Nakamichi - DRAGON 11.4.6 Home Surround Sound System

I agree with you 100%! I’ve had the Dragon for a while now, and it’s been a game-changer for both gaming and movies. The surround sound immersion is top-notch, and the clarity, especially in vocals, is impressive. The upfiring speakers handle height effects better than I expected, even with high ceilings, and the system as a whole feels really balanced. Definitely worth it for anyone looking for a strong home theater experience without all the cables.

Best? That’d be the Nakamichi Dragon with quad subs boiiiyeeeeeee

Nice, I’m going to have to survive with the addition of 1 12”. I echo your sentiments about the system. Can’t wait to hook that 12 up and watch dune 1 and 2 again!

The sound of the system eclipses the measurements of the system!

My Dragon has provided an epic experience! Adding the two 12s to the 8s really has taken the system to the next level. The house literally shakes now with honest chest thumping levels. The best tip is to turn DSP off! BTW, the 12s are RELs!

I wonder is everyone knows the dragon 12s are closer to REL 8/12 subs. No soundbar has anything close to this sub available.

It’s not that hard and it literally takes 15 min. I used the dbl meter on my Apple Watch! Sure, not including calibration was an oversight, but not a deal breaker. The end result is still magnificent and the wow factor for having guests over to experience dragon has never disappointed!

Caught blowing smoke? AR? lol Only plays loud? If you are in the market for a wireless speaker system that has the best sound in that category, you have your system. Dragon is far more capable than its given credit for. Hopefully, you will get a chance to listen to one. Everyone who has heard mine with the 12s has been impressed. The 12s alone make this system untouchable by any other home theater in a box. No comparison!!

Watch 25 videos from AR and tell me he didn’t have a negative opinion before heading into the review of the dragon!!! How many reviews has he done where he had to buy the equipment his self? He even mentioned the limited time reviewing his sample before returning. You think none of these circumstances had any effect on his review? Neverenoughtech was a much better, even keeled review, no comparison. Missing features that anyone with 1/2 a brain cell can compensate for. You have a tape measure? I used the dbl meter on my Apple Watch. Doing these minimums was easy and improved an already great experience. I’m sure for the money, you could build a better av separates system, but you’ve missed the point! Loud and clear is something foreign in the soundbar world. Effortless 110db+ experience is unmatched. Couple the 12”subs into the experience, you’re not getting that experience short of Svs sub territory. It’s a house shaking, chest thumping experience that is not able to be reproduced by any other soundbar or home theater in a box. This is what the ARs missed in their reviews!!! This is what I’m compelled to express in a sea of negativity. Do I want to justify my expenditure to you, I don’t really care to be honest. I do care when a company is getting dragged through the gutter when far worse examples can be referenced, Sonos app!! Cheers

Have you done any research on the 12s? I paid $55k for an Acura Integra Type S which only comes with a manual transmission and FWD. different strokes for different folks. I came from a denon 3200. I’m aware that calibration exists, but my denon system still sounded worse because the calibration didn’t do all!!! I will check out your recommendations, but you sold neverenoughtech short with such a biased opinion.

At the guarantee of embarrassment, tho si my setup. The speakers in the corner are from an older system. These speakers often get confused while dragon plays Atmos effects! Notice the 4 subs and how they kind of defeat the purpose of a compact system. The chuffing from the 8s many reviewers have noted is gone when used with the 12s.

Lo knows liked it, what he didn’t like has been fixed! Pretty simple to understand….

Not close! None of those systems has house shattering bass that you can feel reverberating through your chest!!

Have you heard one? Who cares about value? Someone who gets Dragon wants the best htib!! Samsung doesn’t compare, sorry! How’s those bricked 990s doing? Also, you’re lucky if the Samsung gets louder than 90 db, dragon hits 115db easily! You think that Samsung will fill a 30’ x 30’ room?

…who wants the wires and associated headaches of a dedicated system? You missed the point again. Home theater in a box!!! Dragon is next level when compared to any other soundbar you mentioned. Again, you haven’t heard the system, so your opinion is worthless. Thank you!

