Thought I would give an update. I sent it back to Willy. He was very concerned that I was unhappy. After going over it he said it was all in spec and there was nothing wrong. After getting it back I figured I would cut my losses and sell it. Figured I would give it one last chance before selling. Very happy this time around! Sounds great!!! I've been using it regularly for a few months now. It's a keeper. I told Willy that I was now happy. Not sure what the difference was (Willy didn't either) but it sounds way better to me now.
I never had an RX-202. I was imagining its a very good sounding deck too especially done by an expert like Willy. I have several nakamichi deck even a BX-1 already sounded so nice especially after completely serviced and properly aligned. I love the sound of the tapes recorded on BX-300 but when it comes to playback, I just use a 2-head.
I changed over the cables I was using with the RX-202. Made all the difference in the world. Sounds terrific now. It is currently back at Willy Herman's for work on an unrelated issue that it developed.
This thread inspired me to take a look at the Nak I have downstairs but haven’t used in about 15 years. It’s the RX 505, three heads, lots of level adjustments and the great auto reverse function that stops the cassette, pushes it out and then flips it around and returns it back into place. Made a lot of tapes and loved using it in college. Might have to break out some of the tapes to see if it plays. It’s in excellent cosmetic condition and I’m not sure if I want to keep or sell it.
That is one of the more desirable Naks IMO. The odds are that the mechanism will require servicing before functioning though...
Glad you got it rolling again. I can imagine the que time in waiting for a deck work with Willy. he told me atleast 5 months ahead... I have to keep my deck running too atleast one a week especially the on in the living room which I just normally listen to on weekends and holidays. But my recording machine always runs atleast every other day.... In this way its not gonna freeze up. Talk about freezing up. One of my BX-300 did a few months ago and I'm working on it as we speak...
Almost all of the Nakamichi are excellent in playbacks. Just a matter of recording equipment. Its up there on the upper mid-fi
Too big a chunk for me these days. I'd have to go back to work to afford one these days and I'd rather stay retired and goof off every day
when I did the inflation calculator of 1986 to 2022.. wooowh. its $6,200.... It was like you paid a 6 year old (from new) Toyota Celica at that time. Is that correct?
There are still BX-300 out there. Last year, I just kept on recording every night whatever I want till I notice I hardly even listen to other format anymore. From last year alone I probably made 200+ of 90 minutes tapes using the BX-300. It just sound awesome...
The Dragon I bought new decades ago in in the capable hands of Perry in VA right now. Figured I'd better have it gone through and the rubber bits replaced before that's no longer an option. I hand-delivered it out of an abundance of caution. This is the first time it has ever been serviced.
Perry is a great tape tech. Your dragon is in good hands. Personally while I'm not a bad (amateur) tech, Dragons are feature too-complex of a mechanism for me to be willing to dig-into the transport.
Agreed, you made a point that some of us miss. I with you 100% on this, my fully functional Dragon will be put into it's road case for a trip to Willy's in a few months. M~
Thats so cool! I almost bought one of them back in the 90's. Went for the cheaper Denon HXPro and made hundreds of mixes on SAX-90's and MA-X's. Sounded very much like the vinyl or digital but the Nakamichi Dragon was a near perfect copy, was always very impressed with it. They were expensive! And I was spending money on digital, the Denon Dual Linear converters-they where the best back then and not cheap either. Mix-Tapes are back in style, like bowties. I think they call them playlists but you cant hand it to someone to listen too.