A Deep Dive Into The Legendary Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck - Full Tutorial

[@Disco_Breakin]

I worked in mastering studio that would also do cassette white labels. We had three cassette duplication suites. All nak tape decks. All the decks were in racks of 10 and the rooms had a max capacity of 50, 70 or 140. The large room that did 140 had the naks that physically flipped the tapes and it was quite something to see when the whole room flipped sides at the same time

[@mauritsvw]

Wonder where all those nice Naks are these days...

[@Disco_Breakin]

@@mauritsvw I had one but accidentally left it on when I went on holiday so it played a tape on loop for 2 weeks and that was the end of that. I left the studio in 96 I'd imagine there wasn't much call for them for too much longer and those racks woulda been converted to CDR's

[@SkyFiAudio]

WOW wish we could have seen that live!! Thanks for sharing.

[@danielmarshall4587]

@@mauritsvw THAT IS VERY MUCH THE QUESTION. The amount of "stuff" that gets bought for doing different jobs then once it's done with it get discarded, would make most people cry.

[@einkanal7149]

Nakamichi RX-202

[@svenschwingel8632]

Back in my teenage days, this deck was the only one with a "DO NOT TOUCH" sign in my favourite HiFi shop from back in the day 😬

[@cpufrost]

The BEST. New LP, record to TDK metal, play back in car on TD1200. 1988. Life was good! :-D

[@nobelsoft]

I also own this machine too (in fact, I own 2 Dragons). I learned a lot about this deck from a former Nakamichi technician. For the correct calibration you first turn off Dolby, MPX and subsonic filters. Select the correct eq and tape type (I: EX, II: SX, IV: ZX). Set the counter to 0000. Now start the calibration with setting the level to 0. For the bias, do have a look at the extra scale on the vu meter (0, 2, 3 and 4): the bias tone is not 0db, it is -20db. So the meter does not show the db level in this case. For correct bias you have to set it to 2 (this is between 3 and 5 on the db-scale). It you set is to 0 you will notice the frequency response is not flat anymore. If you set it to 2, the frequency response is flat. Now check the level again (this should still be 0) and click on the reset button. The tape will not rewind to starting point (this is way you set the counter to 0000 before you begin). Hope this will help owners to get the best out of this machine.

[@SunnyAustria]

Omg, so i did it wrong the last 15 years? :D Many thx for that advise!!!

[@anyblunder6782]

I had mine for 28 years, now it’s in the hands of the guy who serviced it for all those years. He keeps it running.

[@niceguy100000]

14:08 the main reason to use the MPX filter is to remove the 19 kHz pilot tone from FM radio because it confuses the various noise reduction systems (like Dolby-C, etc.).

[@DrNoahBoddy004]

... Nak's CR-7a, Akai's GXF-95, Luxman's KX-102, and especially Hitachi's D-5500 have always been my dream cassette decks to just die for. Just watching them in action is simply magnificent! There truly needs to be a Renaissance. I miss them terribly.

[@KJ_nyc]

The worst investment I ever made. Of all my high fidelity equipment, the Dragon was in service the most, and it cost me a fortune to maintain. It was a cool machine, and I was foolishly seduced by cool. But this complicated machine had so many moving parts, and the rubber parts needed constant attention. I was a big fan of making my own mix-tapes, so I used my Dragon a lot. I also did my best to meticulously care for it. But this needy machine required constant attention, and my rubber wheels kept eating my expensive cassette tapes. I grew so tired of shelling out hundreds for maintenance calls (no tech enjoyed working on the machine), I eventually sold my machine on Audiogon. No regrets.

[@tinetannies4637]

I had a Revox B215 and that workhorse was like a tank and sounded great

[@puciohenzap891]

Yeah, this is typical...I'd stay well clear of any high end cassettedeck in 2021 as they all start to fall apart. Gears break, belts perish, the heads are worn out, alignment all over the place and so on.

[@hifijohn]

I had many naks when I was into hifi all used and when they went bad it went bad hard, and they were difficult to work on,as the old saying goes, if you can't afford a new one you can't afford a used one.

