DuB-EnG: Worlds Best 1975 Cassette Tape Deck - NAKAMICHI 600 - Service Repair Review Restoration
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- Опубліковано 14 лис 2020
- 40 Year old NAKAMICHI better than DENON, ONKYO, AIWA, SONY, TECHNICS - The Nakamichi 600 Teardown, a look inside, Servicing, Replacing the drive belt, Cleaning, Degaussing, Demagnetizing / Demagnetising tape heads, Aligning, Adjusting levels, setting Chrome and 70us vs 120us bias... MPX and I.M. Supression... I hope you love this video... It's taken weeks to make!! I loved making it!
- Наука та технологія
My dad had this deck back in 1976. It was an awesome piece of equipment that looked like it belonged in a professional recording studio. It was a solid unit.
Thanks for sharing! - Yes, an absolute MACHINE milled from billet aluminium! :-)
I have been keeping one if these alive for 35 years. Built like a tank.
I may ... sadly ... sell mine... at least I know it’s been really well serviced!!
@@DubiousEngineering They are fantastic machines. I need to do a torque gauge setting on it. Do you have one, I realise UK to NZ is a long way.
What a great bit of gear. I love the look of this era of hifi (and the sound)
it’s a real beast... solid old school construction... I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked on eBay and they are selling for 4 or 5 hundred quid!
Stunning quality. Always great content on this channel.
Glad you enjoy it!... Thanks for your encouragement Tron! ... Cool name BTW
If I can add this comment too - I love decks from this era, why? They are often built like tanks, and the circuits are generally understandable and repairable, no silly and hard-to-find ICs to source. Although that's not always the case. I have 18 decks in my collection/restoration - yes, I must be (nearly) mad! LOL
OMG a proper cassette machine machine lover,!!!
How we've fallen. From brass locking nuts to crappy little plastic clips! It's really well made and you got some good close up in this one.
Thanks Error!! ... I'm in love with this machine :-) Everything just feels like it could last forever... That said, one day it will need a re-cap... thats going to be a lot of hard work!!
That is a lovely bit of kit, so well made and "easy" to work on.
it continues to bring a smile to my face! ... Hope you’re well Ben!
There are two decks I would love to own from this era - the Nakamich 600 II, and the lovely Sony TC-177SD. Both mint of course!
I had one of those, mainly used it with head phones in the barrack block but occasionally through a BIG amp and speakers
you must have had some money back then! ... I just looked on eBay and these are going for £400... can you remember how much you splurged on yours?
@@DubiousEngineering LOL But I had loads of money when I first joined the RAF, not because of what they paid but the job I had before LOL cannot remember what it cost but it was a present for getting of of basic. (Square bashing).
Fabulous decks. My dad has a '92 Nakamichi deck which is so clean and accurate in sound.
It's an auto reverse that actually ejects and spins the tape to the opposite direction.
I heard of a nakamichi that self calibrates ... I had no idea they existed 3 months ago... now I want all of them! I hope the week is being good to you so far!
@@DubiousEngineering so far so good, Hope you are well also,
That's the 505, fantastic deck
I’ll look that up!!!
Fantastic video, great machine. My little brother found one being thrown out... it was in very good condition and almost worked.. the grease on a little pivot (capstain pivot?) had seized, I cleaned it and put a little dab of something on it and it works. I have suggested he gets it serviced, properly, that's a little beyond me. The only problem of note with it is that if you activate the test tone, it stays on... switch is, I'd guess dirty.
Ahhh yes, you can buy cans of spray on switch cleaner... or take it apart and use some silicone lubricant!
@@DubiousEngineering Audiogold in North London service them, and are trustworthy. The chap suggested taking it there rather than posting... a charge of about 300 quid should be expected, to be fair to him, he also said 'if it works, just enjoy it until you get problems' as he accepted the servicing cost is considerable... they sell them once serviced for the best part of a grand!
I love this deck. Got it with my Nak One Rack hooked up to NS 1000's!
Love mine too... just a solid deck!
I remember when that deck first came out , the press weren’t that impressed ! I still love nakamichi decks and have one myself .
I still have tis one, but am thinking about putting it up for sale soon....
That was a nice rendition of "Bicyclists on Bad Weather" at the start. :)
You superstar!! ... One door closes and other DOORS open :-). Needs more guitar!!
Got one myself sat in store. Previously had a pair of Tri Tracer 1000's which were stunning.
I absolutely love this device!!!
Потрясающий аппарат!!!👍
Amazing deck!
@@DubiousEngineering i agree!)
Nakamichi always made great decks though they can be quite complex ,i would love a dragon but way out of my price range .The late tdk sa with the blue graphics on them are made by Imation in the later years a lot of companys out sourced there cassettes .cassette comeback is a good channel if you want to find out about cassettes and how good different tapes are .
Wow! ... I'll ceck out cassette comeback shortly! Thanks for the top tip! All the best, H
own one of these babys and a 60ii and 500 amongst others
They are lush!!
@@DubiousEngineering I do need advice 1 VU bulb has gone are they easy to replace for the nak 600 thanks
Could only afford the 500, but loved it to its last day which I think was only ten years ago, about the time my audio equipment got a little too good for it. One time in the 70s it needed work and since I was already driving to LA I brought it to the then headquarters. They took it in and asked me to come back the next day and it was fixed for no charge! It seems the Nakamichi name is now at the lowest end of things at Walmart, sad.
