Inside a Nakamichi Dragon Cassette Deck Transport - Not as exotic as you think!

[@canadavey]

I think the scariest thing about this unit is all the plastic parts. Not so scary if replacements are available but us repair guys know that's not the case! Great vid. Thanks for sharing. I know it's only a matter of time before I get one of these on my bench.

[@marvin19966]

the case is metal indeed

[@insolentstickleback3266]

Nice clear explanation of this transport system, thank you. 👍🏻

[@MVVblog]

I have a Revox B215, and its mechanics are on a completely different level. One motor for each movement, no belts, no idlers, no plastic parts, and no auto-alignment system with performance that drifts over time. I feel like buying a Dragon just to prove my point about a machine made of a thousand plastic parts that everyone places on a golden pedestal.

[@LapisandHamtarolover]

7:30 Member if the head is aligned for one side, both sides are aligned 90 degrees. So it means the 4-track head is ALIGNED both sides.

[@davidnorton573]

I did repair part time for 35 years, got my share of Nak decks. The problem (as others have mentioned) is that plastic gets brittle. For my money I got the high end Denon, almost everything is metal.

[@bestopinion9257]

I have a Nakamichi BX 125E that becomes hot in the back area. It smells to. What can it be wrong?

[@VintageAudioTech]

Good video. And nice to see someone who works on Naks but doesn’t over glorify them haha

[@rajshreedelhi]

Nicely explained

[@bwhite970]

I am continuing to work on a Nakamichi Dragon ( serial number 21XXX ). The cam motor continues to run while in play forcing it to the most counter clockwise position. The VR 603 play pot does nothing in play mode. The VR 603 and cam pot are good. When I first received it the 1amp fuse was blown. I found a bad 1000uF 16v cap. I recapped the logic assembly board. It powered up and the display and transport worked. Transistors Q516/616 are good. The IC603 opamp which feeds the bases of those transistors is putting out 10.14v at pin 1. I was thinking maybe there is bad logic chip that is causing the malfunction? The cam motor continues to run when it should stop after performing each transport function. In stop mode it the cam motor does stop and allows the arrow mark to line up with pointer while adjusting VR 604.

[@apogeios]

My take on the Dragon is it's the perfect playback design of any deck, the auto azimuth is the core of that playback, as we know the cassette tape isn't perfect even with the best tape azimuth can be different from the beginning, middle and end of a cassette, and even when playing the other side of the same cassette it will not be 100 percent, that's why the auto azimuth on the Dragon is constantly making sure it puts the head tape path in the right azimuth position, who has a Dragon can easily see it will operate when a cassette Is playing, the motor adjusting tiny amounts when needed, it is even explained in there service "principal of operation" for the Dragon. Also another benefit is its a double direct drive which gives it to be more special than the other Nak models.

[@OddAudioCanada]

You are correct, and the azimuth system is constantly active. You might think it only works at the start of the tape but in fact if you move the head it will kick in at any point, and resets whenever the door is opened. But it is only as good as the base alignment and detection setting allows. In fact if you screw up the phase adjustment you can make it seek the "wrong" setting and adjust past the peak. Like many things it's a bit of a balancing act to get all the settings to work harmoniously in both directions, the 2 direction play just complicates things vs a ZX in my opinion.

[@apogeios]

@@OddAudioCanada yes it is very sensitive, it needs more frequent cleaning than any other deck as it could mess the tape up, have both Dragon and ZX 7 you mentioned, i understand that many prefer simpler machine's, I'm personally more in favorite on the Dragon, but if I'm not picking too much the CR-4 whould be my favorite all-around deck, all the basics that you will ever need, simple, very affordable price and maybe nowadays can service it without any problems whatsoever.

[@terrybeavan4264]

Agreed! I wanted a Dragon ever since reading the first review in Stereo Review in 1983 and by then being painfully familiar at just how much of a problem azimuth alignment is! Of course having just graduated high school and becoming a poor college student, I could barely dream of owning one! Fast forward (LOL) to 1995 and I stumbled onto a nice used one for sale (including the box, manual and the wired remote!) but in need of some attention at House of Stereo here in Jacksonville. And for the even then reasonable price of $1150 including purchase price and servicing, for all the hype surrounding this deck, yes it met and exceeded my expectations! Great sounding for record/playback but the real magic trick is popping in just about any cassette recorded on any machine or even a mass produced prerecorded tape, pressing play and hearing initially muddy sound that within seconds becomes crystal clear as the direction light flashes indicating the Dragon's NAAC is doing its job! Still own it to this day and have only used it lightly in the years I've owned it, still fully functional but it could use some basic attention and freshening up e.g. alignment and if possible the rubber parts replaced. My fear is based on what I've read about these Naks that shipping them can be risky, particularly the plastic housing for the NAAC pieces can break with very rough handling, and seeing this video and what the transport really looks like doesn't make me any more warm and fuzzy about shipping this deck anywhere to get it to 100%! In fact given their age and the stupid high prices being asked for them now ($5500 and UP on Audiogon???!!!) I would recommend against anyone buying one of these unless the seller has some serious money-back guarantees and/or the buyer has some serious money to burn--but having said that if you get one and it's in good shape and fully funcitonal, you would not be disappointed!