[@TheGrandPoohPaw]

Back in the '80s I had serious Dragon lust but settled for the much more affordable BX-300--the "flagship" of Nakamichi's basics-only line. Still have it. After watching this video, I'm glad I bought it. It has many of the features of the Dragon, such as the fader/auto fader, record-pause, tape/source monitor selector, Dolby B/C NC and selectors for EX/SX/ZX tape types. It's not auto-reverse, but it does have three discrete tape heads for playback, record and erase. After seeing inside the Dragon here, it truly is one of the wonders of the hi-fi era. A marvel of engineering. But I'm getting ready to replace just two belts and idler wheel rubber on my BX-300, and I can do it myself for about $30 in parts and some time on the workbench. I don't think I could navigate my way through the Dragon, and I'm pretty sure I'd pay whatever they were asking to keep it operating--I'd love it that much. Thanks for your comment.

[@KJ_nyc]

@@TheGrandPoohPaw Be happy the BX-300 did not have auto-reverse. At the beginning of ownership, it worked beautifully on the Dragon. I loved it. But a short time in, the rubber wheels began eating and sucking the tape into the machine. I eventually disengaged the feature because it was destroying too many of my favorite tapes. Very painful experience.

[@milesdufourny4813]

I bought a Nakamichi Dragon back in the summer of 1983. It was phenomenal!

[@batman.darthmaul]

I owned one of these back in the day. One of my all-time favorite pieces of audio gear.

[@SkyFiAudio]

You're not alone apparently as we sell each and every one we list after restoration...

[@Jack-gy7cs]

I bought mine new and was extremely happy with it for many years. As with all electronics it is outdated now and gets very little use but I'm still proud to say "I have a Dragon".

[@RUfromthe40s]

the only thing you can say, nothing else

[@retiredsparky526]

I purchased mine new back around 1986. Mine came with the the remote. It is still running today and I love mine.

[@sriramramamoorthy1589]

post a clip please

[@TheMendezWay]

have you done any maintience to it since 1986? just curious, mine is inoperable and has been for about 20 years.

[@Kowinaida]

Mine.

[@JoeJ-8282]

Very cool tape deck and video! I have a Nakamichi tape deck myself that looks sorta similar to the Dragon; the BX-300. I picked it up at my local fleamarket a few years ago for $20. It's not quite as fancy as the Dragon, nor does it have quite as many tape calibration adjustments and "tweakable" controls, just the necessary basics instead, but it's still a 3-head deck, and it also makes really great recordings! One addition I will add to your brief info in this video about the subsonic filter feature, is that that specific feature, (on ANY tape deck that has it), (at least from my understanding of what that feature does), is pretty much exclusively intended to be used ONLY while recording from an LP/record player/turntable, and it is supposed to help remove most of the subsonic (under 15-16Hz) "rumble" that is sometimes present on the output of lesser quality turntables, and that feature on tape decks is also especially useful if/when you're trying to record an LP record that has ANY kind of "warping" to it, no matter how severe or mild it is, because ANY amount of warping itself would produce a subsonic frequency output from the turntable that was completely inaudible, (i.e totally under the limit of human hearing, (~8Hz or less)), but that frequency would greatly and totally unnecessarily overtax the bias circuitry to try and record such a useless frequency onto the tape, therefore making it much more likely to get saturation distortion while trying to make a music recording from said LP record. With the subsonic filter turned ON however, it would completely cut out any/all of those under 8Hz or so frequencies, and also help to somewhat reduce the 15-16Hz and below "rumble" frequencies, as mentioned above, but without affecting any of the actual music from the LP, (which would be all entirely above 20Hz), so that it would make it much easier to record a higher level of the actual music/song from the LP onto the tape without oversaturating the tape and causing distortion from those totally unnecessary and unwanted subsonic frequencies caused by ANY physical warping of the LP itself. (Or an inferior quality turntable that has lots of "rumble") Normally, you wouldn't need to use the subsonic filter, and even if you did, you wouldn't normally be able to hear any difference in the music itself, ONLY in the case of recording a physically damaged record/LP, or if when playing the record on a crappy quality turntable), but so the feature was there just in case you needed it for those very specific conditions only.

[@TheGrandPoohPaw]

I also have a BX-300 that I bought new in '85. Still have it, still works, and your right: For a basis-only model it has nearly every major electronic feature of the Dragon without so many of the moving parts that wear and tear.

