Nakamichi Cassette Deck

A question on behalf of a friend. He has a Nakamichi deck which has recently started chewing tapes. Does anyone have any idea who would be able to carry out a repair to solve this problem?

Thanks chaps!

Where are you? UK?

Yes Uk - Bristol area

Wilkinsons dot tv?

Might be worth a try! Thanks

@Richard.Dane

Suspect you might know :slightly_smiling_face:

Didnt think of paging @Richard.Dane in. Doh!!

Cheers!

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I posted a similar thread some time ago. Various suggestions were given. I used John Chinnock who did a great job. PM me for his details but other suggestions may be nearer you.

Which model of Nakamichi?

Please don’t link to discussions on other forums - thanks.

Not sure to be perfectly honest Richard. I will find out. Definitely not a dragon though.

Thanks

It could just need a really good clean of the tape path and running surfaces (heads, capstan, pinch roller etc…). Some meths or Isopropyl alcohol and a lot of Q tips will do the job. Clean until there’s no trace whatsoever of any oxide. If it’s a basic one with the Sankyo mechanism then it could just be a case of needing a replacement pinch roller. This can harden or deform with age and while you can use rubber rejuvenator on them, replacement is usually best.

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Thats brilliant Richard, and a good place to start. I will pass this on to my friend who is in fact an electronic engineer! He just wasnt sure where to start.

Thanks mate!

It’s a good place to start, and pretty much applies whatever the deck or mechanism.

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:+1:

I agree with Richard. A lot of the time with cassette decks, it boils down to the cleanliness of the tape path. I try to keep my decks scrupulously clean (3 Naks and a ReVox).

My JVC deck (which was excellent) bit the dust quite a number of years ago. I hope my mate up the road can get his nakamichi going. It sounded very good just before xmas.

if compared with Dragon, I’m prefer CR7/7A


(picture from SkyFi Audio)

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Quite a few people say that a stock CR-7 sounds better than a stock Dragon. My Dragon was upgraded to CR-7 specs by Bowers & Wilkins back in the day, but I’ve never had the opportunity to do a comparison between the two decks.

The Dragon’s looks are arguably unsurpassed (although that will depend on personal taste).

The CR-7 has the advantage of a real-time tape counter and auto calibration. Plus the manual playback azimuth adjust is well worth having.

Pity a good one is so damn expensive these days!

I’ve got a CR7A sitting boxed up on top of a wardrobe along with my Naim CDS/CDPS. I get it down occasionally and plugged it into the 552 really just for nostalgia. Ditto for the CDS. Alas no room in my study for them to be connected all the time. The CDS was purchased not long after it was first available.

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