Naptown Rob
Ponographer
To me, "consumer reel-to-reel" has always been an oxymoron. But then again, to a lot of people, I'm a just-plain-moron...:scratch2:
Survey: Highest Fidelity AND Most Reliable R2Rs of all time?
- Thread starter dbxdx5
- Start date
To me, "consumer reel-to-reel" has always been an oxymoron. But then again, to a lot of people, I'm a just-plain-moron...:scratch2:
Take a look at this page for a lot of info all in one place. You could even call these guys for an "interview" for your project.
http://www.tapeproject.com/machines/machines.htm
Curiousity: why is the A700 never listed in these threads?
http://www.tapeproject.com/machines/machines.htm
Curiousity: why is the A700 never listed in these threads?
pocketchange
AK Member
The availability of TOL decks is waaay less than "consumer" deck's from yesterday. Should this be addressed somewhere in this discussion?
I remember a very nice Teac A2300 I owned in days past that was (quit) an investment but for much less than it cost, today, you can get yourself a fine Studer, Otari, Tascam, etc., deck, that blows away and has modified the status of all pro TOL decks to the level of a "consumer" deck.
I'm NOT shoveling manure on anyone's piece of gear but let's face it, the evolution of the recording industry has opened the door for a lot of us (me included) to fall back into enjoying tape at a level I never imagined. It's like finding a bottle of single malt for the price of a bottle of Mad Dog! (IMO!)
I remember a very nice Teac A2300 I owned in days past that was (quit) an investment but for much less than it cost, today, you can get yourself a fine Studer, Otari, Tascam, etc., deck, that blows away and has modified the status of all pro TOL decks to the level of a "consumer" deck.
I'm NOT shoveling manure on anyone's piece of gear but let's face it, the evolution of the recording industry has opened the door for a lot of us (me included) to fall back into enjoying tape at a level I never imagined. It's like finding a bottle of single malt for the price of a bottle of Mad Dog! (IMO!)
Forget about the pro-line decks just for the sake of the OP's original question. He originally asked about consumer oriented 1/4 track stereo home use machines, so that's really what should be discussed in this particular thread. Now maybe reliability and sound quality topics should be separated, but I don't think the professional machines should be mentioned here.
jan_stevns
Super Member
I think it's ok to raise the question if this or that prosumer deck should be counted in - but also have my mind set on those decks that i think matches the original question. There could be regional differences in what decks where available, but to me it seems like the big brands are mentioned, besides a few - i wonder where AKAI is in this game ? They made a couple of rather deacent decks, like the GX260d, and the entry level deck 4000.
(not to forget gx625/635)
but still - i think we have to keep focus on the original question : consumerdeck, quartertrack , and having this in mind, most proline decks are outside this category A77/B77 are within, PR99 is not - most teac's are within, few TASCAM's are -
I think a lot of people count Akai out due to the reputation of the pot-metal cams going bad and crumbling. Fortunately my GX-1820 hasn't had that problem - and it's still running on the original, 38-year-old belts. The only maintenance it's needed has been some cleaning and DeoxIT.
In fact, it's playing right now.
In fact, it's playing right now.
Stefan Wood
Active Member
Revox A77.
dbxdx5
Super Member
Because I'm focusing on these players being used for archival sound recordings, one criteria I had mentioned in my original post was how gentle the nominated players would be on tape, e.g. transport quality and tape handling. I don't know if there are any differences between the brands and models most frequently mentioned so far--Revox A77 & B77, Teac "A" Series, Tandberg TD20--but if there are, please weigh in with your thoughts.
Actually most of the Akai decks are pretty gentle on tape. They use bearing loaded rollers in the tape path rather than stationary guide posts. This was one of the improvements made with the TEAC "X" series too, and they are very gentle on tape.
I've owned a couple of Tandberg TD 20A 10.5" series machines which used stationary guide posts and the tape tension was pretty high on both of them even with the reel size selector in the 7" position, so I found them to be less friendly to tape. Same goes for my TEAC A-6300 - again the tension is kind of high even on the smaller setting and the stationary guide posts are less forgiving. Never had a Revox, so I can't comment on that one.
Dedicated 7" machines like the A-2300 are usually a little easier on tape, as they have less back tension than most 10.5" machines. Even though there is a switch for small / large reel tension on the larger machines I find that they have a tendency to pull the tape a little too tight for my liking. If you plan on using 7" reels you are probably better off sticking with a 7" machine. Just my opinion, YMMV.
I've owned a couple of Tandberg TD 20A 10.5" series machines which used stationary guide posts and the tape tension was pretty high on both of them even with the reel size selector in the 7" position, so I found them to be less friendly to tape. Same goes for my TEAC A-6300 - again the tension is kind of high even on the smaller setting and the stationary guide posts are less forgiving. Never had a Revox, so I can't comment on that one.
Dedicated 7" machines like the A-2300 are usually a little easier on tape, as they have less back tension than most 10.5" machines. Even though there is a switch for small / large reel tension on the larger machines I find that they have a tendency to pull the tape a little too tight for my liking. If you plan on using 7" reels you are probably better off sticking with a 7" machine. Just my opinion, YMMV.
I agree that the start/stop logic and worm drive braking were very nice on the Tandberg transports, but at the end of the day there was always a decent sized pile of oxide shavings under both of the guide pins on my TD 20A and TD 20SE. It didn't seem to matter what brand or mil thickness of tape I used, seemed to just be an inherent problem. Would've been great if they had used rollers instead of guide pins. The A-6300 isn't as rough as the Tandberg because the guide pin is a little more forgiving, but ideally rollers make for the best tape handlers IMO.
My Akai has broken exactly one tape - it pulled apart an old splice, and that was due to the splice tape letting go.
I just rehabbed one of those for my dad. Outside of the known issue with the capstan motor lunching itself if the belt breaks and is allowed to spin too long, it's a very nice little deck. Good sound, too.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
The Tandberg 10X is a great consumer deck with excellent sound quality and as far as reliability, I really don't know, I have had the same one since 1980, still going strong, needing only wear parts replaced and the pinch roller pivot point cleaned and lubed.
SaSi
Seriously Illogical
Gentle tape handling requires electromagnetic breaks - in contrast to drum friction breaks - and long travel pulley tensioners.
The one deck design series that seems to come to mind fulfilling this is the Teac X-10, X-1000, X-2000 range.
The Technics RS-15xx range also is fairly gentle on tape however there are too many rods and pulleys and FF/REW seems to create more wear than the Teac X series.
The Revox A77/B77/PR99 decks all share the same transport design (more or less) with drum breaks that periodically need attention and one tension rod instead of two tension pulleys.