Down Stream Dreams, Nakamichi DR-3

Nakamichi DR-3, looks exactly like the DR-2. The alpha model DR-1 has an extra knob for adjusting the recording tape head azimuth.

Sometime ago a Nakamichi collector & friend begged me to let him take my DR-2 home. After bugging me constantly for almost 2 months, I relented and he got him self a bloody good deal, as the following Nakamichi DR-2 models seen in local classifieds almost doubled in price. However, like all things in life, what goes around does usually come around. 3 months back, I got a WhatsApp message from a Penang friend whose not an audiophile, showing me what looks like a photo of a Nakamichi cassette deck, with a question "interested?" After a little digging, it seems this was a Nakamichi DR-3 that belonged to one of his family member whom had passed on, and they are now clearing his earthly possessions. So my friend thought I'd be the best person to ask as I am the only idiot he knows who is still in to cassettes. I made him an offer which I feel justifies the value of our friendship, and the following week, this Nakamichi DR-3 arrives at my door step.

As usual, I gave it a good clean up and service by Mr Oh before I put it in to my system and fire up. However let's talk a bit of the features of the DR-3 compared to my previous DR-2 model. The DR-3 is the from same vintage as DR-2, i.e. 1992 - 1996. In the model hierarchy the DR-3 being the starter and DR-1 being the alpha model, leaving the DR-2 as the middle child.  Nakamichi sold each model as 80% of the next model up in terms of performance & function. The DR-3 being the range starter is just a common 2 head, single capstan, 3 motor drive design. Next up, the DR-2 is a 3 head, dual capstan with pad lifter, 3 motor drive design. Ditto for the DR-1 at the top of the range same in every spec as the the DR-2, but with added variable azimuth adjustment. Both DR-2 & DR-1 have tape or record monitoring function to allow for real time recoding quality, which is a good thing. Common to all 3 models are beefy transformer with multi stage regulation power supply, All discreet output circuit with built in custom Nakamichi tape equalization and lastly manual tape selection!

For some reason, the Nakamichi DR-3 weights just as much as the DR-2, at just 5.4kg/unit. The DR-1 weights a good 7.3kg/unit, probably due to an even beefier PS tranny. Built quality is typical Nakamichi high standards. The aluminum satin black finish front fascia is understated in design with typical tape well on the left display middle and soft touch logic controls on the right.  Around the back is just standard 2 sets RCA output and record in.

The back panel is typical tape deck, one set of RCA output and another set for record in. Typically on the left is the factory fitted standard power cord(not seen here)

The internals looked very similar too, except there is way more filtering caps at the output section on the DR-2. Of course the mechanism is much simpler here too. The power supply(that section behind the mechanism) looks largely unchanged too.

Since I am no longer into the habit of recording, a high quality 2 head unit still appeals to me for playback only. And once I pop my first cassette in to the tape well, press the play button, and that familiar rich, full bodied yet robust at the same time refined Nakamichi sound greets me. The sound is almost exactly like that of the DR-2, very musical and totally lack of  noise and tape hash. In fact I must say in one area the DR-3 does better than the DR-2 is the ability to pull and play sticky old tapes without getting stuck. While the dual capstan with pad lifter design does look sexy on the spec sheet, in practice the reality is less than reliable. You gotta play really high quality tapes for that DR-2 mechanism to work as it should. For me, I am playing back a lot of old tapes, and mostly pre-recorded, the simpler DR-3 mechanism with still 3 motor drive really does the job way more consistently than the DR-2 sophisticated mechanism ever could. I could be happy with this Nakamichi DR-3 for a long....... time.

The simple standard 2 head, single capstan, 3 motor design of the Nakamichi DR-3

Don't get me wrong, the DR-2 is a recording dream machine, with it's real time monitoring feature, your can detect and reset the recording bias until you get it right, then only actually do the recording. With the 2 head DR-3, that is not possible, and you wouldn't know your recording quality until the side is done, and if you got your recording bias setting wrong, it will be a very frustrating double or triple work. So bottom line if you're still doing recording, the DR-2 is your go to cassette deck, however if like me, you're only going for playback, the DR-3 sounds just as good, but with better tape pulling reliability.  

However, a man's gotta have dreams, right? maybe this down streaming is just the current mood, and maybe, just maybe some day, I would still like to lay my hands on one of those elusive Aiwa AD-F 910, Onkyo R-1, Akai GX-95, Denon DRM-800 or maybe a Teac V-980 cassette decks? After all, we can talk it's about the music all the time, but let's not lie to ourselves, sometimes it's still about those dream gear. Agreed?

Nakamichi Dragon? thanks, but no thanks..........., may be a CR-7, hmm....................