Hi Karl. I've serviced quite a few Dragons, and even own one. To measure the frequency response, the input signal must be at -20dB. All cassette deck manufactures specs are measured at this reference level. I've also performed complete re-capping with high grade Nichicon fine gold and MUSE audio grade electrolytic capacitors, and I've reached 22kHz on a type 1 cassette. BTW, thanks for the tip on recording type III cassettes on this machine.
I have a Dragon that's being serviced right now. I couldn't believe when the Conan soundtrack popped up as your test source! I was just listening to that very soundtrack!! Well done sir!
I really appreciate your level of quality and your content. Great review as always! In my memories, cassette sounds like type 1 without Dolby as this was what I normally fiddle around back then. Results with Type 2 and Dolby C are quite impressive! Type 3 and 4 I had never contact with, especially 4 seems to be the best what you can get out of the technology. But especially your 2nd tune also reveals the limitations of the technology regarding to frequency bandwidth. I remember recording my tapes from FM radio back then, this was common for us kids as we mostly do not have the pocket money to buy records. Nice memories. It was all about timing to start end end the record at the perfekt time to do not record the beginning of the next tune or some speech.
the type IV isn´t the best i can say that the Metal Master from Sony and the MA-XG from TDK are the best not forgeting the Maxell MX or the before 84 Metal IV from BASF and in the 90´s the MAXIMA IV from this used to be the best brand, i have some of each but never bought them as others are better even for the better working of the deck you have , in a good deck if the source is good a cheap type I can sound better than a SA-X from TDK that are the best chrome tapes after the ´till 1984 BASF Super II and Maxima II
an awesome cassette deck. I first i saw/heard of it was as a 15 year old school student back in 1982. I couldnt believe such great sound could come from the humble cassette. I purchased my first Nak a CR3 in 1989. The following year,1990, i upgraded to a CR7. Both were great decks. A friend of mine owned a Dragon since the mid 80s and we always traded banter about which deck was better. Sound wise they are both on Par. What tips the CR7 for me is The Meters,Real time Counter,Manual Azimuth even via remote...and lastly the auto calibration feature. Either deck i would be happy with. Great video,look forward to more like this. Perhaps a CR7 review?. Cheers.
I got myself the BX-300 and have been wondering, was there a very brief moment in time between 1980 and maybe 1995 where owning anything higher in quality would have ever been worth the money. The quality is so high that I can only see a it being of use for either recording studios, broadcasting or MAYBE recording any format that had a very short lifespan (like the 8-Track). Outside of that, the CD player, a Reel-to-Reel player or a professional Multitrack recorder would have been preferred by professionals. Even the VHS has high quality audio. I don't have ambitions to die on the hill that the Dragon was a useless marvel of engineering for the Cassette Decks but I'm super curious what the specific demographic was.
A beautiful presentation! I seriously consider all of Nakamichi’s tape decks, p r e c i s i o n instruments to be used for recording only, and handled extremely carefully, and never flogged about. Playback, in my ideal world, would take place on Top model Philips, and Top model Marantz decks. Thank you for posting.
Excellent video! However, I never seen a Dragon that couldn't easily reach 20 k in the high frequencies even with type one tape and I've seen Dragon's that measure over 22k with Metal. So I suspect yours might need some work.
The Dragon was the last analogue deck I owned, before that it was a BX300E and the 680ZX. All in all, the Dragon was the worst Nakamichi deck. Not because it sounded bad, no, it was due to mechanical problems with the tape path. In reverse mode, it left a slight bend in the lengthwise direction of the tape, killing the high frequency range. Several adjustment attempts by a specialist workshop failed and after some struggle, the deck was replaced, but unfortunately it had the same problem, although not as pronounced and only with certain tapes from one brand, all of which were expensive. If I had known then, I would probably have switched to the CR7 or a B215.
20 years ago I owned a nakamichi Dragon and a Nakamichi 670 ZX . Then I sold the dragon because the 670 ZX sounds so much better.. Dragon did sound like plastic....
