Nakamichi MB-2

Little is documented about the Nakamichi MB-2. What the record shows: it was a three-head cassette deck from Nakamichi’s auto-reverse era, built around the company’s crystal permalloy "CPX" heads and driven by two motors. It offered Dolby B, Dolby C, and dbx noise reduction, and frequency response was rated at 20 Hz to 21 kHz.

Forum discussion among Nakamichi enthusiasts groups the MB-2 with the MB-3 as "twin tape mechanisms" carrying what was likely Nakamichi’s first auto-reverse implementation — and the consensus is that these are genuinely good decks. The same collectors, however, sound the recurring warning about the CPX heads: they are notoriously fragile, and once worn, replacements are virtually impossible to find. One owner noted a quirk of Nakamichi auto-reverse decks — when set to play one side only, reversing the tape plays the other side in the opposite direction, which is useful for azimuth alignment.

No production years, original price, dimensions, or detailed transport specifications have been found. The deck appears in period equipment listings and collector databases, but the surviving documentation is thin.

Type: 3-head cassette deck
Heads: Nakamichi crystal permalloy "CPX" (3)
Motors: 2
Noise reduction: Dolby B, Dolby C, dbx
Frequency response: 20 Hz – 21 kHz