But yes, Nakamichi isn’t just a dead brand walking that can be compared with the likes of Zenith and RCA (that’s laughable). Whoever has owned the brand has been making great audio equipment for years and putting their name on it. To think that a niche audio company that peaked in the cassette era wouldn’t have been swallowed up by a conglomerate after the financial turmoil in Japan in the 90s is living in a fantasy land. Name one other high end niche brand from 50 years ago that hasn’t changed ownership. Being owned by a chinese holding company isn’t an indicator of quality anymore. If it were, we’d be writing off the majority of the high end products sold in the US.
All that said, is it worth the price woot is charging? That’s extremely subjective. Is woot’s price a good deal compared to other outlets? Also hard to tell because I can’t find anyone else selling this thing. But the world of bluetooth speakers is extremely oversaturated. If you really want a good one, you could spend hours sifting through reviews online. I personally wouldn’t bother with one for this price where I can’t find any info on it. There are too many other good options out there in the $100 range.
Yes, this isn’t the old ultra-high end Nakamichi, but I have a soundbar of theirs that is quite good. Yes, it’s a Marshall/Klipsch The Three knockoff, but it still may be pretty good for the money.
Had a cassette deck back then from Onkyo, that like most of the high end decks had auto reverse, but uniquely used a different head in each direction (not sure what sence that made). Also had 3 or 4 Bias positions for the different tape formulations. Sadly during a move in the 80s after the advent of CDs some movers parked a box of dishes on its box, claimed damage was MY FAULT because the tape deck box should have been labeled fragile / do not crush - apparently no one there had any idea what a cassette deck was (as it was in the original box, but missing some of the original styrofoam).
No self flipper here, but I did have a Sony 5-tape changer that if I recall, could link up with one of their 5-disc changers so it could automatically coordinate recording.
You’re thinking of the 3-head mechanisms? The concept was that separating the recording head from the playback head yielded higher quality recordings, and 2-track heads (unidirectional) were better quality than 4-track heads due to less interference from the adjacent coils. Also it meant that recordings could be listened as it was recorded on the tape itself, so the quality was known right away. If audio adjustments had to be made, it could be done “live”.
There was two ways to this if auto reverse was an included feature – reversible heads with a fixed tape loading (less cool but easier to implement) or fixed heads with reversible tape loading (see prior gif.)
I bought one that Victrola had for about $40 with a similar aesthetic. However that one has a AM/FM radio. However it doesn’t have an Aux-in, which i’ve never needed
Back in the day I used to have one of those auto reversing decks by Technics or Toshiba that the head would drop down, turn around, and go back up. I thought it was pretty cool.
I must admit that I was a bit excited when I saw “Nakamichi”. Haven’t heard that name in quite a while. Used to be one of the best but everything has changed from that time period when people cared more about quality and name but sadly now it’s about money.
Yes it is weird no info exists anywhere on this. However, I bought one! Based on the couple of Marshall comparisons (one here and one by WOOT) AND based on specs, it seems to be several inches bigger and several pounds heavier than the Marshall. I will report back if it any good, if not I will be ashamed and quiet.
