The sad demise of good head units

naksteve · Post by **naksteve** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 7:42 pm

I used to have Nakamichi tape decks--TD-500, 700, even a 1200 (basically a Dragon for the car--with NAAC (Nak Automatic Azimuth Control). These kicked-ass over the first digital systems when I competed in IASCA in the '80's. with a Dragon at home, my analog tapes seemed to sound much better than the early CD's. Analog is so much more forgiving when recording, it offers more headroom, a higher saturation level, which when considered with noise-reduction, approaches the S/N of digital. With digital recording, one must be very careful not to let peaks exceed O dbfs; otherwise harsh digital noise results. As a result, the recording level has to be kept lower than analog, which results in a less "dynamic" recording.)

Later, I had the classic Alpine 7909. still a great source unit.

When someone stole my Nak CD/tuner1, I looked at the Alpine F1, some of the rare Asian Denon units and, of course a Nak. Most head units today are receivers with built-in power and an emphasis on more features than SQ.

There just aren't many quality SQ head units. Alpine has the 7990 DVD/CD unit I considered. But there weren't many others.

Well, since Nak is no longer the company it once was before it got bought out by a Singapore holding company, it was difficult to find a Nak CD700II. I got a great deal from the Orient on a new Japanese-made one. Most of the stuff made today is manufactured in China.

Although it doesn't have many features, it does have great SQ. Like the old Nak's it has a separate DC-DC converter (like the TD-1200) and a phenomenal, high-voltage pre-amp section. It has digital ins/outs so I can connect my Sony D7 walkman DAT.

Even though speakers are probably the best improvement you can make in a sound system,this head unit definitely improved SQ to a significant degree.

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 5:09 am

ive been thinking this for a while, im not much into features, all i want is am/fm/cd......i dont burn discs so mp3 isnt that important to me personally and i really dont want dolphins and race cars and sqiggly lines and stuff dancing across the screen, i dont use the loud button so i definitely dont want built in eq and mega bass and excite features and so on......i dont even want built in power......and believe it or not i can live without the sub out.....aux input is nice for the video system i dont want to do without....one of my favorite head units i used to love was the kenwood kdc83r....it was killer all preamp with no bullshit, of course bullshit wasnt invented yet back then

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 12:06 pm

Well Ive never had super high end SQ deck untill now.

May I sugguest a McIntosh

naksteve · Post by **naksteve** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:31 am

I did consider the McIntosh CD Player.It is certainly a fine unit SQ-wise, but I thought its old-fashioned twin-knob look would look aesthetically better in my '63 Riviera than some other new ones, even the the Nak.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:53 pm

Thats its built in anti-theft feature...

Really, its a classy unit. Not a flashy, classy

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:39 pm

i saw one at the meca finals installed in a 300zx and i thought it was gaawjus........

naksteve · Post by **naksteve** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 3:39 am

the Nak CD700II has that, too

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:47 pm

The problems with Naks is since theyve been sold out, they are being produced in a less than desireable place. Still a good unit, just the build quality has went down a notch or two.

joeyc · Post by **joeyc** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:16 pm

Have a chance to get naks as one of my products now, but from the picture they look kinda ugly! Is it just me?

OnYrMrk · Post by **OnYrMrk** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:29 pm

No, you and the headunit are both equally ugly...J/K bro!!!

Nak HU's are traditionally ugly...but damn do they sound good!