It does have an expander.
My latest observation is a channel imbalance which favors the left channel by 1-3db with the DEQ enabled. There is no channel imbalance with the tape loop bypassed (DEQ2496 is in the tape loop).
My latest observation is a channel imbalance which favors the left channel by 1-3db with the DEQ enabled. There is no channel imbalance with the tape loop bypassed (DEQ2496 is in the tape loop).