I have the Nakamichi Dragon and it's just about on par with my old discreet 7.1.4 setup. The only thing that is kind of lacking is height effects, but you're not going to get *good* heights with any soundbar.

There are some great sounding soundbars that *can* rival discreet setups, but they're generally astronomically expensive. I got a very good deal on the Nakamichi Dragon, and I've been loving it. And I only even thought about the thing because Linus said it was about 90% of the quality of his $15,000 setup.

Unfortunately, I don't have the room for a dedicated theater room, so my setup is a series of compromises. I value a larger TV over a better sound system. Simple at that. 90% of the time, it's YouTube or some 5.1 stream on the TV anyway, so I'm really not missing much. The Nakamichi Dragon soundbar I bought is grossly overpriced despite the deal I got on it, but it does do 3.1 very, very well for a soundbar.

I just got the Nakamichi Dragon which will pass through 4K120, but yes, I believe the newer Shockwafe 9.2 Ultra 9.2 SSE (black bezels) supports it as well. Honestly, as long as it has eARC, it should have HDMI 2.1 and should support it. Even my old Nakamichi 7.1 that I had a few years ago supported 4K120.

I have a dragon as well and I’ve been quite impressed. I have struggled getting the thing calibrated. Especially for the height effects. I don’t have a vaulted ceiling—it’s actually only about 10ft. Anyway I can hear stuff behind me but only rarely over head. Idk.

I am one of the original 500 and I love my system.

I had the Nakamichi shockwafe SSE ARC 9.2.4 in my basement and I loved it so much I bought one for my master's bedroom. On April 26th 2023 I ordered the dragon to replace the Unit in my basement. But I had to wait 4 months for the dragon. During that period I became friends with Many Nakamichi owners who had the original Nakamichi shockwafe SSE ARC 9.2.4 1000 watts. Who had upgraded to the Nakamichi shockwafe SSE eARC 9.2.4 1300 watts and told me it was a huge improvement over the original. So after becoming bored of waiting for the Dragon, the Nakamichi shockwafe SSE eARC went on sale and I decided to purchase it to upgrade the unit in my master bedroom. Let me tell you I was blown away by the experience. It was at least 60% improvement over the original Nakamichi shockwafe. I was so impressed by the Nakamichi shockwafe SSE eARC that I began to buy tons of UHD Blueray. I got Heat, Training Day, The professional. My Jaw was on the floor these movies sounded on the soundbar. I said, if I knew the Nakamichi shockwafe SSE eARC sounded this good, I don't think I would have the need to purchase the dragon (which I wasn't expecting for another 4 months) I was so into my eARC that I spent 7 months playing with it and loving it. In the meantime the Dragon arrived on September 6th. I didn't open the box until April of 2024. Because I was so into the eARC. The only reason I opened the box was because there was never enough tech to review the dragon and got a few damaged parts. So I had to open up the dragon. My friend told me that I will find the dragon at least 60% better than the eARC 🤔🤔. Well remember I was really blown away by the improvement of the eARC with lossless Audio on the eARC. But with the dragon my basement was under construction so I couldn't really get lossless sound to it, so I could only stream using Disney plus and Vudu. Well I was completely blown away by the improvement over the eARC and this wasn't even lossless sound. It completely blew away the eARC it was in a different league. I had a friend come over and we watched the Beekeeper on the original Nakamichi shockwafe SSE ARC 9.2.4 1000 watts and my guest were completely blown away. When they heard the dragon. They were completely shocked by how immersive it was compared to the Nakamichi shockwafe SSE ARC. It was on another level especially the Atmos effect. The Nakamichi shockwafe SSE ARC and eARC couldn't touch the dragon with those effects. It was so much more immersive. I played the Taylor Swift Eras tour on Disney plus to a bunch of 20 years old hip hop kids who didn't know her music. It sounded so good on the dragon. That's they watched the entire concert for 3 hours and they were loving it because it sounded that good. I also streamed Ready Player One, Ambulance, and Training Day. My Jaw was on the floor. My mom who is 83 has vascular dementia, watched Dreamgirls (this time with lossless audio DTS X pro) She was so blown away by the experience, she said it was one of the best days of her life because of the dragon. She really fell in love with that movie. She asked me how did I know she would like the movie? I had to remind her we saw it at movies when it first came out. She didn't remember, but she was really feeling the movie because how it sounded on the dragon. The highest volume I needed to play anything with Lossless audio was at 27 volume Bass at 7. Now I have just got the 2 12 inch subwoofers to go with the 2 8 inch subwoofers to take the system to another level 🤔 I haven't upgraded the system yet. But as the owners of the Dragon in my basement and the Nakamichi shockwafe SSE eARC 9.2.4 1300 watts in my master bedroom. The eARC can't compete with the dragon and it's not even close. But I still love my eARC in my bedroom but don't get it twisted it's not even close to the dragon.

