Nakamichi Dragon 11.4.6 Soundbar Test

2 versions of the same scene. Streamed from Amazon. Volume ranges from 28-37.

[@dannewhouse5333]

You are my new best friend!!! Thank you so much for putting this out there. I have been searching for info on the Dragon for months as I have one coming myself in about 2 1/2 weeks. It sounds Amazing even on my iPad😂 as I can tell the clarity of the sound as its being recorded…it sounds CLEAN!

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

I just thought about what I’ve been wanting to see on the dragon and decided to post it since I just got it yesterday. Glad you liked it! Hope you like yours when it arrives.

[@hellterskeltor]

​@Ryan_Butterfield go in and play with the settings and set it to studio it will bump the sound up more. I am waiting for my dragon to at the end of October. Also the sub on the right is being blocked by the couch, the sub has no room to breathe. Also don't forget to play with the height settings as well. I don't know if you know but also by default the dragon seems to ship with the default setting of native, but keep playing with the settings I think you might need to calibrate it Also. Thank you for posting the demo...very nice system cannot wait to get mine end of October..😊

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

@@hellterskeltor You’re welcome. Yes I still need to experiment with the settings more to figure out what works in my room. I’m planning on trying that sub on the right in a new spot soon. Distances were calibrated for this video.

[@hakunamatata324]

THANK YOU!!!!
The first review to truly show it in action, others channel is just talks and sh1t.

[@MusicAnirban]

Intelligently done. Kudos for this meaningful performance demo.

[@TheGirlSkateBoardCo]

Here from AVS! Thank you!

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

You’re welcome!

[@RonD84]

Keep them coming mate absolutely insane demo, Sounds incredible and id bloody love to get one shipped over here to the Uk but sadly it'll never be possible 😢

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

Maybe if enough of them sell in the states they'll open it up for other areas. I hope they do.

[@Mr.HotRod]

I think you could very well be correct. Once Naka thinks they have sold most of what they are initially going to sell in China and the US, they may decide to expand outside those 2. Hope it happens for U..... Rock on Drag on...@@Ryan_Butterfield 🐉

[@martinjames27]

Thank you so much for doing this!! Awesome sound! Waiting for my ‘beast’ to come in December!! Can’t wait… looks like the C.R.A.Z.E. is REAL!!

[@captnsavem]

Sweet can't wait until I receive mines. Thanks for the share.

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

No problem! Hope yours gets here soon.

[@Raptors0524]

Wow! What a great setup! We need to have a movie night! I can bring the food 🤣🤣

[@kingkobra1956]

Yeah, I want one too but I live in an apartment and won't be able to enjoy it the way I want so I'll keep my Bose 900 system. I am totally envious though. I would just love to blast that monster in all its glory.

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

That’s the smart choice. Someday….keep the dream alive.

[@Mr.HotRod]

As far as us viewers through TH-cam can hear your' Dragon System is pretty impressive. I do know one thing though from your video. You do need to repaint that white flower box outside. Starting to look a little rough, but your Dragon is SWEET. Take Care Rock On Drag on...... 🐉

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

Hahahaha! Yes I do need to paint it. And fix some rot. I just cleared it all out last month. It was overgrown with plants.

[@RonD84]

Ive got the Sony HT A9 and to me it sounds so much better louder, When over 35 it really kicks into gear i love it, Definitely wont compete with a 10 Grand separate system but anything i play on disc sounds phenomenal through it

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

Yeah the dragon shines as the volume goes up. It really can take my breath away with it's raw power.

[@leatijoseph828]

dude don't compare sony and nakamichi it's funny nakamichi is just a trash brand

[@suasponte4968]

Mine is shipping next month! woohoo!

[@fragranceandcooking]

love this!!!

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

Thanks!

[@NakaDragon]

Sound awesome! I’m still waiting for mine… I was one of the lucky one to get the 1 of 500, they say the end of August. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting for the email for the shipping date 😢

[@jamesrose298]

Me too!!

[@seanaugustus7340]

Its cool to see real world performance demo’s 👍.. Im on the fence on which is better the dragon vs Sonos premier setup which is what I have.. guess the only way to know for sure is a side by side comparison in person 🤷‍♂️

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

Yeah I was hoping for more real world demos myself and then thought hey I can do that! I have no experience with Sonos. From what I gather the biggest difference is the dragon’s ability to blow it out of the water with power when pushed hard.

[@gwhite6697]

Hi Ryan. Congratulations on your new Dragon. How are you connecting your external devices? To your TV or the Dragon? Thanks for sharing your experience with the Dragon?

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

I have my 4k blu ray plugged straight into the dragon. The rest of devices are plugged straight into the tv. I connected the dragon to the tv via the earc input with the hdmi cable provided by Nakamichi.

[@BgTheEngineer]

Im buying this system to check my dolby atmos mixes

[@user-ws9op6pt6t]

Which is better？klipsch cinema 1200 or this one？

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

I haven’t heard the Klipsch cinema 1200 but from what I’ve heard about it I believe the Dragon would be much better.

[@leatijoseph828]

my friend, I could not hear the details from the height of the bass, the soundbars are all like that, high bass, but there is no detail, I can't even hear the dialogues, I installed the Polk audio system, center Polk R400, tower speakers R700, Rear Polk s60s, Atmos Polk rc80i, Receiver Jbl synthesis sdp-55, come my I am sure that after listening to the system once, you will throw the soundbar in the trash when you returns home))) In the meantime, I liked the sound quality of 1 or 2 of the soundbars, senheiser ambeo sounds good, sonos teufel, others are all garbage, don't be fooled by those who advertise.

