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Author Topic: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?  (Read 56136 times)

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Offline rocksuitcase

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #75 on: July 28, 2020, 01:58:52 PM »
I got a brief "How can I help you?" text back from Juan just now, and am waiting/hoping to arrange to bring my two best decks to him ASAP.

--Pro Digital's Web site currently says that they're closed due to the pandemic. I didn't try to contact them via phone or email, though.
Pre pandemic he had a no mailing policy, but it seems you are NYC centric, so a drive to Huntington may not be too tough. His shop is small but loaded with all sorts of great stuff as he is a musician and his rent money is repairing tube amps etc.
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Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #76 on: July 29, 2020, 06:42:07 PM »
heres the contact of the guy ive used in chicago, was a trained nak tech

https://www.ebay.com/sch/babis8086/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

Charalampos Armakolas (goes by Bobby)
1960 N Lincoln Park W, Apt 2110
Chicago, IL 60614-5445
chearm@otenet.gr


I met him when i bought a rebuilt nak 480 from him earlier this year on ebay, he also sold me some parts for another deck i have. I'm happy with his work i'll probably be sending him my old MR2
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Offline dallman

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #77 on: August 07, 2020, 09:51:02 PM »
heres the contact of the guy ive used in chicago, was a trained nak tech

https://www.ebay.com/sch/babis8086/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

Charalampos Armakolas (goes by Bobby)
1960 N Lincoln Park W, Apt 2110
Chicago, IL 60614-5445
chearm@otenet.gr


I met him when i bought a rebuilt nak 480 from him earlier this year on ebay, he also sold me some parts for another deck i have. I'm happy with his work i'll probably be sending him my old MR2

I just got my Nakamichi CR-3A back from Bobby, and the work was excellent. The deck is running and sounding like new. Highly recommended, and Bobby will gladly talk to you in depth. The cost was very reasonable and really I cannot say enough about how impressed I was.

The only bad news for anyone in a hurry is that Bobby will be visiting family in Greece for the next month.
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Offline DSatz

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #78 on: August 13, 2020, 01:31:48 AM »
To your good news, I'd like to add that my newly repaired 682 ZX seems to work well now.

This time while I was at the shop, I peered around the corner and saw what all Juan has waiting to be worked on--a very wide range of stuff from many different eras of the technology. As far as I know he works alone. It seems like a remarkable way of living and making a living.

As I picked up the 682 ZX I also dropped off the Dragon, and we'll see what he's able to do with that. He says that he's worked on many of them before.
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Offline H₂O

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #79 on: August 13, 2020, 11:25:45 PM »
To your good news, I'd like to add that my newly repaired 682 ZX seems to work well now.

This time while I was at the shop, I peered around the corner and saw what all Juan has waiting to be worked on--a very wide range of stuff from many different eras of the technology. As far as I know he works alone. It seems like a remarkable way of living and making a living.

As I picked up the 682 ZX I also dropped off the Dragon, and we'll see what he's able to do with that. He says that he's worked on many of them before.


My DR-1 is eating tapes (at this time won't even play a tape) - about how much did it cost to fix the 682 ZX which has a similar transport layout
« Last Edit: August 13, 2020, 11:28:28 PM by H₂O »
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Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #80 on: August 14, 2020, 09:54:59 AM »
if its just the transport, bobby in chicago would probably do it for maybe $200. just a guess
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Offline DSatz

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #81 on: August 15, 2020, 10:17:48 PM »
Richard, Juan charged me $150 (i.e. $130 above the required $20 deposit), but I had brought it in with another complaint in addition to the transport issue, and perhaps some of the charge was for the time he spent trying to chase that down. (There was some low-level motor servo leakage in the output that never presented itself to him, nor to me since I've had the deck back.)

I don't drive, so I put the deck into a blue IKEA bag--one of the most beneficial inventions of the past several decades in my opinion--and took the LIRR from Penn Station to Huntington (= $24 round trip), then took a car service (= $18 round trip + tip) from the train station to the shop.

BTW, I have a couple of devices that create a WiFi hotspot from a cellular connection, and when one of them is within 18" or so of the deck, its interference is audible in the line outputs (not the headphone output, though). I always have to remember that older equipment was never designed or tested for use in the kind of RF environment that is second nature to us today in the cell phone era. "They don't make 'em like they used to" is a good thing sometimes!

--best regards
music > microphones > a recorder of some sort

Offline DSatz

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #82 on: September 29, 2020, 08:54:37 PM »
Further follow-up: When I picked up my 682 ZX, I dropped off a Dragon that had been rebuilt by Nakamichi back when they still serviced their decks. It had broken down so much in recent years that it couldn't play tapes at all; they would skew and lose all contact with the heads within seconds. Juan estimated a higher fee ($250) for the far more complicated transport, and I found that completely reasonable. But after he'd made the initial repair, he noticed some irregularity in the tape speed. So he texted me that there would be a delay while he worked that issue out.

Late last week he texted me again to let me know that the issue was solved, and that he would let me know when this week I could come pick up the deck. I told him that under the circumstances, I didn't feel that he should be held to his earlier estimate. I didn't want him to lose money and time as a result of having noticed and fixed a problem that I'd been unaware of.

It takes me the better part of a day to get out to his place on Long Island and back. It's of great value to me to avoid issues that would show up only after I start using the deck here in the Anarchist Jurisdiction of New York City.

But he said that it hadn't actually taken him very long to fix the problem, and he declined to increase his fee. Meanwhile the 682 ZX is still working extremely well (I've used it a lot since I got it back from him), and I continue to have a very high opinion of this person and his work.

