The Nakamichi name is back and living up to their premium reputation with an 11.4.6 surround home theatre system featuring 21 channels, Dolby Atmos and much more.
Nakamichi had settled into a line of lifestyle products, but after Hong Kong-based Chinese company Grande Holdings – who also own Akai and Sansui – took the reins they’re shifting focus to high-end, most notably with the new Elite 7.2, Pro 7.1 and Ultra 9.2 EARC soundbar systems.
Making a huge splash at the recent CES 2023, the company built on their solid-sounding Shockwafe product line and the cache of the Dragon legacy with the 21-channel 11.4.6 home surround sound system.
The 11 is for the number of horizontal channels, the 4 is how many subwoofers this beast packs, and the 6 represents the height channels – which all amounts to a lot of aural splendour, especially when you know some channels feature more than one speaker driver, bringing the total drivers to 31.
Nakamichi have said their philosophy for the new Dragon is to present an authentic three-dimensional home theatre experience, with seamless integration with any room environment and a set-up time of less than a quarter of an hour.
Those at the CES showcase report zero amp strain, distortion or speaker clipping, with the system immersing the room with precise sound object location.
Reports also state the system delivers high-grade performance on a range of music styles equal to its delivery of film audio, with excellent stereo separation that doesn’t lose resolution, even at high volume.
All up, the Nakamichi Dragon consists of five components – a 58″-wide soundbar with a stainless steel chassis, two wireless Omni Motion surround speakers that include an angle-adjustable upfiring speaker, and two wireless 8″ quad 14.8kg subwoofers incorporating outward firing isobaric drivers supported by an additional port.
Of course it’s all compatible with most surround formats, such as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X Pro, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and more, and rolls with a variety of connection options, including HDMI-eARC and three additional HDMI 2.1 inputs that provide video pass-through with resolution and frame rates up to 4K@120Hz/8K@60Hz.
With 15 individual amplifiers running 1500W, 3000W peak, across the entire system, there’s also gaming support with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Fixed Rate Link (FRL).
All up, this unit is a fantastic way to re-enter the Dragon.
