Dokorder history?

Garrard201 · Jul 6, 2010

SO, I have a 1120 or 1125 or something coming my way. I know Dokorders are supposed to be out-of-the-box garbage, and I remember a crazy 8010 my friend had when we were little (early 90s). So I did some research about the company and there's very little out there. SO..

-when did the company go under?
-I have read that despite the name, Dokorder and what we know as "Onkyo" are two totally unrelated companies. True?
-who started the company? Is there a predecessor/succesor company that IS related?
-Why would anyone buy a Dokorder when, for the same money, you could get a Teac with the same features?
-Has anyone out there had a GOOD experience with these machines?
-was Dokorder considered crap even back then (such as Yorx and Soundesign)?
-I've always pronounced the name "da-KORDer"... but a co-worker of mine (who owned one) says "DO-korder." Who's right?

goldear · Jul 6, 2010

I have never owned one, so everythign that I say here is 100% heresay based on what I have read over the years:

I think that I have read that they were somewhat less reliable and that they were not as robustly built and that were a tech's nightmare to work on.

Why somebody would buy one? Cool looks, low price, and lack of knowledge?

I understand that Techs might have considered them to be crap; but I'm not sure if that was idea shared by the general population.

I can't remember if the parent company was supposed to be Onkyo or Denon.

That's all that I know, or at least think that I know.

magnaplaner · Jul 6, 2010

I had a da-korder in the mid 70's . It was a 4 channel player, I bought it from a MID HI shop, that sold Yamaha, Mac's, Tanburg,Teac, Marantz, Bose, Nakamichi, Pioneer. It was a new comer to the shop and I bit. It did work fine, mine had 7" reels, and I then traded it back for a Pioneer 10" 1020L that looked great "they still do" . Dakorder just never had the sex appeal and could never break thru. They were good machines not crap.

Brian · Jul 6, 2010

We sold the line and though they did not have the industrial look that persons thought was essential to a quality deck, they had as good out of the box no defect rate as any other deck we stocked (TEAC, Pioneer, Ampex, Crown, KLH, Sony, Akai, Revox). from experience, they were as reliable as any other make.

Tinman · Jul 6, 2010

Dokorder...... hmmm.... sounds familliar.....

This one was surprisingly in mint shape, too.

Marc

Artie · Jul 9, 2010

I never considered Dokorder to be substandard at all. (I've always pronounced it doe-corder.) My very first-ever stereo was a Dokorder. Thats was around 1970-ish. Still have it today and she works fine.

They made some strange reel-to-reels, however. They would hold four reels, (2 take-up, and 2 supply.) The tape would thread with one layer lying over the the other and you could copy RTR tapes on one machine. It's hard to describe. You'ld have to see one to understand.

Edit: Here's one:

dshoaf · Jul 9, 2010

I was the bench tech for a Dok dealer - a small one - and we sold some machines but most were Teac if the customer was willing to listen. The owner of this store took on the product line as Dok was building its distribution channels in the US. Dok did some advertising in the major magazines of the mid-70s but not like Teac, Sony, Akai, etc.

While the Dok stuff performed as well as the Teac or its competitors, they were priced more aggressively for the features they had. They were not 'crap' or any other work that implies poor performance for the money.

The problems, however, were in reliability. Most all of them came back under warranty. For whatever reason, things would smoke in a spectacular style and Dok's spare parts department wasn't that well stocked. They were slow in paying warranty claims to my bench, too.

For these reasons, then, the store I worked at quickly dropped the line.

Cheers,

David

MisterFishey · Jul 9, 2010

I bought a Dokorder 1140 to fix (their penultimate quad 10.5" 15ips console reel to reel), and that gave me nothing but headache. Ended up parting it out. The build quality was IMO substandard for an $1199 new machine - plastic wood paneling, masonite bottom on the mechanism and masonite back on the above mixing box. That being said, it did have plug in boards (a Godsend on any unit) and 10 (!) ICs. Can't comment on sound quality cause I never managed to get anything beyond distorted music on 1 of the 4 channels. I didn't even know where to start fixing it, since the unit had about 10 miles of internal wiring, and 20 relays, and I couldn't find anything wrong. I don't think I will go near another Dokorder again.

Number 6 · Jul 9, 2010

MisterFishey said:
I bought a Dokorder 1140 to fix (their penultimate quad 10.5" 15ips console reel to reel), and that gave me nothing but headache. Ended up parting it out. The build quality was IMO substandard for an $1199 new machine - plastic wood paneling, masonite bottom on the mechanism and masonite back on the above mixing box. That being said, it did have plug in boards (a Godsend on any unit) and 10 (!) ICs. Can't comment on sound quality cause I never managed to get anything beyond distorted music on 1 of the 4 channels. I didn't even know where to start fixing it, since the unit had about 10 miles of internal wiring, and 20 relays, and I couldn't find anything wrong. I don't think I will go near another Dokorder again.

