For my first of four (so far) Japanese imports of 2024, I've decided to look at a brand most in North America have never heard of and a manufacturer I've never worked on before. A&D was a joint venture between Akai and Mitsubishi's upscale Diatone brand with the former doing most of the work and the latter fronting most of the money.

Between them, they sought to hit Nakamichi where it hurt. Did they succeed? I, for one, want to find out. This is a direct drive, quartz lock, dual capstan, three head monster of a machine featuring a completely separate copper plated housing for the audio board.

Sorry about the length, there was no way around it. This machine was not functional and I had to know how it sounded ASAP. Lots of vintage commercials have been mixed in.

All rubber parts came from Fix Your Audio using GX-95 parts (same transport).

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Camera gear I use:
Nikon D800, Nikon Z50, iPhone XS Max & 13 Pro Max, DJI Action 3, Autel Evo Nano+, Autel Evo Lite+, DJI Mini 3 Pro

Music:
Diskette Park - My Life (diskettepark.bandcamp.com)
猫 シ Corp - Secrets of My Age (catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com)
猫 シ Corp - Martini Girl
猫 シ Corp. & Stereo Component - オリーブコーラ Late Night Drive ➾➾➾
Andy Marc - Evil Games
Enigma - Carly's Loneliness

0:00:00 - Intro
0:03:25 - First Look and power up
0:12:14 - Inside the beast
0:20:46 - Transport inspection
0:23:01 - Pre-service preparations
0:25:46 - Head condition
0:27:53 - Door removal
0:35:36 - Splitting the transport
0:38:09 - Cam gear timing marks
0:39:09 - Motor block and cam gear service
1:03:17 - Reinstalling the motor block
1:06:10 - Reel table removal and idler service
1:14:20 - Tape path alignment pre-service check
1:15:20 - Pinch roller and head block service
1:43:25 - Tape path re-alignment
1:47:18 - Post service functionality check
1:52:03 - Wow and flutter shenanigans
1:57:00 - How to calibrate for recording
2:00:45 - Recording test and audio quality demo
2:08:00 - Final thoughts