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View Full Version : I laughed so hard I nearly wet myself!!!



twelvebears
26-07-2009, 16:27
Seriously, you just won't believe this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TDK-MA-R-C90-Metal-Audio-Cassette-tape-sealed-mega-rare_W0QQitemZ160351313115QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Mu sic_Cassettes_GL?hash=item2555aedcdb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1|66%3A2|39%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

Bonkers!

Seriously though, and this addressed to the Tapeheads among you (yes Nick, Dave and Alex, I mean you!), I do remember these TDK metal bodied cassettes from the 80s but are they really THAT good to command some of the prices being asked compared to other metal tapes?

Gazjam
26-07-2009, 16:30
But his feedback's brill!

Dave Cawley
26-07-2009, 16:44
Wow!!

This is my sort of C90

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Dave

Marco
26-07-2009, 16:56
LOL, Dave - those pipes sound well cool! :smoking:

Steve,

Yes, the MA-Rs sound truly superb (when your machine is biased accurately for them). Good recordings on them through a top-notch tape deck piss all over CD from a great height, but I'd never pay £110 for one!!

That is just sheer lunacy - but some collector will probably pay that much, given that it's sealed and mint. They are pretty rare.

Me? I buy NOS identical ones direct from an Ebay source in Japan for a fraction of that price, along with my 'normal stock' of NOS, sealed, SA90s of the same vintage :eyebrows:

Yes, good quality NOS tape is better than the crap that's made now (what's left, that is). The tape formulation and quality control standards just aren't the same, given that for the vast majority, cassette tape is no longer used in high-fidelity applications.

Marco.

Dave Cawley
26-07-2009, 17:55
Music to my ears:

120dB dynamic range

120dB signal to noise

0% distortion and other products

Frequency response 2Hz to 50Khz +-/ 0dB

Power output aproximately 48,000 watts RMS

Soundstage greater than 1 mile in all directions

No compression apart from 10:1

Street credibly 100%

Political correctness 0%

WAF100%

MAF 110% (mistress acceptance factor) buy one get one free (work it out)


Takes me back to my Harley Road King with a modified efi engine management unit that ticked over soooo slowly that the alternator could not replace the current used by the ignition. I always was tweaker!

Regards

Dave

Marco
26-07-2009, 18:06
If you want the exact same thing for a mere fraction of the price, used only once, which given the quality of the tape will mean bugger all, then buy this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TDK-MA-R-C90-Metal-Audio-Cassette-tape-used-mega-rare_W0QQitemZ180388467250QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Mu sic_Cassettes_GL?hash=item29fffd9232&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A30

or this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TDK-MA-XG-90-C90-Metal-type-IV-4-Cassette-tape-SEALED_W0QQitemZ160351311523QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ Music_Cassettes_GL?hash=item2555aed6a3&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A30

It's about 95% as good as an MA-R - the only difference is the 'body shell' material.

Marco.

Dave Cawley
26-07-2009, 18:14
Or this instead?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230360494593

Dave

Beechwoods
26-07-2009, 18:36
:stalks: :stalks: ;)

There is a big, niche, scene for collectors of sealed tapes, who will never actually use them. So the idea of one sealed, one used once, is clearly aimed at them. It is one of TDK's 1st generation of Metal tapes, so of extreme 'historical value' if you like that sort of thing! Nonetheless you've got to be a looney tune to pay that kind of money for a tape. Maybe he got dollars and sterling mixed up :confused: :lol:

I suppose if you had the entire range of TDK tapes from from 1979, sealed, and this was the one you were missing, and you had £110 burning a hole in your pocket, why not :lol:

Seriously though. You could get a really good tape deck for that money :)

It's good to see that you haven't lost your sense of perspective Steve, even though the bug has well and truly bitten!

hifi_dave
26-07-2009, 19:06
I'm not throwing anything away again, ever. Nothing. I'm going to hoard everything.

When I shut my shop in St.Albans, 2005, I put over a hundred of those tapes in the skip. Some were new/sealed, others were used once. They were junked along with all sorts of other stuff inc four Nakamichis. A lot of this has since become worth something. When I threw those tapes away it was because I couldn't give them away - literally........:doh:

Beechwoods
26-07-2009, 19:14
It makes you want to cry... :wah:

Spectral Morn
26-07-2009, 19:30
I'm not throwing anything away again, ever. Nothing. I'm going to hoard everything.

When I shut my shop in St.Albans, 2005, I put over a hundred of those tapes in the skip. Some were new/sealed, others were used once. They were junked along with all sorts of other stuff inc four Nakamichis. A lot of this has since become worth something. When I threw those tapes away it was because I couldn't give them away - literally........:doh:


Crazy....crazy, I hoard everything (its a problem and I need cured). I once heard from a friend that the army were smashing thousands of valves. He worked in a Reme and was only able to pocket a few Mullard Ecc83 and Ecc88 valves. They wouldn't sell them, Orders is Orders. This was about 20 years ago.

