restocat said:
Nice Auction :'-(
Jaetee, do you have a thread about your Nak decks? I see the RX202, 303, and 505, as well as the dragon, and I'm not sure which one would be best to save up for.
Any advise on the best Nak deck for the money? Or are they overpriced and maybe I should instead get a Denon or Onkyo.
Sorry, I don't have a thread specifically on the Naks. (Might not be a bad idea to start one... Maybe after I take some pics)
I think having at least one kick-arse component tape deck is a must in this hobby. None of my boomers come anywhere close to making the types of recordings I can with my Naks. Closest one is probably my JVC PC-3, which is more of a mini-compo anyway...
Denon and Onkyo both make good decks and you could not be faulted for going that route. Especially one of the models with Dolby HX Pro. If you do get one of those, make sure you get a nice 3-head unit from the mid to late 80's and towards the top of their product line. (see
http://www.vintagecassette.com for lots of deck info). There were many good decks that came from many manufacturers in the 80's. Tandberg, Revox, Tascam/Teac, Pioneer, Aiwa, Akai JVC, and Kenwood all made some really good units. Especially towards the top of their product lines. Tascam made some very robust decks that sound great, Ford93 has made me some tapes on his 122 MKII that sound every bit as good as what my Naks can do.
Some say Naks are overpriced, and at the higher end I might even be inclined to agree to an extent. But there are good deals to be found all along the product line. And when you adjust for inflation and compare prices now to the original MSRP back in the day, then they are all a bargain nowadays. Even the $1500 Dragons. I think that is one of the reasons they are still so sought after now..., most of us could not afford the high-end Naks back then. That's not very different from boomboxes, eh? .
One of the great things about Nakamichi, was that (IMHO) even at the bottom end of their product line you could get a great sounding deck. I had a bottom feeder 2-head BX-125 for over a decade and a half that pumped out recordings I still listen to today, and they still sound GREAT!
So... which Nak to seek out really depends on your budget... If I had to pick only one Nak deck and money was no object, of course I'd start looking for a nice Dragon, with the CR-7A or ZX-9 closely behind. But the Dragon is a very complex deck and expensive to repair. And the truth of the matter is that money is always an issue. So, with that in mind I think the RX-505 is quite possibly the perfect medium ground. I think it's about about 95% as good as a Dragon (or CR-7 or ZX-9) and will do a much better job of impressing your non-audio friends with that very cool UDAR feature (where the tape flips for you automatically in a tray, as Stranj pointed out). Plus, it has some cool additional features like auto-fade, auto-rec standby, punch in recording and a few others that make life a bit easier. A good RX-505 will set you back anywhere from $200 (which is pretty much a crap-shoot price for one that probably needs some tweaking or outright repair) to $500 or more (from a reputable seller guaranteeing excellent performance). And just like boomers, if you want box, papers and such, the price goes up a bit, too.... Right now, there's a guy named Perry on
http://www.tapeheads.net (who is a skilled and trusted tech on that site, kinda like SD is here) with a fully spec'd out 505 for sale for $450. He claims its the best he's ever seen for flat response on his bench testing equipment.... If I didn't already have a good 505 (and 7 other Naks, for that matter) I'd seriously be finding a way to buy that one from him.
Oh, and even if I had a Dragon, I would be reluctant to get rid of my RX-505. In fact, having the RX-505 has satisfied me to the point where I have pretty much stopped lusting for the Dragon. Well, almost.
The RX-303 is a 2 head version of the RX-505 and they are pretty much identical inside and out (sans one or two buttons and the extra head). Nak only made it for 2 years. Incidentally, the 505 and 303 share many internal signal path components with the Dragon.
The RX-202 is also a UDAR deck, but it's button layout is just like the BX series decks, with which it also shares a fair amount of guts. Only sometimes will you find an RX-303 for around $100-$200, but working RX-202s in that price range are quite routine. Considering the price for which they can be found, I think this might be your best option. They are plentiful and you may even find one locally. If you go the ebay route, pick one from a good seller who will double box. Pay extra for that if you have to... the RX series decks are heavy and requires special packing care.
I picked mine up from craigslist with idler wheel issues for under $60, no shipping. $10 more in parts and a 45 minute project later and the idler tire was changed and now it runs great. I found instructions with pictures online that made it virtually dummy-proof. And when I got it running right, the RX-202 really surprised me with its sound. Mine is most likely going to a good friend here in the area at some point in the not-too-distant future. Can't go wrong with a 202, especially if you find one local.
I have all three of the RX-series decks and like them all. If I had to keep only one, it would be the 505 for the sheer ability of being able to monitor my recordings off of the playback head as they are happening. This is benefit of 3-head decks and is very helpful when you are setting the bias and recording levels. If that's not overly important to you, but you want an auto-reverse deck, I suggest you spend your money on a really good example of the RX-202 instead, and save a few hundred $$$
If auto-reverse is not a big deal to you then, IMHO, one of the best bang-for-the-buck decks from the entire Nak line is the often overlooked BX-300. This is the only 3-head deck from the BX series and was often referred to as "the poor man's Dragon" because it sounded so good at a 1/4 the price of the $2500 Dragon. This deck got great reviews from the audio magazines back in the day. It's what I really wanted instead of that BX-125 I mentioned earlier, but it was still over $600 back then, even at the military audio stores. MSRP was $750! There is a weakness some had with the idler wheel design and many were converted to an idler gear for increased longevity. Mine still has the less-desirable idler tire, but I don't care because after my RX-202 experience I'm not afraid to fix that myself. I will load up on idler tires and keep the BX-300 forever! LOL!
If you can find a 480 in good shape, that is a really good 2-head deck. And they often sell for less than $40 on ebay!!! But, note that the orange capacitors in those (and other late 70's Naks) tend to fail over time and most of what you'll find online are 480 parts decks. The good thing is that there is much info on the parts needed and the process to replace the orange caps online. If you want to take on a project and have the skills, the 480 may be just the deck for you. Stranj and I learned that the hard way. And the 480 he has now actually came from a technician here in Tampa whom I know and trust, and it is pretty much a perfect example of that deck... I've had that deck in my house, made recordings on it and was MUCHO impressed with the sound. That's why I acquired one myself (plus, the 480 is available in silver). Now I have two 480's here.... One is a parts deck and the other has the dreaded orange cap disease and won't record, so it is now a playback-only unit. (sounds great, though). One of these days I'll give fixing my better one a go... Saving that project for a rainy week. So, unless you can get one from a really trusted source (or have access to a tech, or decent know how to do these things yourself) I would think long and hard before getting a 480. And if you're going to invest the time and effort into a 480, then get the 3-head version 482 or 482z instead. Those have much more value.
There are other really desirable Naks, too... like the 682Z, 582, 1000ZXL and 700... each of which have their own charms.
To further research some of the various Naks, I recommend you check out these two URLs:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mleone/gdead/taping-guide/part1.html This was geared towards the Grateful Dead tape trading crowd pre-ebay and has somewhat dated pricing info, but generally good info to our topic...
http://www.vintagecassette.com/Nakamichi For MSRP, years of manufacture, pics and features
Good luck with your hunt.