[@erhman2004]

I bought one of these when I was in the Navy on my very fisrt Western Pacific deplyment when the boat stopped in Japan. The Navy base had a really good retail store there with all the manufactuers from all over the world and Nakamichi was one of them. Long story short, it was stolen from me but I could not prove it. I never got to use it at all. I did buy it at about 1/2 the MSRP, but it was still a lot of money especilly for a young sailor just starting out in the Navy. Two other guys from my boat bouth them as well, and I ended up being room mates with them after that West Pac. so I did get to use one for while, but it was not mine. Great deck, just wish I was not robbed of it.

[@ivanmarkovicxxx]

I have a Nak Dragon cassette deck with wired remote (being restored as we speak), a Pioneer SX-1980, a Pioneer SX-980 (bought new), a Bang & Olufsen Beogram 8000 (bought new), & a B&O 8002 tangential tracking turntable (both in need of restoration). I enjoy all of them. Some of these are a little high strung, but supermodels usually are. For now, it's nothing a few grand can't fix! Thx 4 posting the vid!

[@EdgyNumber1]

Nakamichi. The last word in cassette players IMO.

[@davewestner]

I've been working in audio since 1990 and have never even heard of these til today. Good lord. They actually sound great and still command big bucks. Saw one on ebay for $12k. As a person who has worked with lots of analog gear (reel to reel and cassettes) and made the move to digital when it became commonplace, I'm happy to not have to deal with cassettes anymore, but if I had one of these, I may have a different opinion.

[@davewestner]

Nice website btw! Cool gear!

[@TheJimbodean67]

I remember this being for sale at the px when I was stationed in south korea in 1986. It was a grand back then. It had super fast rewind I recall.

[@sheldontaylor2002]

I was in the miitary for 24 years.....I remember the period between '87-96 was a sweet spot for buying electronics in overseas military locations....great memories...my biggest regret was not buying a pair of B&W s for 400 bucks in 1992

[@askl23]

I'm around these at work so I figured it might help to know a little about them. Thanks!

[@michaelthorne209]

i miss having physical media and a nice "to me" home audio/av setup..i didnt get into vinyl so much,but i loved my cassette deck pioneer all my cd's ...maybe one day before i die ill experience some good loud heart pounding audio again..

[@MikeKobb]

Great video, thanks! I have an RX-505 - the one that flips the tape over to reverse. I had it thoroughly refurbished a few years ago so it works great again.

[@TheGrandPoohPaw]

"UDAR" Uni-Directional Auto Reverse. I remember that--very cool.

[@SimonJones_zx10]

Loved mine had Nakamichi head unit in the car too in 80's

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Un problema purtroppo che si manifesta con questo modello,in particolare in estate,riguarda il calore interno,ho amici che hanno il dragon,e hanno un problema di accumulo di calore,ripeto,in particolare in estate,dovuto si presume anche al fatto che la motherboard superiore va a creare una specie di tappo alla dissipazione.ora io non posso dire che il problema deriva esattamente da questo,ma una cosa è certa,il calore c'è,lo sentito di persona. comunque,sempre uno dei migliori!

[@TechCrazy]

Love the design. The buttons look like the scales on a dragon skin. Deft touch!

[@sorendk1]

I had a Nakamichi cassette player that could turn the cassette automatically. It must have been around 1986/1987. It was really cool :)

[@davidavery5114]

RX 202?

[@sorendk1]

@@davidavery5114 Sounds right 👍 I can´t really remember anymore haha :) (Update: Just google´ed it, yes it was the rx 202)

[@PerfDayToday]

I started out as a recreational user in high school, 1973/74 using a Superscope CD-301 tape deck. By the time I was a freshman in college I was mainlining w a Pioneer CT F-9191. In my adult years, early 2000’s I was hooked on a Revox B215. 🥲🥲 I had friends who did Nak Dragons.

[@frankstankowski1923]

I own a legacy Dragon. Works amazing and sounds like no other reference casette deck ...Tandberg, Revox, B&O 9000. Nice review

[@RUfromthe40s]

revox is much better the b215 ,this comparing with old decks or around the same years ,in my opinion there are much better decks than the dragon ,even the pioneer ct-959 sounds much better than the nak , but talking about the dragon i say that CR-7 (cristiano ronaldo of the decks)is much better and the main problem is the use of plastic in everyday operations along with the auto-reverse, i had one for a short period of time and bought the zx-9 after much better but i through the years watched a cr-7 working for a long period of time having no problems ,so if i had to buy a nak i would go for the cr-7 and not because i´m portuguese or nothing related with cristiano ronaldo

[@ovidiucojocarita6019]

Such a tech piece of audio history! Love it! Tks.

