User manual NAKAMICHI BX1 REVIEW

Nakamichi BX-1 A Best Buy from Nakamichi Nakamichi BX-1 cassette deck. Dimensions: 17 by 4 inches (front panel), 10 inches deep plus clearance for connections. Price: $300. Warranty: "limited," one year parts and labor. Manufacturer: Nakamichi Corp., Japan; U.S. distributor: Nakamichi U.S.A. Corp., 1101 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, Calif. 90401. PLAYBACK RESPONSE (BASF test tape; -20 dB DIN) OB 0 -5 - L ch -Rch HZ 20 I l l I l l 50 100 200 500 1 K 2K 5K 10K 20k +31h. -0 dB. 315 Hz to 18 kHz t 3 , -0 dB. 315 Hz to 18 kHz RECORDIPLAY RESPONSE. N P E 2 TAPE (-20 dB) DB 0 -5 .".I (2, I HZ 20 50 100 200 - R ch L ch 500 1 K 2K 5K 10K 20K +1/4, -1% dB, 22 Hz lo 20 kHz to. -11h dB. 23 Hz lo 20 kHz with Dolby B nose reduction ..- . R ch . +0, -1V4 dB. 23 Hz lo 16 kHz RECORDIPLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 4 TAPE (-20 dB) OB 0 -5 .%, I I l l ,,, 50 I 1 500 1 K 2K I+ 11: I HZ 20 100 200 5K 10K 20K L ch tV4, -1h dB, 23 Hz to 20 kHz - R ch +I, -1h dB, 25 Hz to 20 kHz q h with Dolby B noise reduction ..... R ch t1/4, -3 dB, 21 Hz to 16.5 kHz RECORDIPLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 1 TAPE (--20 dB) I BX.9 I I* I 1 K 20K O ,, . 50 100 200 500 1 K 2K 5K HZ 20 + 11/4, -lh dB, 23 Hz lo 20 kHz L ch +1, -1h dB. 25 Hz to 20 kHz with Dolby B nolse reduction ..... R ch t 1. -3 dB. 21 Hz to 16.5 kHz - R ch A DECADE HAS GONE B Y since Nakarnichiwhich had been building cassette equipment for other companies-offcrcd thc first deck under its own name. And what a dcck it was: At $1,000. the I000 cost more than twice as much as any other deck on the tnarket ($350 was the going rate for a top niodel) and incorporated a degree of technical sophistication undreamed of by home recordists. Over the intervening ycars, the top Nakamichis have become even more sophisticated (and expensive), and some much more affordable models have appeared. Our present subject, thc BX-I, is Nakamichi's least expensive deck ever (by a small margin) and its best value ever (by a large one). Imagine that Rolls-Royce, having offered the Bentley as an alternative to Jaguars and Mercedes, were suddenly to introduce a smaller car combining much of the elegance in engineering, performance, and visible detailing of the larger models with a price comparable to that of, say, a VW Sirocco. An exceedingly fine touch would be necessary to pull off such a feat, since it would require paring away every expendable element without compromising the essentials. The analogy may not be exact, but it at least suggests how formidable a task Nakamichi has undertaken. Inevitably, we begin by looking at what has been left out. The omission we most regret is Dolby C, which would banish the slight residual hiss left by Dolby B. That would yield the most audible improvement we can think of over what the BX-I actually provides. If you want Dolby C, along with a number of features that are nice to have (but are not, in our opinion, of equal importance), Nakamichi gives you the option of spending about $150 more on the BX-2. For many users. however-especially those who don't do live recording, who listen primarily to prerecorded tapes, or who want to play their tapes on other dccks (especially portable o r car units)-the "stripped-down" Ilolhy B model will provide all thc neccssitic\ and then some. Other tcatures that must be passed up are finetuning adjustments for matching the deck to a variety of tapes (included on most Nakamichi decks and important to thc serious recordiht. but oftcrl confusing to the neophyte). all random-access indexing functions, a separate playback (monitoring) head, microphone inputs, and two features that are included in the BX-2: recording mute and an output level control. The list of features Nakamichi has been able to retain is impressive. The drive logic is essentially the same as those in the company's midpriced front-loaders of recent years. The timer options (automatic playback or recording with an appropriate switching device, including Nakamichi's own) are a somewhat unexpected luxury. though not unheard-of at this price. The metering is typically Nakamichi: easilyread quick-rise, slow-decay peak indicat o r s , t h o u g h the calibration range (-35 to + 5 dB) and minimum element spacing (2 dB just above the 0-dB mark) aren't quite as generous as on the more expensive models. Perhaps nicest of all the front-panel features is the use of a single master-level slider in conjunction with a separate balance slider to control recording AUDIO New Equipment Reports TRANSPORTCONTROLS RECORDING ADJUST. (LEVEL. BALANCE) EJECT AC POWER TIMER MODE (PLA.YI0FF IRECORD) EQ (120170 @EC) DOLBY B (ONIOFF) HEADPHONES MEMORY STOP (ON OFF) TAPE SELECT. (11214) SIN RATIO (re DIN 0 dB; RIP; CCIRIARM-weighted) Type 2 tape Type 4 tape Type 1 tape without noise reduction 54 dB 52% dB 51%. dB with Dolby B 64V4 dB 63 dB 61Y4 dB INDICATOR READINGS FOR DIN 0 DB (315 Hz) + 3 dB (with 1.4% THD) Type 2 tape t 3 dB (with 1.O% THD) Type 4 tape +3 dB (w~th 1.1% THD) Type 1 tape INDICATOR READINGS FOR 3% DISTORTION (315 Hz) Type 2 tape + 5 dB (for + 2 dB DIN) Type 4 tape + 5 dB (for +31h dB DIN) + 5 dB (for +21/4 dB DIN) Type 1 tape DISTORTION (third harmonic; at -10 dB DIN) Type 2 tape 5 0.80%, 50 Hz to 5 kHz Type 4 tape 5 0.48%, 50 Hz to 5 kHz Type 1 tape 5 0.62%. 