The Nakamichi Dragon Killer. The often overlooked CR-7A Cassette Deck. Service Highlights/Operation
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
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The Nakamichi CR-7 boasts superb head and transport design, incorporating such highly refined features as the discrete 3-head system and a direct drive dual capstan transport.
This approach assures the ultimate in vital cassette performance.
Ample use of innovative Nakamichi technology thoroughly lets you explore the full potential of every tape, to complement any program source and to achieve virtually perfect recording and playback.
In order to take full advantage of this units superior performance, please read this manual in its entirety and retain it for future reference.
Specifications:
3-Head Single Cassette Deck
Track System:
4-Track, 2-Channel Stereo
Tape Speed:
4.8 cm/s
Heads:
1 x Record, 1 x Playback, 1 x Erase
Motor:
1 x Reel, 1 x Capstan, 2 x Mechanism
Tape Type:
Type I, CrO2, and Metal
Dolby Noise Reduction:
B, C
Frequency Response:
18Hz to 21kHz (Metal Tape)
Signal to Noise Ratio:
72dB (Colby C)
Wow and Flutter:
0.027%
Total Harmonic Distortion:
0.8%
Input: 50mV
(line)
Output: 1V
(line)
Dimensions:
17-1/8" x 5-5/16" x 12"
(435 x 135 x 306mm)
Weight:
19.85 lbs.
(9 kg)
Accessories:
RM-7C Remote Control
Year:
1986
Price When Released in 1986:
$2,200
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In my "youthful" electronic technician days I serviced many cassette decks, but never the expensive Nakamichi models. One of the repair shops I worked for was an Akai service center. Akai produced some excellent tape decks.
Akai...yes,Gx95 is the one great model. Especially the system for measuring tension of the tape - I was surprised when I realized that it must stay in horizontal position while working, haha.
i do prefer high-end models from akai , i bought a reel to reel deck a 1970 crossfield and it records and plays perfect today with only old reels i own ferric ones and do sound perfect as the tape decks with cassettes
I used to own a GX52. Good deck with fair dynamic range/overload margins given the right cassette. I used to really enjoy making compilation tapes.☺
@@oliverbeard7912 The GX "glass ferrite' would last a very long time.
@@mdavid1955 Hi .I wasn't aware that the "GX" was with reference to glass ferrite. You learn something new every day. I used to do pretty well with TDK AR or a decent metal tape if I was pushing the boat out.
As a proud owner of a Nakamichi CR-7A, I will tell you that nothing sounds as good as a Nakamichi Dragon, Harman kardon CD-491 or Tandberg 3014A.
The only area where I thing the CR-7A is slightly better is recording and reliability, those Dragons are really sensitive and complex, but while it's working it pushes the cassette format to its limit!
I just got a Pioneer CT-A7 and I am just amazed at how outstanding it sounds too!
Agree with everything you said since I own both of them.
OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY...... this a really deep dive binge I'm currently having on your channel.
haha we can feel your enthusiasm! Thanks for watching.
I first heard the cr7 on a all flagship Audio research rig. Exoctic cables, and power conditioners plus high end loudspeakerswere used. The Shoot out was between Audio research cd player, SME 30/12 plus koetsu coralstone and the CR4. The Cd player sounded analogue nearly as good as the turntable (nearly). The turntable sounded like a well calibrated High end reel 2 reel. The tape Deck was in another league. I have a Cr4 but saving up for a Cr7. A good friend of mine has the Dragon. For me the CR7 Is the BOSS !!!!!!!!!
All these years later, and I still have my original CR7A. When I bought it, it was a choice between it and a Dragon. I chose the CR7A due to fear the autoreverse mechanism of the Dragon would break somehow.
you choose wiselly, the dragon is a pit of money ,the cr-7 far much better and auto-reverse mainly is to blame
The Dragon is like the Lamborghini Countach, it was a dream machine, owned by only a few. Better machines may have come along after, but they are soon forgotten about.
The CR-7A is Nak's most user friendly deck. Auto Cal, remote control, real time tape counter, make it simple to use and get excellent recordings. The Dragon is a tweaker's deck. Great for poeple who want to fine tune a recording. Also ideal for playing back pre-recorded tapes with the NAAC system and auto reverse playback. I also have 700ZXE which is a cool deck as well. I like the RAMM system which is Nak's version of music search.
My opinion is that using any, even just midrange 3-head deck for playback nowadays is a sacrilige, because a 3-head deck has no real advantage during playback, all of their (huge) advantages are utilized during recording. By using them for playback, you put wear on the now unobtainainable heads in them, which if wears out, the deck will be converted to a parts machnine, because you can't get new heads for it anymore, so it's a huge waste to do that. I can't afford a high-end Nak deck, but I have several 3-head ones (Sony TC-K511S, Technics RS-BX626 and Grundig CF4), I use them only for recording. You can get very good 2-head decks for much cheaper, Technics made some quartz-locked direct drive 2-head models, maybe even some dual capstan ones. Although I am not a fan of dual capstan decks in the midrange category, because they tend to stretch the tape, unlike the higher-end ones. I guess a Dragon or a CR-7 won't stretch the tape, but midrange dual capstan decks usually have much less precisely controlled torque between the two capstans, they can put too much stress on the tape.
Oh, and automatic program search is the biggest head killer on any deck, I never use that feature even on my 2-head decks.