[@Barbarapape]

The Dragon was the cassette deck that we all wanted in the 80's but couldn't afford. Whilst working as a Hi-Fi tech back then, we saw a suprising number of them, so some people must have had deep pockets. As shown here, they are a nightmare to work on, spare parts are very expensive, if you can find them today. As desirable as they are, there are some great decks out there that are just as good, but more affordable. Aiwa, Sony, Denon and Pioneer made some of the better ones.

[@ellicopter1]

What price were they new?

[@Barbarapape]

@@ellicopter1 The Uk price when new were about £1300 approx $1800 at todays exchange rate. That was a lot of money back then for a cassette deck. It was almost 3 months of wages for me, even though i repaired them there was liitle chance of buying one

[@psychiatricwan3831]

My dream deck since 80s!

[@ph11p3540]

I ended up with this cassette player handed to me as part of my older brothers estate. I have turned it on a few times to play it and it still plays nicely but I am aware belts and other rubber parts have turned brittle and are disintegrating. Since I have more advanced ways of listening to music, it just occupies rack space to look good. It's more a conversation piece than a working component. It's decoration now for the home theater

[@donh01965]

A Dragon and a Pioneer SX-1980 are my dream machines. I'll probably never own either because the prices are just ridiculous now. Maybe I'll hit the lottery who knows.

[@tonydeniro284]

I got the Nak bx100, only a 2 head deck, and lower tier Nak, but it's in mint shape. It needs belt replacement. I am still using my 1983 Aiwa AD F770 3 head deck. It is a beautiful deck that is far easier to operate. It sounds as good as the day I bought it 38 years ago. I believe the Aiwa 990 was a direct competitor to the dragon.

[@albertocabezas282]

Probably I won't buy that amazing tape deck (terribly expensive nowadays and worse af all: incredibly hard to find one in working condition), but I admire that beautiful machine and thanks a lot for this very informative video.

[@makestufflearnstuff2386]

Worked on many of those through the years. Watch out for the plastic breaking where it's molded into the aluminum transport halves. The LX5 and 7 were famous for that.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

First video I've watched from your channel, what are you using as a microphone? It seems to do well with replicating where sounds are coming from when I'm wearing headphones

[@mannyr8091]

OMG...I remember this Deck from way back in the days. ...BEAUTIFUL DECK.....😁😁😁😁

[@arciphera]

I love how you keep stepping from the left to the right and back again as you narrate. you even use a stereo mic in order to ensure the viewer can hear you moving back and forth between the left and right channels. I can't help wondering whether your ankles are sore whenever you're finished shooting. seems like such a pointless and irrelevant thing to do, and yet it makes watching (and listening to) your videos ten times more interesting and entertaining. I wish every KZbinr out there did the same.

[@SkyFiAudio]

haha, thanks for the feedback. Ill try and sit down on the next one.

[@molluscturtle]

What a marvellous looking thing

[@crazymetallian]

hehehe i could listen to those 15KHz.... vintage technics speakers never cease to surprise me

[@johndavies6253]

I always thought it would be the Dragon on my bucket list, but since I watched your video on the CR7, well, what can I say… I’ve fallen in love with the younger sibling! Still awesome to see your heroes though, thank you for sharing, great video.

[@raphycastro5224]

im into electronics and i like also audio and hifi review i like how you explain how this things work like his channel skyfi audio

[@johanvanderpulst5250]

I have two top model decks. A JVC V711 and a Teac V9000. Sound quality is perfect on both, but reliability is better on the JVC

[@VEC7ORlt]

Kudos for keeping these up and running, but owning one, yah, I'm good with all the digital recording & playback, those are pretty much flawless these days. I'd rather watch with fascination and awe about them on YT.

[@claypf4795]

I've got a CR-7, but never had a Dragon. It'd be neat to start a tape with the deck cover off, so we could see the ⚙️ automatic azimuth adjustment do its thing.

[@MetalTrabant]

Wow, I've actually heard the 15 kHz tone of the bias adjustment... anyway, cool machine, with a lot of buttons for very specific functions, that most end users would probably wouldn't ever touch, or even know what they are for.

[@yogi9631]

The best of the best. I always always wanted one of those. I only managed to acquire the CR-5A.....

