What are your thoughts on the Dragon tape deck?

Don't take offense Inna, if you have. Go to Naks.com, sign up for Naktalk and spend some time on the list and you can gain a wealth of knowledge, if it is still being participated by many, I haven't been on there in awhile.

I just spoke with a certified Nak repairman, who told me that the mechanisms on the RX, BX, CR, MR, and DR series are inferior relative to other Nak series. He said that the best Nak tape mechanisms last for decades (still yet to have an endpoint). This includes the Dragon, the 58X series, and others that he did not mention (I assume all but those listed above).

I've owned a Dragon since 1987. It's a great cassette deck. No one has mentioned it's key claim to fame: automatic azimuth adjustment. The deck continuously adjusts the azimuth of the playback head during tape movement to match the tape in use. This ensures best high frequency response from the tape, and best noise reduction performance.

Because of auto azimuth adjustment (and dual capstan transport) tapes play back equally well in both directions, so there is no penalty for auto reverse.

The only drawback the deck has to me is that it pre-dates Dolby S noise reduction and only has B and C.

To me, it totally depends on how many cassettes you own, intend to make and listen to. I cannot speak of the Dragon from my own experience but I am familiar with the 700s, 550s and 670zx each of which I have owned or extensively used. Because I have 20+ years worth of high quality recordings and/or live or irreplaceable tapes, I consider my cassette decks indispensible. That being said, if you do not have a substantial investment in cassettes, I do not believe it is the wave of the future and even with the finest recordings through the finest equipment, there is a slight difference between source and tape.

Sank says he is an "Authorised Servicer" because he is NOT an Authorized servicer, I checked with Nak, he apparently mis-spells Authorized to mislead people, because he knows it is mis-spelled, I told him. Perhaps he also hopes it will help him to avoid legal action by Nak against him, I can only imagine. I would not advise dealing with him, I began digging after he said he accomplished some repairs to my amp, and it came back in worse shape then when I sent it to him.....

Caveat Emptor

Lou