$90 - Buy This Cassette Deck! Nakamichi LX-5. Cheaper And Better Sounding Stereo. Vintage HiFi Audio

[@bertushd]

I’ve a LX-3, bought in 1984. Used a lot and then years ago set aside. Just a few weeks ago Tim van der Hoff (a well know Nakamichi ‘mechanic’ and expert)has reverbised my deck, so it is as good as new. And of course it is now prominent in our livingroom again and playing recordings of more than 20/30 years ago..! Wauw, what do I love this 🥰

[@jjcalvillo]

Nakamichi knew EXACTLY what they were doing re: the silver and black face. The put the lights on black for maximum contrast/legibility.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Good Point!

[@Johnathan_Waters]

I have an LX-3, that I bought for about $80 a few years ago locally as well. I didn't know anything about the brand at the time, and I am sure GLAD I bought it!! It's hands down the best sounding deck I've owned. I've owned quite a few at this point. I always end up coming back to the LX-3... that says a LOT

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Great deal! The LX-3 is a fine deck. Nakamichi made so many really good cassette decks.

[@heavyearly2232]

I got an LX-3 free in 2015. I did send it to a Nakamichi specialist from tapeheads, as I found it difficult to service. I like it as much as my BX-300. I'm taping with it right now.

[@ricardoflot2787]

I also have an LX3, bought one new and bought another one from a guy I know. I had the power supply upgraded, and the sound is much BETTER! Had the LX5 also, but determined the LX3 sounds better, the reason: the LX3 has a sendust allow head. The RX303 also has that head and imho, sounds BETTER than RX202 and RX505, I've had them ALL simultaneously.

[@anthonylovett1321]

Hi from mallorca spain Very much enjoy your indepth testing and knowledge on the equipment you test and service. I now have my eye on a LX 5.. this will be added to my linn x3 lk100 with active cards tri-amped and tri-wired to a pair of linn ninkas kestone bases. Reason for this is i have so many tapes from back in the day..will bring back some good old memories.. Fantastic videos ive learned alot. Keep up the great work Anthony

[@digidrum2003]

I have had the Lx 3 since 1987.....the tapes that I recorded on that deck sound fantastic.....also the fade button is an awesome feature.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

The LX-3 is a really nice deck. Your right about the fade feature. I forgot to mention it in the video.

[@Dthebeatsmith]

As a kid in the 90s I was at the tail end of the mainstream days for cassettes, and most of what I had access to was the cheap consumer stuff. I recently got into restoring audio equipment and just got my LX-5 restored and calibrated. Wow was I blown away by the sound of this thing! I had no idea the cassette format could sound this good!

[@artsimannisto5659]

warm welcome to analogue world of all natural warmth of a sound.

[@markfreedman2470]

Years ago I had an LX-5. I got it at an auction for $30. Used it for many years. Loved it.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Man, great deal! The LX-5 is a really good deck.

[@blaga101]

I really love your KZbin Channel !!! thank you for all the great information you put out here ....I too own some vintage electronics that I just can't let go...thanks again and I am grateful for your time 🙏

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I appreciate it.

[@CraigHollabaugh]

Yes! I bought a LX-5 in 1984 and still have it. I used it with a DBX 224, nice combination. Mine needs some cleaning, watching with great interest here. Thanks for the video.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Your welcome and thank you for watching. As I mentioned in the video your LX-5 can hang with just about any cassette deck ever produced. Congrats on owning her all these years.

[@CraigHollabaugh]

@@vintageaudioaddict Which video of yours covers measuring tape deck signal-to-noise ratio? Thanks.

[@stevenmann9769]

Yeah, I have a LX-3 with a 224 and it is fantastic.

[@randolphblack2554]

There must be a lot of vintage audio techs named "Bob" since that's the guy who restored my JVC DD-7 in Williamsburg, VA! And I love the fact that it's direct drive which cuts down on the number of belts that have to be replaced.

[@grahamamorrisonsr1135]

Great video, it helps me quantify why I own TWO LX5’s (I am blessed to own two hones, I have an LX5 fir each). I started out with the Nak 700, purchased back in the day for half price because my brother sold them. I later bought a used RX202 because I have always loved the cassette flip mechanism. It too, only a two head deck, makes an amazing recording. But 5 or 6 years ago I bought an LX5 off Ebay, I don’t even remember why. I think I wanted a deck with adjustable bias. The deck makes, as you said, a recording identical to the original. The motor went out on my first deck, I has the motor replaced and the entire deck recapped (probably an unnecessary expense). I had an idler wheel problem later. But the machine makes great recordings, and it’s nice to see graphic proof of what my old ears told me. Obviously I liked the machine so much, I bought another for my second home. That one has been trouble free, knock wood. These are great machines that are largely overlooked and in the shadow of the Dragons, therefore they can still be purchased for a reasonable price. I give them five thumbs up! And they are very handsome decks, too. Reminiscent of my 700, yet lower profile (what deck isn’t lower profile than a 700 😂)

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank you for sharing. The LX-5 is a great cassette deck. Nakamichi made so many good ones back in the day.

