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Reel to Reel


CIGARBUM

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I know I have asked this question before, I think. I still have the 2 channel reel to reel bug. I have read a ton of stuff on the web and of course everyone claims to be the best. For some of you who had some good experience with reel to reel, I would like to get a good quality deck say for around $750. I am confused on several areas, what speeds? what size reels? what size tape 1/4" - 1/2" ? auto playback? 2 track, 4 track and a whole flock of other offerings. Can you suggest some of the vintage decks out there that may suit my needs? I guess I would start buying some pre-recorded reel to listen to, maybe record some stuff.

I would very much like to hear some of your recommendation of what I should be looking for.

Thanks you in advance for your attention.

Cigarbum

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I've been a R2R fan for many years. At present I have 5 of them here.

Not sure how much you "get your hands dirty" in them, but I wonder if you might be able to advise me. I have an excellent Sony that is perfect except for one thing. Feed reel dynamic tension is screwed. I located a schematic and found the little circuit board with a trim pot. It changed it and I could get a response, but there there was inadequate variance to get enough holdback tension.

Electronics is a not strong suit of mine. About all I could figure is perhaps a cap or something on the board needed replacing.

Any thoughts?

Dave

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I know I have asked this question before, I think. I still have the 2 channel reel to reel bug. I have read a ton of stuff on the web and of course everyone claims to be the best. For some of you who had some good experience with reel to reel, I would like to get a good quality deck say for around $750. I am confused on several areas, what speeds? what size reels? what size tape 1/4" - 1/2" ? auto playback? 2 track, 4 track and a whole flock of other offerings. Can you suggest some of the vintage decks out there that may suit my needs? I guess I would start buying some pre-recorded reel to listen to, maybe record some stuff.

I would very much like to hear some of your recommendation of what I should be looking for.

Thanks you in advance for your attention.

Cigarbum

Hey CB....

Don't know what you'll wind up with but I have a set of hubs and four take up reels just gathering dust. Got them for a Revox that never materialized.... Your welcome to them if they would be useful and would work with what you get.....

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I picked up a very nice looking TEAC A-4010S from a guy on Craigslist for zip. He was the original owner and it was just collecting dust. He was thrilled that I had an interest in it and gave it to me.

Its in good shape physically but there are a few issues. The walnut case is perfect. There are a few stains on the aluminum face. I have not tried to remove them. Mechanically I have yet to tear into it so I don't know what its issues are. The pinch roller that snaps on to the capstan is very sluggish, but all the motors seem to work. I used to mess with them about a milion years ago. Unfortunately I sold my last one and all the tapes I had accumulated along with it. When acquired, it was a basket case but only ended up needing belts and a good cleaning / lube. You feel like a NASA engineer when (if) you get it back together.

It has 7" reels with 1/4" tape. Auto Reverse. I'm sorry that I can't offer you any additional information because I simply don't know what the hell I'm taking about.

But, they're very cool to mess around with. I loved to see it quietly spinning away while listening to music.

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I've pretty much gotten out of the "tech" business and as such sold off almost all of my bench instruments. These days if I can't identify a problem with my trusty old Triplettt DVOM then whatever it is goes to the recycle bin.

Yea... If the trim pot doesn't give you the needed adjustment then there is a component that has gone WAY out of spec. Most likely a capacitor. Caps tend to drift out of spec over time much than resistors do. As I recall many of the Sony R2R decks used a feedback circuit to apply a bit of negative tension on the feed side motor. Again as I recall (30 year old memories can sometimes be unreliable) that "feedback" circuit was a little dodgie from the get go.

My advice to you is the go to the "tape" area at AudioKarma.org and ask there. Another very good resource for all things "tape" is tapeheads.net.

Good luck sir. Depending on what model Sony it is it could very well be worth the effort (and cost) to get it repaired. Sony produced some VERY nice R2R decks. Of course they also produced some absolute CRAP decks too.

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The walnut case is perfect. There are a few stains on the aluminum face. I have not tried to remove them.

The face should be stainless steel. I have an older A-1500 (portable... weighs a ton!) and a 3340S, and both of those are SS. Makes them a lot easier to clean.

