# nakamichi sp-80



## neuspeedescort (Feb 23, 2010)

i just came into the possession of a pair of 100% operational nakamichi sp-80. i owned these about 15 years ago. an the guy i gave them to then just returned them to me. one speaker lead is minorly disconnected at the terminal. which i plan to get re-soldiered and the grills are a little scratched. not sure what i want to do with them. but i got them back and am happy about it. anyone have experience with these? when i had them originally i don't know much about audio. it's likely a good thing i never used them back then. picture attached.


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## Marky (Nov 15, 2011)

Yes I have four of them and all still in original boxes. They are low power subwoofers and like to be around 75 watts in 4ohm.
They really are not good performers I hate to say. I ended up replacing mine with JL 8W1V3-4 and there was no comparison whatsoever. 

Those woofers are from the early 80's and that was a time where the car audio technology was still pretty new. I am still a Nakamichi fan and had a 12 channel active system using 6 first generation plate amps from Nakamichi.
System was beautiful crisp and dynamic. The bass was a bit light but the JL helped a bunch. I still have pictures of the install under my name here. It was a awesome install with all the amps inline on the back wall of my truck. Was a work of art really and the PA300II amps are so clean I have still not seen a amp with specs better.
75WPC @ 0.003 THD (1kHZ, 75W)
Stereo Separation Better than 80dB (1kHZ)
5-50,000HZ
115 S/N Ratio
1000 and better Damping Factor

They were plate amps with a ADS design platform I have read. They sounded great just not big power builders. I miss the system, wrecked the truck and that was the end of them I'm afraid. Ended selling them to a childhood friend for very cheap. He has always wanted that gear back in the 80's. He has it all up and running today in his truck.

My suggestion is get some JL Audio 8W1V3-4 you wont look back. My SP-80's are still upstairs in my shop. I would give them to you if you were close.
Mine are still in like new condition. One set has a little bit of fading on the cones, but are in 9/10 condition I'd say.


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## neuspeedescort (Feb 23, 2010)

i remember when i had them back 15 years ago my plan was mid bass them. but who knows i may just throw them in a box and run them in my shop. i noticed the low power handling. figured they were likely high spl to watt ratio. like most things back then.


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## Marky (Nov 15, 2011)

Where they shine is at moderate power levels. When I pushed them hard they exceeded X-Max and let you know it. I have two pairs and one was much newer than the other set. The newer set must have been redesigned because they handled the power better and seemed to just do better. Yea a shop stereo is a good place for them.
You are right back in the 80's they were reaching for the sky in quality department.
I really have not seen specs that are better then those old PA300II amps. But today the power levels have climbed so high that its really unfair to try to compare to a amplifier putting out 75 watts of power.
But if you have 6 of them you are at 900 watts of pure musical bliss. It was really a awesome sounding system. People could not believe it was from 35 year old Nak amps.....until I pulled back seat open.


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## spydertune (Sep 9, 2005)

Not much of a sub but a solid midbass driver. When used properly they can do a real nice job. Their main competition then was the ADS CS700/S7.


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## Spareplanet (Jan 6, 2019)

It depends on your music listening taste. 

The Nakamichi SP-80 woofers are great for building an audiophile-quality, true-to-the-recording system. Very tight, musical bass, even amplitude at all frequencies. Nice, flat frequency response, 30-1000. 160 watt power handling. 

If you want a thumper system, with exxagerrated, boomy, subharmonic bass that will rattle your trunk with an indistinguishable pitch (lol, but seriously) then the Naks wouldn't be the choice.


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## txsound (Jan 22, 2014)

spydertune said:


> Not much of a sub but a solid midbass driver. When used properly they can do a real nice job. Their main competition then was the ADS CS700/S7.


So I have both of these and currently using the CS700 as a mid low in an active 3 way set up...would going up to the added cone area of the SP80 be worth the trouble of gettin them mounted in my ...door


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