youll need a SW5 subwoofer to pair with the quads mate but if its bass what you want and surrounds too, theres the Nakamichi Dragon that rivals the sonos setup for the price, Altough the Nakamichi has dual driver in 2 subs included with the combo, sonos gives you one

Dragon owner here since September of last year. Highly recommend the dragon if money is no object. Nakamichi also has a launch sale for a few more days on their add on 12" subs. They're $1200 each atm. I have two incoming(arriving Friday). If you do decide to go with the dual 8" at the price ur getting, i would recommend also looking into adding one or two of these. I can let you know my thoughts once I receive them. The system has 100% been worth it for me. My day job is AV installation so I've had a lot of experience with setting up most brand's soundbars and discreet systems like yours. Personally I've tried the HTA-9 and an Ambeo + SVS PB1000 in my own space along with the Dragon and I decided to keep the Dragon. It may fit all your needs - dual subs, eARC/HDMI 2.1/4K passthrough, two surrounds. Another bonus I find is that there are a total of 3 additional HDMI inputs besides for the eARC on the bar which is closer to the amount of inputs a receiver will offer.

If you're asking if the Dragon will passthrough a 4K120Hz signal? I believe there should be no issues with the passthrough via HDMI. Just connect your PC to Dragon, Dragon to the monitor. I don't have a 4K monitor so I cannot test but it sounds like it should work with no issues. I do have a 1440p version of your monitor so I can test with that. EDIT: I hooked up Dragon to the 1440p QD-OLED AW2725DF alienware monitor and my PC into Dragon. I was able to pass through 120Hz at 1440p with HDR with no issues.

Nakamichi Dragon with (2) SVS 1000 Pro subs. And yes, you can modify the Dragon to accept other subs in case you're going to comment.

