Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
Always good to see 45 year old kit still in showroom condition with all the paperwork. How it should be. That's a great score. I've always rated Tandberg. Cut above.

Seeing those old BASF and TDK tapes brings a lot of memories back. Everyone had their favourite, used to get quite tribal as I recall. The TDK-SA boys vs everyone else - who were wrong ofc.
Ah, the rabid 'tape wars' - I remember them well!

I did like TDA SA (and SA-X), plus Maxell and others, but my favs were the BASF Chromdioxid (as shown) - a nicely crisp, dynamic and weighty sound, but of course much of that is down to the deck used, how well the heads are set up, and synergy with different tape formulations.

I agree with what you said. The looks, condition and provenance was what sold it to me, plus the 3-motor thing, and the fact that there are much less moving parts than normal for a tape deck. With a proper service, it should perform as new, as well as look like it, and be easily maintained.

It was £250, so not 'beer money', but considering the condition and its sonic potential when fully serviced (it's already very good), plus the fact that collection was local, I thought it was worth it

Marco.