The Nakamichi Tape Decks To Own

There is something lost from the experience of listening to music when you can jump from song to song, and artist to artist without ever getting up.

There is something that you can only get by listening to an Album, on vynal or tape, straight through in the order the artist intended.

There is something about the process of making a mix-tape for someone you care about, a knowing they will hear the songs in the order you laid them out.

I have been getting back into tapes lately. For all the same reasons tapes were a natural "successor" to vinyl, I think they should, and will make a comeback in the next few years.

There are a few TOTL tape decks that are well known among almost anyone who lived through the 80's and 90's. They are:

  • Nakamichi Dragon
  • Revox B215 (and its variants the B215-S, and H1)
  • Tandberg 3014A

While all amazing tape decks, they also already fetch amazing prices. It's not uncommon for people to pay ~$3K for one in great condition.

I have personally always been a fan of the Nakamichi tape decks over the Revox and Tandberg's, mostly because the Nakamichis had much better distribution and parts availability in the US.

Most Nakamichi tape decks were pretty good, but there were a few that stand out to me:

  • Dragon: Very low wow-and-flutter, NAAC Automatic Azimuth Correction
  • CR-7A: Very low wow-and-flutter, manual Azimuth adjustment
  • DR-1: Low wow-and-flutter, manual Azimuth adjustment
  • Cassette Deck 1 (CD-1): Low wow-and-flutter, manual Azimuth adjustment (basically same deck as DR-1 - but uglier)
  • ZX-9: This one really shines on recording
  • RX-505: coolest looking Nakamichi ever with its tape "flip" function
  • MR-1: professional deck with XLR in and output

Additional information can be found here:
http://www.theaudioarchive.com/TAA_Tape_Nakamichi_CR-7A.htm

You will note that I didn't include the 1000zxl, it is just too big and ugly to be practical. Also, the decks I rated most highly are there because of their playback superiority - I almost exclusively use pre-recorded material, so recording quality is secondary to me...

For me, the killer feature is playback azimuth adjustment. Either automatic in the Dragon, or manual in the CR-7A, DR-1, or Cassette Deck 1.

Of the decks on this list, the Cassette Deck 1 is probably the best deal. No, it's not as good as the Dragon or CR-7A, but is not far behind... And good examples can be found for less than $1K (including the cost of full service from a top tech such as Willie Henmann). The DR-1 and CD-1 are basically the exact same deck, i  think the DR-1 is better looking, but it is also typically much more expensive.

If you care to read more, here are a couple worthwhile links:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2016/03/24/forget-vinyl-lets-talk-about-the-cassette-comeback/#545c74ed4d71
https://tapetardis.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/why-use-audio-cassettes-in-the-digital-age/

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