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Nakamichi 482Z or Denon DRM-800

Steve Lampl

Steve Lampl

Member
I just acquired a non-working Nakamichi 482Z three head cassette deck. I also currently have a Denon DRM-800 three head cassette deck which is in mint condition. I will be repairing the Nakamichi. Does anyone have experience with these decks, and if so, which one might you suggest that I keep? Thank you in advance.

Steve
 
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The 482z, once and if it can be completely restored, should walk all over the Denon in recording FOR THE TAPES IT IS CALIBRATED FOR, and have typical excellent Nakamichi playback. IF perfectly restored, it is worth more than the Denon, as well.

HOWEVER, if it hadn’t been stored well or used in a very long time, that series of Nakamichi play heads has a fair probability of a problem with the right channel being dead or have depressed highs. It is a complete crap shoot. If the head looks brand new when cleaned, then chances are better. If you see green corrosion or black mottled spots at the play gap, then chances are worse. I have seen perfectly good looking heads with dead right channel, in which case the deck is good for parts only.

So between that, finding good belts for low W&F, and the limited range of versatility in recording, (if recording is important, as the Denon at least has Bias Tune, the 48x series has fixed calibrations that can only be adjusted internally. However, the internal adjustments for each tape type are far superior to the Denons. IF recording on different brand & model tapes is important) the choice is up in the air as to which one to keep, depending on the use.
 
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perryinva said:
The 482z, once and if it can be completely restored, should walk all over the Denon in recording FOR THE TAPES IT IS CALIBRATED FOR, and have typical excellent Nakamichi playback. IF perfectly restored, it is worth more than the Denon, as well.

HOWEVER, if it hadn’t been stored well or used in a very long time, that series of Nakamichi play heads has a fair probability of a problem with the right channel being dead or have depressed highs. It is a complete crap shoot. If the head looks brand new when cleaned, then chances are better. If you see green corrosion or black mottled spots at the play gap, then chances are worse. I have seen perfectly good looking heads with dead right channel, in which case the deck is good for parts only.

So between that, finding good belts for low W&F, and the limited range of versatility in recording, (if recording is important, as the Denon at least has Bias Tune, the 48x series has fixed calibrations that can only be adjusted internally. However, the internal adjustments for each tape type are far superior to the Denons. IF recording on different brand & model tapes is important) the choice is up in the air as to which one to keep, depending on the use.
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Thank you so much for your response! I've had very good luck with my Denon, but I've always wanted to try out a Nak. This 482Z seemed like a good wat to go, and it was advertised as working, so I was surprised when it did not work. At least, I have an idea what is wrong, in that the transport does not work (no play or fast wind in either direction).
 
perryinva said:
Sounds like hardened idler tire and stretched cam belt, to begin with.
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The fast-wind motor is not turning and the cam belt is probably stretched. Additionally, the cam will turn slightly with a tiny bit of force, but I believe the lubricant is dried and hard.
 
The number of classic transport Nakamichi decks that can be found working correctly if they have not been serviced is about 5%. The rubbers take a set, oxidation sets in and lubricants dry out.

The reel motor not turning when put in to FF,
And being a motor issue is uncommon for that series. The motor itself rarely has an issue. On a Nakamichi, you can put the deck in to FF with no tape inserted and it will run as long as the idler tire is good, the tape sense/counter belt is good, and the tape sense bulb is not bulb is not burned out. The take up reel is turned by the idler tire from the reel motor, which turns the belt that moves the counter and the shutter for tape moving sense.
 
perryinva said:
The number of classic transport Nakamichi decks that can be found working correctly if they have not been serviced is about 5%. The rubbers take a set, oxidation sets in and lubricants dry out.

The reel motor not turning when put in to FF,
And being a motor issue is uncommon for that series. The motor itself rarely has an issue. On a Nakamichi, you can put the deck in to FF with no tape inserted and it will run as long as the idler tire is good, the tape sense/counter belt is good, and the tape sense bulb is not bulb is not burned out. The take up reel is turned by the idler tire from the reel motor, which turns the belt that moves the counter and the shutter for tape moving sense.
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Many thanks for this additional information!! I suspect that simply routine maintenance for a deck of this age will render it operational.
 
Hi Everybody! I am trying to repair 480z and would like to ask which Orange Capacitors I should replace, if possible with numbers and values. Thank you in advance.
 
I would replace all of them. That manufacturing era of the early 80's from Nakamichi and other manufacturers who used these orange PP caps, are plagued with problems from the orange PP caps. They only get worse with time. I just had to replace several in a 582 due to popping noises, signal level problems and other anomalies. The 4700pF values are by far, the worst offenders, but the other values are not much more reliable. Lately I have been noticing a lot of issues with the .033uF values as well. If you find any bad ones and don't want to replace them all, best to replace them in L/R pairs.
 
Thank you for your reply, nakmandan. I was a little bit hesitating since it works nice in playback mode. The problem is to use it for recording purposes, it is completely out of order. I can not find service manual for this model. Looks like there were much more 482 and not 482z. By the way I like very much this model , it has 95% of what you need for recording. My main recordings today coming from FM stations.
 
Not surprising. There are other manual sources for free like HiFiEngine, ElektroTanya, and others, but not all of them are taking new members or you have to pass a test first. Just Google the brand and model number with "service manual" and lots of sites will pop up. Just remember, when it's free, you get what you pay for! Or just pay one of the reputable sites for a good reproduction manual. The good pay sites will have a high quality, full size, completely legible, in color (where color was used), with schematics and board layouts that are clear and useful, scanned in high res color from an original paper manual. Nothing better than working with clear, full size schematics and board layouts! I would avoid any eBay sites with dozens of PDF manuals on a CD. Those are almost always the same crummy manuals available everywhere for free. Just the vendor has collected them all and put them on a disc for you. Almost never worth it!
The original Nakamichi paper manual for this model had a glossy blue cover with thicker paper used. You can often find these earlier original manuals on eBay for a reasonable price. Just make sure it is the original, not a copy.
 
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