Nakamichi Dragon

[vinylphilemag]

I've just hooked up the Nakamichi Dragon that was included in my recent record haul, and I'm pleased to report that it works like charm! I still have a handful of cassettes from yesteryear but alas, I threw away most of my home-recorded (on metal tape, no less) tapes a year or two ago on one of my occasional clear outs! The Dragon itself is in near-mint condition, and is complete with the original packaging and manual (the original owner was as anal about such thing as I am!).

Just for grins I might try to pick up some blank metal tapes (I had a preference for TDK MR and MR-X), although realistically I'm not sure what I'd use them for!

The cash-strapped part of me thinks I should sell the Dragon to recoup some of my recent investment, but the audiophool in me recognises that acquiring one in this condition at the price I did is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and the comments by Steve et al in other threads about regretting selling their Dragon give me pause...

 

[Steve williams]

It was truly one of the finest pieces of gear I ever owned and am sorry to have sold it

BTW, I am pretty certain that I have many of the tapes I made all those years ago

 

[Steve williams]

There are only 4 pieces of gear that to date (over 50 years in the hobby) I regret having sold

Nakamichi Dragon

Krell KPS25sc

Krell MD10

Krell 64 Reference DAC

 

[LL21]

Very interesting...i never had the chance to hear one, but of course have heard great things about it. When playing an off the shelf album on a Dragon, how does it compare with other sources you use? CD, LP, Reel to Reel?

 

[Whatmore]

They are also an active electrostat. Made in conjunction with Whise in Australia

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com.au/viewitem?itemId=190737074665&index=0&nav=SEARCH&nid=99076558525

 

[vinylphilemag]

Very interesting...i never had the chance to hear one, but of course have heard great things about it. When playing an off the shelf album on a Dragon, how does it compare with other sources you use? CD, LP, Reel to Reel?

I've only listened to parts of tracks so far, but I think it reveals how poor commercial prerecorded cassettes were! LP is light years ahead, and I don't have a CD player in my main system. My only experience with reel to reel (outside shows where I've been treated to some of Bruce B's and others' Studer and UHA 15 IPS and 30 IPS wonders) is many years ago, and that was only a 7.5 IPS model.

From what I recall from the era, the Dragon was much better at playing tapes recorded on it than it was playing prerecorded tapes. It's a good job the thing has its manual because there are about a million controls on the front panel!

 

[vinylphilemag]

It was truly one of the finest pieces of gear I ever owned and am sorry to have sold it

BTW, I am pretty certain that I have many of the tapes I made all those years ago

If that doesn't add weight to the "don't sell it!" argument, I don't know what will. I can always hope to make more cash, but would rather not live with the regret of letting this baby go, no matter how infrequently I end up using it.

 

[Bruce B]

I know I love my Dragon and would never sell it.

 

[Steve williams]

IIRC it had both auto bias and auto azimuth.

 

[Bruce B]

IIRC it had both auto bias and auto azimuth.

Yup

 

[Steve williams]

IIRC it had both auto bias and auto azimuth.

But not auto reverse which I think was another Nakamichi model

 

[GaryProtein]

I have a Dragon, never use it but can't bring myself to sell it.

I doubt I'd get enough selling it to make me forget that I used to love it.

 

[vinylphilemag]

But not auto reverse which I think was another Nakamichi model

Nope; the Dragon also features auto reverse.

 

[Steve williams]

Then it's got the goods. IIRC it did have auto reverse where the direction of the tape reversed however I do remember another Nakamichi unit where the tape cassette flipped around to reverse the direction

 

[dcc]

Then it's got the goods. IIRC it did have auto reverse where the direction of the tape reversed however I do remember another Nakamichi unit where the tape cassette flipped around to reverse the direction

The Nakamichi RX series (202, 303 and 505). I bought one some 25 years ago and recently gave it to a buddy after 10 years of storage in a cupboard. It still works flawlessly. The flip was always fun to look at.

 

[LL21]

I've only listened to parts of tracks so far, but I think it reveals how poor commercial prerecorded cassettes were! LP is light years ahead, and I don't have a CD player in my main system. My only experience with reel to reel (outside shows where I've been treated to some of Bruce B's and others' Studer and UHA 15 IPS and 30 IPS wonders) is many years ago, and that was only a 7.5 IPS model.

From what I recall from the era, the Dragon was much better at playing tapes recorded on it than it was playing prerecorded tapes. It's a good job the thing has its manual because there are about a million controls on the front panel!

It was truly one of the finest pieces of gear I ever owned and am sorry to have sold it

BTW, I am pretty certain that I have many of the tapes I made all those years ago

Maybe you should offer to buy Steve's collection since he has sold his Dragon?

 

[Peter Breuninger]

I think they made a "gold" option. If so, does anyone have a pic? I searched but came up empty. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough.

 

[GaryProtein]

I think they made a "gold" option. If so, does anyone have a pic? I searched but came up empty. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough.

They offered the "gold" option for the Nakamichi 1000, but I'm not aware of a gold dragon.

 

[paskinn]

There are only 4 pieces of gear that to date (over 50 years in the hobby) I regret having sold

Nakamichi Dragon

Krell KPS25sc

Krell MD10

Krell 64 Reference DAC

'Regrets, I've had a few.......' Over 45 years (and counting) I'd list the Krell KSA 50, Apogee Duettas, Audio Research sp10, Original (1985) Koetsu Red. And two original 1930s Voigt Domestic Corner Horns, with original Voigt field-coil drivers. The best speaker I have ever used...
Strange how they are all from long ago....I miss the Voigts so much that I am building a new pair, this is not easy, or cheap. I'l put up a website with pics and plans once completed.

 

[gamve]

Hi Rick,
The dragon was supposed to be the best deck for playback of pre recorded cassettes as it constantly monitored the azimuth of the playback head (NAAC System) and adjusted for best frequency response on the fly. The dragon was the only cassette deck ever made that did this to my knowledge. As for recording I think the best decks in the Nackamichi range were probably the ZXL1000 and the ZX9. Another stand out for playback is the 682ZX. I still use my decks but not as much as I used to, as I got infected with a R2R Studer bug. Ha Ha
Cheers
Graham

I've only listened to parts of tracks so far, but I think it reveals how poor commercial prerecorded cassettes were! LP is light years ahead, and I don't have a CD player in my main system. My only experience with reel to reel (outside shows where I've been treated to some of Bruce B's and others' Studer and UHA 15 IPS and 30 IPS wonders) is many years ago, and that was only a 7.5 IPS model.

From what I recall from the era, the Dragon was much better at playing tapes recorded on it than it was playing prerecorded tapes. It's a good job the thing has its manual because there are about a million controls on the front panel!