I'm hunting for a 2-head quartz-locked direct-drive Technics deck, as the Sony TC-K461S I'm currenty using for playback is quite mediocre mechanism-wise. It has the dreaded TCM-190 mechanism, just as my TC-K511S 3-head deck. The 511S would be an absolutely fantastic deck, if they would have used a better, direct-drive mechanism in it. It can make perfect recordings, can put incredible levels on the tape without distortion, but due to its mechanism, the wow&flutter tends to be higher than desirable, and the reliability lower that desirable. Sony was unscrupulous enough to put a plastic 'flywheel' in a 3-head deck with decent electronics, and probably asked an arm and a leg for it.
maybe the dragon is the worse deck they release but with a catchy name caught the atention of youngsters in early 80´s, i had one but seeing what could fail in all deck sold it before it wrecked, (the 700ZXE is a great deck, the CR-7 maybe the best user friendly deck),regards
@@mrnmrn1 don´t worry you´ll have still 3 head decks for recording after listening to hundreds of cassettes ,just use good cassettes or well built ones, basf that was my favorite brand is a deck destroyer after 1986, i had a nakamichi that i sold it fast because i was using still in 86 BASF cassettes , i still have today from 82 to 85 and those are well built ,i used to buy boxes of cassettes ,so i still have some at home sealed from diferent brands and because i live in a region that humidity is none they were kept in dry and closed spaces, so i open cassettes and they work as new,the three head decks are good not only to record but because they are higher range and also reproduce cassettes better , i did bought a deck to listen to cassettes but a 3head one, the CTS-630S from pioneer ,it as the flex function that if your cassettes were well recorded it will retrieve the sound they had when just recorded (no,it´s not the same as YAMAHA play trim) buy one restore it and they even record with good sound(avoid the ones made in late 90´s they are not so well built)regards
try other decks and you´ll be amazed this without the maintenance of a dragon, you´re telling that the 700ZXE is not good as the dragon?the problem is the use of badly built cassettes, normally pre-recorded tapes are the cheaper they can get, mainly the problems of the Dragon are the use of bad cassettes who destroys any deck in a short period of time mainly heavy on rotation cassettes and the NAK system being built with poor materials in regions that there are high temperatures all the parts start to deform , i owned a new NAK Dragon in 1985 and sold it 2 years after already noticing that the deck was working diferentelly than when it was new ,i started to use from my fathers system a CT-F700 and a bit later i bought the CT-959 ,today i use it almost everyday to hear my old recordings and either than new belts ,nothing else to repair and i live in a region where there are 5 monthes of intensive heat above 40 degrees almost everyday but there are weeks that at 9a.m. already are 35 degrees .At night sometimes i don´t sleep and feel the air at some pleasent 29 degrees(celsius) this at 5.30 in the morning ,sometimes i even sleep in my bathtub with an ashtrey that floats, they say the hotest place is seville in spain , i live at 180 km´s of seville in a straight line to west and normally temperatures are much higher than sevilla in spain ,this in interior south of Portugal, regards
a button instead of using the old tiny screwdriver is the first function that caught my attention
My old man had this deck. I think he still has it
Il CR-7,uno dei miei nakamichi preferiti,registratore di qualità assoluta!
Thanks for a great overview on this great deck! Though I have to agree to the opinion below that there are more decks to pay attention to when looking for a Dragon alternative (and yes, as a serious tapehead you need to buy and own Dragon as a reference of course). One thing to mention that weakens CR-7 position is lack of manual bias adjustment (you need it for some great tapes like Fuji ZII, that have high frequencey sensitivity boost, causing the autocalibration systems malfunction). Please make some measurements on the serviced units (like W&F and feq. response) - that will be a great add for your service business as well!!
normally any tape can be auto calibrated , that´s the point there´s a standart definition if the deck does calibrate cassettes properly ,there are many that the calibration doesn´t work perfect in automatic but they should, i bought a pioneer deck in the 90´s because of the flex function to listen to old recordings but i tried to record on it a few cassettes and today i put them to play and they sound perfect on a better deck allthough i still have it conected to my stereo, the FLEX function was never talked about but i´ve found it very good it´s not the same as play trim on yamaha decks,that just increases or decreases the high frequencies like a tone knob, regards and health
The Dragon was an excellent top-shelf Nak, with notable styling, but also a bit gimmicky, and complexity was the cost of this. I had a 600 II and a 700ZXL with the outboard Dolby C and remote control units. The 700ZXL was an impressive machine and an excellent performer, but needed lots of TLC to keep it up. I think that some of those last top-of-the-line Nak decks, like the CR-7A, were overall the best decks Nak ever made, and perhaps among the best cassette tape decks ever, wringing everything out of the cassette format.
i own 5 NAK´s and not one comes near of the pioneer CT-F1250 or the CT-959 or the CT-93 that i also own
I drooled on one, once!😬👍👍😎✌️
I've owned both a Dragon and CR-7A... I still have my Dragon. CR-7 is a great Deck, but yes if your Savvy and can keep the dragon tuned it is the BEST sounding deck IMHO.
This was the best sounding of all the Nakamichi's that I heard. I have a Sony cassette deck that I modified that I called the dragon killer. Even with all those adjustments the dragon doesn't make a copy that sounds like the source.
I have the CR-3E and a CR-7E and like you mentioned just out of it's warrantee the CR-7E the play solenoid failed and was replaced. Both cassette decks are still working like a dream.
Never ever had the money for a high end Nak so had to settle for a Cassette Deck 2 which i love and it's still going strong after all these years if sometimes a little temperamental
with the money for a deck 2 you could have bought another brand far superior deck, regards
@@RUfromthe40s True but grew up wanting to own a Nak and sometimes you follow your heart not your head
@@Eyerex yes, i did the same error in 85, even later i bought the turntable ,this talking about the Dragon, and maybe those less complicated decks are better but the price is not user friendly, i start to believe in a pioneer comercial from 76 that had a nakamichi deck photo and said we "might"not have the best deck in the world but we have the better built and looking new , regards
A good mate of mine had a NAK 580. Bottom of the range yes but damn it was so much better than the competition price point ....
Id not hesitate to buy a 580 or 582..
Thanks.
It’s great and fascinating to watch these videos. My father had a harman/kardon HK-1000 tape deck. He couldn’t afford the Nakamichi 1000 which was a top deck at one time. The HK’s been sitting in a cupboard for 35 years now. Would you consider the Revox B 710 and B 215 to be among the top 5 tape decks ever?
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write a comment. I don't think very many people could afford the Nakamichi 1000ZXL back when, as it sold for $3800. With today's dollars adjusted for inflation that's over 12k!!
I Had Both The Dragon And The 505 Back In The Mid 80's - I Think Late 90's....
The DRAGON has one thing going for it - the lowest W&F ever. Plus, I would take manual calibration over AutoCal any time of the day. Unless it is Pioneer's 4-point, 64 step Super Auto BLE from the 1993 lineup which featured the CT-95. And that deck was the real DRAGON killer.