Bruce

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I love the Sonys. I got my 765 from Canyonman. He is big into R2R. Maybe he can help you out.

identical to mine. As i said, it's minty fresh except for the holdbac tension, which cannot be adjust enough to work properly.

After the comments here i suppose i should look for any caps on that circuit board and replace them. Can't hurt...

i'd love to get it working right. There are so many pre-recorded R2R available on Ebay at bargain prices...and since my tastes run to stuff most don't want I get'em cheap.

Dave

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What provoked me to sell off my gear was the diminishing support of the hardware and increasing difficulties in finding new tape stock.

These days I imagine the prime driver is seeking a deck to play back pre-recorded source that is dubbed from high-speed source high up in the recording chain. I had a chance to hear such a recording at a recent audio show and it was a joy to hear. So for this you will need the most-used format. I am thinking 15 ips and quarter inch but not sure if 2 or 4 track is commonly used (4 track is bi-directional).

Dubbing vinyl source to tape is handled well with quarter-inch, quarter-track track at 7 ips though you will get a little more headroom with either 2 track or with 15 ips. 10 inch reels are likely what you will ultimately want for practical reasons. Then, too, the image of the 10-inch reels.

That comes down to where to source tape stock and getting service on parts that wear like heads and pinch rollers. I have not kept up on challenges involved.

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For me the main draw is vintage commercial releases. I spent the first 20 years of my career in R2R starting with Magnecorders and ending with the best studion Ampex and Nagra portables. I know good R2R sound.

But unless you are just doing it for grins, making your own is pretty pointless compared to digital...I mean the real deal using DSD or high res pcm and the right stuff.

Finding 15ips quarter track dubs is not a very likely situation. It happens, but most I've heard were half track...and if you go half track its purely hopeing for luck or brewing your own top of the line analog recordings...which is really cool if it appeals. Even then, one of the rare models with quarter and half track will it least allow you the pleasures of the vintage commercial releases.

In my case, I happen to have 10" reel capacity on the Sony TC 765 mentioned below...but I doubt I'll ever use it. I just want to play my vintage E. Power Biggs, the Beatles "Meet the Beatles," and other wonderful, pop and crack free analog recordings of yore.

And digitize them, too.

Dave

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Many just like to stand there for a while and watch the wonder of it.

Yeah, that IS cool. I've had a 20 year old stand in front of my Empire that is dedicated to 78 playback playing a 1920's Kid Ory recording and saying "There is NO WAY that music is coming off THAT THING!"

I had to have him lift the tone arm and replace it to prove it.

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know I have asked this question before, I think. I still have the 2 channel reel to reel bug. I have read a ton of stuff on the web and of course everyone claims to be the best. For some of you who had some good experience with reel to reel, I would like to get a good quality deck say for around $750. I am confused on several areas, what speeds? what size reels? what size tape 1/4" - 1/2" ? auto playback? 2 track, 4 track and a whole flock of other offerings. Can you suggest some of the vintage decks out there that may suit my needs? I guess I would start buying some pre-recorded reel to listen to, maybe record some stuff.
I would very much like to hear some of your recommendation of what I should be looking for.
Thanks you in advance for your attention.

Cigarbum

Hi CB,

In short the best bang for the buck is the Otari MX5050 BII period. It is a 1/4" tape deck that plays 2 and 4 track tapes via a switch under the head cover, it will play at 3.75, 7.5, and 15 ips tape speeds depending on how you set it up. These decks can be found on the on the Bay, the Gon, and other places where we tend to hang out. If you need and more specific info send me a PM glad to help.

Jay

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Excuse me for piling on and diverting the thread, but all this talk of R2R made me pull my TEAC A4010 S out and fire it up. I was looking last year on CL and found this one. The guy gave it to me for nothing because he was glad that someone wanted it. It was filthy and INOP. But after some elbow grease, two new belts (not too heinous a job) and plenty of cleaning and lubing (i.e. the pinch roller arm was frozen stiff) it's now quietly spinning in the corner. I'm not yet sure if it's 100 percent, but right now I am very happy. It's got a gorgeous walnut cabinet and freshly shined SS face. Start to finish was two hours.

It's approximately one thousand times cooler than a CD player, and almost as cool as a turntable.

I think you should get one.

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