The Surprising Truth About the Nakamichi BX-300!
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- I've been shopping for a Nakamichi CR-1A cassette deck for weeks until I stumbled on the Nakamachi BX-300 cassette deck instead. I bought a broken deck to see if I could get it up and running to compare with the CR-3A. I was rather surprised at what happened next...
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nakamichi cassette deck
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Do you have a favorite Nakamichi deck? And what do you think...do I need to fix the motor or just replace a belt?
Sounds like a belt needs replacing. Always a good policy when getting a new old nak.replace all rubber
When I buy second hand gear I always have it serviced. Usually it is 200$ max with a warranty for the replaced parts. That 200$ gives me peace of mind and usually it is good for another 10 to 20 years depending on what sort of gear it is
Favourite? ZX-7, mostly for nostalgic reasons. Back in the 80s when I couldn't even dream about any cassette deck (not to mention Nak), I knew a guy who owned a ZX-7 and graciously recorded quite a bunch of cassettes for me. They still sound sharp, on any deck.
Fast forward 40 years, I'm firmly a Revox guy; for playback, the modded B215 beats any Nak that I had heard with my ears. ZX-7 or CR-7 for recording, Revox for playback. The only Nak in my stack is the CR-40 (JDM CR-4), and despite all work done, to me it sounds like "just another deck". Not that much better than a decent three-head Marantz or Sony or Yamaha. So in the end it's probably good that you missed the CR-3.
While you have it open, you should repair and clean everything, including the motor while you have it apart, it will just save more work in the future. Also I am too poor for Nakamichi. I'm too poor for a cheap player from China.
Good call on the motor cleaning, thank you!
I haven’t found a Revox yet but eyes are always peeled. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the upload. I bought my first Nakamichi, a BX300 in 1984. It was superb and a few years later I sold it - then very quickly regretted it. Some 8 or so years ago I came across a BX300 on eBay and remembered how sad I was to lose the first one. This example was dirt cheap with an apparently immovable pitch knob but otherwise stated as "plays OK". I hesitated for about 10 seconds and bought it. The unit arrived with its original purchase receipt in the box and everything else was also there. It seemed the pitch knob (cover) had become loose and someone had tried to superglue it in place but the superglue had spread into the pot shaft and froze it. The tell-tale white residue of curing superglue had contaminated the front panel. All was good after a thorough cleaning, including the transport. Only now, 8 years later am I getting idler issues on rewind. A great deck. I am going to keep it this time.
Heck yeah! Love it. Thanks for sharing!!!
Ive serviced a lot of Nakamichi Decks in the past years. The CR-3a would be comparatively be the 3 head version of a BX-150, very similar characteristics in the Spectrum analyzers as well as its overall frequency response. The BX-300 wasnt your Eye Candy deck by any means, but it was the flagship of the BX series and it was a superb sounding unit. Many times using a Type II cassette, it was hard to differentiate between the source and the recorded audio. Just a solid machine all around. If the BX-300 had the tape calibration feature and the manual azimuth adjustment, it would have been a similar product to the CR-7a. But instead the BX-300 allows you to do all of your adjustments manually ... not a big deal.
Yes, I'm considering a comparison video between the CR-3A and BX-300 as I now have both!
I'm a fellow compact cassette lover. I've always wanted, but have never owned a NAK. Why NAK? The Nakamichi company seemed to do everything their own way, making many parts that were unique to the Nakamichi decks. Starting with the heads. Nakamichi make their own heads and those heads have unique features starting with the internals and gaps. The internal windings and the gaps make huge differences even prior to the transport itself. NAK simply made the best sounding heads in the industry even going as far to introduce the first discrete (physically separate) cassette recording and playback heads. So as not to waste that goodness they made their own transport mechanisms, largely eschewing the money saving ways of the competition. As noted they were to my knowledge the first (perhaps only?) company whose transport moved the pressure pad of a cassette shell out of the way in order to achieve a more perfect tape alignment and precision contact of the tape to the heads. This level of precise contact and tape travel insures that the different cassettes with different pads and tensions would be free of preventable drop-outs (noticeable dips in response and levels). Getting the most from whatever tape the user was using made the NAKs kings among wanna be 3-head decks which often used sandwiched heads made by various sources for whatever brand. Definitely the NAK difference. So, it's a sad world in a way since all of these decks are aging and there is nothing out there now like them. Some NAK decks even had circuitry, both electrical and mechanical, to adjust playback azimuth automatically or by ear! In a way that was the last frontier since cassettes made on other machines often introduced small azimuth errors when played on an exacting tape deck like the Nakamichis. I think your video and my reminiscing has just about got me back in the market even though I have a half dozen or so decks. Good job!