Agree. Pioneer CT-95 does the recording job better than Dragon. And it has manual bias adjustment in addition to the best autocalibration system (unlike CR-7).
@@ychesnokov AutoCal is great to adjust for tape sensitivity if you plan on using NR systems.
But bias is a different thing. A lot of people prefer a slight overbias as opposed to peak bias (which AutoCal systems normally adjust to) to reduce distortion and to increase MOL at the expense of a slight treble drop. And that's why an AutoCal system should also feature bias fine adjustment. Like e.g. Pioneer or the Kenwood KX-9050/9050S.
But overall, I still prefer the manual assisted calibration with test tone generation like the DRAGON or the equally amazing ZX9 offers.
The CR7 is a great deck, no doubt about it. And it's probably better than 99.5% of the decks out there. But if I had to choose a Nakamichi, it would be a DRAGON or a ZX9 before the CR7. Or a 1000ZXL which is simply gorgeous.
@@svenschwingel8632 I guess you meant to say, most people pefer underbias, because they struggle a lot with poor decks that just can't manage to record high frequencies, while distortion (within reasonable 3%) is not what most people can hear. Dont't get me worng, I love Naks and I have few in my collection, but they just do not record as well as top Pioneers or e.g. NAD 6300. However, I never owned CR-7, which I can guess can well be capable of making better recordings than Dragon (on suitable tape), but I know it for sure (since I made a lot of measurements myself) there will be for sure some tapes (e.g. pure crome) that no autocalibration can cope with.
@@ychesnokov no, you got me right. I meant overbias. More bias current leading to higher MOL, more dynamic range at the expense of a slight treble roll-off which isn't a problem for lots of music anyway.
But the opposite can also apply. Using underbias can be beneficial for later playback on mobile or car devices with a slightly off azimuth.
That's why the Pioneer CT-A9 had an Auto BLE with three different strategies: Underbias, Overbias and Peak Bias.
@@svenschwingel8632 Agree. Good that you mentioned CT-A9. This is an example of a deck that might have even less W&F than a Dragon thanks to its earlier version of Reference master mecha (with DD motor). Unfortunately CT-A9 is lacking manual bias/sensitivity adjustment (similar to CR-7) and in addition the Reference master is very sensitive to the belts quality (which is a big issue nowdays as you know), so long term Dragon is the best choice of course in terms of W&F, and CT-95 (or its variants like CT-S920S) wins overall in the recording excercise thanks to its cool LA heads (and probably best rec.amps) that contribute to it's best possible MOL (up to 5db less weighted noise on the same tapes/ similar rec. level comparing to Dragon)
beautiful and rare deck
In India during monsoon season my ZX 7 runs fast and DR 2 runs slowly in the playback mode .The main drive belt of the ZX 7 deck clips the rim of the motor pully and theDB of DR 2 ,I feel slips over the capstan and goes fir auto stop .After the rainy season is over ,both the decks perform as intended .
My tech gave me good advice: Get the Nakamichi CR 7A. I never had any trouble with it. A friend has the Dragon, which did have to be repaired several times over the years. It's more complex.
Smart tech you have there!
here ,the same ,the cr-7a is far better than the dragon ,a early 80´s deck ,the cr was ,that i know of the last series of nakamichi decks
@@RUfromthe40s yeah,whatta complex pos it was,hard to keep going. its something weird drago-cult or what da hell it is?? Lots of much better decks out there,and tonns of cheaper also!! Love my ADF-770. Japan GEM!!
@@artsimannisto5659 this only makes me remenber what happened in late 80´s early 90´s where all publications in Europe tested all decks from the main brands and arrive to the conclusion that the dragon either than being a old deck at the time wasn´t good as most of the new decks ,at the time this was discussed, were better than the dragon that at the time all rich kids bought it and after 4 or 5 years of use the plastic parts due to the heat on the region i live get out of shape ,the azimuth alignement is one of the functions that stop working first than the play/record head gets out of place ,etc. so this is more of the same a couple of generations after ,i bought the dragon but the turntable that seemed to me at the time very good but also had problems with it, and had to use a technics that i had at home since 1976 and still works perfect today , the turntable from nakamichi was fixed in 2007 ,this only because my younger brother and sister work and live in the U.K. and found a good technician that repaired the turntable for a price much less that it was told to me here in Portugal and i had to ship it to an enterprise in england so now works but i avoid to use it from april till november when temperatures are higher than normal and it happens the same with sony decks one records a cassette and when you hear the recording theres a vibration in all the sound this also because two dented wheels with the heat get out of shape and when a cassette is in rotation if you turn the volume down you can hear a noise coming from the deck that stays in the recordings .I have a friend who fixed is sony deck and when working properly he recorded a cassette at night a group of friends went to is house and he showed us the recording but after 4 songs the vibration started again ,today the sony deck still works but this friend of mine says he only hears old recordings in winter time, regards and health
@@RUfromthe40s maby change those motors will help. Newer motors work quieter more steady.I have all old in my Aiwa adf770. Even pinchrollers are eighties. Just sand them down and works fine. Idler is also 80's. Also sand it and first put some tape to hub,to increase diameter little larger. Aiwa 990 is even more complex and runs more hot,and need even more care and maintaining.
Never had a Tandberg TCD-3014, but I had a TCD-440A which I loved. That was my favorite deck to record on, very easy to use, led lamps to light up to let you know which buttons are pressed. Just had a nicer feel to it than the Nakamichi decks that I have, very smooth acting logic control of the mechanical operation.
I loved that part where you said "resuscitate the cam motor"....! Great video, again. Thanks, buddy.
The three head Naks are something that I have always dreamed of owning from the time I was "introduced" to one in 1983 by the father of a RICH friend's apartment and I fell in love with the Naks.
Now, these appear like Darth Vader (definitely, not breathing or wheezing !) in an era of MP3s and what have you.
After refurbishing them, do you also sell them the world over ??
that's the one I had, loved it.
