I am not recalling exactly what I paid for the Nak Dragon, but it was
something like $1100.  I bought it on Ebay and got lucky--it is in flawless
condition.

The Nak Dragon is missing one desirable feature--there is no speed
control.  But it is rock-steady with moving the tape--probably getting rid
of the tiny bit of friction of the tape pulling past the pressure pad
helps.  It has a piece that pushes back the pressure pad so it is out of
the way, and tape tension against the heads is provided by the closed loop
dual capstan design.

Best,
John Haley




On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 1:57 PM, Steven Smolian <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> If I remember correctly, the NAK draws the tape away from the pad,
> bypassing
> it.
>
> For what it's worth, I've found the slip sheet inside the cassette housing
> will exhibit signs of sticky shed.
>
> One answer is to rehouse each cassette into a new shell.  I've done that
> many a time.
>
> Steve Smolian
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lou Judson
> Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2018 1:02 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Sticky shed - clogged heads?
>
> Dragon is the gold standard, the Rolls Ryce of cassette decks. Wish the
> project I have could make it affordable! :-)
>
> Maybe I don't want to know what you had to pay for it. ePay shows $1200 -
> 3200 today.
>
> I got my lesser Naks for around $400 each. one needed service, the other
> was
> perfect.
> <L>
> Lou Judson
> Intuitive Audio
> 415-883-2689
>
> On Mar 31, 2018, at 9:35 AM, John Haley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I recently bought a Nak Dragon, which automatically sets the azimuth
> > and keeps monitoring and resetting it as the cassette plays.  And I
> > recently dubbed a cassette in which the felt pad was missing.  It played
> fine.  The
> > sound quality is astonishingly good.   It really beats my Tascam unit.
> > Best,
> > John Haley
>