Thank you for sharing and for watching! Good luck on your Nak search!
Hey FA and cassette friends. Ordered a BX-300 from The Turntable Store about 4yrs ago. It had a fresh service and came in the original box. Couldn’t be happier. They were nice to work with. Stupid Cassette Comeback channel got me all psyched up for cassettes again. Jimmy see, Jimmy do- ya know. Just brought my old Technics M218 Into work for a little office system, (hooked up to a Klpsch One). it’s awesome to the younger coworkers eyes light up to see cassettes. She’s gonna need a belt soon. I think I can handle it. Thanks FA your my inspiration for the fix…🍻
Cassette Comeback was my go to late night watching during the pandemic!
@@ForeverAnalog Same. When he cracked open that MA-R90- I swear you could hear the internet gasp 😱.
Proud owner of a Nakamichi RX 202.
Got it two months ago. It too fast forward / rewind is working intermittently.
The SOUNDSTAGE it creates is breathtaking. Two months in a ten month waiting list to send it to a California to have it completely overhauled.
I would LOVE a 202 - congrats!!! Thanks for watching!
I have a BX-300E bought it 10 years ago cheap for what it cost now, from the first owner, had it fully serviced, and has been working perfect since then. The sliders give me a few troubles at first but when they are clean they work perfectly.For the price compared with a Dragon, for what I use it it's perfect.100% recommendable.
Agreed! Thanks for sharing and watching!
The BX-300 uses the Sankyo transport with Nak Heads. A solid system. Very low Wow & Flutter. Replace the back tension belt with the Russell Industries SCY3.2. A bad belt is known to cause tape eating issues in that transport. I think you did well. That is one of the best bang/buck decks out there I think. Others are the CR-4 and LX-5. Properly serviced, an LX-5 is up there with the best decks around IMO. The CR-4 is less common than either the BX-300 or the LX-5 but sports a copper clad chassis which I believe is unique to that model. Another 3 header with adjustable azimuth is the DR-1. Finally, to get all the keys to the kingdom, a ZX7 might be another one to keep an eye out for. They usually are pretty pricey though.
Thanks! I just recently picked up an LX-3, but I need to replace the belts to get it up and running. Thanks for sharing and watching!
@@ForeverAnalog the LX3 uses the classic Nakamichi transport. Traditionally, one big issue with that transport is the lubrication used can become hardened over time and restrict operation. Nak belts and rubber in general is pretty good. The Nak transport is more intricate compared to the Sankyo transport of the BX-300. Eventually you may want to consider sending it to one of the highly regarded Nak techs we are still fortunate to have to get the heads aligned properly. Setup right the performance can be astounding depending on the condition of the heads.
First! Best of luck with your cassette deck. Nakamichi decks are legendary and need to be treasured. I worked on copiers for 40 years and I can't tell you how many times I found dead spots in the stepper motors they often used. I had a Harman Kardon cassette deck and I would challenge people to tell the difference in sound from the original source or the tape.
I was playing a tape this weekend and it stopped and when it clicked my wife said, “wait, that was a tape??? It sounded so good!” 😂
Great find! I have the BX100, 125 and 300! But I also have a 3 head Yamaha KX630, Carver TDR1500 and a Sony TC WE635. To me, they all play well with the Sony being the low end dual deck.
Replacing the take up belt will help eliminate the tape getting eaten. The idler motor on the 300 can suffer from deadspot syndrome just like the cam motor. I have taken apart and cleaned both manually vs simply spraying with DeOxit. I have unedited videos of servicing all the decks that I have yet to edit and post.
Would love to see those videos thank you!!!
Excited to watch this. BX-300E owner.
Awesome! I also made one comparing the BX-300 to the CR-3A earlier this month!
@@ForeverAnalog saw it earlier. I left a comment but I may have forgotten to press send
Hi , I've just replaced the idler tyre on a Nakamitchi BX-150 , video coming up soon , if you or anyone else is interested.
Awesome, thank you!
@ForeverAnalog no , problem , I've got that video scheduled for the 11/4 . Enjoy and don't loose the retainer , like I did ! Lol. It's easy to loose it ! Still got the idler fixed completely , despite that. Ai hope you find it useful and , in advance, thanks for watching.....
I have serviced a number of these decks over the years, Nakamichi used to do a repair kit to replace all the
parts that caused the known issues, i have no idea if you can still buy them.
They were often called the poor mans Dragon, but in reality the Dragon is far superior, great if you can afford one
but they are a nightmare to repair.