[@timmmyj]

Great video as always. Love my Nakamichi 582!

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank You! Nakamichi made so many great cassette decks back in the day including your 582.

[@5argetech56]

Amazing, Nakamichi cassette decks are the best.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

with so many great performing models of cassette decks it's hard to find a manufacture that was better then Nakamichi with this format.

[@ericbachmann8037]

I am an original owner of a Nakmichi DR-1. Bought new in ‘94. 3 head with manual Azimuth adjustment. Nice Deck.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Very nice! Nakamichi made so many different great cassette decks.

[@ericbachmann8037]

@@vintageaudioaddict Yes they did. I would love to get a Dragon. Too much $$ tho.

[@artsimannisto5659]

@@ericbachmann8037 yess,filthy pricy. I prefer AIWA adf770,way to go!! greets from finland.

[@johnmadow5331]

I brought one in 1982 for $850.00 with $60.00 remote control. I still have the unit and I am sure it still work.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Very cool that you have had her for all of these years.

[@atheisthumanist1964]

Oh man, does this bring back a lot of awesome memories.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Yes, it does for many of us.

[@hyokkim7726]

The best bang for the buck cassette deck I have ever listened was Beocord 2200 from 70s, the best cassette deck I have ever listened was Eumig FL-1000.

[@trippmoore]

I bought a Eumig from a guy on the Big Island of Hawaii. I live on Oahu and was on the fence about flying there to pick it up. I didn’t want to have it shipped and get damaged like has happened before, and the cost of a route trip plane ticket was equivalent to the shipping charges. The seller threw on a LX-5 for free to convince me on purchasing the Eumig. I had hoped I could arrive there on the first flight, rent a car and spend the day playing tourist since the last time I was on the big Island was when I was 13 years old. Then I would pick up the tapedecks and fly back home to Oahu in the evening, but unfortunately this was in late 2020 and because of Covid there were restrictions. I had to have a recent test and the cost of the test was going to basically double the cost of the trip. So instead, I just flew there and met the guy right outside the airport. He just pulled his car up and I quick looked at the two tapedecks and gave him the money and take the two big packages out of his trunk. That didn’t look suspicious at all especially since I went right back in the airport after that. Lol. Took me less than three hours round-trip from the North Shore of Oahu , over to the big island and back home. In total it cost me about 120 bucks in travel fees. I paid $600 for the Eumig and the LX-5 was free so not a bad deal all in all.

[@hyokkim7726]

@@trippmoore You are right to be skeptical about shipping safety with heavy decks. I myself have 9 Eumig decks: only one is working, the others are spares.

[@allanpowell7208]

Nice piece of audio quality history. I had a Harmon Kardon cassette player which I forget the model designation of and that was the best I ever heard by far. It was in the same cost range as your Naka. The local recycler has hundreds of classical cassettes but let's face it, their day is well and truly gone. I picked up a Radford pre and power amp combination lately. Old English stuff. Research them, you'd love the power and detailed sound. I'm trying to get you more curious about old English equipment. Keep the videos coming, always a good informative watch. Cheers Allan

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Hey Allan. Thanks so much for sharing and for the kind words. There was so much great audio gear made years ago. Here in the USA I don't see that much British equipment but I'd love to get my hands on some of the electronics for my collection. The British speakers I always saw more of. Actually I still own a pair of Celestion speakers that I purchased as a teenager in the 70's. I also owned a pair of KEF 104/2's back in the day. Thanks again!

[@4132ize]

Had a friend give me one of these a few months ago - I noticed the Idler wheel had hardened up so I had a service - new Idler wheel and belts and head alignment - it was about 320 dollars - and is one of my BEST units with an open clear sound similar to my ZX7 and ZX9!! It runs circles around the Nakamichi 480!!!

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Nice! Well worth your investment.

