Monday and Tuesday my Dragon and ZX9 came back from Willy Hermann.
Both are working beautifully.
Now I could go back to transferring my vinyl to tapes.
I missed them.
Okay, I'll ask:
What is a Nak, and who is Willy Hermann?
(I know "Nak" is short for Nakamichi, but that's about all I know)
Nak is Nakamichi. Cassette deck.
Nakamichi Dragon, ZX9 and CR-7 are the best dual capstan decks they made. Arguably, together with some Tandberg jobs are the best decks period.
Willy Hermann is a former Nak technician who runs a business (pretty much the business although there is another one, forgot, in CT I think, but Willy is the best know guy) of restoring/repairing, aligning and calibrating Nakamichi equipment.
Glad you got them back and are pleased with them. I have a Teac A-5500 reel-to-reel that needs output xsitors for the capstan drive. I doubt I'll ever use it very much again, but unless I fix it, it's not even worth hauling it to a meet. I have all the service literature on it and since I've had it since new I'll probably lug it down to the new house.
Get a Nak. Never look back.
That was my plan
Now fulfilled.
I was at Goodwill four or five years ago, and I spotted a guy with a Dragon in his shopping cart. It had a tag on it for $19 bucks. I followed the guy for a while, and I ascertained he was a total bubba nitwit and had no idea what he was buying. I said "hey, I have that same deck at home, and I could use some replacement parts." To which he said "I'm getting it for a birthday present for my daughter". As I walked away, I threw up a little bit in my mouth. If I had gotten there ten minutes earlier...….D**n, I still sting when I think of that day.
Well... maybe it was really badly beaten up dragon, by some dragon slayer.
I had a chance of buying a Philips CD880 for $200. Only I didn't know what it was and I had a gall to haggle, until I found out what it was and at that time it was gone. Those go for $700-$1000.
I have lusted for a Dragon since the day they first came out. They're still out of my price range.
Personal advice, supported by many, including Willy Hermann: ZX9 is a better recording quality machine, even if crude, without auto-reverse etc.
Though of course, Dragon is a super very nice machine. It's just ZX9 is superer
- just a smidge.
I heard CR7 is also extremely good.