I recently got some sealed TDK Ma 90 tapes for about £25 on flea bay (i thought that was a lot, but when I thought about what they sold for new, not so bad). I am mainly concentrating on reel tape at the moment, but bought the Ma 90s for a future write up on comparisons between cassette and reel to reel; so I wanted some NOS metal tapes to use in this project.

£110 is crazy though IMHO, and not to use it :doh:


Regards D S D L

twelvebears
26-07-2009, 19:49
Personnaly I think I'd sooner chew my own face off than give Mr (check my feedback, it's fab!) Tapeline my money on a matter of principle.

I'm sorry, but I LOVE my system and music to an obsessive level but this is the kind of swivel-eye nut-bag behavior which has people back away from you carefully when you mention you're a hi-fi enthusiast...

Me, I'll stick to a big stock-pile of TDK SAs and keep my eyes peeled for the odd chance bargain. :eyebrows:

hifi_dave
26-07-2009, 19:52
Up until a few years ago I used to moan that vintage Hi-Fi equipment wasn't worth anything, whilst vintage cars, cameras, watches, pens even vacuum cleaners were worth serious money. That was when I had a couple of rooms full of the stuff.

That was then and this is now and I'm moaning about how expensive vintage Hi-Fi is. Never happy, me.:gig:

chris@panteg
26-07-2009, 21:40
Well i have one of these tapes 'bought it back in around 1985 ish still perfect after all these years, glad i kept it

Beechwoods
27-07-2009, 05:08
To a collector, tape from 1979 and tape from 1985 would be very different things. While most people wouldn't care for the difference, the differences in shrink wrap design and tape formulation over the years means different years' ranges have different levels of excitement associated :)

I think Neil did extremely well to find a set of mutiple TDK MA's for £25. Its a shame that prices have hiked so much because it means that people like us can't easily do our our listening tests and tape comparisons :( :(

Marco
27-07-2009, 07:34
Absolutely right, Beechy. Late 70s NOS is where it's at tape-wise. The quality available then has been unsurpassed, IMO :)

TDK reached particularly high standards of excellence around then. I'm also a fan of BASF Chrome from around the same era.

Marco.

Yiangos
27-07-2009, 07:51
Believe-it-or-not,yes,they were that good ! I have an even better one than the one in the photo,i believe it was called ma-rx or something and it was even better.Also,back then it was quite expensive.A reqular TDK would cost 0.75 and the one in the pic you send almost 11.50 pounds.Mind you,those prices you see on ebay are quite crazy but when there are ppl willing to pay....lol

Spectral Morn
27-07-2009, 08:57
Absolutely right, Beechy. Late 70s NOS is where it's at tape-wise. The quality available then has been unsurpassed, IMO :)

TDK reached particularly high standards of excellence around then. I'm also a fan of BASF Chrome from around the same era.

Marco.


A pair of sealed Basf Chrome went for £25 a couple of days ago. Up until a few seconds before end of listing 0.99p.....suddenly bang. I agree that Basf Chrome are very good, I have quite a few (used), but £25 for 2 is IMHO a bit crazy, though not as bad as £110 for one tape.

Nick, a day before the Ma90s I won, another set of 6 used, went for £13 :doh::doh::doh::(:( I didn't bid as I wanted to see what the going price was on these...what a prat I was not to bid.


Regards D S D L

DSJR
27-07-2009, 10:39
I was just reading an old Practical HiFi (& gardening) tape deck and cassette book similar to the old Choice ones and the only difference between the MA and MA-R in real terms was the fancy case. Any other differences seemed to be mostly batch changes, as the formulations were slightly tinkered with as they went on.

I still have a few MA-R's with music on. When last played, they sounded good and one of them (a 60's mono recording of an album I now have) still shows how relatively horrid an LP12/Grace 707/Asak "T" with Snaps driven NAC12 could sound (nothing "fruity" about that combo, believe me.....)....

When I junked most of my cassettes (done for the car mostly), I kept a few sentimental ones and the best of the metals ("Thats" did some good ones and I think the Maxel metal was regarded as the best of them all). I've also got a sealed cute TEAC tape with the inner hubs dressed to look like reel-to-reel spools....


let's face it, I can think of a good few items selling for silly money that are little better than t**ds dressed in tin foil with a well hyped maker's badge on.........

Beechwoods
27-07-2009, 10:44
Nick, a day before the Ma90s I won, another set of 6 used, went for £13 :doh::doh::doh::(:( I didn't bid as I wanted to see what the going price was on these...what a prat I was not to bid.

That top bidder could have had a top price of £50 so you might not have won anyway! Them's the breaks, with eBay...

Marco
27-07-2009, 11:43
Hi Dave,


I was just reading an old Practical HiFi (& gardening) tape deck and cassette book similar to the old Choice ones and the only difference between the MA and MA-R in real terms was the fancy case.


Which is why I said earlier:


It's about 95% as good as an MA-R - the only difference is the 'body shell' material.