Yeah the Dragon scares me lol
Also consider recapping the power supply in the unit and even maybe the transistor voltage regulator ..only a couple dollars in parts but recommended for a precision deck
Congratulations, on your new to you cassette decks. I also have both decks. I prefer the BX300 over the 3A because I think that the BX300 is easier to maintain. How ever I think they both sound great. The BX300 may be a little more detailed. My BX300 may have had the same issues yours does. I replaced the idler tire and that seemed to fix it for awhile but the issue came back. The belts seemed to be in good condition. So I sent the deck off to a technician who specializes in Nakamichi decks. I was on a year long waiting list for this tech. I'd actually had given up on the deck when out of the blue he contacted me and told me he was ready for my deck. He presented me with an RA number and off it went. A month later the deck was shipped back. It was the motor you were talking about that caused the issue. He rebuilt it for me and now it works fine. ( also did a full restore to bring it to factory specs ) The service was about $500.00. Good luck with your decks. They do sound unbelievably good. Love your content BTW.
Thank you! I’m excited. Is that tech still accepting work?
@@ForeverAnalog Here is the work they did:
Dismantled unit and removed tape transport. Removed and rebuilt spooling motor and function motor. Clened function switch contacts. Replaced back-tension belt and capstan belt. Cleaned old lubricant from capstan shafts and relubricated. Reset head stroke and zenith. Reassembled transport. Reinstalled in chassis. Set head height and azimuth. Checked play and meter levels. Verified wow and flutter spec with new capstan belt. Reset record bias and level for all three tape types. Verified that deck once again meets original specifications. Tested unit extensively both hot and cold. Machine now passes all tests.
I have extensive experience fixing/using Nakamichi decks. In my opinion, you should really just take the motor out and service it. It's not that huge of a deal.
Awesome, thank you!
If you decide to service the faulty motor on the BX 300 make sure you are aware of the small clear washer used in the motor
I also loved to make mixed tapes, but haven't record one since the advent of MP3. Nowadays I make playlists. There is a collection of Free "Mercedes-Benz Mixed Tapes" (an MP3 collection) with new artists, from about 10 years ago. It is really good, and it was a fun way to find out new music other than internet radio, back in the day. It would be nice if you can make a tutorial on how to clean a tape deck (but in not sure how many people would watch it). Thanks for the video!
Great idea, thank you!
I’d replace the easy stuff first, belt, tire etc. Those parts degrade with age. The deck mechanism looks pretty clean.
Great idea, thank you!
The BX 300 might have been one I would have been looking for; before I knew a few things. I did an A/B between the sound of the BX100 and the LX5. The LX 5 is also a 3 head with bias control etc. The LX5 was much quieter on factory prerecorded tape playback. The one thing about the BX100 was it had a flatter, fuller midrange. It seems that Nak made some decks with a more euphonic laid back midrange. To sweeten the sound. The LX 5 is one.The highs of the LX 5 were sweet without resorting to rolling off. LX 5 models seem to be advertised around twice as high as they were several years ago. One of the coolest looking cassette decks ever. Tandberg however beats Nakamichi. I don't record, I just play back factory tapes. Compared to the Tandberg 400 series and up models, Nak's just sound comparatively boring. The Tandbergs make you want to tap your feet and they really get you into the music. The model 440 might be better to get than the 420; as some say the 420 eats tapes on a regular basis. Even the budget Tandberg model, the 310 plays back with gusto. Tandbergs have the fastest FF and Rewind; they occasionaly are too much at the tapes end; if the tape isn't adhered to the reel that well.
Yeah I’ve have my eyes peeled for Tandberg but no luck…yet!!! Thank you for watching and the informative comment.
Howcome you compare the BX300 by testing the BX 100? It is a completely different deck. Only the appearance is more or less alike. But the inside is a huge difference in setup and quality. The BX 100 is a consumer deck, The BX 300E is a 3.head multiple engine recorder. By adjusting your bias during recording, you will come very, very close to the original. We used for at masterpresentation. (Letting people bring home and listening to the master copy before release). The sound here is impressive. I have deceived many pepole who claimed, that they were able to point out the original from the copy.(even only using the dolby 'B' version) We had some Tannoy SGM 1000 speakers, and they will reveal everything.
I got a CR-3A a few months ago for a good price and it needed new belts. Gave it a good clean with the belts and it operates perfectly. Unfortunately my CR-3 sounded terrible. My CR-1A is so much better it’s hard to imagine. I realized someone had tried adjusting the heads and I reset them as best I could without fancy tapes, gauges or meters. It’s still inferior but much better. So those new aids will need to be procured. But one thing I noticed is after about 40 hours of playing and 10 hours of recording the sound is coming back. My theory is that capacitors were old and reformed themselves with use. My point is, sometimes a little attention and use can bring these back. It’s worth it to stick it out.
