Behind the Lens

FEATURE
FEATURE
Better than expected
The review begins with the Nak
620 powered by a well-kept Audio
Research SP-11 preamplifier and
an OPPO BD-105 disc player. As
the late, great rock photographer
Jim Marshall once said, “Beatles
or Stones? Fuck that – Allman
Brothers!” So what better record
to spin than a great favorite from
when I first bought my Nak 620,
Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore
East, on Mobile Fidelity SACD.
All that’s required after substituting
the excellent Graham speakers for a
pair of JBL L26s (yeah I had a pair,
too) is to put on my Bucky Badger
t-shirt and I’m transported back
to my dorm at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison partying down
as the Allmans glide into “Stormy
Monday.” It feels good, too.
Rounding out the system is a
Nakamichi 630 tuner/preamplifier
and a 600 II cassette deck, lovingly
refurbished by our friends at Echo
Audio here in Portland, Oregon.
Owner Kurt Doslu used to be a
factory-trained Nak tech and he’s
always kind enough to entertain us
and fix the strays that we drag in.
He makes it a point for a potential
620 owner who isn’t handy with a
scope and digital voltmeter to find
a good tech to check the bias current
on the output transistors and
adjust if necessary. He laughs, “If
it’s not right, this thing can cook
itself quickly.”
Back to the present, or is it
the future?
Stopping by the TONEAudio studio,
I upgrade to more modern ancillaries
to see just what the 620 is really
capable of. With a full complement
of Nordost Frey cable and the dCS
Rossini acting as front end, the 620
proves up to the task of driving a
wide range of speakers, even powering
the current Quad 2218s as
well as our publisher’s vintage Acoustat
1+1s with ease, just as they did
back in the ’80s. (continued)
OLD SCHOOL
20 TONE AUDIO NO.75
November 2015 21