[@RUfromthe40s]

did you try a zx-7 or 9 ,allthough they were poorly built ,they have more quality if in good condition than any other nakamichi deck and the 480 was still when they worried about wich plastic would be good to use in deck parts ,there are lot´s of them still around. if asked what nakamichi decks are better i would reply zx-9 and cr-7 much above other high-end nakamichi decks when new, i don´t refer the 1000ZLX because it´s their reference deck suposed to be better than all others , and were when they first appear not refering to this more recent golden version that i only saw tests done by others . People should try the pioneer CT-959 , CT-979 or CT-95 all sound better to me than any nakamichi deck built with better materials they work for 30 years as a nakamichi works for 4 to 5 years ,regards

[@RavenMaven]

I use mine all the time. Just had it reserviced a few weeks ago as I use the tape/source button a lot. It's an amazing recorder, though I don't like the plastics on the front face. Still, the quality is top notch.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

The LX-5 sure is top notch.

[@norbertoRivera-pn8pd]

Bought LX-5 in 1983 for $500. A lot of money back then for a cassette deck. It was good while it lasted.

[@Poppinwheeeeellllllieeeeez]

Thnx for the vid. I have a teac 2300 RtR that works great, but I am not a tape fan. These days I mainly just listen to FM. Station out of Calgary, Canada CKUA great station. They are online as well. Non profit.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Your welcome. Thanks for sharing. I'll check out the station.

[@aegisofhonor]

These go for way more then $90 today. I have seen several of these on ebay and they all been north of $400, and todaycloser to $600+. I did get a JVC KD-D55 for around $120 shipped. It's no LX-5, but it's still a solid 3 head deck.

[@RavenMaven]

One reason why I like this deck is because it doesn't have auto-collaboration for tape type. I have some MAR type IV that don't have the metal notches on the top of the tape. This deck lets me choose type iv manually.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

That's a good point. Thank you for sharing.

[@zulumax1]

I have a large collection of tape machines including the Nakamichi Dragon. I was thinking of buying the software version of the NAK-T100 analyzer. Have you heard of it? Would save on having to buy several separate pieces of test equipment for wow and flutter, speed, frequency response, and distortion. I am just a hobbiest, so a large investment of specialized equipment makes no sense. I do still have most of the calibration tapes still for cassette. I did sell my MRL tapes for reel to reel however years ago however. Thank you for sharing your experiences, long time subscriber, thumbs up!

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Yes, I have heard of the software. Man, you won't believe it but I am doing a video on it right now. I'm testing the T-100 software with a Behringer UCA 202 U-Control 2 In/2 Out USB/RCA jack audio interface. The software is $24.99 for a PC or a MAC. I'm using the MAC version. The UCA 202 is about $25. So for $50 you have the entire setup. Like any software it takes some setup and some time to learn. What I've seen so far using it is that I'm truly impressed with the T-100 software. Well worth the $50 investment for the tape deck hobbyist who wants a great diagnostic/test tool without breaking the bank.

[@zulumax1]

@@vintageaudioaddict Where do you buy the UCA-202? Are there other options to convert RCA to USB?

[@thomassanio8745]

I had a CR3A that I should have never gotten rid of but where are you guys sourcing new good quality tapes for recording these days? Thanks. Tom

[@emmareporter4324]

i myself have a yamaha kx-w 362, you may scoff at it but i was able to peak out a cassette (maxell xl2 60) at +4 db on the meter with no audible distortion, and it sounds awesome for what it is, it looks very unassuming but it's really good

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thanks for sharing. I love Yamaha audio gear. I have several pieces of their equipment in my vintage audio collection including a K-700 cassette deck. That K-700 is a great performer.

[@trippmoore]

I love my Yamaha KX-630 for recording more than any of my naks. It also has a bias tune, but unlike LX-5 it has Dolby HX-Pro, and a play trim feature that I find myself using a lot on prerecorded cassettes.

[@maxpower78-15]

All right! Another vintage reveiw

[@vintageaudioaddict]

You know it! Thanks as always for watching.

[@saeedaamir]

Brilliant. Thank you for sharing

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for watching.

[@doplinger1]

I've had a Nakamichi (I might still have it packed away somewhere, just haven't found it after a move) and while I love the look, etc. I just don't think I'd ever use it. I no longer have any of my old cassettes and I can't foresee creating new ones even if I could.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

I understand your reasoning. You should see which model you have. Some of them bring some pretty money even the non-working ones. You could sell it and it could live on.

[@thomassanio8745]

Where are you sourcing high quality cassettes for these fantastic decks? Miss these.

[@juanillo.v8342]

I have one I bought from eBay, but the shipping broke the eject button. It came with a Stevie Ray Vaughn cassette inside, which sounds great, but that's all it ever play I'm afraid of🙁

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Sorry to hear that. You should be able to get her open but you will probably have to take off the cover. If you'll not comfortable working on it try finding someone in your local area as it's probably not that major of an issue.

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

good looking deck

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thanks. Yes, she is.