--best regards
music > microphones > a recorder of some sort

Offline ts

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #83 on: April 10, 2021, 11:01:46 AM »
I recently asked eslabs to service my Nak CD1, as in replace the belts, lubricants and idler tire, assuming it would run around $200 and he replied with that type of service would cost far more than $200 and the CD1 has no idler tire. He offered to sell me the belts (2 I think) for $50.

I wish this Juan guy was closer to me. He seems to be doing decks for around $200. I’m not shipping mine, so looking for a shop that’s easy to get to. Juan is not easy to get to for me. I’m going to try OHM Electronics in Ithaca. Recommended by Raymonda and an easy drive.

Offline nak700s

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #84 on: July 05, 2021, 09:30:18 AM »
It makes me happy that so many of you are having good experiences with Juan as I have with a few of my decks (and other equipment).  When I found him, I was ecstatic, but cautious...and he has earned my full confidence since then.  He's a stand up guy who seems very honest to me and charges fair prices for repair.  It does kind of suck that he no longer accepts equipment my mail, but he explained to me that there were to many damages with shipping, and since he can't be responsible for that, he doesn't want any part of it any longer.  My taping partner needed a deck repaired (DR-10) and shipped it to me, then I shipped it back.  We're both neurotic about packaging, so all arrived safely, and he is happy as can be with the results.  It needed extensive repairs, he got a fair price and a perfect working deck back.

Again, I'm glad his services are working out for so many, I was reluctant to recommend, but since I was happy with his work, and I'm a picky bastard, I took a chance...and now everyone has a good, fair, reliable, person to turn to  :)
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Offline Scooter123

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #85 on: July 05, 2021, 06:48:37 PM »
Audio Designs in Burbank, California specializes in vintage audio repair for speakers, turntables, cassette decks, DAT decks. 
Regards,
Scooter123

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Offline kindms

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #86 on: July 05, 2021, 08:03:41 PM »
It makes me happy that so many of you are having good experiences with Juan as I have with a few of my decks (and other equipment).  When I found him, I was ecstatic, but cautious...and he has earned my full confidence since then.  He's a stand up guy who seems very honest to me and charges fair prices for repair.  It does kind of suck that he no longer accepts equipment my mail, but he explained to me that there were to many damages with shipping, and since he can't be responsible for that, he doesn't want any part of it any longer.  My taping partner needed a deck repaired (DR-10) and shipped it to me, then I shipped it back.  We're both neurotic about packaging, so all arrived safely, and he is happy as can be with the results.  It needed extensive repairs, he got a fair price and a perfect working deck back.

Again, I'm glad his services are working out for so many, I was reluctant to recommend, but since I was happy with his work, and I'm a picky bastard, I took a chance...and now everyone has a good, fair, reliable, person to turn to  :)

Juan Seems like a real nice guy. we've been down there a few times now. so thanks again for the recommendation

Theres a guy in CT near me who does AMPs etc that Ive been wanting to try. I had a few good conversations with him but he was super busy and asked me to check back but I have yet to do so.

https://ampexperts.com/index.htm

He seemed like a really interesting guy

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Offline rocksuitcase

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #87 on: July 06, 2021, 11:49:42 AM »
I recently asked eslabs to service my Nak CD1, as in replace the belts, lubricants and idler tire, assuming it would run around $200 and he replied with that type of service would cost far more than $200 and the CD1 has no idler tire. He offered to sell me the belts (2 I think) for $50.

I wish this Juan guy was closer to me. He seems to be doing decks for around $200. I’m not shipping mine, so looking for a shop that’s easy to get to. Juan is not easy to get to for me. I’m going to try OHM Electronics in Ithaca. Recommended by Raymonda and an easy drive.
These guys? Vestal NY. no affiliation or knowledge other than a recommendation from  a user on tapeheads.com
https://www.audioclassics.com/service
800-321-2834 or 607-766-3501 Mon-Fri 8AM-5PM EDT


music IS love

When you get confused, listen to the music play!

Mics:         AKG460|CK61|CK1|CK3|CK8|Beyer M 201E|DPA 4060 SK
Recorders:Marantz PMD661 OADE Concert mod; Tascam DR680 MKI x2; Sony PCM-M10

Offline rigpimp

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #88 on: July 06, 2021, 12:47:51 PM »
I recently asked eslabs to service my Nak CD1, as in replace the belts, lubricants and idler tire, assuming it would run around $200 and he replied with that type of service would cost far more than $200 and the CD1 has no idler tire. He offered to sell me the belts (2 I think) for $50.

I wish this Juan guy was closer to me. He seems to be doing decks for around $200. I’m not shipping mine, so looking for a shop that’s easy to get to. Juan is not easy to get to for me. I’m going to try OHM Electronics in Ithaca. Recommended by Raymonda and an easy drive.
These guys? Vestal NY. no affiliation or knowledge other than a recommendation from  a user on tapeheads.com
https://www.audioclassics.com/service
800-321-2834 or 607-766-3501 Mon-Fri 8AM-5PM EDT

I lived in Ithaca for 4 years and used Ohm before.  I didn't know Audi Classics did repairs but if you like old McIntosh gear I would very highly recommend making a field trip down to Vestal.  That place has that green McIntosh glow...
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Offline psk31

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Re: Who repairs Nakamichi cassette decks nowadays?
« Reply #89 on: September 07, 2022, 04:11:33 PM »
Resurrecting this old thread to keep the subject title current. I'm looking for a Nakamichi repair facility/individual here in Canada. Most of the guys still doing this work south of the border don't wish to take on international jobs. My RX-202 coming out of deep hibernation is in need of some TLC. Any thoughts, suggestions?


 

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