https://preview.redd.it/kiewvgekqwxd1.jpg?width=1714&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d4b786e40c3bd690dd1984cf25d53010e157c95 I’ve been lucky enough to own the Dragon system since September of 2023  and I haven’t seen many posts on Reddit from actual owners of this system so I wanted to share my honest experience after a year with it. Little bit of backstory: My dad is super into home theater and audio and got me into it when I was younger. I’m super lucky that I've been able to turn that passion into my day job as an AV installer, working on projects and with all sorts of gear ranging from basic soundbars to full-blown home theater systems. I’ve had the chance to hear some truly amazing HT setups with both AVRs, and most flagship soundbars too. Like many others with this passion, I live with constraints. I may be a crazy audio nutjob, but going crazy with wires and gear at my house is a big nono for my other half..., I had just moved and was looking into a soundbar system for the living room that would work for me and the fam. We enjoy watching movies and TV shows together and my son and I are both gamers so I was looking for a system that could provide an enjoyable and versatile experience for all types of content.  At this point I had tried the Sony HT-A9 and Sennheiser Ambeo in this room but found them lacking—HT-A9 felt underpowered, and the Ambeo’s surround immersion fell short without rear speakers. When Dragon was first announced around CES last year it seemed to check all the boxes I was looking for based off of the initial videos and impressions I saw.  **Anyways, here are my thoughts after a year of use:** * This is the best surround sound I’ve had from a wireless system, hands down. Is it going to blow away a $15,000 AVR setup? Probably not but it’s still miles ahead of the Sony HT-A9 and Ambeo in the same room. The sound immersion is impressive. * On-screen display made it surprisingly easy to calibrate room distances and volume level and adjust settings. I also gave Nakamichi a call for setup suggestions when I first unboxed the system and support was friendly and knew what they were talking about. Calibration definitely makes a huge difference in sound! Highly recommend taking some time to go through this process. * Atmos gaming is EXTREMELY immersive. Some suggestions are Cyberpunk 2077, RDR 2, Hellblade Setsuna. I recently played through Black Myth Wukong and the graphics and audio direction are next [level.Game](http://level.Game) is fantastic in every regard from gameplay to music, sound effects, and dialogue. Playing through that game on Dragon was insanely fun and in general it feels like the system really brings out the best in a game’s audio design. I’m genuinely impressed with the Dragon main soundbar. Stand-out features are definitely the clarity and vocal reproduction after calibration. The bar’s ability to reproduce vocals and finer details is scary close to what I expect from a high-end dedicated center channel. The left/right separation from the front is also very wide and spacious. *  I really like the system’s use of AMT tweeters. They deliver very natural sounding highs and are also quite musical. If you guys have Apple Music and Apple TV, try listening to Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon Album in Atmos. Definitely a sublime experience on any good surround system. * Dragon’s surround speakers are also really great. Their design of covering rear, side, and height channels allow for wider area coverage which even some dedicated HT setups can struggle with as traditional bookshelf speakers can be very directional when used as rears. A lot of surrounds that come with soundbars are overshadowed by the main soundbar, but these surrounds blend extremely well with the entire system, since the drivers and amt’s are exactly the same size as those in the main bar. My wife is a big Harry Potter fan. We recently rebinged the entire series together on Dragon. The duel between Dumbledore and Voldermort in Order of Phoenix sounded so good on Dragon. The mix is in DTS not Dolby but Dragon did a crazy job replicating all the spells that flew across the screen, it was insanely visceral and felt like we were there with both of them.  * The upfiring drivers for height effects work surprisingly well, even in a room with vaulted ceilings, which usually make it harder to hear overhead effects from upfiring speakers. The system has settings to adjust the height effects, and raising them did make a difference. * The entire system feels very well-balanced. The subs handle the bass, allowing the main bar and surrounds to focus on mid and high frequencies. The handoff between components is smooth, and the sound is consistent across the whole audio range. **A few neutral to negative points:** * The four 8” subs do a solid job for their size. A lot better imo than other soundbar subs like the Sony SW5. For most people coming from systems from Sonos or Samsung, these might actually feel quite powerful.  Bass in general hits well in explosive moments and action scenes. Hits much harder with a good source. If you’re used to 12” or larger subs, you’ll need to set your expectations. Placement and calibration for these subs also make a big difference. * OSD and app offers tons of customization compared to other soundbars. I like tinkering and messing around w settings but for some I can see it being a little complicated.  * Source matters quite a bit. Dragon does a good job with most if not all content but really shines with high quality sources like lossless Dolby/DTS content. Those 4K Blu-rays ain’t cheap!! * No wifi capabilities - no airplay, FW updates are done via usb.  **Final Thoughts:** After using it for a year, I’m genuinely very satisfied with the Dragon. It’s closer to a dedicated home theater setup and blows out any other soundbar system I’ve heard or tried. If you’re looking for the best wireless sound system that can almost match a dedicated AVR setup, the Dragon is worth looking at. Yes, the price is nothing to scoff at, but for me - the audio quality and enjoyment it brings my loved ones justifies the money spent. I would definitely recommend it to those looking to get as close as possible to a true home theater setup without the hassles of wires and a receiver.  I also have a pair of Nakamichi 12” subs arriving later this week, so if anyone’s interested, I can update with thoughts on those after testing **EDIT**: I received my 2x 12" subs on Friday, November 1st. Installation was quick and easy. I haven't had too much time with them yet, but they're definitely a winner and greatly enhance the bass experience. For those looking for enhanced bass compared to the original system I would highly recommend them.