Believe it or not though, the anti-resonance 'fancy' cases made a significant, although not massive, improvement on sound quality :)

Marco.

twelvebears
27-07-2009, 12:08
Chaps, I don't know if the tape fans among you are interested, or whether you your own sources of decent price metal tapes, but someone I know has 6 unopened boxes of x5 TDK MA-90s (relatively 'new' i.e. just before they stopped production) which he is probably going to eBay, but he's up for a job lot offer.

So what's a sensible price per tape for the whole lot? And is anyone interested in chipping i and splitting them?

Alex Nikitin
27-07-2009, 12:14
I was just reading an old Practical HiFi (& gardening) tape deck and cassette book similar to the old Choice ones and the only difference between the MA and MA-R in real terms was the fancy case. Any other differences seemed to be mostly batch changes, as the formulations were slightly tinkered with as they went on.

According to my measurements (http://www.ant-audio.co.uk/Tape_Recording/Graphs/Distortion/album/index.html), MA-R (http://www.ant-audio.co.uk/Tape_Recording/Graphs/Distortion/album/slides/TDK_MA_R.html) is much closer to MA-XG (http://www.ant-audio.co.uk/Tape_Recording/Graphs/Distortion/album/slides/TDK_MA_XG.html), and MA (http://www.ant-audio.co.uk/Tape_Recording/Graphs/Distortion/album/slides/TDK_MA.html) is quite different and not as good.

Alex

Spectral Morn
27-07-2009, 12:39
That top bidder could have had a top price of £50 so you might not have won anyway! Them's the breaks, with eBay...

I know...thats how I have been doing quite well so far. I seem (with a few exceptions) to have an instinct for what stuff is selling for. Maybe its years in the audio trade, I don't know, but I have set my upper limits well so far. However E-Bay is a disease I can't really afford, which is why I didn't want to start in the first place:doh::(. My excuse is I need stuff for my Reel to Reel project.

I am about to put a few more bits and bobs on E-Bay to replenish what I have spent so far....hopefully. I will then have to call a halt to it.


Regards D S D L

Spectral Morn
27-07-2009, 12:45
Chaps, I don't know if the tape fans among you are interested, or whether you your own sources of decent price metal tapes, but someone I know has 6 unopened boxes of x5 TDK MA-90s (relatively 'new' i.e. just before they stopped production) which he is probably going to eBay, but he's up for a job lot offer.

So what's a sensible price per tape for the whole lot? And is anyone interested in chipping i and splitting them?


Here I go again :doh: Yes I might be depending on the cost. Whats a sensible offer per tape...haven't a clue (one of the areas I am not so good at guessing prices). If he/she is a good friend they might be kind. I paid £25 for 6 unopened, were earlier 6 used sold for £13....go figure.

Keep me posted and we can talk about it.


Regards D S D L

Marco
27-07-2009, 12:47
According to my measurements, MA-R is much closer to MA-XG, and MA is quite different and not as good.


Hi Alex,

I agree. See my post #6 on this thread where I linked to an MA-XG, stating that it was 95% as good as an MA-R. The extra 5% of performance comes from the ultra-low resonance of the MA-R's 'fancy' body shell :)

Here's the link again: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TDK-MA-XG-90-C90-Metal-type-IV-4-Cassette-tape-SEALED_W0QQitemZ160351311523QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ Music_Cassettes_GL?hash=item2555aed6a3&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A30

Marco.

Jason P
29-07-2009, 17:50
...someone I know has 6 unopened boxes of x5 TDK MA-90s (relatively 'new' i.e. just before they stopped production) which he is probably going to eBay, but he's up for a job lot offer.

So what's a sensible price per tape for the whole lot? And is anyone interested in chipping i and splitting them?

I'd be interested in some (seeing as I've just got a nice Denon DR-M44 HX for £30 :cool:)

Jason

twelvebears
29-07-2009, 18:14
Right, (pay attention DSDL) the best deal I can get is £5 per tape, which considering they are sealed NOS sound acceptable to me, especially based on conversations with Alex last night.

Anyone else interested, PM me, I'll contact the obvious one myself, i.e. Neil, Alex, Nick and now Jason.

Spectral Morn
29-07-2009, 18:44
Right, (pay attention DSDL) the best deal I can get is £5 per tape, which considering they are sealed NOS sound acceptable to me, especially based on conversations with Alex last night.

Anyone else interested, PM me, I'll contact the obvious one myself, i.e. Neil, Alex, Nick and now Jason.


Pm sent.........



Regards D S D L

Beechwoods
29-07-2009, 18:46
That is a very cool offer Steve. I'd pay a little over the odds for your and your friends trouble as I think that price is extremely reasonable. Don't sell yourself too short!

Barry
31-07-2009, 23:52
Hi Alex,

I agree. See my post #6 on this thread where I linked to an MA-XG, stating that it was 95% as good as an MA-R. The extra 5% of performance comes from the ultra-low resonance of the MA-R's 'fancy' body shell :)
....

Marco.

If you want to record piano, the cast aluminium shell of the MA-R is well worth the extra. The tape just seems to run more smoothly and the perceived wow and flutter is less (non existant to my ears). Perhaps Alex could do some measurements for us on this?