Pioneer RT-707 - what would you pay?

[schuylercat]

I am looking for a Pioneer RT-707 and seeing prices (eBay, yep) around $250 or so for units that are very clean-looking, some serviced recently. I have also seen them sell for near $500. There was one listed recently that's NOS for about $2,000 obo.

How about it, AK? Would you pay $250 for one in very good shape?

Alternate question: would you bother with the RT-701 to save a bit?

Best question: anyone got one they'd be willing to move into Bartertown?

 

[toxcrusadr]

I think one sold on BT a couple months ago. I was tempted, just to complete the ol' Pioneer Stack. You might check the completed sales forum for the price if you haven't already.

 

[mfhale]

There's one that's been listed locally for quite awhile at $220.

 

[similost]

I paid $125 for mine with about 15 tapes with it.

Working condition..

 

[R-2-R]

Pio-707

This is just my opinion but I wouldn't pay 'anything' over $300 bucks, even if it was 'recently' serviced or in excellent condition or the heads are in excellent to perfect shape or have just been replaced, reguardless if it were a RT-707 or RT-701 model. The most important thing on "ANY" reel to reel are the heads, that would be half of the determining factor of the total sale price, the other half being the whole unit's, condition (electrically as well as cosmetically).
Now if it were the 'rare' BLACK version that Pioneer put out exclusively for the U.S. Government then "maybe" nothing over $500 but to for me to pay that amount it would have to be in prestine to very excellect condition.

 

[Skylab]

$250-300 is a fair price for one that has ZERO issues. Note that if it comes with two of the PR-85 metal take up reels that adds significantly to the value - those typically sell for by themselves for more than $50 each in good condition.

I have two of them, and got one for $300 fully serviced. I paid more for a second only because it came with the original Pioneer wood case which is very hard to get, and this one was in very good condition. If you subtract out what that would have cost by itself, I bought the second Deck for $200 or so.

By the way, clean and working, the RT707 is a GREAT sounding deck.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Seems like someone could make some money reproducing those reels. Of course there would be some trademark issues I suppose.

 

[wasillaguy]

I would think someone with a plasma cutter could make money turning out custom reels. I know I'd like a take up reel with my initials cut out, or maybe the name of your favorite artist, local sports team, etc.
Make original designs and keep it small, you'd never worry about copyright issues.

 

[slowpat]

I would pay about $200 for one that has good play/record heads, and tested. I sold mine for $50 with issues where one channel was not recording, and cleaning up the relay did not help. You should read a sticky post in the Pioneer portion of the forum on the refurbishing process which documents what can go wrong in the RT-909 - quite a few things.

 

[merrylander]

Mine has had the heads lapped, has been thoroughly gone through and has been re-capped and no it is not for sale. Now what is left of the organ donor is another story.

 

[icenine]

I paid $70 for an RT-701...vu meter lights not working and the counter belt out but so what...if you are patient these do show up from time to time on CL and you get to test it first. The Pioneer is a decent reel to reel much more rugged than any Akai you are going to find. If you do get it take it apart and deoxit the white molex connector on the top right side of the deck as you look at it...it resembles a hard disk drive white power receptor you connect to a computer power supply. A dirty one can cause speed issues.

 

[audiojones]

...How about it, AK? Would you pay $250 for one in very good shape?

That's about the limit, and as previously pointed out the heads would have to be in very good shape wear-wise. I paid a lot less for mine but I realize that this is not typical. If you really don't care about auto-reverse and can settle for an RT-701 it should be a bit less, like maybe $100-150 or so in decent shape.

If you plan on using the RT-707 with any existing tapes that have auto-reversing foil on the back side you will have to re-foil your tapes with a strip of sensing foil on the oxide side (facing the heads) for the auto-reverse to work on that model.

 

[berry1235]

Does the sensing foil degrade the heads at all?

 

[Snow]

I am looking for a Pioneer RT-707 and seeing prices (eBay, yep) around $250 or so for units that are very clean-looking, some serviced recently. I have also seen them sell for near $500. There was one listed recently that's NOS for about $2,000 obo.

How about it, AK? Would you pay $250 for one in very good shape?

Alternate question: would you bother with the RT-701 to save a bit?

Best question: anyone got one they'd be willing to move into Bartertown?

It looks like your in Canada odds are it will cost $250.00 to ship one to you from the USA I have one but it would likely be better for you to put an ad in BT for local pickup.


Regards Snow

 

[audiojones]

Does the sensing foil degrade the heads at all?

Wow, old thread!

To answer your question...Nah, not really. If you play the tapes on another non-reversing machine the foil passing over the heads shouldn't really be an issue, though I have to admit I'm not exactly crazy about the idea.

Biggest issue is having to go back through all of your tapes (if you've got a ton of 'em like I do) and having to re-foil all of them just so they will reverse on this one machine. It wouldn't have been a very big deal for Pioneer to split the impedance roller in half and use it to sense the foil on the back side of the tape like everybody else, never understood why they chose not to do so.

 

[jberger]

One advantage of the RT-707 over the 701 (or really, any autoreversing deck) is that it increases the chance that your tapes will be stored with a slow wind, tail out. You'll put on a tape, let it play and reverse, and its done right three hours later.

 

[c-atle-79bay]

Can someone point me to the AK 707 thread to end all threads? Yes I can search, but if you know a particularly good one, it would be appreciated. I have one, not done a thing to it, sounds good. Kids love it. Did not know about the auto-reversing tape prior to this thread.

 

[audiojones]

Can someone point me to the AK 707 thread to end all threads? Yes I can search, but if you know a particularly good one, it would be appreciated. I have one, not done a thing to it, sounds good. Kids love it. Did not know about the auto-reversing tape prior to this thread.

Better yet, here's the owners manual. Should tell you all you need to know straight from Pioneer themselves.

 

[c-atle-79bay]

Better yet, here's the owners manual. Should tell you all you need to know straight from Pioneer themselves.

Thanks, that seems too simple. Will clean the heads and search on demagnatizing. It is the one piece of equipment my 6/4 yo sons love me to play for them. My 6yo love Bolero of all things.

 

[Thocom]

I could have bought two for $275 today. The guy had 4 of them. I went to the ATM and then got sidetracked..lol