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

The king of the cassette decks

[@RUfromthe40s]

normally fat and drunk and never did their jobs properly

[@gixxerboy555]

Nakamichi 1000zxl is the king.. :)

[@schoggi555]

18:46 I can very well hear that. its NOT inaudible XD

[@iamdarkyoshi]

Same here, even after being squeezed through youtube I can still hear my TVs making that 15khz whine, so that 15khz bias tone is no different

[@musijl]

Heard it without headphones in my Samsung Galaxy S21. Luckily I wasn't watching on my TV hearing through my home theater.

[@MrJef06]

Aren't these bias/level settings a bit too easy to disturb by accident when recording? Or perhaps they're active only during the calibration procedure?

[@Eyerex]

Love my Cassette Deck 2 but still dream of owning a Dragon

[@RUfromthe40s]

i would keep the deck 2 ,forget the dragon it´s not well built and lot´s of money to fix them properly ,they were released in 1982 so any other would be better ,the NAK i would sugest the CR-7 ,much better and works properly for a lot more years than the Dragon ,i had one but get rid of it the fastest i could and won 50€ in the deal , the ZX-7 and the ZX-9 are also better machines but i would go for the more evolved CR-7

[@Eyerex]

@@RUfromthe40s Cheers for the info plus don't think i will ever have the money to buy a Dragon anyway also my Deck 2 will always stay with me as had to work so many hours overtime to afford many years ago she's part of the family :)

[@rustymixer2886]

Why has pitch control ?

[@davewalker7126]

@@rustymixer2886 I have a deck 2 and it just works really well without fuss. I also have a 125 but keep pressing metal instead of ferric as the button layout feels 'upside down'. The dragon looks to me like a lamborgini countach - best suited as a bedroom wall poster.

[@rustymixer2886]

@@davewalker7126 ok, does have pitch control

[@stevenwood7312]

the best tape deck ever made i had a cr7a it was good but this was the best of them all.

[@RUfromthe40s]

i think you don´t remenber how the dragon sounds, the cr-7 is much better with a decade or more of evolving, regards

[@cartofgiant]

Love my dragon

[@GeorgeSmith-oo4vn]

When I adjust the level the knobs don't allow me to get the meters to zero db unless I also adjust the bios knobs. Is this normal or is there a fault with my machine? Great video

[@harshp2786]

Whose The best cassette deck for playback ,pre recorded audio cassette Please share your experience

[@SkyFiAudio]

That is quite the hot debated topic in our community! We love anything Nakamichi. Thanks for watching.

[@abdullaex4119]

Excellent vid. So sad I cant get my Dragoon and Pioneer SX1250 fixed. They had it in Hurst Texas to fix. Still needs fixing. Shipping cost, repeat fixes. For me, my stuff lies dormant. It sad you can't trust people anymore. Thanks anyway

[@jamolo]

Auto fader? Can you explain what that does? Mine shows the light on 1 side. What is the up and down?

[@HaiTran-eb3ce]

Nice and clear explanation on this unit. .easy understand. thank you. By the way please let us know what us the good audio cable for in & output for all vintage machine like this one.?

[@fernandom6724]

just when the best electronic devices was MADE IN JAPAN.....

[@simonlloyd7557]

You've obviously never heard of companies like Naim, or been in a recording studio.

[@sophist1cated]

Was possible because those devices weren't cheap.

[@RUfromthe40s]

wrong ,japanese were just trying to emulate european or U.S. brands, i have lot´s of japanese components but they weren´t the best maybe at the price, more economical, regards

[@hennadiytuchak936]

Hello. I have some problem with my Dragon. Just started a few days ago. As soon I switch on deck, it start playing automatically. Stop button working if I am holding it, when I released start playing again. Another buttons not working at all. Before everything was working well. I need your advice, please. What happened, can I fix it by myself? Thank you.

[@Puroplatino]

Where do you sell your already serviced units? I’m looking for a 3014A and would love to contact you about that. Cheers

[@tonymontana897]

I probably won't get a reply, but here goes anyway. My Dragon doesn't calibrate and I suspect there's an issue with the Nak system. Is there way to test this ? Also, my playback isn't clear. It has a muffled sound. I honestly don't know what is wrong with it. I purchased it like this many years ago and it's just been in dry storage ever since. The unit itself presents beautifully. Cosmetically it is in mint condition and I mean Mint. There is no evidence of it being molested so I have hopes it may be something minor. I hope you can do a video on this for us someday. Thanks for your time.

