A long held desire for a reel-to-reel, but...

[Phil Lawton]

...I have no idea what I'd do with it.

I keep lusting over the occasional Revox and imagining it sitting in some as yet uncleared space in my not-very-large flat - and then I think "Yeah...and what exactly would you be doing with it, Lawton?"

I'm under no illusion that part of my reel-to-reel envy is some kind of vanity project, but can I ask what you owners use yours for? And how often?

[Ali Tait]

Mine’s been in storage for a good while, but I used to record live stuff on Sky Arts, mostly acoustic gigs, some of which were superb SQ, and make up compilation tapes. With the best sounding recordings it was the best sounding source I’ve had in my system. This was with a Tandberg TD20A. I also had an RT909 which while it looked fantastic, couldn’t match the sonics of the Tandberg so I eventually sold it.

[Phil Lawton]

Mine’s been in storage for a good while, but I used to record live stuff on Sky Arts, mostly acoustic gigs, some of which were superb SQ, and make up compilation tapes. With the best sounding recordings it was the best sounding source I’ve had in my system. This was with a Tandberg TD20A. I also had an RT909 which while it looked fantastic, couldn’t match the sonics of the Tandberg so I eventually sold it.

The oft mentioned SQ is one of the things that leads me down this particular garden path, Ali.

Glad you critiqued the RT909…I’ve seen a few of them on eBay and loved the look, but if the performance is sub par, the procuring one might be a bit of a waste of time and, more importantly, money.

I’ve seen a used Revox in a local(ish) shop for £1200…I think it’s a B77. Not sure if that price is a tad high, but I’m sure there’s a fair bit of retail margin in there somewhere. Am I thinking along the right lines?

Recording live gigs is a fine idea, but I’m still not convinced. Any other suggestions from anyone?

[Macca]

It's the coolest format there is but the machines are expensive, break down, need regular calibration which isn't trivial to do, good tape is pricey, and so on. It's an expensive game to do it properly.

I'd love one but head rules heart. I have considered getting one that doesn't work but looks good just a showpiece, but even they are too much money just for a decoration.

[Ali Tait]

It could be mine just needed some work. Yeah I’d say a B77 is a good shout, not heard one but they have a good rep.

Prices have gone crazy in the last few years. I took a punt on the Tandberg from ebay, turned out it was in great condition and just needed a basic service as it had been in the guy’s loft for years (it was his dad’s). I paid £200. The same now would be 1500-2k and I’d guess. If you’re handy enough you can service them yourself, just download the manuals.

Worth buying a demagnetiser too.

[Ali Tait]

The price on that Revox isn’t ridiculous for retail I don’t think, as long as it’s in good nick and been serviced.

[bob4333]

...I have no idea what I'd do with it.

You've summed it up nicely - my experience was similar. Couldn't afford one as a £7 a week apprentice when they were current (late 60's / 70's) and wanted to record the BBC top 20 on a Sunday afternoon because I couldn't afford to buy singles or LP's.

Fast forward 50 years and a few things have changed but the ache to own one hadn't gone away, so I bought a 1981 (I think) AKAI 635D. Turned out it had a few undisclosed faults so took it to Vintage Tech for rescue. Came back working perfectly so £300 well spent. VU meters were mesmerising and I was captivated by it. But sitting and just looking at it will only carry you so far - but it was drop dead gorgeous to my eyes and the SQ sublime.

But now what to use it for? Recording the Top 20 now (if such a thing exists) would be a listening hell. Music listening is in another room to the family room containing the SKY box, so recording SKY ARTS concerts (good as they are) are out.

CD's sounded better recorded onto the tape format, especially some Hi-Res tracks (or maybe they were just better produced albums). Some vinyl went onto tape (omitting the tracks I didn't care for) and with the auto reverse feature on the 635 I got long, uninterrupted listening sessions that were a joy.

But there was a nagging doubt in the back of my mind that wouldn't budge. These are complicated electro mechanical devices that are old, suffer from transistor rot, fixable by only a few and prone to failure no matter how much care are lavished on them. Factor in the cost of 10.5" reels, tape pancakes, demagnetiser etc and they're far from a cheap option to buy and run.

In the end I wasn't using it quite as much as I thought I would so after 4 years sold it, full working order to someone with the same itch to scratch that I'd had.

Do I regret buying it? No. Prices had risen during my ownership so even with the refurb cost thrown in I broke even. How many hobbies can you say that about?

