My roommate in college had the Nak that was one below the Dragon - don't remember the model number - this would have been about 1980. It made the most amazing tapes I have ever heard (he had a very good preamp and turntable/cartridge combination too). It was in the shop as much as it was plugged into his system, and I used to tease him about owning a Nakamichi instead of a Ferrari, but that is another story. Not sure this argues for buying a high end Nak used now, but the performance of that machine when it was working to specs was un-fricking-believable. I have recorded using a lot of other higher end decks from Sony, Teac, etc., but nothing even came close.
Those Nak recorded tapes played back much better than fine on any car deck and the few home decks I have played them on. I still have them ALL and they ALL still work and sound great - all Maxell's high bias tapes of the that period... FWIW
Those Nak recorded tapes played back much better than fine on any car deck and the few home decks I have played them on. I still have them ALL and they ALL still work and sound great - all Maxell's high bias tapes of the that period... FWIW