This sounds like a time warp. After I graduated college, I bought a Nak 581Z at clearance price. A really nice tape deck was a status symbol in 1981. It got very use. With 20/20 hindsight, I realized that cassettes were mostly used to take your LP's on the road, or to copy friend's LP's. One I joined the work force, I didn't go out very much, and I could afford to buy my own records. While I did get a Walkman for jury duty, it took a lot of my limited time to tape two weeks worth of music. The 581Z eventually made it to my in-laws' attic, they may well have gotten rid of it at some point.
Ask them if they still have it
I have one of these. I didn't know it was a prize. I have NAD as well
I own the Dragon, but it is not easy to setup the tape, read the controls, tell which switch is "in" or "out", vu meters hard to tell where 0 is. My favorite deck I have owned for recording was a Tandberg TCD-440A, much more user friendly. Dragon is the ultimate deck for playing back tapes made on other machines, the ultimate auto reverse playback deck. Tandberg also had the fastest ffwd and rwd which would slow down when reaching the end of tape like the old VCR's did. Who else did that?
Třeba Sony ...? :-)
tandberg is maybe the best cassette recorder and player , i have an old tcd-3014 it was from my father but that it seems endless with no problems, i cleaned it once and check the engine also either than that nothing else ,almost forgot once i carry it for 500 km´s in the trunk of my car to other house and the lights went off,regards
I was making decks (I guess I am the only in the World). All of my 5 models, were had better sound quality. Period. Yep, I was making cassete decks, back in 80's. I made one for the guy who was working in our state TV, as video stage technician. One for one cofee bar (still working in Sarajevo, where I live), one for myself, other two for music lovers.
bs
These machines were, and still are, astonishing feats of mechanical and electronic engineering. No wonder they were so expensive. I owned the lowly 480Z but loved it, especially the Dolby C and the incredibly fast fast-forward and rewind.
it´s a shame they didn´t spent more money in better materials to build them
A matter of preference for sure. However, the CR-7E placed below the Dragon twice in 2 prominent German Hifi-Fi magazines in the late 80s early 90s.
And a draw in another prominent German Hifi-Fi magazine
That device it's going back and forth is called The Idler used to be called The Idler tire but that's the idler gear right now
it still is called idler tire ,idler the part where you put the rubber ring ,wich is known as idler tire because of the shape, regards
Cool laboratory!
The Dragon excel in that it has NAAC, auto azimuth during playback and if course it auto reverse to play tapes. It's hence a very complicated deck and with an unfriendly layout for servicing inside. Like anything complicated and being 30 years a lot of things can go wrong. One of the potential problem is the unique play head. Many Dragons have worn play heads today arising in loss of treble either in one channel, either in forward or reverse play direction. Possibly arising out of more hours played on because of the lazy auto reverse mode and folks just leave it in for background music. Many people love the sound of the Dragon but l personally prefer the playback sound signature of the ZX9. It's delicately warm and seductive. The ZX9 is a better recording machine than the Dragon with it's adjustable record head azimuth during recording calibration. Both the Dragon and the ZX9 have the warmer old school sound on playback. Whether or not it's neutral playing prerecorded tapes is up to your ears. But l love the warm reproduction of prerecordeds on them. Both decks use the older classic transport and have quieter and smooth operation and very durable. The CR7 uses a Sankyo transport, a lighter and simplified version of the classic. It either uses a tiny rubber idler and later a gear idler. Tiny rubber means it wears faster but easier to replace compared to the classic transport. More so if it's the Direct drive Dragon and the ZX9. The gear idler is today prone to breaking due to material fatigue and original replacement is non existent. I managed to source gears meant for other applications which fits but they're noisier in operation especially FF and Rew. Now there's a debate regarding the sound of the CR7 vs the older Naks including the Dragon, ZX9, 680zx ,BX300 and so on. In my experience servicing and listening to almost all of them the CR7 is dead neutral in both recording and playback. It was born during the digital CD era and was meant to reproduce sound as faithful as possible. Indeed it is. If you record on it from digital sources including CD it will playback you the sound exactly like your source. Nothing subtracted or added. Ditto if you record from vinyl it will sound like your warm analogue vinyl source. And that's how l personally prefer in a deck. With the older classic transport decks if you record from say CD it will playback with a slight rose tinted warm sound signature. Compare source and recording in the fly when you record and you'll know what l mean. For recordings from digital sources l prefer to play the back in the older Dragon, ZX9 or the BX300. But for playback of recordings from vinyl l prefer to listen to the CR7. One thing l haven't mentioned the autocalibration on the CR7 is a state of art. Takes only seconds to autocalibrate with just a push of a button. In the ZX9 albeit just as accurate there are so many buttons to tweak including the record 🎉 azimuth button. The CR7 dies the same using microprocessor circuit and even adjust recording azimuth using sophisticated electronic phase analyzer by moving the play head instead during calibration to electronically compensate for phase errors on that particular tape if any. The final product is if course to be played back with a perfect play head azimuth setting as the azimuth motor if the CR7 will revert the position back to default. I love Nakamichi decks and so far have collected the CR7, ZX9, 680zx, RX505, BX300, BX125, two 480s and still looking for a minty Dragon. Fyi there are two CR7s someone sent to me for repair, servicing, tuning and recalibration. I've just completed one.
CR7 for recording, DRAGON for playback.
ZX9 is for both!
Dragon for playback, ZX9 for recording, CR7 for a pretty display ;) Yes, I have all 3.
@@Elberoth thezx-9 and the cr-7 are great decks, but the dragon never found it good,this because when new it seems good but after some years of usage ,normally using bad cassettes they cease to work properly, regards and health
I miss the 1980s for the music, my youth, and the terrific high fidelity equipment they used to make back then. You had a wide choice of top quality machines to pick from - the best were all made in Japan or Germany. What we have now is shit. You can't even buy a decent Type II tape anymore. You have to settle for what was back then considered to be mediocre quality on the edge of crap. TDK, Maxell., Memorex... the best brands by far, now all gone.
