Nakamichi was founded by Etsuro Nakamichi in 1948 as Daiichi Onkyo Co. Ltd. which in 1958 became Nakamichi Research Corporation Ltd. and it was later headed by the founder's younger brother Niro Nakamichi. The company specialised in manufacturing portable radios, tonearms, speakers, microphones (Primo Dynamic) and communications equipment but it was only after 1972 that they started using the Nakamichi brand name.
In 1951 they have developed one of the first open reel tape recorders in Japan under the Magic Tone brand, these were initially sold as a kit. In 1957 they developed and manufactured proprietary magnetic tape heads and started manufacturing reel to reel recorders, for US distribution as OKI 555 (1962), and under the FIDELA brand name. In 1965 they have launched the Fidela 807 3-head Open Reel Stereo Tape Deck, also rebadged as harman/kardon TD-3 and KLH Model 41. They also made one of their first cassette recorders as Fidela NR-11 in 1967. Because of its experience in manufacturing magnetic tape heads and equipment, in 1967 the company started making tape decks for a number of foreign manufacturers including Harman Kardon, KLH, Advent, Fisher, ELAC, Sylvania, Concord, Ampex and Motorola. (Fidela model range: 11, 22, 33, 55, Studio 77, Studio 77D, 300D, 300DS, 720, 780, 807, 860, 920, 960)
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| Magic Tone (1951) 2-Head | 4.5kg |
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Fidela 11 2-Head | 40Hz-15Khz | 6w mono
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| Fidela 33 (1964) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.12% | 30Hz-18kHz | s/n 50dB | 2x3W |
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| OKI 555 / Fidela 55 (1964) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.12% | 30Hz-18kHz | s/n 50dB | 2x7W |
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| Fidela Studio 77 (1964) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.12% | 20Hz-22kHz | s/n 50dB | 2x6W |
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| Fidela Studio 300D (1960) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.15% | 50Hz-15kHz | s/n 50dB |
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| Fidela 720 (1966) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.15% | 40Hz-18kHz | s/n 50dB |
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| Fidela GemSonic 807 (1965) 3-Head | 3-speed | 30Hz-20kHz | wow&flutter 0.15% | s/n 50dB | 300x150x210 mm | 7kg |
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| Fidela 920 (1967) 4-Head | wow&flutter 0.15% | 40Hz-18kHz | s/n 50dB |
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| Fidela NR-11 (1967) |