Oh wow! - They still sell Nakamichi in USA? - I need to go to Walmart again!! I loved that place when I lived in Chicago :-) - Thanks for sharing Harold!! Take care and have a fantastic weekend mate!! :-) Howard
@@DubiousEngineering please don't get too excited. I saw mainly headphones and they were very cheap. The Wikipedia page tells a bit of the story of Niro Nakamichi and his efforts after his company was bought out. He never gave up creating.
@@haroldclark4485 yep....the story of akai holdings is a very sad one, nakamichi unfortunately took a hit becuz of that transaction
That was a nice looking, solid machine with lots of metal. Chunky! Oh, btw,, Your tapedecks speed might be off, since you recorded the 400Hz testtone on the deck itself, so it of course plays it back at 400Hz. To see if the tapespeed is accurate though, You'd need a tape with a testtone that is recorded on a deck where you know the speed is accurate, then You'd need to play it back on the Nakamichi and see if theres a frequency variation, then adjust the speed of the motor accordingly, if needed. I love Stereo gear from the 70's. I don't think todays gear will still be useable after 40 years.
I need a calibration tape... that would also check the head alignment too... I may well invest in one now I have an epic deck! I hope you’re having a great week! all the best! H
15:00 - Wow, it's the sort of thing a 'hacker geek' like me would have on all 'pro' tape drives.
Self calibrating flutter adjustment...
[ looks at his 1981 Dual brand tape tape and thanks the Cats of the 'net he can get a full schematic for no money ]
thank the lucky stars for the internet... half the vintage kit I own has cut diagrams in pdf online :-). ... must admit, love this device... sounds fantastic!
Fascinating to watch. I wonder if you could restore my JVC top loader from the same era. It's a lovely sounding machine just a bit temperamental.
There’s a strong possibility Mike! Pop me an email and let’s talk... HowardLJTaylor at gmail dot com
Once had the opportunity to buy a near minter fully working for £60...but didn't - what a mistake to make !
Wow! - I have no idea how much mine is worth now!
Excellent video, thank you for making it.
I have a question, in my 600 unit, when I put a cassette in and press play, after a couple of seconds it stops. I've changed the belt, but the problem still continues.
Can you suggest what I could try next?
Use a volt meter and current meter to see if the motor is stalling, check all the cogs and wheels to make sure they are free running.
🛠👍😊
Thanks 🙏 sparky!! :-)
Hello my friend excellent video. I have the same unit as in your video. The unit powers up but will not turn the tapes when hitting the play button. Needles bounce when I pop a tape in. Drive belt seems to be intact, any suggestions?
Check voltages are being applied to motor with multimeter
Thank you Sir
I just picked up one of these off of marketplace near mint from the original owner. Upon first playback it’s playing the tape slightly slower than what’s actually recorded if I compare it to a digital file. Would that lean to needing a new drive belt? Or adjustment of the tape speed knob? Any help is GREATLY appreciated.
I’d do both John. Drive belt first and then re-check speeds ... out of interest what price was it advertised at?!? I’m interested to know what mine is worth!
@@DubiousEngineering ok thanks. I followed along with this video to take it apart and I checked my drive belt. Looks original I think but it’s not brittle. Can you help me find a good replacement belt? Share a link to one you’d recommend? I paid $400 for mine shipped. There are recent sales on eBay for these clean but not serviced for around $300. Serviced for $400-500. This one I found is in better condition than most I’ve seen so I was fine with paying more. The seller told me it was 100% but obviously it’s not if the speed is a tad slow. I’m fine with replacing the belt myself. I think if I were told the belts were original I would have offered $300 tops. Oh well lol
@@jhelmuth87 Thanks so much for your info... so I re-watched my video and I think its a 3mm by 130mm flat belt. Check if they want diameter, radius or length! - I have no link to the purchase - sorry!! All the best and enjoy the new machine!!
良いっすね
It really is good!! - Thank you for saying hello!! Hugs to Japan!!
Interesting, I just opened mine and I couldn't find a single fuse. I believe the reason why it's located at such weird place it's because it was added a bit later on, and missing from the first serial numbers.
That's interesting to hear 😀
This is great. What size was the belt please?!
I think I used a ruler and read out the belt size
Lol, the 1000 was wayyyyyyyy better than the 600 and the 700 was also out 2 years before,
Both of those are 3 heads that can hold up to reel to reel quite well
The 600 on the other hand is a 2 head deck with no monitor function and on top of that is even more of a pain in the ass to fix than the 700
You certainly know your Nakamichi!!! :-) ... this unit is still quite lovely :-)
@@DubiousEngineering def is but uh just get yourself a 1000 or a 700, and if you really wanna go balls out, check out the ZXL versions of those decks, ZXE in europe
They are something to behold
Hi how fast do these machines run , thanks
They are standard speed - not high speed high bandwidth.
@@DubiousEngineering hi it was just in comparison to reel to reel as I'm toying between the two , thanks
@@MrBubbies543 if your interested in this unit, let me know. I’m in UK
05:45 Where do you get "Alcahol"?
Hahaha .. alcohol... duh
No pitch control?
Interesting right!
Beware 90% of what is to be done has not been shown. A good dozen of screws and parts must be removed ( and re-fixed) so It’s “a little” more difficult than what it looks and not for rookies…
I also didn’t show a lot of the setting up of the bias controls which is even more of a challenge than unscrewing screws. If I had gone into full detail this video would be a couple of hours long! :-)