NAKAMICHI 680 Azimuth Adjustable Record Head. RECAPPED, SERVICED, UPGRADED & CALIBRATED.

This deck is presented in spectacular condition. There are very few marks -see photo’s.

The deck has undergone a transformational service to bring it back to specification over the last few weeks.

All of the electrolytic capacitors have been replaced with the best quality parts.

In addition, a full swap out of all of the orange polypropylene capacitors has also been completed with one of my upgrade kits - see photo evidence. This has future proofed the deck for years to come from having any orange capacitor issues.

The transport was removed, disassembled, inspected, cleaned, old grease removed and re-lubricated, new idler tyre and belt kit installed.

The motors have been inspected and lubricated - they are now very smooth and quiet.

Transport modes have all been set precisely.

The tape path was demagnetised and confirmed successful with a gauss meter prior to adjusting the heads.

Two Upgrades were installed:

A steel idler arm replaced the flexible plastic arm.

The later back tension mechanism for the supply hub.

Both of these were standard on later models including the 680zx and 1000 zxl decks amongst others.

All of the switches and potentiometers have been cleaned and lubricated.

Meter levels were set correctly. Tape guide height, Play & Record head heights, stroke and azimuth were all set precisely.

The Heads look in fantastic condition and frequency response meets original specification with all tape types.

Tape Speed has been set very accurately and the deck has been meticulously set up. Wow & Flutter at 0.045 THD at 0.6%, and Signal to Noise all meet specs

Have a quick look at this demo clip to see how the Auto Azimuth works and how spectacular it sounds:

https://youtu.be/JwB0m-ikh4Y

LEVEL METERS WORK PERFECTLY ALTHOUGH PICTURES AND VIDEO APPEAR TO SHOW THEM FLASHING THIS IS JUST A CAMERA ISSUE

This fantastic deck is now ready to provide many years of superlative service for its lucky and astute new owner.

This is an iconic deck and worthy of such an investment. Please do not compare it with similar decks that have languished in storage for years and seem cheap at half the price.

From the Nakamichi Brochure….

Description

The Nakamichi 680 and 680ZX are the world's finest cassette decks to record at both half speed and standard speed.

Three hours of music - a full opera, four or more LP's - on a single C90!

Half speed performance that rivals that of many decks at full speed - 15Khz bandwidth sufficient for any FM broadcasts and most records. Switch to standard speed and the bandwidth extends to 22Khz for the most demanding live recording.

Specifications

Type: 3-head, single compact cassette deck

Track System: 4-track, 2-channel stereo

Tape Speed: 4.75, 2.37 cm/s

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

Tape Type: type I, CrO2, Metal

Noise Reduction: B

Frequency Response: 20Hz to 22kHz (Metal tape)

Signal to Noise Ratio: 66dB (dolby B)

Wow and Flutter: 0.04%

Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.8%

Input: 50mV (line)

Output: 1V (line)

Dimensions: 482 x 143 x 340mm

Weight: 9kg

Year: 1979