I purchased a large volume of vintage HiFi equipment from an estate sale recently, I've been selling a lot here on AudioKarma as well as Reverb and eBay. Included in all the receivers, amplifiers and cassette decks were two R2R decks, a Teac A-3340S and an Akai GX630DB. I have never been around R2Rs in my past, and in preparing the two decks to sell, I had to learn a little about R2Rs to check them out. I was able to figure how to load the Akai with some reels that were included, and the thing plays beautifully (and curious music I can't quite place who it is, but I'm digging it!). So now I'll be damned if I'm not Jones'ing to keep one of the R2R now. So I'm not here to discuss the pros and cons of R2Rs, what I'm here for is to tap into the collective expertise. So here is my opportunity.
First, which deck to chose. I know the Teac is a 4 channel deck, which I don't see myself using since my vintage setup (Sansui AU-20000 and Thiel speakers) is 2 channel and will stay that way (room size, etc.). However, one of the components with the Teac that I discovered in a box is an AX-20 mix down panel, which I understand is to move from 4 track to 2 track. Ok, maybe the Teac is back in play? I also understand the Akai has glass-covered heads, which minimize (eliminate?) head wear, which would be a good thing.
Next, the deceased had a lot of noise filters, some NOS. Included in my purchase were a Teac AN-300, KLH Burwen AN-1201 and a KLH Burwen Transient Noise Reduction unit. The Teac AN-300 is a big unit, with 4 meters and a high cool factor. He also had 3 Teac Model 2 mixing boards with MB-20 meters, but I don't know that I would have a use for them.
My intent is to record music from albums and flac files. Why? Just for the heck of it. The reason I got into vintage a couple of years ago was because 1) listening to music on my mid-tier modern hifi equipment became essentially background noise, I longed to be engaged in listening like I used to be, and 2) I can now afford things I couldn't in the 70's as a teen. So rational behavior will not go very far with me....
So, throwing all these components up in the air, which should stick with me and which should I sell? i guess as it stands now, I would have to be sold on the Teac setup, just because the 4 channel things seems like something that would cause trouble since I'm a 2 channel guy. Comments?
First, which deck to chose. I know the Teac is a 4 channel deck, which I don't see myself using since my vintage setup (Sansui AU-20000 and Thiel speakers) is 2 channel and will stay that way (room size, etc.). However, one of the components with the Teac that I discovered in a box is an AX-20 mix down panel, which I understand is to move from 4 track to 2 track. Ok, maybe the Teac is back in play? I also understand the Akai has glass-covered heads, which minimize (eliminate?) head wear, which would be a good thing.
Next, the deceased had a lot of noise filters, some NOS. Included in my purchase were a Teac AN-300, KLH Burwen AN-1201 and a KLH Burwen Transient Noise Reduction unit. The Teac AN-300 is a big unit, with 4 meters and a high cool factor. He also had 3 Teac Model 2 mixing boards with MB-20 meters, but I don't know that I would have a use for them.
My intent is to record music from albums and flac files. Why? Just for the heck of it. The reason I got into vintage a couple of years ago was because 1) listening to music on my mid-tier modern hifi equipment became essentially background noise, I longed to be engaged in listening like I used to be, and 2) I can now afford things I couldn't in the 70's as a teen. So rational behavior will not go very far with me....
So, throwing all these components up in the air, which should stick with me and which should I sell? i guess as it stands now, I would have to be sold on the Teac setup, just because the 4 channel things seems like something that would cause trouble since I'm a 2 channel guy. Comments?