[@apogeios]

@@terrybeavan4264 yes shipping any vintage gear is a gamble, just when you think it's built like a tank kind of gear it could still come in pieces. One thing that anyone has to ship a Dragon is to take off the door cover, as the nylon plasic is brittle, but usually an easy fix as even Nakamichi had a service information "how to replace damaged stud of mechanism ass'y" it was even a common thing back then in the heyday. You are right about the prices and ownability, not for anyone, you really whould have to love it and keep in mind what you have to do to keep them going.

[@terrybeavan4264]

@@apogeios Thanks for the information on that door cover, if/when I ever do decide it's worth it to have it refreshed I'll do just that and of course double-box it! The Dragon certainly isn't for everyone but I can't imagine parting with mine, getting it was realizing a long-term dream. While I'd love to own many other cassette and open reel decks, I'd only even consider trading mine for a Nakamichi 1000 (any series from first to last except the gold plated which is just too over the top for me but it would have to be PERFECT), a Tandberg TCD 3014 (people referred to it back in the day as "St. George", and "The Dragon Killer" LOL) or one I only learned of much more recently, the apparently very rare Technics RS-9900us. Yes, Technics, I have a warm spot for their tape decks in general but that one is in a whole other realm. I seriously doubt the Technics 9900us could be in the same league as the Dragon for performance--if I'm not mistaken it predated both metal tape and Dolby C by a year or two--but just looking at pictures and videos, all I can say is, WOW!!! I recently learned Marantz also made a deck with auto azimuth correction and if I had the chance to get one at a reasonable price would like to own one of those too.

[@JamesE707]

The performance of the Nakamichi is almost unmatched, but at what cost? - it's so complex inside! As much as I love my cassette decks (and I have many), I can see why some folk prefered reel to reel.

[@ju6452]

Really nice. I love my Dragon but, as my other decks, I would never service it myself. Too scared 😂. But the sound is awesome even after over 30 years

[@stackoverflow8260]

I thought that the height moves the head front to back and forth. Height term remained from the days of top loading decks.

[@OddAudioCanada]

Close, it's a front to back angle adjustment. If you imagine the head is pivoting down at the bottom, "height" is the swing back and forth at the top. Azimuth being the angle from the other plane. If you looked at the head from the top height would be moving in and out and azimuth would be twisting it.

[@stackoverflow8260]

@@OddAudioCanada so this basically aligns the tracks on the tape with the tracks on the head?

[@OddAudioCanada]

@@stackoverflow8260 Yes, and Nak treats it as the "track alignment" point. You can also think of it like a coarse equivalent to azimuth, with the fine adjustment being the azimuth. You have to go back and forth between the two to dial them both in, one affects the other. Funny thing about tape decks is that the result will be the tracks crossing the heads at a slight angle in 2 planes, it's not straight up and down the heads like you'd think.

[@professorvoluck9311]

For me, since I don’t have the skills, expertise, or Nak testing tools to repair a Dragon, simple 3 head Sony’s are the best option. They make excellent recordings and you can buy a bunch for the same price as one Dragon.

[@pto314]

I have a question for you. My Nakamichi Dragon while playing makes noise as loud as while forwarding or rewinding. Would you tell me the possible causes? Thank you.

[@ampheat]

It sounds like the idler slipping

[@terrybeavan4264]

Owning one of these that has one minor problem that's irked me since when i bought it used in 1995 and had serviced at the time, the speed of mine has always been a bit off, it's audibly slow on playing back tapes recorded in other machines and of course if I record a tape on the Dragon, the tape sounds fast when played on other machines. Not hugely so, just enough to be audible and sometimes annoying. Given this deck has separate direct drive capstan motors that are individually controlled, are there separate speed adjustments for each capstan motor (I'd imagine this would mean needing some proprietary Nakamichi test equipment to get it right) or is there a single speed adjustment that can be done? I love this machine, will never part with it, and would like to get it so it's 100% again but the thought of having to ship it via UPS to have it repaired or even take it for an overly long drive scares the bejeezus out of me, especially on seeing how relatively fragile and plasticky the transport really is!

[@OddAudioCanada]

That's peculiar, and there is no provision for speed adjustment with the direct drive system on these. Every one I've seen has been bang on. That doesn't mean it couldn't be done, I'm just not familiar with any "unofficial" method. Or maybe it just needs an overhaul of the control board. There's something else to consider: the take up reels have an important role in speed, mostly consistency (wow goes way up if they are off, you'll hear it quite easily). This is all the job of the idler tire, both in surface grip and spring tension. Won't cause steady speed issues but a lot of wow and flutter problems are the result of these being worn out, turning to plastic, or being improperly tensioned.

[@PedjoGT]

Dragon have auto azimuth for play...ZX 7/9 for recording...