[Phil Lawton]

Yeah...slowly coming to terms with the fact that a reel-to-reel would rapidly become a fantastic-but-expensive ornament.

Thanks for your input, everyone - you've confirmed what I suspected. Best spend the money on records, no?

[337alant]

Not in my opinion
I sold 98% of my records last year as I was fed up criticizing the record the set up cleaning the stylus, cleaning the record, checking the alignment, trying 3 other versions of the same LP to see which on sounds best ?/, record noise, snap crackle and pop. I really don't miss it.

Its a good point with reel to reel, what do you use it for ?, I use it to make mix tapes from Hi Res files on my NAS drive or Tidal, but I still love the playback quality from this format and I also think its cool as F**k, can't see me ever being without R2R
Alan

[337alant]

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?74839-For-Sale-Revox-B77-reel-to-reel-tape-recorder

This is a nice R2R that belongs to a friend of mine and I have checked it over
He bought it recapped and calibrated for RTM SM911 tape, I have checked that calibration and tweaked it it to a flat freq response
The heads a very good and it sounds very good and overall its in excellent condition
If anyone was interested in buying it I would be willing to recalibrate it to any tape type you require FOC.
Alan

[Jimbo]

I have pondered R2R question for some years after hearing your machines Alan at Nebo?? They wiped the floor with everything else there with their sound quality and are indeed to my mind beautiful pieces of Hifi equipment that can stand out as a statement piece in a set up. I am sure for me the SQ alone would be the main reason for buying one.

But....... expensive to maintain and keep running unless you can do work yourself. Parts are going to become harder to find and setting up and playing tape is a little more involved than swiping a glass screen full of digital files! Unless you are committed to R2R way of life they may fall into a secondary usage or third piece of kit in your Hifi system rather than be used as a Prime source?

So unless you have a good deal of cash, expertise and commitment to using tape and space to install it they are indeed probably always on the wish list if only for looks and SQ?

[Barry]

I agree with much of the above. However I'm not quite so enthusiastic about using a R2R as a playback machine for pre-recorded tapes (which are are obviously copies of copies), but only come into their own if you want to make your own recordings.

If you are going to use a reel-to-reel tape machine, then the minimum recording speed is 7.5ips, and practically that means at least 1200' tape length. So 7" spools are an absolute minimum size, with 10.5" being a sensible size.

I used to use a Ferrograph Series 6 machine which could take 8.25" size spools, but didn't use it much so it is now hiding away in a cupboard.

Also have a Nagra IV-S portable tape machine, again it was little used, but I do occasionally dig it out to replay some of the tapes I made on it.

https://jamesriverfilm.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/nagra-iv-s-professional-tape-recorder1.jpg

[337alant]

Lovely machine that Barry:eyebrows:
Alan

[337alant]

I have pondered R2R question for some years after hearing your machines Alan at Nebo?? They wiped the floor with everything else there with their sound quality and are indeed to my mind beautiful pieces of Hifi equipment that can stand out as a statement piece in a set up. I am sure for me the SQ alone would be the main reason for buying one.

But....... expensive to maintain and keep running unless you can do work yourself. Parts are going to become harder to find and setting up and playing tape is a little more involved than swiping a glass screen full of digital files! Unless you are committed to R2R way of life they may fall into a secondary usage or third piece of kit in your Hifi system rather than be used as a Prime source?

So unless you have a good deal of cash, expertise and commitment to using tape and space to install it they are indeed probably always on the wish list if only for looks and SQ?

Well thanks Jim, I'm flattered :D

You are correct in what you say it is an expensive hobby, tapes are expensive and the master copy tapes are a fortune now.
If I only had one machine it would be a Tascam BR20 and they are very reliable.
My favourite machine on sound quality terms is my Otari MX55N, I got Terry from somertone to lap the heads and the difference was astounding, its a cracking machine with Studer like build quality.
Alan

[Macca]

I've mentioned this before but if you have a digital copy of an analogue recording (CD or file, doesn't matter) you are effectively listening to the RTR machine that was used to make the transcription. Most likely a Studer or Otari.

[337alant]

Macca,
I agree most of my recordings come from digital downloads and can sound incredible
Playback can vary considerably from the DAC, also the likes of TIDAL master sound quality can vary considerably depending on the playback settings
Just listening to a Tidal version of Joe Cocker 12" version of "Look what you done" from the Sheffield steel album, I have the original Sheffield labs vinyl version and this one is so much better
Alan