This pretty much sounds like the common Dokorder experience. I bought a Dokorder 7100 around 1977, and I think it spent more time screwed up than playing music. They used particularly cheap switches that caused a lot of problems. The motors were not particularly reliable, and my machine eventually died from a defective motor. Many Pioneer etc decks from that era are still playing with minimal maintenance, unlike the Dokorders. By the way, I couldn't get parts for that damn thing thirty years ago because of their completely phukked up dealer network. Good luck getting parts now.

Dwartz · Jul 10, 2010

A few words about the name. As I understand it, Onkyo is a word that translates as "sound harmony," so it's fairly common in Japanese audio. Denki means "light" as in light manufacturing.

Dokorder's parent company was Denki Onkyo, located in Tokyo.

Denon is short for Denki Onkyo - the name changed when Nippon Columbia merged with Japan Denki Onkyo. No relation to the later company that produced Dokorder.

Onkyo (no relation to the other two) is located in Osaka.

We always pronounced it Dokorder as well. We had similar experience with the brand - I know we had a saying something like "Dokorder - parts on order."

I have one of the 8010 "Dub-A-Tape" 4 hub decks in my collection, awaiting restoration.

srinath · Nov 12, 2010

K I just picked up 2 of the Dok's a 7200 and a 7140.
No clue if either works. This weekend maybe if weather permits.
Cool.
Srinath.

R-2-R · Nov 12, 2010

Dekorder

......"DOKORDER....PARTS ON ORDER!"........
is the term that was used by servicing technicians.

Everytime I hear this manufacturers/reel to reel name it reminds me of that phase. I remember reading about these reel to reels and the manufacturer of them and they were always known to easily break down and everytime parts were needed the manufacture never could provide them? Anyway, see them pop up on craigslist (usually for well over $200 on up) from time to time and the sellers are always saying how rare they are and that they are working in excellent condition (could be true about both) but I would never take the chance on purchasing one. :no:

Cadillac Kid · Nov 12, 2010

I have an early capstan driven Model PT-4K. The plate on the back says " International Communications Corp. Tokyo Japan" Construction is rugged, but design seems quirky.

Here is a borrowed photo.

TAGO MAGO · Nov 12, 2010

I've heard mostly bad things about this brand. Apparently when they worked they made a nice tape, but the reliability and material quality was dismal with these decks. I would not touch one unless it was VERY cheap (I've made a similar rule about Ferrograph reel to reels because of some head issues they had in the 70's) and then I still would think twice because it would mean I would actually have to service it.

AnalogDigit · Nov 13, 2010

I always heard bad things about the brand about reliability issues. Did they only made open reel recorders?

Old Busted H · Nov 13, 2010

I think the proper pronunciation is "Don't-korder."

srinath · Nov 13, 2010

I opened up the 7140, other than the plastic front, top, bottom ... the insides are not that much worse than the 4300 teac I opened earlier or the 377 or 580 sony. Mine is loaded with pet hair ... so obviously its not working, though if I managed to ever clean it I am sure it would make a valiant attempt at working.
The 580 is very robust albeit complicated, the teac 4300 is likely just as robust, less complicated but still bad enough IMHO, the Dok I thought was simpler than both, I should be taking pics of this and all other audio adventures of mine huh.
Cool.
Srinath.

70salesguy · Nov 13, 2010

Brian said:
We sold the line and though they did not have the industrial look that persons thought was essential to a quality deck, they had as good out of the box no defect rate as any other deck we stocked (TEAC, Pioneer, Ampex, Crown, KLH, Sony, Akai, Revox). from experience, they were as reliable as any other make.

There's some serious blasphemy in that statement!

KentTeffeteller · Nov 13, 2010

Dokorder. Nice when working. Most of the time they didn't work. Parts and service support blew loads politely. I was given a late model high end Dokorder. I spent more time repairing it than using it. My Teac X series required less repairs and it still needed a capstan motor after 15 months of moderate use. I called my Dokorder my NoKorder.

Suad · Nov 30, 2012

Dokorder 1140

Hello,

My first post here

Few days ago I bought nice Dokorder 1140 for 60$. It was very nasty and dirty, but after basic restoration, disassembly, cleaning and lubrication, it looks very nice and works OK. Well OK, it needs some more contact cleaning and adjustment, maybe some recap, but for 37 years old device it works and looks great...

Does anybody have service and user manual for Dokorder 1140?

Here are some pics...

Cheers,

Suad

Dokorder history?

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