Nakamichi CR-7A. The Dragon is the top of the line and the CR-7A is the next one "down" however>> there are those (like myself :~) who prefer the CR-7A over the Dragon because the Dragon plays in both directions, which I feel can present head alignment problems due to additional mechanics.
What mainly sets Naks apart, across all models I'm pretty sure, is that their record and playback heads have the narrowest magnetic gap(s) in the business (best high frequency response.)
As for your particular requirements: the better Naks (i.e. Dragon and CR-7A for sure, and maybe a couple other models) have electronic head-azimuth adjustment on-the-fly. This allows you to adjust the playback head azimuth to match that of the machine on which the tape was recorded thus optimizing the playback response -- a huge advantage when (I presume) you'll be transferring tapes recorded on a variety of machines.
What mainly sets Naks apart, across all models I'm pretty sure, is that their record and playback heads have the narrowest magnetic gap(s) in the business (best high frequency response.)
As for your particular requirements: the better Naks (i.e. Dragon and CR-7A for sure, and maybe a couple other models) have electronic head-azimuth adjustment on-the-fly. This allows you to adjust the playback head azimuth to match that of the machine on which the tape was recorded thus optimizing the playback response -- a huge advantage when (I presume) you'll be transferring tapes recorded on a variety of machines.