[@tomlewitt]

Hello from NZ. There you go, you did get a reply!

[@tonymontana897]

@@tomlewitt Hey Cuz. I was hoping for a response from the uploader lol..

[@f430ferrari5]

Hey Tony. Maybe you can give that Dragon some first class tickets to the resurrection. Or maybe Ernie can fix it. I heard he’s looking for a job. 😂

[@MrTonaluv]

have you cleaned the heads and the tape path ?

[@tonymontana897]

@@MrTonaluv Yes, of course. It was the first thing I did. I purchased it with a known "fault" as was described by the seller and at the time of purchase it was a steal at AUS$450 whichever way you look at it. So having the muffled sound didn't deter me from buying it. Even if I give it to a pro repairer, It will still be worth it. Have you seen how much these are going for these days ?

[@Justplast]

We have 3 Dragons Nice units.

[@robertshanks3674]

Great video...very clear and informative.

[@terceiraxxi]

The name is so iconic N a k a m I c h i I love this 😍

[@johnrobins795]

There was a brief mention about not being available a repair option for other than those components that are sold by SkyFi. Is this for all contingencies? Saw had previously a Sony CDP-XA7ES for sale; I have a CDP-XA50ES that is working but was interested in having changed over to an IEC plug based connection. If this is not an available action, do you recommend someone whom is of a similar caliber to your Shop please? Thank You

[@giovanninoventa6354]

Fantastic machine !!! I have the BX 300 E . So best recorder

[@artkulak9802]

Just a word of CAUTION if it hasn't been said already. Do NOT try and play mono cassette tapes on the Dragon!!!!! The "auto" azimuth alignment correction detection will drive itself nuts trying to find/adjust to the correct alignment. The Dragon uses the two tracks in stereo to do this. Playing a mono tape will most certainly ruin the tape and make a mess, and possibly damage the deck.

[@ravemachineproductions5907]

I dropped my dragon on the side. I don’t know if it working and afraid to turn on. The casette tray has been pressed in and doesn’t open when I click eject. Can this be repaired :(

[@PedjoGT]

Nice Nad Monitor series

[@peterkropp5603]

When I was a kid , this was the ticket ...

[@trhester1]

Anyone know where I can get my RX-505 refurbished (Southern California area)? The audio is fine, but the drive mechanism and flip feature are clunky and slow (probably dried out grease), but I'd like to get it fully checked out. Thanks!

[@SkyFiAudio]

Some of our West Coast clients have worked with George Meyer AV if that helps.

[@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120]

Thank you !!! Top 3 !

[@Tinmar_Isation]

Subscribed!

[@SkyFiAudio]

Thank you!

[@svenschwingel8632]

I think the clicky sound was the NAAC system malfunctioning. But I could be wrong.

[@andershammer9307]

I repaired one of these and compared it to a CR-7A and the 7A sounded better.

[@nigelrhodes4330]

I have just acquired a Nakamichi Dragon and am looking for someone in Australia or close to service it for me. I am just learning to work on tape decks and do not want to attempt it as one of my first projects.

[@nigelcarren]

It has the facade of a London modern art gallery, but thankfully inside it is better than that! 😉 I remember back in the day I was considering a used Dragon for mastering in my home-studio, but this was when I paused and 'Went digital' and bought a new SONY DTC 750 DAT. Thanks for transporting me back (pun intended). 👍🇬🇧

[@maryrafuse3851]

A beautiful machine but complex and hard to get serviced. My Alpine AL-55 only needs a change of belts every few years to remain working well.

[@rafaelm3428]

Everything like my old Pioneer CTF1250 👍

[@Nils0scar]

I could afford a Nakamichi brochure at the time. I had to settle with a Denon top model.

[@aegisofhonor]

the Denon decks (assuming it was either a DR-M9 or DR-M8) of the time was OK, but the real "poor man's Dragon" was the JVC DD-VR9, did literally everything the dragon did at 95% the quality at about 1/3rd the price.

[@RUfromthe40s]

@@aegisofhonor you could have it better by trying a high-end pioneer, not in 1982 but in 1989/90, the price was the same but you get more for what you pay

[@ychesnokov]

Memory button + play on Dragon does nothing but stops at 0000 when fwd/rewinding to stat playing. There is no music search, only cueing. There are just few Naks that do have music search, e g RX-505. Now tell me about other hidden Dragon features...

