reverse transports found in denon, Sony etc. In naks, the 3 head models have many more features and the playback and recording performance speks are way better than 2 head models. So the difference is not just real time tape monitoring. I have a dragon, CR7, CR3 and dr3. All of them work perfectly. They just need to be taken care that's all. As for parts, belts are available. But takes time to come from abroad. The rest of the parts are anyway rare for tape decks nowadays. So if one has the opportunity, my suggestion is to go for a 3 head deck and enjoy it.
reubensm
Well-Known Member
The challenge has always been for spare heads on NAK 3-headers.
I do agree with reubensm to some extent, while I don't know how easily a nakamichi replacement head is available for 2 head models. But as a matter of fact the nak heads are very reliable. The 2 head models have sendust heads which are relatively softer and relatively wear fast (yet much harder than other brands). The 3 head models use crystal Permalloy heads which are very hard and wear very less. If the head alignment was not tampered in the good old days, these heads wear uniformly and they are very much usable even today. In fact I was able to relap them and get perfect balance in both channels and the frequency response is still 20Hz to 20Khz within 2 dB. However using the deck in the wrong alignment for a long time cause non uniform wear pattern on the head and they get ruined. 2 head units are less tolerant to miss alignment than 3 heads because of the softer material. The lack of performance observed in most of the 3 heads is because of misalignment in head positions and tape path. Once set correctly, most of them can take us to heaven while listening to them.
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