Dragon is great! I personally don't think there's a soundbar that really does the anything similar to what it does. The Ambeo max is the closest comparison but that doesn't come with any subs or surrounds. Robinson's opinion is just his and his wifes and mine is also just my own. I had a more detailed review on it i posted a while back in this subreddit if you wanted to take a look.

100% Agreed. I have the original 8" system and added two 12"s. System is way above everything else in the soundbar category hands down.

Dragon owner here. You won’t be disappointed. Cannot beat the fact that the surrounds and subs all wireless. Can’t wait to get my 12” subs. Let’s gooooo

You talking about this? https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/nakamichi-dragon-1146 It's 3 times the price of the Samsung and the review isn't exactly glowing. Appreciate it depends on that you are looking for. If bass is your primary consideration agreed the sanding probably isn't the best, but saying that I've tried both klipsch and JBL with 10 inch subs and actually thought the bass output on both was worse than the Sammy and the soundbars that went with them were worlds away from it.

Nakamichi Dragon. The last soundbar you'll ever need.

In terms of soundbars, nothing beats the Dragon. I wish I had a 3rd kidney to sell.

Nakamichi Dragon. Hands down. The last soundbar you'll ever need.

If money isn't an issue and you want the best, Nakamishi Dragon is a must. I have the Sonos arc, 2 of 300 era rear speakers, and 2 sonos subwoofers gen 3. I feel like the details come out a little muddy sometimes, the fact that there is no DTS support which is higher bit than Dolby, and only 1 hdmi port is where it's lacking. The subwoofers are great, but a traditional subwoofers will likely hit better at certain frequencies. Don't get me wrong it's a great set up and can turn your whole house into a smart speaker system if you want to add to the sonos collection over time, but I feel like after a few updates they might have changed the sound to be a bit muddy in my opinion to push for their sonos arc ultra and they have deeply discounted the original arc for that reason, but that's just what I believe.

My brother has the Dragon, and I don't exagerrate when I say listening to it is a mindblowing experience. For what it's worth, Dragon's going for under $3k on Nak's site, and they have a pretty generous return window. Why not give it a whirl and see for yourself, instead of taking some reviewer's word for it?

That Nakamishi Dragon soundbar system is freaking incredible. Expensive but you aren't getting a better soundbar setup from any other company.

Nakamichi Dragon should do the trick 👌

Absolutely the opposite. The Dragon system calibration is ridiculously detailed. It just needs to be done manually on screen which is fine. In my old HT system which used Audyssey, I still had to fine tune the calibration. The atmos from it is much better than the Samsung 990D that I own.

Also, the level of detail in sound is really good. If people think the soundbar part is in their face, then calibrate it.

They do have three different room size presets. Calibration is easy.

Very interested in an update with the subs, my only concern is the subs (I do have the system) as it was a sore point for many I read when It first came out and that the subs can't go as low as advertised. Otherwise I lvoe the thing, though I'm also curious about a comparison between the Sonos Arc Ultra with Era 300s against the Dragon, as I still have my Sonos setup collecting dust that I had before getting the Dragon. Waiting to see some comparisons before I decide if I just sell the arc and Eras or just replace the Arc and go back to the Sonos.