Thank you for sharing and good luck!
@@ForeverAnalog - I love the machine. One thing I do appreciate over the CR-1 is with dual capstans it is able to play tapes that the CR-1 can’t. Old sluggish tapes or ones missing the pressure pads. You should be happy with both the BX-300 and your new CR-3. And the CR-1 is a great machine in its own right.
I have the BX-100,BX-150 and the BX-300. The sound amazing! Only problem I have atm is the hall sensors in the BX-300 have stopped working unfortunately 😕 I'm currently looking for these.
I really enjoyed my BX-100 too! Thanks for watching!
@maxfactor4209 please, any help is much appreciated. I still can't get this thing to work. I'm about 700$ into this fix.
@@maxfactor4209also, if you know where to buy them, please let me know. Thank you.
have 2 of these. you should always replace all the belts and rubber. as for the motor, i always rebuild them right off. these are the best decks in the reasonable price range. you have to go to really high price units to do better. you will find that many of us who restore vintage audio, actually love the bx-300. you really need to go to zx7, rx505, zx9, cr7, or dragon to clearly beat the 300. especially if you fully rebuild it.
My Nakamichi BX 125E overheats in the back side (not opened). It is smelly a little too when working. What can it be? Should I stop using it like that?
I'm not sure what the issue could be but I don't think I would continue to use it without getting it serviced.
There’s a trick that corrected my BX-300 from further eating tape. I had the issue of tape slacking at the right much like you showed earlier in the video. I read on tapeheads forum that if you’ve replaced back tension built and idler tire and the issue persists to try to adjust the torque pan incrementally clockwise testing playback as you go. This worked for me so far. This is a black piece marked 471 that sits on the board under bundled wires and just left, behind the motor. You turn that clockwise with a small flathead screwdriver.
Also, Willy Hermann has a trick or two for this issue but I cannot elaborate. Maybe give him a call?
Great advice thank you! I just posted a video showing how to replace that back tension belt this weekend so great timing! I found that I was experiencing dead motor spots which is common and flushed the motor with Deoxit and let it run on FF for about an hour. Knock on wood, but everything seems to be running okay (for now). One day I’ll have to dissemble that motor for a proper cleaning but hopefully this buys me time. Thanks for watching and sharing!
I own a BX-300E and wondered whether there is a difference to this BX 300. Now I think it's not. Probably it is only the European version of the same tape deck. Thanks for the repair advice btw. I changed the the idler tyre successfully and will no go on to that easily accessible transport belt.
Awesome! I agree that these are the same, just different territorial designations. Thanks for watching!
Unbelievable! I this year purchased some Nakamichi audio gear a BX 300 tape deck and TA 3A receiver. ..I just finished recapping the the receiver with Audio Note and Elna Cerophyn caps and it sounds epic awesome oh my my God I love it, The tape deck did exactly as yours did until I completely serviced the deck new belts new idler new Nichicon 10000 uf cap and yes it too after a few min still stopped or ate tape...take up motor must be cleaned internally or replaced with new motor..some cases if sprayed with Deoxit in specific location s motor can be cleaned and saved
Awesome! Thanks for watching!
Great Looking Cassette deck. In my opinion, the cassette decks that were made in Japan are not that bad to service including the Motors. You just need to take your time and be careful when taking them apart plus you need to find some way of marking which wire goes on which terminal. It sounds like a simple thing but when you use any electronic cleaner etc any markings made by markers ("Permanent") seem to disappear and when you put back the deck together you don't want the motor spinning in the wrong direction because then you might have to disassemble it all again.
Excellent point! Thank you for watching!
I see the Nakamichi Dragon is back as a sound bar now
Wow that’s odd!
I have a Nakamichi BX100 from 1986 its had a few surface diodes replaced and belts plus gears, I had the head backlaped and is a good as knew I use the tapes recommended by Nakamichi namely TDK AD TDK SA I don’t bother with metal type I namely record live sessions of Radio 6 (Marc Riley) and the y sound great no Dolby😊
I love Marc’s show! Thanks for watching!
I got one second-hand. It doesn't like to "sit"
Yeah, gotta keep these running!
The cam switches can also be problematic.
The idler tire is a nightmare, not easy to find a good one. In general this deck doesn't like tightened cassettes (hence the sudden stop, even if lightly tighten is present), always loose (ffw-rw) the tape before use. But most of all, clean the cam contacts using a strip of paper and contact cleaner, is easy with no deep disassembly required. Those contacts tend to oxidize frequently and cause erratic operation of the deck.