[@rickeads6160]

Good overview. On the ST-1510A I have a few questions. What is the amplitude of the source signal? Is that amplitude constant? (I assume yes). How to you set the record levels of the tape deck? Does the 1510A produce a test tone that you use to set the recording volume controls to -20dB on the VU meters? The 1510A has buttons for -20dB, -10dB, 0dB etc. Do they just control the scale or do they also control the generator amplitude?

[@harryconover289]

i worked as t teck when these were new and they are a geat deck but i think you are under estamating the importae of the sound tecnolagy tape analizer thay made set up easy

[@johnweegenaar7314]

A Great deck and a great Video.. I have two of these decks

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Two of them! Very nice! Thank you for watching.

[@MikeDS49]

Am I too late? I could only find working LX-5s on eBay listed for $600+

[@moodyga40]

tech at my has all the nak test service gear from the day to repair all theses decks

[@vintageaudioaddict]

That's great! Hard to find nowadays.

[@BruceTheSillyGoose]

i wouldn't mind having a deck like that, reference-quality, to digitize my collection of 30+ year old cassette recordings. i would have, however, liked to hear the 0-db recording results on that nak.

[@manzanaresantonio]

There’s absolutely no Nakamichi LX-5 for 90 Dollars that is for sure :))), unless you buy a trashed one. Even a thrashed one they would not sell that cheap!

[@michaelanderson1445]

Chris, Looking for a decent tape player. Do you have anything for sale? Let me know . Thanks Mike

[@ebkesq72]

+/- 2dB 20Hz-21kHz using Type I tape? That is outstanding performance.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Yes it is. Nakamichi made some outstanding cassette decks back in the day.

[@AudiophileTommy]

Do you repair units for anyone?

[@CasioGreg]

if the common everyday joe is going to venture into this, he (or she) will need these reference tapes which are in some cases quite expensive. I know I have a spec'd out cassette deck. I want to create my own reference tapes for decks I will repair for myself and use for myself. how do you create a 20khz test tape?

[@msasoundlab1604]

Nice find

[@craigdavidson2278]

I think the sony TC-K81 was a budget version of this......plus less temperamental.

[@markanderson8119]

What type of tape will give me the best results? I’ve got an LX-5

[@alfaroinc1]

I am interested on buying your tape deck

[@vintageaudioaddict]

I only buy equipment for my vintage audio collection but I should start selling, LOL.

[@asphalthedgehog6580]

Did not have the money for Nakamichi, but bought a Pioneer CTF-1250 on an auction in 1982 or so. With the right 'Metal' tapes could not hear the difference between the original vinyl and the tape... but, after a week or so the tape lost some of its quality, namely in high frequencies and the difference became quite clear. At some point lost my interest, sold it after 5 years not using it for $50 or so to a vintage lover It's not the quality of the electronics, but the quality of the medium that limited this standard.

[@user-by9xt8bq6t]

1981,,, greats!!!

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thanks for watching!

[@Mrsteve4761]

Unfortunately the one vendor who I can attest sold the best belts for Nakamichi, Fred at Marrs Communications, I believe is no longer in business. Fred claimed to have sourced the belts from the same Japanese supplier as the OEM and the belts I received from him were top notch. There are many discussions on the web regarding personal experiences ordering from Marrs, the good and not so, though I'll not go there; mine have been positive. The business was taken over by his daughter Krista upon his passing though the website no longer appears to be working. I'm uncertain if Krista continues to run the business. I'm still searching for a belt supplier who has the belts to produce the performance and specifications Nakamichi are capable of achieving. I've tried all manner of PRB in my 582z but none have equaled the performance of the original.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Thank you for sharing. I have a story or two or three about Marr's and they are not good ones. As you said why go there. it's easy for anyone to research the good and the bad interactions with them on the internet. Glad to hear all went well for you so that you could keep you decks going. Good luck finding some good belts for your 582.

[@sgtgreenwood]

I will go ahead and say out loud that they were not merely incompetent - they were liars.

[@manzanaresantonio]

You are talking about those magical belts from Marrs?! I wonder if you guys were also part of the scam. I heard Fred was really dedicated to his business, but his daughter was a scammer and thief. Nobody dare to lose their money with her, trust me!!

[@bubblegumgun3292]

😎me who already has a Nakamichi

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Lucky You!

[@RUfromthe40s]

the LX-7 is good but not that good the LX-5 is good when new or restored but if not much used it still may work perfect this also related to the place where it was ,with humidity they become destroyd, nakamichi had a 74 deck well built that it can be restored and work for many years but others are just not well built or better they use to much cheap plastic ,it comes out of shape if used a lot in a place very hot

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Like with all electronics, it's better to avoid high heat/humidity locations.

