24 July 2021

FIDELA by Nakamichi - The Origin of Nakamichi

 

reel to reel


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)

reel to reel
Magic Tone (1951) 2-Head | 4.5kg






reel to reel
Fidela 11 2-Head | 40Hz-15Khz | 6w mono



reel to reel
Fidela 33 (1964) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.12% | 30Hz-18kHz | s/n 50dB | 2x3W


reel to reel
OKI 555 / Fidela 55 (1964) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.12% | 30Hz-18kHz | s/n 50dB | 2x7W

reel to reel
Fidela Studio 77 (1964) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.12% | 20Hz-22kHz | s/n 50dB | 2x6W

reel to reel
Fidela Studio 300D (1960) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.15% | 50Hz-15kHz | s/n 50dB

reel to reel
Fidela 720 (1966) 2-Head | wow&flutter 0.15% | 40Hz-18kHz | s/n 50dB

reel to reel
Fidela GemSonic 807 (1965) 3-Head | 3-speed | 30Hz-20kHz | wow&flutter 0.15% | s/n 50dB | 300x150x210 mm | 7kg

reel to reel

reel to reel
Fidela 920 (1967) 4-Head | wow&flutter 0.15% | 40Hz-18kHz | s/n 50dB

cassette deck
Fidela NR-11 (1967)