Awesome thank you!
There are 2 different sizes of idler tyre sizes available for the Sankyo mechanism . I can't recollect the specific sizes however. I'd advise to pick the larger size.
The BX-300 will also eat tapes if the back tension belt is not replaced. It is a small belt that will turn to goo after 20 some years. Also, Nakamichi did a later revision with a "gear idler" as well as offered gear idler replacements for decks with the tire idler. I luckily snagged the gear version off Ebay just by chance.
I’m going to try that belt first!
@@ForeverAnalog It's located behind the backplate, hooked around the left spindle. There is a site online that sells the idler tyre and back tension belt as a pack btw.
Buy the Aiwa ADF 990 its a pearl I sold my Naka to buy. Its just better sounding and better built
Nice! I’ll keep my eyes peeled for one!
Nakamichi as great engeniered machines but they seem to do not want to spend money in building their components. The cassette decks when new all is great but instead of 5 to 6 years of heavy and perfect use they seem to have problems with heat making some important play parts out of shape ,making the sound vibrate and not that good ,any pioneer deck since 1976 as much better sound, the Dragon is a well promoted deck , when released in 82 was the rich kids deck but not as expensive as a top-end Pioneer , Akai, etc. and not half good in every sense ,i kept a 680ZX and a BX-2 (this last i don´t even remenber how it apeared in my house but ,no doubt much better than the Dragon) ,also the CR-7a ,the ZX-9 and the best ,the cassette deck 1,with auto-reverse my favorite is the RX-505 ,allthough they made a superior model later, the 1000ZLX is far from being a considered best deck , no doubt that there are several much better, this you have there is the model under the Dragon if memory doesn´t fail me ,if working properly i would prefer it to the Dragon, that i had two ,the first i didn´t knew it but in a couple of years i sold it cheap when noticing the first problems , related with the auto-azimuth and the auto-reverse ,later in 93 i was buying a entire new system and a friend told me ,"the Dragons now are improved, they correct the mistakes done when released" , well i bought another but i notice some old basf´s from late 85 that were heavy on rotation for any deck , i stoped it and put it in it´s box and bought a incredible much better Pioneer CT-93 ,it´s other world better in all senses but in 2018 ,i put my Dragon for sale and made 20 times the money i paid for it new , as an investment i should have bought at least 20 and now buy a sport car but as a deck it´s snake oil , but i have to say that i was admired with the quality of the cassette deck 1 maybe their best deck ever, it´s incredible how it works without failing fast ,still use it but have others much better , when listening to old cassettes the nakamichi is the one to hear them with it´s azimuth correction it´s a good deck, allthough some years ago i tried a pioneer with the Flex function and it felt better sounding and it seems to correct the azimuth but it´s not what it does ,if you never tried this function ,there are decks being sold cheap with this function and it´s a incredible improvement on old but well recorded cassettes, i have a CTS-630S (or close) it cost me 60€ looking new but in need of belts. The best nakamichi deck ever is the 680ZX and the BX-2, this last never had a problem it works like other brands decks or , It Works!
Hello Sir, do you think the 670ZX is equal to the 680ZX? I’m about to let the 670 have an overhaul. Thanks!
3:12 all decks have this "feature".. not really a feature
Hmmm, I have a TEAC deck that doesn't allow for the door to be removed so I think anytime a deck allows for this, it feels like a feature to me. Thanks for watching!
I have one; the logic is slow
use "metal" tape
Yep I have a few, thanks!
If you spray Deoxit into the pin bearing area that goes into the motor of the take up motor the chemical in the Deoxit can penetrate into the motor and make a difference. .first attempt of doing this made a huge difference, I will continue doing this myself to prevent the dredded motor removal and cleaning...it should work if I continue the campaign spraying every couple days as it requires time to seep into the motor....all my electronic repair friend s own BX 300 s as they know how good they are almost twenty pounds of deck , highly recommend changing capacitor s as electrolytic caps like tires need to be replaced
The pins in the take up motor are carbon coated because of use ...if carbon can be flushed out and pins sprayed with Deoxit you will have a perfect working tape deck
BX 300 records as good or better than a Dragon ....killer tape deck one of the best ever made
Better than a Dragon? Hardly. And yes, I own both.
Dear Gordon : You must have a faulty Nakamichi BX 300 or a useless opinion lol joke I also own both , leave it to a Gord to try and start shit in a time such as this HELP DIVIDE GORD HELP DIVIDE LOL
The CR-1A had a list price around $395 when introduced. It remains perhaps the best entry level deck today. Solid sound and much higher build quality and reliability compared to similarly priced decks.