Reel to Reel Confusion Help!

[Xtro1]

I was given a reel to reel player recently. Its a Tascam 22-4. I know very little about this format. I was thinking of connecting it to my vintage system (Sansui CA-F1 pre amp) to try and do some recordings and play back some consumer 4 track music tapes that it came with. (mostly symphony stuff)
The back of the Tascam has 4 audio out and 4 audio in (RCA jacks for each channel) but my pre amp only has 2 jacks for each in and out. So my question is which jacks do I use on the Tascam to get stereo in and out or do I need something in between the player and pre amp that takes the four inputs from the Tascam and mixes them down to 2 channel before it gets to the pre amp. Any explanations enlightening me on this subject very appreciated.

 

[markpilk]

I’m guessing that 22-4 means a 4 channel deck. Does it have 4 VU meters? If that’s the case, those decks are designed for multitrack recording. You would send each track out to a mixer and then send the stereo signals from mixer to amp. The pre-recorded tapes that are 4 track are different. They play stereo on each side of tape that you flip over to pay other side. I think you can connect channel 1 and 3 to your left and right input of your Sansui. It’s not going to hurt your amp to try.

 

[epifanatic]

It's a 4 channel 4 track deck. Hifiengine has the owners and service manuals.

 

[safebet]

As has been stated just use track 1 in and out for the left channel and track 3 in and out for the right channel. If you ignore tracks 2 and 4 you can use it as a standard 4 track stereo unit. Have fun!