a way of keeping the nakamichi decks working for much more time is avoiding bad built cassettes that helps destroying any deck , i kept using only TDK ,sony and some chrome basf´s from 81 to 86 after this period basf decrease the quality of the cassettes but at the begining ,the tapes where still good ,the casing was the problem makes the decks engine heat and out of it´s factory calibration because of the extra efort to make the reels inside the cassettes rotate ,maxell was also a brand that i liked and have dozens of cassettes from maxell but they also decrease it´s building quality in mid 90´s the cassettes were really bad, in 97 i bought a lot of tdk boxes of 10 cassettes at 10€ each(at the time there was no € but i made the convertion or exchange) and most of the cassettes a year before cost almost 5 €´s each the metal cassette MA-XG ,a 60 minuts one cost at the time what today is 7.50€´s and a 90 minuts cost 11€ this in 93 still with the 80´s box, using good cassettes or well built it´s a way of keeping any deck working perfect for a lot of years, since late 70´s i tried all cassettes from every brand i could find and in mid 80´s i only bought basf,maxell,tdk and sony (wich kept improving it´s quality ,while the reverse was happening with some of the other brands), i watched a video from cassettecomeback where he shows a revox B215 and it´s standart tape is the basf chrome but he uses the worst basf cassette i´ve ever tried ,this already a 90´s cassette but the standart tape for the revox was the basf chrome from the time the deck was released not the 90´s models that were deck destroyers , i still have some 3 super chrome from 84 and maxima´s from 85/86 and they record perfect the more recent ones in some decks with auto-calibration shows in the display the message "error", i also remenber buying a metal tape from basf the maxima IV that is said also in a cassette comeback video to be the best tape ever ,this because since 1984 basf cease to produce type IV cassettes but i had problems calibrating the cassette and it recorded with a bad sound, so i offer the cassette to a friend who liked the music i had recorded and in my car i had a kenwood good auto-radio from the 80´s and it sounded bad ,so after seeing the video about the cassette in youtube i knew i had a new maxima type IV at home because i had bought a pack of two so i tried in a deck i´m using around 5 years a pioneer CT-959 and recorded a bit and for my surprise it sounded perfect then i press rewind ,thinking that the cassette in this deck was recorded with a very good sound but when almost at the begining of the tape it broke ,i tried to fix it but the tape was so thin that i couldn´t join the two parts it seemed that with the heat from my hands it melted and that was the end of the type IV maxima ,after a few monthes i went to a music store that was closed but it had opened again and he (the owner wich is the father of two of my girl friends)said to me that he sold for an amount he didn´t told me thousands of records lp´s and singles that he didn´t sold since the 70´s till early 90´s but still had lot´s of old cd´s there and he sold to me around 20 cd´s that i wanted for a cheap price and when paying he still had a pack of two of those maxima IV and a maxell ur type I and he ofered me the two maximas metal cassettes but i told him that i prefer the type I maxell, he kind of didn´t understand and i explained that i had problems with the basf type IV and i still have maxell´s type I since early 80´s and they still sound very good so i kept a new maxell UR from the 80´s wich i recorded in a denon deck that i also have the DRM-710 and the recording stayed perfect ,no problems as in the basf maxima IV. Regards and health
Can you put a gear drive in my BX-300?
The CR-7A is a fantastic machine.
Thanks for the insights.
it´s the only nakamichi deck ,i think of buying it, i have a friend who bought one new and till today it´s working with regular maintenance, the cr-7 maybe the best they built after the problems with all others, once i almost bought the zx-9 ,before seeing the cr-7 working for two decades , i´m portuiguese and it´s not because of cristiano ronaldo, nothing related
Huge fan of the CR7A. Way more than the Dragon. Seriously, I have had Nakamichis and never once did I want a Dragon. Motor issues and other things turn me off. The CR7A and the ZX-9 ZX-7 and other Nakamichis are going to make me happy before the Dragon ever does.
that´s exactelly my opinion i tested at home a zx-9 also a zx-7 but ended up buying the CR-7 wich seems much better than the dragon from 1982
Which motor issues? Any motor in any deck can be easily replaced. Dragon has two extra quality direct drives for capstans and there will be no problem with these ones. Idler motor can be replaced easily. And NAAC motor too. WTF are you talking about? That' the logic like "I don't like Maseratti because maybe, in the future I will replace worn electric generator"
@@RUfromthe40s What the dumb bs are you writing here? Last Dragons was produced in 1994
Nice deck, but I am a little puzzled that Nakamichi did not use the tape cassette indentations to auto choose the tape position, with a manual override (or maybe it does that already), plus since they have auto calibration, why not let the microcomputer "taste" the tape for length and auto-do that as well?
Therefore their decks seem overcrowded with buttons that could either be left out, or be used as a supplement.
Thanks for sharing.
All Nakamichi makes today are home speaker systems for your TV. Cheap crap Made In China that you can buy at Best Buy or Walmart's. Very sad.
Didn't want to pay for a CR7. Settled for a CR5. What I miss the most is level calibration, which usually isn't a problem if I don't use any exotic tape.
I would propose that the 1000ZXL is THE Dragon killer.
Have both , CR-7 and Dragon 🐉, other decks as well , each deck has character , they sound differently , different generations , both Brilliant , no winners here , depends on personal preference , CR-7 sounds more like CD digital like sound , Dragon more sounds more "analogy"
that meaning......(both are analogue and the cr-7 far better)
NAK's were the brand with the most above average performing decks. But reliability suffered from critical transport ctl parts made of plastic. Azimuth adjustment is a gimmick and pointless because if wide bandwidth heads are used like Revox B215, no need to realign heads. Plus if you realign record head, those tapes sound crap on other decks, even other NAK's. I had a Dragon in 3K range s/n. Willy Herman advised to dump it because they got too many unfixable probs.
@@dubdoodle7191 The azimuth adjustment is for playback of tapes recorded on other/low quality machines with potentially skewed heads, and for listening to old and dubiously recorded tape material it is indispensable - that's why for listening to old tapes decks w azimuth adjustment win over anything else.
In the Dragon the azimuth adjustment primarily serves to counter the inherent but default design flaw of autoreverse.
@@nanao.292 Nakamichi's azimuth adjustment was just a gimmick. The majority of these decks don't work properly because of the cheap plastic gears used. A proper good quality head doesn't require azimuth adjustment, try using a Revox B215 or a Tandberg 3014.