Don't listen to that guy in specs. In fact, much of it makes me seriously question his expertise with audio. Especially the part where he criticizes the main unit for its crossover choices. All soundbars that are designed to be used in conjunction with a subwoofer out of the box will naturally have a crossover point that's higher (from 150Hz) onwards. The reason for that is because soundbars, in the grand scheme of things, use pretty small drivers. [https://www.svsound.com/blogs/subwoofer-setup-and-tuning/tips-for-setting-the-proper-crossover-frequency-for-a-subwoofer](https://www.svsound.com/blogs/subwoofer-setup-and-tuning/tips-for-setting-the-proper-crossover-frequency-for-a-subwoofer) It is simply much more efficient for the subwoofer to take on what is generally referred to as the midbass frequencies. I have the original DRAGON at home. Recently added the 12" Subwoofer to it, but that's not a must. The dual-opposing subwoofers are weighty and seamlessly integrate with the rest of the soundbar/surround speakers. The AMT tweeters are clearer than anything else i've experienced. Compared to listening to a 990 or Sonos Arc, its almost like taking a wad of tissue out of your ears. The clarity is that spectacular. The 12" Subwoofer is meaty and takes DRAGON to the next level in terms of impact. Way beyond anything else the soundbar category has - including the sonos arc ultra with external subs. Try it within your return window. Then listen to the demos in stores for any of the alternatives.... You'll likely never want to return it. If I would buy again, I would splurge on their dual 12" model. Should be more than enough for 99% of people, really.

Can't speak for the hisense, but for the rest soundbars mentioned, these were designed to be used on their own, with an optional sub purchase. Those use woofers/subwoofers so they can go with a lower crossover. Even that is a debatable solution actually. With that approach, the woofers on the soundbar in effect, are playing both mid bass and mid frequncies. That'll at least, affect the max volume output the soundbar unit is capable of, and at worst, I'd think it'll muddle up the mid frequncies if not tuned with lots of care. Since the small drivers have more power hungry frequencies to take care of. The dragon's soundbar can't be purchased on its own, so nak seems to have gone a different approach, driver choice wise. i'm pretty certain the Samsung 990, LGs, and JBLs which come with an external sub out of the box utilize a higher crossover, since their soundbar driver config doesn't seem to include subwoofers. Yeah the 120-150hz range is where things will sound localized with a single sub. In experience The dragon doesn't have this issue since it always comes with 2 subs. I placed mine on the front left/right, as they recommend, and I used a subwoofer crawl to optimise the positioning against the wall. But yes, this higher crossover approach won't work well for almost any other soundbar in the market, since those only come with a single subwoofer box

As a fellow Dragon owner, I agree with everything that you've said except for the subs. The subs are utter trash, coming from Sonos. The Sonos sub is leaps and bound better than the 8'' Dragon subs. I just switched to dual SVS PB1000 Pro subs and oh boy, what a world of difference it made. People sticking with the 8' subs are missing out on the system's potential, tbh. As for the main unit, you are right, there's nothing that comes close to the clarity it delivers.

\> lots of mix reviews literally one mixed review (more negative than mixed), from Andrew Robinson, who was salty AF because Naka refused to provide him a review unit. Every other reviewer and 95% of customer feedback has only been positive for the Dragon.

Well, the subs are pretty bad, I agree. But when you swap out to SVS subs or any other third party, Dragon transforms to a whole new level. I am not even exaggerating. But I understand, it shouldn’t have to be that way. The main unit is just that good.

Just go with an LG OLED and samsung s990D. You'll get Dolby Vision and have 4k/120 passthrough. Only the Dragon has 2.1 with 4k/120

Thank you for your review. I too have one of the first 500 Dragons and have enjoyed my Dragon for the last year. I agree with everything you say, and my experience has been pretty much the same as you describe. I have a flat 8-foot ceiling, so the Atmos effects are very good. Receiving my 12" sub today! I am actually satisfied with my 8" subs but caught the "Fear of Missing Out" and had to get at least one. I have a relatively small family room so one sub should be overkill in the room.

Doesn't matter if you have Atmos source or not as the Dragon set to Dolby Surround will upmix and play the sound from all speakers. The upmixing works pretty damn well. You can find out more if you go to the Dolby website and look up their upmixing technology. Here's a good review of the technology: [Upmixer Face-off: DSU vs. Neural:X vs. Auro-3D - High-Def Digest: The Bonus View](https://www.highdefdigest.com/blog/dolby-dts-auro-surround-sound-upmixer-comparison/)

no. it's really good although it's bang for buck isn't the greatest