[@kjererrrt2381]

exotic AF

[@GOGGLETUBESUCKS4UIC]

I just saw an ad on "fixing your poop" twice while watching this video.😂

[@ampheat]

How easy ifor a user to change the idler tyre? Ok I am familiar with the sankyo idler which is easy to do.

[@OddAudioCanada]

Not easy. The whole transport has to be disassembled to get to it. Same as all classic transports.

[@zambrano966]

Amigo disculpe que lo contradiga en lo que usted dice, creo que tiene que investigar mas sobre el Nakamichi Dragon. Lo que usted dice de que si ajusta el azimut en una dirección , lo desajusta en la otra es cierto, pero en los sistemas autorreverse tradicionales, El Dragon usa este sistema en la cabeza de reproducción para poder alinear el azimut en ambas direcciones. Y lo hace muy bien, no como dice usted que lo hace bien en una dirección pero no en la otra. Otra cosa que le comparto el ZX7 y el ZX9, también el CR-7 y otros mas, tienen ajuste de azimut manual pero en el cabezal de grabación, que es algo muy diferente a lo que hace el Dragon. El cabezal de reproducción tiene un ajuste fijo de fabrica en estos modelos.

[@stvlu733]

Whoa all that white brittle plastic in there. This transport reminds me of other models This was used in. Better not buy one of these that was in the elements like extreme heat and dry air. I had one that crumbled to pieces. It reminds me of the cheap plastic 8track head mechanisms that always cracked on the frame.

[@mr.spongylikeaboss4987]

I have never, ever seen the plastic parts crack or break from age on any Nakamichi. I don't know what it's made out of, but do a google search.. you won't find any issues, unless someone tried to force something. The Nakamichi "Classic" Transport is super stable, and they last a long, long time.

[@stvlu733]

@MR.SPONGY LikeABoss I found 2 of them in one batch. The plastic was so yellowed parts like the eject mechanism was broken on both, and others showed cracks or stress. They were mostly working, but I had to part them out due to reliability issues and no doner units to repair them. Too many parts have rotted. I'm sure some had seen this externally on some Pansonic decks, head stack, and capstan drive mechanisms.

[@bestopinion9257]

@@stvlu733 So, plastic is plastic after all.

[@teashea1]

very well don

[@koenielinux3131]

That blue flat cable acts like a bowdencable?

[@OddAudioCanada]

Yes, it slides a plate attached to the bottom of the head assembly which shifts the heads. It's identical in the ZX7 and ZX9 which have a manual knob instead of the auto motor.

[@MoggysHiFiAntics]

@@OddAudioCanada I believe it's called a bowden, I've heard it called that many times. The ZX7/9 are not the same. They use the manual azimuth adjust for the recording head, not the PB head. I have both Zs, PB head is fixed set by test tape. My CR7 is possibly the best for playback, manual on the fly adjust for PB azimuth in one direction only. Arguably, the best combo would be ZX7/9 for REC and CR7 for PB. The ZX-9 and CR7 both have the DD motors whereas the ZX7 is PLL/DC belt driven. Still, I would love a Dragon but they are now out of my price range. I agree that Nak mechanisms are ok, patience and good test tapes and they come up great. The stock 480 series mechs are similar and "usually" come up ok.🙂 A 3 head 480 series is perfectly fine for 99% of users.

[@kjererrrt2381]

if i had that deck i would just disable autoreverse completely.

[@WooferCooker]

What do you consider exotic? It’s a cassette deck that automatically adjusts its playback heads, has double locked DD capstans that both switch directions for both sides of the tape, two tape counter mechanisms, and an entire circuit board that runs a little motor that controls the alignment of said heads. I’d say it’s a little more exotic than a plunger solenoid slapping against metal and an Single idler tire running the show in most decks.

[@mr.spongylikeaboss4987]

Disagree. The CR-7 is far easier to setup then a Dragon. (Have had both) CR-7 has the simple to align sankyo transport. Calibration is also not too difficult. The important thing is to build the test box needed to enter in all adjustments into the CR7's computer. Do not attempt to calibrate without the test box, If you do, the auto calibration will never work right. The Dragon, ZX-7, ect are far trickier to align properly and have many more adjustments to make that the CR-7.

[@daveblane6442]

I owned one of these. It was a complete piece of shit.

[@bestopinion9257]

Why? They are damn expensive, I want to buy one, or a CR-7, but before I want to know more about it, especially possible nasty parts.

[@blade3120]

not exotic casette deck nagamichi dragon? ARE YOU SERIOUS? THE CAPSTAIN MOTOR IS DIRECT DRIVE IN NOT EXENSIVE OR IS CHEAP? UNFORNATLEY YOU DO N KNOW FOR OLD IS ABOUT HOW CASETTE DECK IS REALLY EXEPENSIVE! LOOK BETTER E-BAY HOW COST NAGAMICHI DRAGON AND LAST THING LOOK BETTER FOR LEGENDARY NAGAMICHI DRAGON CLUES THE YEAR FIRST MANIFACURED AND THE LAST YEAR TO DICONTINUED!

[@versedbridge4007]

Easy man tone it down with the yelling!

[@Luzt.]

Noone reads caps.