Nakamichi TX-1000
(1981 - 1985)

Pretty rare - almost Invisibilia status.
According to one service engineer, the Dragon CT was much more reliable and better sounding than the bigger TX-1000. I wouldn't know but the goal was basically the same - and the same as that used in the original Dragon cassette recorder, only on a larger scale.

If the Dragon CT was engineered and built on Etsuro Nakamichi's specifications by Junichi Okumura at Fujiya Audio Ltd, the TX-1000's origins are... not so clear. But it isn't a wild guess to imagine Micro Seiki having a hand if not twelve fingers and just as many toes into the consulting and/or manufacturing of the TX-1000 - among others. Mr Teragaki probably had a hand in it, too.

If the Dragon CT has two platters (one that is nudged, placed above one that isn't), the TX has only one platter (>below), the rotating center of which is nudged by two motors through two plastic rotating washers. This of course leads to (slight) rotation weight compensation since the entire platter is put off its absolute center so the record itself can be (re)centered.

The Quartz PLL motor itself runs in an oil bath within a "Pressure Regulation Chamber" and the shaft is finished within 1/100µ. The platter is made of diecast aluminium with a honeycomb structure to do away with resonances. The four high feet have a semi-soft insulation by way of an air chamber pump for each, thus allowing the levelling from the feet's top. Unfortunately, the rubber making the air chamber could deteriorate with age, thus empeaching any insulation or levelling.
The solid one-piece cast base (> right) is reminiscent of contemporary Micro and so is something else : if the round Zamac alloy Nak' arm base was to be tightened with three screws, the receptacle in which it fits still bears the typically-Micro 6-holes base - same diameter.
To perfect the "multi-sourced" parts and engineering (remember that Nakamchi had just rebadged Sony's PCM-F1 as DMP-100), an optional VS-100 vacuum stabilizer coud be ordered. Said VS-100 was (is) nothing more than a rebadged Audio Technica AT-666 with an added BS-100 soft platter mat to be placed between the glass an VS-100/AT666.

The rectanglular base is made of diecast aluminuim and hides a triple suspension made with foam and rubber pieces of different thickness, all locked by three big screws. The owner's & service manuals were so discrete about this suspension (it is a suspension) that many owners in fact never unlocked the three screws...
The top platter (above the "motorized" one) is a slab of glass covered with a reflective magnetic material which has anti-static properties.
The never shown external power-supply seems to have been sourced from Micro (again) ; it looks like the one used for the Marantz Tt 1000mkII (or Micro AP-M1), only much deeper.

The flashiest part of the TX-1000, however, is the center search function and the subsequent display of the record on the left backlit graph alongwith the milimetric amount of re-centering performed ! Displays flashing around the graphe are "center search" (top), speed selection (33 1/3 or 45rpm, left) and pitch control for each speed (down/reset/up, right). Just below the mm display is the confirmation signal of speed Quartz locking.

Now for the most unkown part of the TX-1000. There are THREE different versions : the "MK1" (shown here), the "MK2" (not shown anywhere) and a what seems to have been a pre-production sample only.
The MK2 was apparently produced in 1983/84 but it is unknown if its "launch" meant the disappearance of the original MK1. The differences lie in completely redesigned electronics & PCBs and the addition of parallellism and cueing controls dedicated to the sensing arm. MK2 isn't written on the MK2 : it just is different. MK2 service manuals have an addendum outlining very precisely the differences between the two models. The MK2 was "distributed" only in Japan and Germany. I sadly have no images of the MK2, nor have I ever seen it.

The "MK0" was a MK1 encased in a wood enclosure and topped by a (huge) acrylic dustcover. I sadly have no images of the MK0, nor have I ever seen it.

At 1,100,000¥ and CD lurking at the horizon, it seems the TX (whatever the version) didn't enthuse crowds of audiophiles, however impressive it may have been. The glass platter wasn't a good idea either, as already heard in the Micro-built Marantz Tt 1000 in 1979... But the real and only problem with the TX (and not the CT) is that it relies on a lot of electronica and, even worse, a proprietary IC (sourced from Sony) which commands everything from power-on to the sensing function. Said IC is NLA since very long (had it been sourced from Technics or JVC, the result would've been the same), no equivalents are to be found today and, furthermore, it needs an initialzing code to function. If that IC is burned, your TX will remain the magnificentlty and beautifully overdone object it is but nothing will move on it.

There were four TX-1000 MK2 left in Germany when Nakamichi Germany closed shop in 1994 : two NOS in immaculate condition and two that were used as spare-parts suppliers for servicing the customers' TX. With the approval of the japanese Nak' office, the two NOS TX-1000 were shipped to France through the french Audioquest distributor who also acted as service center for Nakamichi in France. These two later on went to the UK, one of which was apparently ordered by somebody close to the immediate vicinity of HRH the Queen of England.
Spare parts seem to have still been available in Japan as late as 1997 but with prices bordering on the crazy (1200$ for one foot !) and none of the truly vital spares available such as PCBs or that fatal commanding IC.

I have given up trying to find a full-tilt catalog for the TX-1000 (if one was ever made) so this page is made with a two-page japanese ad published a couple of times between 1982 and 1983.
[update, jan. 2010 : Got it ! It will land in the TVK v2, alongwith that of the Dragon CT :)]

The august 1982 Stereoplay cover was kindly sent by Roman Schuetz, as ever so reactive :) I'll be adding the content of this dithyrambic 7-page review at a later date. The original service manuals for both the MK1 and MK2 versions will also be at hand, thanks to an anonymous source very close to THE source.