after going through the denon 3200,5600,and yamaha dsp a1 it was becoming abundantly clear i was becoming more nd more disastified with dsp modes.what ever happened to real stereo?enter the nakamichi ca-1dts.this is a pre/pro no nonsense approach to a high end consumer preamp.after listening to some of my favorite dts cds my jaw was to the ground in disbelief in what i had been missing in subtle(and sometimes obvious)sounds.this is a musical piece of electronics.it reminds me alot of when i use to own macintosh equipment back in the 70s.there are no bells and whistles on this unit.what is there ,is all top notch,well laid out,and works flawlessly.switching is noise free,there are plenty of analog inputs and outs,with a limited amount of digital inputs.certainly enough for dbs,dvd,ld,and cd.this unit is quiet as a mouse and performs like a lion.if you are looking for a true hifi pre/pro the ca1 is it.with all the other competiton out there concetrating on dsps and other toys,it nice to see a company stick with the basics,and put all the quality and attention to detail into that area. i highly recomend this unit.

I would have to say that not being a big fan of DSP effects,the NAK CA-1 was clearly the best chioce for a "straight up" pre-amp. After listening to the Lexicon dc-2 {which has very clean dsp effects} what really swayed me towards the Nak. piece is the fact that the reproduction of source material was just as clean in ac-3,Pro Logic and true Stereo without paying the higher $$$ for another pre-amp with the extra "sound enhancements" that alter the sound of the source material..yes, dsp is nice, but i wanted something to faithfully reproduce the original source the way it was intended to be played back, and the NAK. does an outstanding job of that!! switching is very clean with no noise whatsoever and the remote is quite easy to navigate as well...I did have to purchase an Audio control e.q. however, only because my viewing room is quite bright {wood floors, windows.etc} and this preamp has no e.q. whatsoever, which,if you have the advantage of correctly building a "theater only" sound room, e.q. should not be a facter anyways...NOW.....the only thing that gives this piece 4 stars out of 5 is that after 2 yrs. of service it had to go back to Nak. for a repair..{btw,their customer service reps are EXTREMELY HELPFUL} so now i have the dts upgrade as well..but even so, that is no excuse for a breakdown..oh yea, did i mention it does multi room functions as well ?? good luck if your thinking about owning this piece i dont think you'll be disapointed.!!components used:
Nakamichi CA-1 and PA-1 pre-amp,power amp
Audio Control Rialto e.q.
Sony dvp-S7000 dvd player,Nakamichi dvd-10{built in dts}
Defintive tech. BP30 fronts
Definitive tech. BPX rears
Definitive tech. PF 1500 sub
Definitive tech CLR 2000 center
Sony laserdisc player upgraded for AC-3 {with the NAK. DE-1 RF demodulator}
Sony XBR 61" projection t.v.

This is a new preamp/surround processor with Dolby Digital AC-3. It uses the newest DSP chip, the Motorola 56009. I've always used a separate preamp and previously was able to live with a surround processor only by keeping it from ever touching the sound that went through my main front speaker (large Magneplanars). I bought the Nakamich because I wanted AC-3 for home theater use and was intrigued by the company's refusal to include various digital "ambience" and hall modes, perhaps an indication that they really cared about basic sound quality. Still, I had planned to keep the signal to my front speakers out of the system.
To my great surprise, this turned out to be a truly excellent basic musical preamp, independent of its surround processing capabilities. It was clearly and audibly superior to my previous PS Audio preamp, which didn't even use a single gain stage. The sound is beautifully spacious and highly detailed, but still extremely smooth without the slightest trace of solid-state harshness. Some friends have found is "tubelike" in its musical properties. Also extremely quiet in all modes and switching. It also includes some complex alternative to traditional volume controls or electronic level controls which they claim contributes to its sonic accuracy and it stability across all channels.

It has every imaginable connection I could ask for, including both S-video and composite on all video inputs. Video switching seems flawless so I can route everything through it. I found it remarkably easy to set up and use all these features once I understood them, and this was a radical improvement over much of the other equipment I auditioned (B & K, Lexicon, Procede, Denon). It has a limited feature set in terms of digital processing - just the AC-3 and Dolby ProLogic, with no digital synthesized anythings. I think this contributes to its sonic purity.

The one weakness I can spot is visible only when using it as an outboard D/A converter with a CD transport. There, its digital processing produces a very smooth and detailed image, but it lacks something in way of depth and imaging compared to the best D/A processors. However, I don't need it for this purpose because I also been recently surprised by the superb performance of the Sony DVD machine when used as a CD player using its analogue outputs.

Thus, for my purposes, I rank this extremely high as a surround processor and preamp, perhaps the first device which gave my truly musical audio performance along with good ease of use. Be forewarned though: there's a cheap xeroxed owners manual and a shipping carton that looks like it was used for produce. Hard to believe this for such a relatively expensive product. But all the moneys' in the performance.

Everything!

No longer in production.

Bought mine refurbished from Ubid two weeks ago for $920 delivered with rippoff shipping charges.

Unit was obviously used by someone else before I got it. Also has some major problems. Ubid won't take back, you have to send to Nakamichi for repairs. Nakamichi says that they sold all remaining product to Ubid a couple of months ago and that Ubid sold out about three weeks ago. A Ubid service rep said that the only units that they are selling are units that were shipped to customers accidently as new but returned because they were refurbished. Repairs will take up to TWO MONTHS!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A freind has one and it is the bets!

5 stars for value 5 stars for overall 0 stars for ubid.

Similar Products Used:

Sony TA-E9000ES - Proceed

Stereo sound, 5.1 Theater and simplicity of controls.

No digital output, DAC for CD transport has great soundstage but limited depth.

Excellent stereo sound on par with Macintosh and other high end audiophile equipment. Build quality rather spartan and industrial but very attractive and thick front panel. It's obvious that the money went into the contents versus the enclosure.
!!!WARNING!!!
This piece is in true audiophile tradition devoid of any soundfields or tone controls. It does have subwoofer level that may be operated via remote.
I paid $1,200 for a like new demo about three months ago and comparing this piece at $2,800 retail to the Mac or Citation at twice the retail, this piece wins hands down. The B&K does not even enter the picture as it's stereo sound is very electronic in comparison with the other pieces mentioned.
At any price this is a top rank stereo preamp and adds 5.1 Theater sound that also ranks with the best. Considering price, this is a "Best Buy" in my book!

Similar Products Used:

Macintosh, Citation, B&K

THE SOUND IS FANTASTIC - VERY FULL. I WANTED A SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM FOR HOME THEATER BUT DID NOT WANT TO GIVE UP THE QUALITY AND DEPTH OF SOUND FROM AUDIO SOURCES - THIS UNIT FULFILLS THAT DESIRE!!!!

NO DTS IS STANDARD

GREAT PRODUCT. WELL WORTH THE $1642 I PAID (THIS PRICE IS OFR BOTH THE CA-1 AND PA-5, NEW FROM UBID).

Excellent product at the price. High quality and finish.

I got a deal on this one. I hooked it up to my PA-1 and its fabulous! Everything from sound handling to every minute detail. THe remotes a little clunky but no other complaints!!!

Excellent control amp!