@@miss.wright3035 I wouldn't mix up (alleged) reliability w real sound you can get. As for Revox or Tandberg - ok but I would have to get used to their looks first... Also try reading my post more carefully for what Ive actually said.
yes much better than the dragon ,that i had two in diferent decades but i have to refer also the ZX-9 and the cassette deck 1 (maybe the best of all)
I wouldn't exactly call the CR-7 a Dragon killer IMO. The CR-7 has strengths and weaknesses but sonically it's sound quality is inferior to the sound of the Dragon. Both decks benefit from a full orange PP and Electrolytic cap replacement due to their age. Makes a big difference. The Dragon sounds great in standard form but when you make some modest modifications (replacement of the standard 4066 ICs to Ant Audio 4066) it elevates the sound quality to another level. I own both units and in my opinion the Dragon is the best tape deck I have ever heard against any other high end deck from the likes of Sony, Technics, Yamaha, Kenwood etc etc. Without a doubt!
ANT 4066 is not available anymore, is it? I'd love to implement this mod on my Dragon...
@@ychesnokov It is highly recommended. Send Alex an email to see if he's still selling them. www.ant-audio.co.uk/
funny for me it was the reverse, maybe diferent decks for diferent countries sony does that a lot with decks and amplifiers
and saying that the CR-7 sounds worse than the Dragon ,there a first for everything ,in my opinion the CR-7(i´m portuguese but nothing related with cristiano ronaldo) is the best deck ever made by nakamichi not counting the "new" upgraded 1000ZXL
i forget to refer that at late 80´s hi-fi publications tested a lot of decks because at the time some said that the Dragon was the best deck in the world ,and the one that stayed ahead was the pioneer CT-939, i have a lot of components from pioneer and that deck is maybe the one i don´t like compared with others, regards
SkyFi, do you do repairs on these cassette decks that you do not sell? I have a CR-7E that needs repair. Also, do you possibly have a FADER ^ button you can sell me? Mine is missing.
Approximately how much do you charge to do a maintenance service on a deck?
I have a JVC KD85 that I would like to have freshened up. :-)
What about the Revox B215? Doesn't that deserve a mention alongside the Nakamichis and the Tandberg?
I wonder if @SkyFi Audio ever put their hands on a Revox B215 and what their verdict is?
A question concerning the display of the CR 7: The green VU-meter lights technology is LED, right ?
Sensacional, calidad,
Thanks, we agree!
best respond in fast forward , rewind and playback was the Yamaha KX-500u but it only had a two head : (
I bought my Dragon from my friend who has the CR7A. Guess which one he likes.
the cr-7 is incredible compared to the average sound of the dragon, i´m portuguese but i don´t writte this beacuse of cristiano ronaldo and yes i´m one of those who spent a fortune in 1985 to have a Dragon but sold it fast before it started to give problems, regards and health
I like the ZX9, Arcam Delta 100s and Pioneer CT91-A
@AUDIO MAN no power? Check the power section for blown fuses, psu caps, diodes and resisters.
@AUDIO MAN clean controls, check for dried joints and or loose ribbon cables etc..
@AUDIO MAN sometimes it could be a very simple problem.
I just received my faulty CR-7A today so seeing your video was prescient.
First off, do you have any spare azimuth knobs you might want to sell to me, mine is missing?
Mine has so much not working that it's hard to know where to begin but I'll probably check all the supplies and then recondition the mechanism.
I appreciate the comment about the motor causing play to not work, I'll keep that in mind.
I'm currently repairing a 1000ZXL, 482ZX, a CT-F950 and a couple of others. I've mostly repaired my ZX-7. See my youtube channel if interested. I'm not a business, just a hifi nut who's been in electronics all my life. I enjoyed your no-nonsense description, far too many fluff videos out there of 3 minutes of owners pressing buttons. I tend to agree about the CR-7 being the killer. I love my CR-5 but I wanted that CR-7 playback quality and auto-cal. The CR-5 and 7 have different playback heads but I don't know how important that is. The CR-7 stands apart due to its azimuth playback and the auto-cal.
fyi, there is a cheap non original motor Mabuchi RF-310TH-11400 (that I have learned from tapeheads.net) available from several sellers on ebay that can be used as cam motor for this sankyo transport if original is not available. I would not recomment you to refurbish the original motor as in my experience it seems to work when you test it on a DC power, and it even looks like running normally, but when you put it back in the deck it does not work, because there are still dead spots, and this is critical for the transport. Dont forget to also replace the tension belt - its easy to find replacement for, but when it is overlooked and breaks suddenly, can cost you some valuable tape. Cheers
@@ychesnokov Thanks for the tip and the subscription. Not sure when I get to look at my cr7. I've finally , after 3 months, got belts for a few other decks which need to be looked at first. Regarding the back torque belt, a funny story.....
When I got my cr5 it played great but every now and then a tape would chew up by going askew at the supply pinch roller. WTF? Anyway on youtube I saw someone have the same trouble with the main capstan pinch roller. He eventually pinned it down to the back tension belt. I vaguely remembered that video and thought, but hey mine doesn't use a belt there, it must be different. I took another look by taking off the plate and sure enough there was no belt. Wait, what! There was no belt because it had completely evaporated.!!!!
I put in a rubber band from my desk and it now works perfectly. (I'm waiting for proper belts, still waiting after +2 months)
so latter models have grear and vented top? do you know which after then what the serial numbers those are?
Where do the Naka' ZX-7 and ZX- 9 rate on that list of 'best'?
Can you tell me if the CR7A currently on your web site for sale (May 21, 2021) has the gear or rubber reel drive?
You got the specs in the description from the HIFIENGINE website (I can tell by the way it's written).
i like this coment, acurate
Certainly it was not overlooked they sold more CR7A than Dragons in fact the recording studios used them for cassette master .
Hello do you guys recapping capacitors ? I have Nakamichi zx-7
I wanted one in the 90s but couldn't afford it.....
Could you tell us more about the lubricants on the plastics that you use please?
I'm up in Boston and recently found one of these in a thrit store. How would I test out if it has been serviced and know what needs servicing? Have never got into audio gear before and just had a lucky score here, will probably keep it as a cornerstone piece now =)
You need various calibration cassettes and a voltmeter, oscilloscope, tone generator etc. Also a copy of the service manual.