NAK's are garbage and poor quality. Any experienced technician can confirm that. There's only 1 deck that's superior build quality and absolute reference level - ReVox B215
Dragon the worst deck ever built, and i had two , all others you´ve showed are all perfect functioning decks taking out the Sony, the Z-7000 or 9000 are good decks because they sound good and still work today with regular maintenance, maybe the CT-F1250 from Pioneer is the best ever built deck and not a dificult choice just try it once and enough to notice it´s perfection, but i have to say ,the Dragon is a remarkable deck as even not at 100% of it´s quality working is the best and let´s be real none works at 100% more than 30 minuts but i wish i had bought more so i could buy some more sportive cars as they sell like hot bread coming out of a woven , i understnd they feel nice but cassette deck i guess one can call uit that but isn´t a good one or average just pure stupidity and far from being the first computorised deck as some say maybe the BX-2 is their best deck, more important to refer that i always choose well built cassettes , not refering to the price but to it´s perfect building as some of the most used cassettes are deck destroyers, it resumes to , BASF LH-EXTRA I ,CHROME SUPER II, MAXIMA II, METAL IV till 85 excluded, MAXELL till the 90´s light grey casing , Sony(funny but it´s true) always , TDK always, the rest there are many good ones but here and there ,so really good are this i refer excluding the cheap metal cassettes from Sony the XR and XS(were cheap , the same as a UX-S ) and the type I, if before 1986 were good with preference do not use another than C60 cassetes but 90 minuts are ok just take more than the 60 minuts ones
Hi Karl. I've serviced quite a few Dragons, and even own one. To measure the frequency response, the input signal must be at -20dB. All cassette deck manufactures specs are measured at this reference level. I've also performed complete re-capping with high grade Nichicon fine gold and MUSE audio grade electrolytic capacitors, and I've reached 22kHz on a type 1 cassette. BTW, thanks for the tip on recording type III cassettes on this machine.
I have a Dragon that's being serviced right now. I couldn't believe when the Conan soundtrack popped up as your test source! I was just listening to that very soundtrack!! Well done sir!
Cracking choice in both the deck and the soundtrack.
I really appreciate your level of quality and your content. Great review as always! In my memories, cassette sounds like type 1 without Dolby as this was what I normally fiddle around back then. Results with Type 2 and Dolby C are quite impressive! Type 3 and 4 I had never contact with, especially 4 seems to be the best what you can get out of the technology. But especially your 2nd tune also reveals the limitations of the technology regarding to frequency bandwidth. I remember recording my tapes from FM radio back then, this was common for us kids as we mostly do not have the pocket money to buy records. Nice memories. It was all about timing to start end end the record at the perfekt time to do not record the beginning of the next tune or some speech.
When I was a little brat, I never had anything else but type 1 and I was happy :)
the type IV isn´t the best i can say that the Metal Master from Sony and the MA-XG from TDK are the best not forgeting the Maxell MX or the before 84 Metal IV from BASF and in the 90´s the MAXIMA IV from this used to be the best brand, i have some of each but never bought them as others are better even for the better working of the deck you have , in a good deck if the source is good a cheap type I can sound better than a SA-X from TDK that are the best chrome tapes after the ´till 1984 BASF Super II and Maxima II
an awesome cassette deck. I first i saw/heard of it was as a 15 year old school student back in 1982. I couldnt believe such great sound could come from the humble cassette. I purchased my first Nak a CR3 in 1989. The following year,1990, i upgraded to a CR7. Both were great decks. A friend of mine owned a Dragon since the mid 80s and we always traded banter about which deck was better. Sound wise they are both on Par. What tips the CR7 for me is The Meters,Real time Counter,Manual Azimuth even via remote...and lastly the auto calibration feature. Either deck i would be happy with. Great video,look forward to more like this. Perhaps a CR7 review?. Cheers.
I also don't like auto calibration. With manual calibration you could always get the best out of it.
CR-70 (CR-7) may come in the future.
