As the project continues, including expert assistance from a good friend and pro technologist, we will post photos
showing progress of the super-tuned Dragon cassette deck rehabilitation. We hope that this page of photos and explanation will
intrigue and help you understand what goes on inside of a classic Nakamichi cassette deck. Enjoy the view, ask questions if you wish!

Here's a glimpse of the Dragon stripped open to reveal back-end bias, level and azimuth adjustment control board components,
plus a view of the back-end of cassette tape transport mechanism components.

Here's a close-up of the back end of the transport carriage. Look a bit into the center of the photo
and you'll see the encased dual direct drive capstan motors.

What you see here is an ultra cleaned Nak Dragon transport mechanism. In dustless condition, prim & proper maintenance has the heads,
capstans and supporting components ready for use. Photo compliments of Vlad Umet, technology engineer.

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A clear view of the critical capacitor and preamp circuit boards. Note the lack of orange colored capacitors as viewed within the Dragon,
there are several, hidden under the main circuit boards; often these little orangies are the cause of problems due to age and leakage.
That's where reference to the term 'Orange Cap Disease' originates. Notice the bottom arrangement of solid-state preamp circuit
boards and wiring harness. A lot of electronic components packed into the inner frame of this deck!

In the photos directly above, we're showing configuration of motion sensor on PCB board with LED light bulb replacement.
Notice how intricate and small these components are, and imagine the nibble-fingered skills required to replace such
minute bulbs and sensor units. This work was completed recently by yours truly when burn-outs of the bulbs occurred.

The photo above shows use of the Nakamichi Tilt Check Gauge in operation. This gauge checks correct tilt of record and playback magnetic heads.
This maintenance adjustment is as essential as azimuth or other key alignment procedures. After doing this tilt gauge adjustment and verification,
the head top surface will be perfectly parallel to the tape surface. Since play and record heads are floating independently in a Nakamichi deck,
this step ensures tape path movement is ideal and correct for tape record and playback performance.

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Postscript - The BleusNak Super-Tuned Dragon deck was successfully rehabbed during November of 2012. Currently, additional repairs
will be required, repairs with a professional technical expert will contracted. What you see above is a summary of activities and results to date,
with added photos provided as representative of what was accomplished. Currently, minor replacement of light bulb mechanisms is in-progress
on home bench. Preparations for a follow-up rehabbing of key internal components is slated for early 2019. Alas, its an ongoing journey when
maintaining a classic Nak cassette deck that has aged for 30+ years. I can report that the Dragon deck has performed excellently until just recently;
that was with regular home maintenance of demagging and transport mechanism cleaning. Within several months, the Sybarito Nak Dragon should
again perform excellently for many years into the future. Finally, sincere thanks to my reliable and favored Nakamichi cassette deck technology experts
and friends, Dan, Kannan, Michael, Perry and Vlad, who have provided helpful guidance and encouragement over the years...... ~ KJ Bleus Parsons

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Welcome to the Mohican Pass Basement Vault of Audio Treasures!

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Created 31 March 2012
Updated 31 July 2018