2. analog
  3. 147113-371

How often do you have to service your Studer or Otari deck ? Home not pro environment.

I guess, there are still places where you can be confident that they know what they do.
inna
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
Restoring Revox A77's is expensive. I sent mine to the national service center in Nashville years ago, and the restoration cost me more than the A77. It's like servicing an old BMW; there comes a time when it no longer makes economic sense.
inna OP
5,245 posts
 
Buying from a reputable source can also be difficult or impossible.
That's what I thought, if I use the deck for, say, thousand hours a year, I would need to have it looked over every five years or so.
But, how long do the reproduction heads last, assuming best tape and head cleaning every ten hours ? I would also treat the head with LAST tape head preservative. I do it now with Nakamichi before playing each cassette and as my tech said there was only negligible wear. The deck has thousands of hours put on it by me and I didn't buy it new, though it was used very little before.
inna OP
5,245 posts
 
bdp24, audiophile endeavor makes no economic sense whatsoever. People wear out $10k cartridges and $500 NOS tubes.
inna OP
5,245 posts
 
There is another advantage, and it is a big one , to using open reel deck instead of turntable - you don't need active preamp, you run it directly to power amp. You record directly from phono and lose almost nothing. And of course you can run phono thru deck and listen to records using deck's preamp. With phono, I believe, you always need active preamp, you don't get full sound from vinyl without it.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

No @inna, I meant it is economically unwise to buy a Revox (and I'm assuming a Studer) that is in need of restoration rather than one that needs none. A good working condition example can probably be acquired for less than the price of a not-so-hot one with the cost to restore it added.

To your new point directly above, if the sound of your tape recorders electronics (used as a pre-amp) is better than your active pre-amp, it is time for a better active pre-amp! There is also the matter of the recorders output impedance (at all frequencies) and voltage, etc., very important in regard to driving the power amp.

More to discover