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Opinion on Nakamichi azimuth tape decks please

I am thinking of buying a Nakamichi tape deck with the azimuth head adjustment. It will be used mostly for playing of old tapes (that's why I need azimuth). Nak made few of those: 670ZX, 680, 680ZX, 681ZX, 682ZX, Cassette Deck 1, CR-7A, DR-1, ZX-7, ZX-9 and the Dragon. I would not like to spend a lot of money so the Dragon, CR-7A, and ZX-7/9 are excluded. Any opinion on the others? I assume all of them have excellent sound quality; is it true?

I have read that the 680 models have very reliable transport mechanism and other components, but they were made almost 30 years ago. Anyone have recent experience with them? The Cassette Deck 1 was made in 1990-92 (don’t know about DR-1); how reliable are they? Do all of the old Naks require frequent calibration and servicing, and how expensive is it?

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.
prophos
davt's avatar
davt
499 posts
 
Manual azimuth is not that hard to use but I do think that the Dragon is the only Nak with auto, not sure of any others.
clio09
2,978 posts
 
I still use my 680ZX. Very reliable after all these years.
arnold_layne
141 posts
 
The Dragon, and I think the 1000zxl or xzl or whatever it was called also had the auto azimuth adjustment for playback. I use a dragon myself for cassette transfers, but on occasion I've come across a tape that will have not enough in the treble range to allow the dragon to lock down the azimuth, so I keep a Cassette Deck One with manual adjustment for those rare occasions.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
1,368 posts
 
I have a 670ZX and it has Auto Azimuth Alignment, it says so right on the front. It's a very nice deck and unless you're a perfectionist it should do the job.

There are still a lot of old Naks around so you should be able to pick up a nice one pretty cheap. Shop around and get one that's in excellent operating and cosmetic condition.
ktrogers
8 posts
 
There were 4 Nakamichi decks with playback azimuth adjustments; the Dragon which is automatic and the CR-7A, Cassette Deck One and DR-1 (I believe) that were manual. The 670ZX, 680ZX, 681ZX, 682ZX, 700ZXE, 700ZXL and 1000ZXL had auto azimuth alignment for recording only, not for playback. I believe that the 680, ZX-7 and ZX-9 had manual azimuth alignment for recording only. You can generally find Cassette Deck Ones on epay for reasonable prices (if they work)and they are nice decks, Ihave one in my secondary system
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