[@HF1.0]

Nobody asked.

[@stonesfan285]

It sounds pretty nice but it's still fairly large, you have to place the extra speakers and those two large subs. My guess is you don't get that much sound separation with the soundbar (it probably just acts as a big stereo channel) and I've heard about issues with the subs failing. It just doesn't seem like it really is catching on. They cost a lot of money (I am seeing them for $3200 on Prime specials) and Nakamichi is really slow to produce and ship them. Like I haven't even heard of anyone but a few people getting theirs yet after a year since purchasing.
I heard a Sonos Arc and I thought it sounded really nice. It costs less than this and is about the same size and really just overall seems like it's made better. I'd probably be more inclined to go with that.
However, my system is a Sony STR-DH590 and an older 5.1 system I pieced together and it sounds better than most of the soundbar systems I've heard and I only paid $250 for the whole thing. Separates give you better sound separation, the ability to upgrade individual components, and generally those components are made better. Plus a lot of soundbar systems now want you to route everything through your TV as an HDMI switch which often means no lossless or DTS support - only Dolby Digital/DD+.

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

The soundbar separation isn’t great. The rear surrounds provide excellent separation but obviously they aren’t used as much as the front. My purchase was one of the first 500 and yes it took a while to get it but they have them in stock now so I don’t believe that is an issue anymore. It’s still a limited market being a soundbar at this price so I doubt it will be a big seller. It’s good for what it is but for that same money you can get better performance from a standard 5.1 AVR. That’s what I ended up doing and I returned the Dragon. I can see this product being a good solution for some though.

[@stonesfan285]

@@Ryan_Butterfield True... But it's also a soundbar. These are designed to be nicer-looking/simpler alternatives to a full blown HT AMP.
I went back to my Roku Streambar Pro. I liked that Sony receiver but the calibration software is for crap and I just like having more space in my den. I have the Roku Streambar Pro paired with two wireless speakers in the back and the wireless sub and I think total this set up was right around $500. The only downside is if I want to watch anything with DTS audio (Blu-rays) then it has to pass it through my TV as stereo PCM and I think it's doing like Dolby Surround or DPLII upmixing or something.
My real issue with the Dragon is the price. I feel like you're paying $3200 (on an Amazon Prime special) for what's really like a $1200-1500 product. If they lowered the price a bit, and worked on making more units available, I think it would catch on better.
I think we just have to take what we can get and be happy with it. I probably will not go with a HT AMP again. Just because I hated having to wire everything, make stands for the speakers, find a receiver that fit in the cabinet I have, and the Sony I think its bass channel stopped working either that or my sub was crap.

[@stonesfan285]

@@Ryan_Butterfield At the end of the day, I felt like I was starting to chase gear instead of being happy with what I had and enjoying my movies and TV. And now with just the Roku surround setup I've got, it freed up a lot of space in the den.

[@Necrohermit]

Where are the rear speakers?

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

Yeah my bad I didn't think to show them in the video. They're behind the couch flanked to both sides.

[@obinna12]

It’s always surprising when people can afford expensive systems then put them in apartments that look like that. $12 target floor lamps?? Really?

[@NukeAbility1981]

Fait le test de nouveau, mais avec le film
Iron Man 1: le premier teste de vol.
xXx: l'avalanche.
Apollo 13: le décollage de la fusée.
Transformer 1: base attack.
San Andreas: le tremblement de terre gigantesque dans la ville.
2012: la limousine dans le tremblement de terre.

[@ARIN4UK]

How big is that TV? I know the sound bar is like 58” wide I think?

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

It’s an 85 inch tv. Yes the bar is 58 inches wide. It’s pretty large.

[@thomasjones2071]

What's the 🎬

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

No Time To Die. It’s the latest James Bond movie.

[@williamriker4889]

What do you think about it?

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

I still haven't had much time with it but so far I think it sounds better the louder it is. And it can get LOUD!

[@nekerrivera]

@@Ryan_Butterfield I was lucky enough to order a Nakamichi dragon and hopefully I’ll receive mine in October. I was able to experience the sound quality of this beast in Vegas and I love it so much that I decided to replace my 5.4.2 home theater system for the Nakamichi dragon. How’s the sound quality and atmos effects. Is it worth it?

[@Ryan_Butterfield]

@@nekerrivera That's cool that you got to experience it in Vegas back then! My initial impressions are that the dialogue sounds a bit weird to me. It doesn't sound rich....it sounds small and artificial. The system can get very loud and powerful. Surrounds are strong. Atmos didn't wow me like I had hoped. But....due to my busy life I haven't had that much time to play with it yet so the jury is still out on that.

[@TheGirlSkateBoardCo]

Hey man!
Do yourself a solid. Not all Atmos mixes are made equally. After you tweak your audio settings, watch Ready Player One race scene in the beginning. It has one of the strongest Atmos tracks in my opinion.
In my opinion, the new James Bond movie has a very weak Atmos track.

[@RonD84]

Stick Gravity on or Fury Road and crank that baby up I'm sure you'll be happy with the purchase pal 👍🏻

[@ArunBabu-cy1cf]

All bad imagine, just used a good avr and Atmos config

[@wingedhussar1453]

Its nice but looks ugly and doesn't fit bright rooms