The rebirth of the Nakamichi Dragon
The Nakamichi Dragon is considered one of the best cassette decks ever built. A powerful sound system with the same name was shown at CES 2023. This underlines Nakamichi's ambitions.
It is sometimes referred to as the "Holy Grail of music cassette decks". The Nakamichi Dragon was launched in 1982 and was a monster of a cassette player. Weighing almost 10 kilograms and equipped with pretty much every technical finesse you can think of. Even today, retro fans still organise a veritable cult around the device.
Source: JPRoche/Wikimedia Commons
Nakamichi is still around, even though the brand was taken over by Hong Kong-based Grande Holdings Ldt. in 1998. And now there is once again an audio device called Nakamichi Dragon. It is not a cassette deck, but a home cinema system. It has little or nothing to do with the cassette deck, but the two products have more in common than just the name. Because the new Dragon is also a monster.
The 11.4.6 system consists of a soundbar, two subwoofers and two rear speakers. A total of 31 drivers are installed, 17 in the soundbar alone, which measures almost 1.5 metres. Given the dimensions of today's televisions, that's not so bad. It weighs 14 kilograms, the two subwoofers just under 15 kilograms each. With 3000 watts of peak power or 125 dB SPL, the dragon hisses dangerously loud.
It supports the Dolby Atmos and DTS:X PRO surround formats as well as HDMI 2.1. The system can already be pre-ordered in the USA and is scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2023. The "provisional" price is 3499 US dollars.
Cover image: Nakamichi USA
My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.