I have heard both of the Nakamichi decks in my travels but the best deck I ever heard was the Teac Z-7000 but this group of decks was in the top 5 ever made plus the top Sony deck they only made these once and will never make them again
So this deck is better than the zx7 and zx9?
i don't have any nakamichi decks. which is regrettable as now they are out of reach in price. i think i'd rather a zx-7, zx-9, or dragon though. the ability to adjust record azimuth alone would be a great feature to have in a recording deck, and that's what i want the most out of a deck. plus auto calibration isn't really a feature i want. tone assisted manual calibration is more fun.
but, maybe you want one that works properly for some years so avoid the dragon, the CR-7 is the best and i have a zx-9 also a great deck, but the Pioneer CT-959 or the CT-939MKII are really great also
Is 3D printing making the rarity of OEM parts less of a concern?
Not yet, but probably someday.
I have both a dragon and cr7 (and a 680zx and a second dragon) and personally i think the cr7 looks better
that´s my opinion to, i had a lot of diferent nakamichi decks at home during the 80´s and ended up buying a cr-7 ,(i´m portuguese and it´s not related with cristano ronaldo the football player, CR7)regards
Update, just bought my friend's CR7A. There is a coin type battery for data backup in the CR7A that has leaked on the circuit board, Logic PCB. If anyone has one of these units you should check the battery for condition. If anyone knows where to find a battery let me know where. Can only find lot quantities of 100 or more, I need only one. CR2032FT Sanyo number. Thank you for your consideration.
it's non-rechargeable battery, so de-solder the old junk, solder the cr2032 holder (you can get it on ebay for few pennies) and insert the new battery. What's the problem?
@@deaddycruel Problem is it is a highly collectable deck, and as soon as you start altering it you ruin the resale value. If it is a garden variety machine, of course.
A better option is one of those batteries that comes with soldered on wires and is encased in heat shrink, then use double stick tape to mount it. That way it could be restored to stock without modification of the circuit board.
Sold it back to the fellow I bought it from, had damaged heads and other issues, so I got my money back and he sold it as a parts unit. Very high hour machine, not worth restoring IMHO.
@@zulumax1 you can buy any CR2032 with welded terminals but natural logic shall suggest you that it will be much more comfortable to change battery if you solder battery holder and then you will get an ability to replace batteries. It's not obvious? These PCBs are 30-40 years old and soldering it many times is not a good idea
@@deaddycruel The new owner can certainly opt for that. Those batteries will last a long time. I still have 486 computers that had good batteries in them and they were 1994 vintage and just now are EOL. I used to sit and do PCB mods for engineering changes on circuit boards for 8 hours a day, you are not telling me something I don't already know.
@@zulumax1 you're telling senseless bs. In any vintage electronics almost all electrolytic (and not only) capасitors are going out of their specs and this process of capacitors' aging is natural. Tape deck is not peice of stone, it's electronics which shall be serviced to stay within manufacturer specifications and any deck has a long list of serviceable parts. With your twisted "logic" nobody shall replace pinch rollers, belts or dead or worn LEDs etc. and just look at the dead device because there's "original" battery. It's just d**b
do you have a video on the Nakamicci 500 ?
Revox B215 is the Dragon Killer💪🤪
Can you film some of your repairs?
is sound quality what you are looking for then nakamichi dragon is the very best! you want the best sound out of your old cassettes?
nakamichi dragon is the right choice.
nakamichi dragon could have been made a little better inside I think if you think about what it costs new!
that´s right till the Dragon stops working properly and there are lot´s of better decks to listen to old tapes as i have hundreds of recordings since late 70´s ,i started with a new CT-200 from pioneer my first deck, using maxell tapes who are still with great sound today , i don´t know but maybe living in a very dry region helped the cassettes arrive to today without any problems ,the only cassete i have problems is the basf super type I ,they play with great sound but after a minut one needs to clean the heads, the extra and the maxima I are still perfect , in late 80´s i bought a pack of two maxima´s I and they recorded with great sound and the coulor of the tape is very dark like the tdk AD-X from mid 80´s, i even thought that they were using fecr2 tapes on those cassettes that were the best tape till they developed the type IV, a person comented that bought new old stock fecr cassettes and they were very bad ,it´s normal if they were since 1982 in a place with humidity the cassette wouldn´t be still good today, mine are still the same(not making reference to bob seger´s song) ,very good. Regards and health
about the cost ,i´ve seen some that say´s refurbished being sold for more money they cost new, at the time almost 2.000 dollars, i ended up not buying one, this because i also like old cars and with that money i could buy a perfect condition mercedes or bmw from the 70´s or late 60´s and later i bought 4 bmw´s 2002 all diferent specifications and year ,this in 1989 with the money that i could buy a dragon, 3 years ago i sold one 2002tii for 50.000€ (light blue one),Regards
@@RUfromthe40s ok. yes some nakamichi cassette decks were very expensive
Yeah but you can actually 3D print that gear if you have the size and diameter of it and the teeth count so it's not that hard to reproduce it's a matter of fact you could probably 3D printed out of a harder material
I already have the true Killer......The Harmon Kardon CD-491. God bless bro.
I have that too. But no, it doesn't have the azimuth adjusting capability found on the CR7A.
@@eggshellskullrule7971 - I knew you where gonna say that. Auto azimuth is indeed awesome. Nakamichi doesn’t have real B & O HX Pro so no one is perfect lol. The 680ZX is my favorite Nak of all time for daily listening. The Dragon, Cr-7a, ZX-9 etc. They’re all awesome but the sound quality of HK Cd491 is king.
@@ryanjofre I agree with you. I am a cassette deck collector and the only deck that I like as much as my Nakamichi Dragon and Nakamichi 1000 is my Harman/Kardon CD-491.
No machine is perfect, as I prefer the Dragon and CD-491 for playing, but for recording the Nakamichi 1000 is the king!
@@eggshellskullrule7971 yes, it´s not suposed to
@@eggshellskullrule7971 but you´re not going to spend a fortune in a bad deck to during some monthes or a year with luck, automatically found the perfect azimuth this already owning a very good deck
As I remember it this deck has a -3 dB point at a very impressive 25 kHz.
