Nakamichi BX-300 3-Head Tape Deck (made in Japan)

Nakamichi BX-300

(smoke free, pet free, kid free home)

The Nakamichi name carries weight for a solid and heavy reputation for a good reason. And this tape deck will breathe resounding new life into all of your precious cassette.

Details: Working. While my cassette collection is much smaller than my vinyl, I have enjoyed listening to this player for the last week. With the tapes I have on hand, it has worked exceptionally well and sounded amazing. Belts are in good shape and the inside and outside have been fully cleaned. Inputs and outputs have been treated with Deoxit red anti-corrosive to ward off oxidant improve sound conductivity. Not all features were able to be tested, as I do not have a variety of cassettes. 

*All photos are unedited and representative of the actual item for sale.

** Shipping can be a nightmare with the "big name" carriers. My shipping fee reflects the excessive amount of care I put into insuring the item you are buying arrives as it should, and I ALWAYS pay the extra amount to insure the shipement. I package EXTREMELY well... so much so, I include instructions on how to remove all the wrapping. (See my Reverb Reviews!)

Feel free to ask questions. Serious bidders/buyers only, please.

Description:

To own a three-head cassette deck made by Nakamichi has long been the impossible dream of many a budget-bound audiophile. That dream can now become reality with the introduction of Nakamichi’s BX-300, at $650 its lowest-priced three-head deck. While the new machine obviously cannot include all the innovative features of its more costly line-mates, the BX-300 is not a compromised, stripped-down model. It is a dual-capstan deck that includes all the absolutely necessary features for topflight cassette recording. It is every inch a Nakamichi.

Nakamichi’s tape heads and transport designs are in large measure responsible for the company’s extraordinary reputation. For the user, separate record and playback heads provide the acid test of recording: the chance to compare the input signal against the recorded output instantly. For the designer, they afford the opportunity to optimize the widths of the record and playback head gaps. Using a wide record gap enables the signal to penetrate the full depth of the tape’s magnetic coating during recording, and a narrow playback gap prevents treble losses during playback. In the BX-300 the record-head gap is 3.5 micrometers wide, the playback gap only 0.8 micrometer wide. Special head “geometry” is also used on the playback head to reduce the “contour effect” and thereby insure a smooth response to very low frequencies.

A d.c. servomotor directly drives the take-up capstan, which is belt-coupled to the supply capstan. The two capstans have slightly different diameters and flywheels with different masses so that they do not have a common resonant frequency. The transport mechanism uses a combination of materials that further inhibits vibration, which can appear on the tape as wow and flutter.

The speed differential between the two capstans is used to set the tape tension across the heads (the supply side turns slightly more slowly), permitting Nakamichi to incorporate an exclusive feature other manufacturers would do well to emulate: when the tape is held against the playback head, a small protruding boss pushes the cassette’s internal pressure pad back, out of contact with the tape. Although the pressure pad is needed in many tape decks to insure proper contact between tape and head, it is not necessary in a properly designed transport, and eliminating its effect reduces “scrape flutter” and modulation noise.

In the BX-300, a separate d.c. motor is used to turn the reel hubs, and a third powers a cam mechanism that operates the brakes and head mechanism more smoothly and quietly than conventional solenoids do.

When tapes are loaded into the cassette well, power is briefly applied to the reels, taking up any slack. The cassette-well door is easily removed for head cleaning and demagnetizing, but it affords only moderate label visibility. While most tape decks today use sensors to detect the cassette type and set the appropriate bias and equalization automatically, the BX-300 retains the traditional Nakamichi pushbutton selectors. The front panel also includes a user-adjustable bias control, though any adjustment must normally be made by ear, since no built-in test generators are provided.

Specifications

Type: 3-head, single compact cassette deck

Track System: 4-track, 2-channel stereo

Tape Speed: 4.8 cm/s

Heads: 1 x record, 1 x playback, 1 x erase

Motor: 1 x reel, 1 x capstan, 1 x mechanism

Tape Type: type I, CrO2, Metal

Noise Reduction: B, C

Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz  (Metal tape)

Signal to Noise Ratio: 70dB  (dolby C)

Wow and Flutter: 0.027%

Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.9%

Input: 50mV (line)

Output: 1V (line)

Dimensions: 430 x 100 x 250mm

Weight: 5.6kg

Accessories: optional remote control

Year: 1984

About My Sales:

I have several turntables and receivers, some of which are "vintage" like this one. I do not claim to be an audio expert. I am as much an audiophile as my budget will allow. I do the cleaning and servicing myself, because these are from my legit audio set up and have been used by me to play my vinyl collection. I do not turn around high volume and I’m not flipping these on the cheap. I take the time to fix these up because I actually enjoy the process of restoring these older decks to their former glory (or as close as possible) and then listening to them for a while on my own system. When I come across another great find, I reluctantly part with one of the previous ones and repeat the process.

All That Fine Print and Terms:

Fully Functioning: Everything works and functions as it should. It is used, and in some cases, many decades old. It may carry some “character” with it that tells its own story. If it does, I do my best to explain this by stating it has scratches, scuffs, etc.

Working: Works as it has been tested and played by me. There may be features which I am not fully aware of that have been overlooked - not out of neglect... it just may be something I missed. Bottom line - I can confidently claim it works.

Sold as Parts or Repair: If the listing states the item is Parts, then there will be a description explaining what works and what does not.

Servicing and cleaning: (by my definition) includes removing all dirt and dust from the exterior and interior - to include any funk that was imparted to the item that was not the jazzy kind - completely check the functionality of all components, replacing the belt (if belt driven), replacing old fuses (if needed), cleaning all contacts, switches and pots (when present) with De-Oxit, lubing all necessary parts with Hoppes 9 or white lithium, examining the condition of the head shell and, if needed, replacing the cart, stylus and/or wires, buffing and removing scratches from the dust cover with Novus 3 step polish.

All sales are intended to be made with the buyer feeling confident they are purchasing a solid, reliable item. These ‘Vintage’ pieces were built to last... and they do! With that said, by nature of what they are, and why we love them, they are old. Things can and do break. Honesty is my thing. If I know something is not working, I come clean with it. As such, this listing is sold AS-DESCRIBED and the description is as accurate as I can manage. All sales are final and I cannot offer any refunds.