[@micheltremblay4774]

Felt pad lifting feature. When the heads come up to the tape surface, it also lift the felt pad of the cassette and use a speed differential to put tension on the tape and get a constant pressure of the tape on the heads what ever cassette you put in it. I have a Dragon since 1985.

[@WooferCooker]

@@micheltremblay4774 Most dual capstan Naks do this.

[@halitmarmaris]

Thank you 🎵

[@peace-yv4qd]

I owned a Nakamichi Dragon. Bought it for $500. When it broke I sold it for $600. Nice deck but getting it fixed is a chore.

[@thgftiigghjfryyhgjiyreg8945]

well, no mention of Revox B215.

[@robertb5640]

Hi skyfi audio I too have a Dragon and was watching your video when the clicking sound came on you said the bias mechanism is at the end of its limit. I've had this happen before on my deck and I just clean the heads and capstands and it goes away. Is this the right approach? It hasn't made that sound in a long time so I'm not overly concerned.

[@ychesnokov]

Sorry for answering the question that you actually addressed to the video author, but it seems they do not know much about Dragons ("Bias mechanism"🤣) and cassette technology in general ("70ms bias"🙃). This clicking is caused by NAAC system reaching its limit. it is not good for the unit (do not let it last for long, it can damage it), but normal behaviour on some tapes (recorded on decks that have very bad azimuth, sometimes even happens with factory preprecorded cassettes). If in your case it is hapenning on many cassettes and tends to dissappear after cleaning the heads and the tape path, your unit likely needs a professional overhaul using special gauges and high quality test tapes. You can find more info on tapeheads net

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@ychesnokov you are right, the clicky sound is the NAAC constantly running into its end position, looking for the azimuth sweet spot - and damaging itself in the process. From my experience, this tends to happen with a tape that's not running where it's supposed to. The DRAGON is a machine that doesn't forgive errors in tape path alignment or wrong pinch roller geometry. Also, its pad lifter needs to be able to do its job.

[@abhishekaghamkar8439]

Hello sir. Can you please let me know whether this deck is still available for sale? I'm from India and interested in buying it.

[@SkyFiAudio]

Please check out our website for our active and current items for sale.

[@abhishekaghamkar8439]

@@SkyFiAudio ok sir thank you.

[@twochaudiomg2578]

did i miss the part in the Video a out the Dragon switching from side A to B To me that was the big deal about the Dragon. not just turning heads like most T.D. did. i think when i wanted one the cost was $1800

[@twochaudiomg2578]

watch that sentence something went wrong sorry

[@oscarcano5138]

súper especial, lo mejor en sonido y elegante.

[@jmrod071955]

how about the 682ZX?

[@jonsingle1614]

Love my Dragon....but sadly it just sits....I have no tapes left and no cassette player in my car to make tapes for anyway....I do have the wired remote....what do pay for one of these elegant beasts ? Its a one owner...bought it back in 84

[@mrsinghsstereos6662]

Where are you based ?

[@WooferCooker]

I’ll gladly purchase this machine from you

[@MrTonaluv]

$5k

[@stivkrunic8612]

nice

[@김희택-f9t]

thank you good luck

[@gregorymcgee100]

A s far a sound goes, it's gonna be hard to beat the old Technics dbx decks from the early 80's.

[@Bozzy950]

If you are referring to RS-9900US then yes, I fully agree

[@mauritsvw]

@@Bozzy950 Later AZ7 also has a nice sound.

[@neverbeen2]

i've got a dr2 somewhere .not used in about 25 years.

[@Taras-Nabad]

This like the 1000ZXL (was) legendary. Unfortunately, that was 40 years go. Today, the media is obsolete, blanks cannot be found, and spare parts are non existent. Nice to have around in memory of the good ol days of audio. Its just not a viable platform for long term listening.

[@WooferCooker]

They still make brand new type II tapes, and there’s enough folks who repair these machines to keep them around for another 30 years. I’d say that’s long term enough for me!

[@onomehtenialb]

Ive got an LX-5 excellent deck

[@watchfan6180]

Does it have Bluetooth 5.0?

[@jeddak]

Surprised that the overall materials appear to be of the same class as that found in low-end equipment. Thin sheet metal, lots of structural white ABS plastic. I would have thought it would have been built more solidly.

[@RUfromthe40s]

totally correct, my opinion to

[@harmonic3350]

Long live the DRAGON 🐲