Opinions on Revox A77 MKIII ?

[Mingo]

I have an opportunity to pick up a Revox A77 MKIII for what I think is a reasonable price. It is claimed to be working and the heads are supposed to be in good condition. From the description, it has built in speakers. What is the good, the bad, and the ugly with these units? Worth a drive of a couple of hours to buy one?

 

[SaSi]

Price depends on condition. An unserviced deck with worn out heads might be too expensive for $100 but a serviced one with brand new heads might be a bargain at $300.

First check the heads. It will be difficult as they are "hidden" behind the front panel. The B77 is better in that respect with a flap allowing a better view on the heads. Best to have a small flashlight and a dentist's mirror. If they have a 2-3mm flat face on their surface they are worn a lot. If they have 4-5mm of flatness they are shot.

Then there are the brakes. The breaks consist of a steel film wraped around the break drums that have a felt lining on them. If the deck has been worn and unused and/or badly stored, the reel plates should be sticky and very hard to start turning by hand. If they are steadily stiff and hard to rotate but requiring even force then they should be fine.

These decks and the B77 later and improved version are great decks, easy to maintain but can become a bit expensive to restore if a unit has a lot of issues.

I don't know of an A77 version with built in speakers.

 

[junkaudio]

maybe build with speaker amp inside
revox is a good deal because all spareparts are available and nice to work on

 

[jan_stevns]

My guess is versions with build in amplifiers are proffessional used decks, that might have lived a hard life, so my advice would be : look very carefully !

That said, a working deck is normally not the biggest risk you can take, because most parts are obtainable, and it is one of the decks that are build to last - if seller is unable to let you test it - bye bye ! I've seen lot's of them where the powercord is missing - i wonder why - and often the NAB adaptors are missing too (do cost some doe !)

If the seller is honest (and why shouldn't he be ?) you may have a chance of getting one of the best decks ever made.

 

[Mingo]

If the seller is honest (and why shouldn't he be ?) you may have a chance of getting one of the best decks ever made.

Revox in general or the A77 MKIII in particular? I'm hoping to check it out tomorrow.

 

[jan_stevns]

Revox in general or the A77 MKIII in particular? I'm hoping to check it out tomorrow.

I mean Revox'es in general - it is Swiss quality - deck's build on a big solid die-cast frame, 3 Solid motors. You'll know what i mean once you feel the deck.
Like a certain other brand - they can take unbelieable beating, rough handling, and still perform.

 

[SaSi]

Revox in general or the A77 MKIII in particular? I'm hoping to check it out tomorrow.

Considering that the the A77 is a deck designed and built in the early '60s, the mere fact that such machines can still perform adequately without servicing after 40-45 years is a huge engineering acomplishment.

Although the A77 is a fine deck, the B77 has some usability issues resolved and is more service friendly. But these two decks share a few common parts that wear (e.g. pinch rollers, heads, brake drums and strips) that servicing an A77 and B77 is similar.

There is no belt inside the A77 (and any other Revox deck) driving reels or capstans. There are two that drive the tape counter and these have failed in all decks but again are easy to replace.

 

[Mingo]

Well, I made the 90 mile drive to meet the seller and check out the deck. He was not at the address - the elderly woman at the house didn't seem to know him - so I drove the 90 miles back home. And then I get an email from the seller saying 'sorry I missed you, I was running late, can we meet later today?'

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I'm left wondering what might have been. Now if he wants to bring the deck to me, then we're back in business.