I got myself the BX-300 and have been wondering, was there a very brief moment in time between 1980 and maybe 1995 where owning anything higher in quality would have ever been worth the money. The quality is so high that I can only see a it being of use for either recording studios, broadcasting or MAYBE recording any format that had a very short lifespan (like the 8-Track). Outside of that, the CD player, a Reel-to-Reel player or a professional Multitrack recorder would have been preferred by professionals. Even the VHS has high quality audio. I don't have ambitions to die on the hill that the Dragon was a useless marvel of engineering for the Cassette Decks but I'm super curious what the specific demographic was.
I love level meters. After living with them for a long while , the system seems not alive when they are gone. I know. But it’s true:)
It's my dream machine.
Shit, this is your famous Dragon! Here I have Vega on my channel - that's what it sounds like.
it is true on a type 1 cassette its not recommanded to recording with NR dolby c?
A beautiful presentation! I seriously consider all of Nakamichi’s tape decks, p r e c i s i o n
instruments to be used for recording only, and handled extremely carefully, and never flogged about. Playback, in my ideal world, would take place on Top model Philips, and Top model Marantz decks.
Thank you for posting.
Come on those are toys next to the Big Nakamichis and Tandbergs!
The Dragon does not record in both directions, probably for very good reasons!
Excellent video! However, I never seen a Dragon that couldn't easily reach 20 k in the high frequencies even with type one tape and I've seen Dragon's that measure over 22k with Metal. So I suspect yours might need some work.
Not sure, but I'll check it out.
The Dragon was the last analogue deck I owned, before that it was a BX300E and the 680ZX.
All in all, the Dragon was the worst Nakamichi deck. Not because it sounded bad, no, it was due to mechanical problems with the tape path. In reverse mode, it left a slight bend in the lengthwise direction of the tape, killing the high frequency range. Several adjustment attempts by a specialist workshop failed and after some struggle, the deck was replaced, but unfortunately it had the same problem, although not as pronounced and only with certain tapes from one brand, all of which were expensive.
If I had known then, I would probably have switched to the CR7 or a B215.
Anch'io possiedo una Dragon, vero gioiello!
All Nakamichi were killed by the best Tapedeck ever the Pioneer CT 95
Ct93 too
its my live
Another brand name that is now lowbuck 🇨🇳 Chinese car stereo on ebay
20 years ago I owned a nakamichi Dragon and a Nakamichi 670 ZX . Then I sold the dragon because the 670 ZX sounds so much better.. Dragon did sound like plastic....
I need to get 670 ZX then and test it.
There must be some work needed in your Dragon otherwise you wouldn't comment like that. 😂
Can anyone tell me what language he is talking in ?? 🤦
NAK's are garbage and poor quality. Any experienced technician can confirm that. There's only 1 deck that's superior build quality and absolute reference level - ReVox B215
Dragon the worst deck ever built, and i had two , all others you´ve showed are all perfect functioning decks taking out the Sony, the Z-7000 or 9000 are good decks because they sound good and still work today with regular maintenance, maybe the CT-F1250 from Pioneer is the best ever built deck and not a dificult choice just try it once and enough to notice it´s perfection, but i have to say ,the Dragon is a remarkable deck as even not at 100% of it´s quality working is the best and let´s be real none works at 100% more than 30 minuts but i wish i had bought more so i could buy some more sportive cars as they sell like hot bread coming out of a woven , i understnd they feel nice but cassette deck i guess one can call uit that but isn´t a good one or average just pure stupidity and far from being the first computorised deck as some say maybe the BX-2 is their best deck, more important to refer that i always choose well built cassettes , not refering to the price but to it´s perfect building as some of the most used cassettes are deck destroyers, it resumes to , BASF LH-EXTRA I ,CHROME SUPER II, MAXIMA II, METAL IV till 85 excluded, MAXELL till the 90´s light grey casing , Sony(funny but it´s true) always , TDK always, the rest there are many good ones but here and there ,so really good are this i refer excluding the cheap metal cassettes from Sony the XR and XS(were cheap , the same as a UX-S ) and the type I, if before 1986 were good with preference do not use another than C60 cassetes but 90 minuts are ok just take more than the 60 minuts ones