In Appreciation For The Lowly 482Z

Bob Boyer

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#1
I don't roll tape too often these days. Now that I'm down to the cream of my record crop sound-wise, I find myself pulling albums out of the sleeves more often than before as I approach 70. I mean, what the hell, what's the point in not playing them at this juncture? Or I'm too tired/lazy/whatever and just plug in the hard drive and turn on the JRiver jukebox, which has all my mixes contained in its library along with a ton of albums. But once in a while, I pop a cassette into my Nakamichi 482Z, sit back, and am amazed all over. Today was the first time since I started playing with my speaker combo of LSA 1 bottoms and Louis' homebrew single driver boxes. And I woke up. Again.

Just finished listening to a tape I recorded a couple of years ago on this 482Z Nakamichi from a digital mix that goes all over the road musically and had to sit down on the couch and just listen. I finally really heard what I think the British refer to PRAT - pace, rhythm, and timing. From Bob Seger's Roll Me Away to Richard Thompson's Cookesferry Queen, the music just swung. I don't know how else to describe it. Once I pointed the single drivers straight ahead instead of toed-in a couple of weeks ago, the harshness I was hearing on-axis disappeared and they really do a nice job on snares and toms, which a lot of the music in this mix has in spades. That may have been it, it may not, but the music swung.

I can't say it quite matches my half-track PR99 rolling full steam at 15 ips with a recording made from 24/192 hi-res files on a reel of ATR Master, but it comes a lot closer than any cassette has a right to. I know Dragons and 1000s and Tandberg 3014s are the big dogs and BX-300s are really in demand and all that but this early-80s effort at the mid-point of the Nakamichi lineup may be the ultimate sleeper. Don't know why folks overlook them unless it is the siren song of a Dragon, although prices finally seem to be edging over $500 on average. It's got three heads, fer chrissake, and that seems to be the holy grail of Nak users and collectors.

Perhaps it's also Nakdoc's rebuild of this particular deck - I spotted it on a shelf full of non-working Naks back in his shop storage room on one visit and asked about it. The exterior was mint but someone brought it in for repair and never came back. I forget what Tom said was wrong and it took a couple of months to talk him into repairing and refurbishing it for me for $300, but nights like tonight remind me why I thought that was a good idea.

Here's to Tom and a Nakamichi 482Z.
 
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laatsch55

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#2
Love reviews like this. Documenting a change in the system to others here is one of the cool things about a forum. One of the uncool things is not being able to drive 10 minutes to your buds house when he calls and says" Hey man, get over here!!"
 

ButchJames

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#5
The Dragon is an awesome pice of kit, but it doesn't do much for me. For many it is a status symbol.

I also don't like a deck with lots of plastic, and I also don't take to decks with lots ICs. Yes indeed I know it saves space, but what happens when one of the (hard to source) ICs fail? Which is why I would prefer to have a minty Sony TC-177SD over the Dragon any day.
 

ButchJames

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#6
Given the advances in tape technology from say mid-late 1950s to c2000, I suspect that REC pre-emphasis and thus PB de-emphasis curve (and related corner frequencies/time constants) would be a bit different?

It's strange isn't it, that the evolutionary direction of something may not always bring it to its full potential?
 

nakdoc

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#9
Good to hear your review Bob. I've heard certain Nak decks sound magical, the most common being the LX-5. The classic transport decks outperform the Sankyo mech decks (take that all you Cr-7 lusting audiophools) . A 482 is simply equipped with fewer gizmos, but otherwise it is a ZX-7. I just finished a 682ZX which sounds really great...a great sample as opposed to sounding like it should. As I wind down my career, I will have a number of good decks to sell. Send me an email any time.
We do often fool ourselves into thinking we know exactly how our stereos sound. Those systems with higher resolution teach us that the source material can change what we hear. The system does not get in the way of the music. In addition, digital sources recorded to tape are somehow transformed for the better.
 

Bob Boyer

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#10
@Bob Boyer: An entertaining reflection of the past, Bob. Anytime you want to spark up the 482Z for a mix tape exchange, let me know, as I just completed a new project and recorded two cassette copies of it, so far.

Rebel Air Waves RAW 101.3

View attachment 82477

Nando.
Now that right there is the way to make a mix tape, Nando! Line up the albums and play DJ but don't talk. Love it.

I've got a couple of ideas I've scribbled down but haven't pulled the trigger on creating one. This may be the impetus to get me off my butt. Thanks for the reminder!

Good to hear your review Bob. I've heard certain Nak decks sound magical, the most common being the LX-5. The classic transport decks outperform the Sankyo mech decks (take that all you Cr-7 lusting audiophools) . A 482 is simply equipped with fewer gizmos, but otherwise it is a ZX-7. I just finished a 682ZX which sounds really great...a great sample as opposed to sounding like it should. As I wind down my career, I will have a number of good decks to sell. Send me an email any time.
We do often fool ourselves into thinking we know exactly how our stereos sound. Those systems with higher resolution teach us that the source material can change what we hear. The system does not get in the way of the music. In addition, digital sources recorded to tape are somehow transformed for the better.
Great to hear from you, Tom! Sending a pm...
 

nakdoc

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#12
The classic is worth a listen simply because the W&F is really low. It opens your ears to what a tape can sound like. Also, the tri-tracer mech.anism 700/1000 is super in that respect.
 

Elite-ist

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#13
I bought a non-working Nakamichi 680ZX from a local seller and had the technician repair it. I've heard recordings made on Nakaimichi 680ZX and 682ZX decks and that's why I sought one out.

20240705_173525.jpg

And a cell phone video playing a generic pre-recorded cassette. Don't mind the display flickering as it's more to do with the phone and lighting than faulty deck metering.


Nando.
 
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