[@RUfromthe40s]

@@vintageaudioaddict it´s true but where i live the components i bought in 71 or 74 had to clean it´s tone knobs ,last sumer and reels and cassettes only bad quality ones dirt the heads ,i have thousands of both due to my work and it´s rare to find a cassette or reel that dirt the heads when playing .Re-recording 80´s cassettes are my hobby now they calibrate perfect and record with great sound normally at the time not all records i liked, i would buy them but since then i´ve purchased a lot of them and have good condition tapes to record till i die, i live in interior south of Portugal, dry & hot . In the car at ...during the day i can not hear recordings much long or i´ll burn my finger tips while taking out cassetes ,minidisc and cds ,regards

[@artsimannisto5659]

@@RUfromthe40s hey,nice to see you kicking still hard! We talked with u, about aiwa stuff,like i still got this adf-770. Greet device to play around. I messed around with a motor and now in there is an old mabucchi 9 volts boombox one!! When tight cassette,then wowwing kicks in!! hahaahh.... Maby i get one from pacific stereo....are those any good??

[@RUfromthe40s]

@@artsimannisto5659 i really don´t know it and still looking for a good aiwa deck in good condition, if i payed the price some ask on ebay it would be easy to find but i´m not in need of a deck but wanting to try some brands i never used like those VICTOR and BIC decks that i never saw one for sale when they were new, i´m using now an old technics deck that i thought it couldn´t be fixed but with luck i found someone who still could work on it .Normally good technicians are too old or just gone , young technicians look at this decks like if they head a question mark above their heads ,one told me "why do you want to fix this ,in 79 the sound of a deck would be worse than the cheaper 90´s deck you could find"i didn´t reply at all ,just leave his workshop and didn´t return. I think if i´m like my family men ,i will be still kicking for a lot of years (not that i want to be the last of my generation to be around when all that one know´s just went to the unknown ,i can see others with a look of not wanting to be here and they don´t have a choice it´s more suffering than living), good to hear from you again ,my best regards

[@artsimannisto5659]

i belive u,really,bro! Overprized gizmoes ,many of them,are. Nakaasholes,i mean. Aiwa rules,muchos cheaper,but soo sweet sound and superior rec-guality. I like those Canon-made heads. In build demag-ability. Yes maby nakaas are better build or something,but i look at price tag`s- always.

[@bigcee730]

Where are you finding these for 90 bucks

[@vintageaudioaddict]

As I indicated in the video I purchased this deck about 10 years ago.

[@angeldust7777]

These are like 400-700 now

[@keithgilliard9191]

Where do I buy it at?

[@vintageaudioaddict]

It's not for sale. It's a deck that I purchased and is part of my collection.

[@johndrx165]

Looks like they are running $500-$650 on EBAY now.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

I know it. Vintage audio gear has really increased in value over the last few years.

[@brunohebert1351]

@@vintageaudioaddict Therefore, doesn't it make your video title a little misleading? I'll stick to my BX-1 until I can find a good deal on one of those Thank you

[@jurgenalles414]

Become in Europa?

[@CasioGreg]

the prices are going up too quickly -

[@williambock1821]

I grew up with cassettes. I can honestly say I do NOT miss them. I got really good at winding eaten tapes. Didn’t seem to matter how good the equipment was , tapes inevitably get eaten. Car stereos were the WORST. I love vinyl,tho.

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Yes, here in Florida leaving your cassettes in a car for a long period of time was never a good idea.

[@dorian-gray]

Problems with "eating tapes" always were due to wrong handling and/or bad equipment. I never had an eaten tape in 50 years!

[@chunxianzhou7162]

想买 但是在中国买这些很不方便

[@brianbassett4379]

Taped recording degrade it's as simple as that.

[@MrMidiman33]

you dont get this for 90$ anywhere...

[@vintageaudioaddict]

Hard to find deals on vintage audio equipment nowadays.

[@RavenMaven]

I got mine used for $380usd ... garage sales and estate sales still have gems to find tho !

[@juniorbramble7760]

It's still not a DRAGON........✍🏿

[@vintageaudioaddict]

No, but she's a family member.

[@juniorbramble7760]

@@vintageaudioaddict So are BMW Motor Cars and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Make your CHOICE......hahahahahahahaha..✍🏿

[@artsimannisto5659]

@@vintageaudioaddict really bet my fake teeth,that draggo sounds no better than cheapo lx-5. Draggo is soooo over hypeted and is no da best deck ever build. Even later Pioneer stuff was so hard to beat. Models from 93-2000 era.