18-21K Hz +/- 3dB
hey guys my grandfather was wealthy and crazy over sound alot of the decks i see he has brand new still in the boxes,reel to reel to and turntables amp metel tapes cases of them,he past away and i have all of it not sure what im going to do with it right now
Hi Tina, sorry to hear, and thanks for your message. Please visit our website Contact Us section to give us a ring to discuss if you'd like. We buy equipment all the time. Stay safe.
I an having CR 7 and ZX682 ZX decks of Nakamichi.Both are lying with thevtechi sincevthd last 5 years or fo.The CR 7 only problem is tgat it automatically goes to recordingbmode when it us under playback mode and I do not have the remote of this deck.
The 682 decks I had given yo replace tge pp caps and replace almost bald heads with my old ZX 7 record, play heads but both the decks are lying there as it is .He is not able to share tge IC number to replace in the CR 7 deck so that yhe play and record do not get mixed up.
I will bring back both the decks to keep them as it is till such time a good and reliable techie is avsilable here .
My shop. Loaned. Me one 🤪
Hi, I live in Brazil. We don't have specialized Nakamichi support here. My CR 70 after 10 minutes playing a tape, looses the speed and stop. If you press the STOP swicth and after the PLAY switch, it starts again. But after few minutes the defect occurs again. I have a friend who is an experient electronic technician. He has the service manual, but could not find the defect origin. Would you mind to give me you contact? He has some thecnique questions. Thank you.
@Dani Swingler My unir Works for 10 minutes loses speed and stop. If i press the play again, work for more few minutes.
Do you guys also service the Nakamichi RX-505?
Store all rubber and rubberised spares with a light coating of talcum powder.
Rubber doesnt dry out. Its progressively attacked by ambient ozone and other gases yes even in a plastic bag. The talcum powder adsorbs the ozone effectively scrubbing it before it can touch the rubber.
Also the talc will stop rubberised parts from welding together over the years they sit in the same container.
Just a quick wipe to remove the talc and bingo good as new. Literally..
Im a scientific instrument engineer specialising air pollution gases. And our ozone generators wouldve killed all our rubber spares and tubing without talc..
I’ve always believed money was ultimately the reason behind the demise of these great instruments. There was never, at least to my way of thinking, a reason for them to cease production. A very greedy music industry, corporate forces, perhaps. It’s quite sad.
not really a dragon killer when it's from the same company... unless fratricide runs in the family
all are on bord of the cassette deck ship, dragon was discussed in the end of the 80´s and also talked about in early 90´s was never considered a good deck, just to throw money to the gutter. in a test in late 80´s they(technicians all over europe) , refer as far better the pioneer CT-939mkII, also the revox, the akai, the tandberg ,the lowe, the......etc., i had several at home and did like the zx-9 and cr-7a or the 1000zxl ,they are good but there are other as good as, regards
@@RUfromthe40s
*interesting, i just bought my first, a bx-1, in a nice clean silver :)*
*what do you think about those?*
*i had been saving funds, and reading a lot for awhile, and this weekend i had ordered a lot of different headphones, a headphone amp, and the bx-1*
*very excited to start in on listening sessions!*
*cheers*
@@vibrationalkeys3320 never heard cassettes on one of those but they might be good as any mid-range cassette decks, maybe they are better than other nakamichi´s they don´t have a lot to fail as the expensive ones
@@vibrationalkeys3320 enjoy
Can this deck auto reverse like the dragon?
Nice movie, cool equipment, I invite you to my and not only my films from Poland in a similar atmosphere. Greetings from Poland
The CR7 does not have a counter belt sir.
I'm looking for a Nakamichi Dragon or RC7A tape deck; do you have for sale?
no
Panasonic rips that to bits on dynamic range. I'm talking analogue audio,
yes, Matsushita always released good material, well there are a few that.....
Why do they use plastic cogs?
Its cheap to manufacture I guess.
They used to use a Tire & Rubber unit and then now they use a gear they used to use the same system and VCRs and now they've gone to a metal gear in the newer cassette decks because they've come back with cassette decks so they no longer use a plastic or a rubber wheel use a metal gear which is a lot better they don't wear out as fast
i say the same about cars and their transmission belt
Dragons just require to much effort to keep them up to scratch
I agree, you need to be a technician just to keep it going. I am, and I own a Dragon. Rewind just got sluggish, needs a new rubber tire.
@@zulumax1 I have started to collect the 1979-1983 Sony TC-K series (I put a small village on my channel) the Model TC-K81 is an excellent tank KFC a deck. Does all the bits of a more expensive nakamishi...for 1/5 of the price
@@craigdavidson2278 I have a TC-K555 that sounds wonderful, but has some issues. Put some of my decks up on CZcams here with three hifi vhs JVC units. czcams.com/video/rrd4zlswZ94/video.html
@@zulumax1 put comment on your channel. I also have Philips DCC300 (not sure if you had a play with digital cassettes) and I have an old Pioneer A400 amplifi that has just come to light after 21 years in the garage......still works.
But they're not telling you is a lot of those Japanese brands connect to change with Nakamichi because Nakamichi is nothing but your paint japanese-made some parts from Sony some parts from Kenwood some parts from other brands can fit an interchange with Nakamichi if you know what you're doing I've done a lot of work on them and I've been able to substitute parts and they worked absolutely fine so don't let them say that they've got a special line on the specialty parts it's not always that you can interchange certain parts with other name brands
several nakamichi had rubber wheels that you could upgrade to gears!
nakamichi tape player should have been made better! a little disappointing that they are not
dont mean to turn down nakamichi fans, the function is probably awesom and i´d love to see one in real, just the plastic look of the dragon and also this cr-7a is, hmm a bit too modern and meaningless. decks such as pioneer CT-F1000 just look soo much better. the synthesis of both would be perfect.
anybody looking for a Nakamichi 680
indeed, pretty "cool" MC Deck. But on this high level of vintage audio gear, a discussion "which is the best" etc. becomes similar complex and resultless than e.g. n the realm of vinyl record player adn the rest of it. After all it depends on the "source" record, the media, the "pick up", the electronics, the reliability, usability and finally the whole aidio chain used.