50 Hz to 5 kHz ERASURE (100 Hz) CHANNEL SEPARATION (315 Hz) INDICATOR "BALLISTICS' Response time Decay time Overshwt SPEED ACCURACY 2 66 dB 52 dB 2.8 msec 1.2 sec 0 dB - 0.3% fast, 105-127 VAC FLUlTER (ANSIIIEEE weighted peak, RIP) ?0.079% SENSITIVITY (re DIN 0 dB; 315 Hz) OUTPUT (from DIN 0 dB) 75 mV 0.62 V level. Once balance has been preset, you can make elegant fades without the awkwardness imposed by the unclutched splitelement controls so common in this price class. And then there's the performance. With the noise reduction off (a sharp multiplex filter switches in automatically with the Dolby circuit), response is flat to beyond 20 kHz-which can be said of mighty few $300 decks. And distortion, which quantitatively falls right in the ballpark with that of other fine decks, is "classic" in that it consists almost exclusively of the third harmonic-the characteristic distortion mode of the tape medium itselfand therefore bespeaks excellent electronics. In no respect is performance less than fine, in fact. Diversified Science Laboratories tested the BX-I with Nakamichi tapes: SX as the basic Type 2 ferricobalt, ZX as the Type 4 metal, and EX-I1 as the Type 1 ferric. Since Nakamichi manufactures no tape of its own, we can only guess at their sources, but if you assume the corresponding TDK tapes, you shouldn't be far off the mark; indeed, the corresponding premium products from any of the major Japanese tape houses shouldbe close enough for excellent results. When DSL tried the generic IEC Type I test tape, the results were almost identical to those with EX-I1 (which, again, is Type 1 , not Type 2, despite the numeral). With IEC Type 11, however, the deck proved somewhat underbiased and slightly wanting (by about 1 YZdB) in input sensitivity to compensate for the lower tape sensitivity. (The IEC Type I1 calibration tape is a chrome formulation and therefore tends to be slightly less sensitive than typical commercial Type 2 tapes, which are mostly fer- ricobalts.) The result is a marked sag in the lower treble with the Dolby circuit turned on: Response at 2 kHz is about 6 dB lower than that at 10 kHz with the IEC tape. Distortion when midrange signal levels hit the indicators' 0-dB mark (which is 3 dB below DIN 0 dB) is very low, and the nominal overload point of 3% distortion isn't reached with any of the three tapes until signal 1,evels are a little beyond the indicators' highest (+5-dB) element. Highfrequency headroom is excellent with metal tape, so the owner's manual suggests lighting the +S-dB display element on the loudest peaks with ZX, but limiting maximum levels to + 3 dB with SX or EX-11. Input signals that make no real demands at high frequencies could be recorded somewhat hotter, but you're probably best advised to follow the manual's recommendation, if for no other reason than that once you've lit the + 5 element you can't tell whether signal levels are actually running higher still. Capping this combination of topdrawer performance, attractive price, and canny control practicality is the very handsome styling. Like all Nakamichi products, it is somewhat nonconformist-particularly in its use of just three rocker panels to control all six transport functions: pause1 recording-interlock, playlstop, and fastforwardlrewind. Which of the paired functions you activate depends on which side of the panel you press. (Especially unusual is the recording interlock, which automatically puts the deck into recording-pause and begins monitoring the input signal.) As in the past, we find ourselves in awe of Nakamichi's ingenuity; the refreshing element in this case is the affordability of the result. Reprinted by permission of HIGH FIDELITY, February 1983 A Publication of ABC Leisure Magazines, Inc Nakamichi Corporation T O ~ Y OOffice Shinjuku Daiichi Seimei Bldg., 2-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo Phone: (03) 342-4461 Telex: 2324721 (NAKAM J) Nakamichi U.S.A. Corporation 1101 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90401 Phone (213) 451-5901