SOTA reel to reel players

Two that sound great and don't break the bank are Tandberg and Technics. There are others that have either great electronics OR great transport but usually not both.

The Tandberg and Technics both sound good, the Technics is one of the best for low flutter due to it's closed capstan system. The one I use is the 1520 which has IEC and NAB equalization, meaning it plays Ebay tape and the new releases from Tape Project with the flick of a switch. The 1520 is also balanced and the way I run mine, but I suspect it would be much better if I could afford to ship it off to Tim at EAR for his ultimate upgrade.

Then again, if I had $10K to spend I would just buy an Ampex ATR, but that would not fit (investment wise) with my less than 200-300 tape library titles.

Honestly, it's difficult to build a library of reel to reel, all the cool titles produced when reel to reel could be bought are still very limited compared to LP and CD. New releases are almost non existent.

Revox b77mkII or pr99MkII or MkIII will be your best option. Easily modified and Revox is still supporting all their Reel to reel decks with parts. These decks will give you the most performance without the mega cost.

Although reel to reel is an expensive media, tapes are up to 50.00 a reel for 96 minutes at 7 1/2 ips half track. Something to think about before jumping in.

All the available players (except the very last Otari models) are decades old and will likely need immediate service/adjustments to perform to spec. Replacement parts are hard to come by, especially for Akai, Tandberg, and the less popular brands. Regular service by a competent tape deck tech is a must. These are complex machines with many moving parts. Tape deck ownership is not for the weak of heart :-)

That said, I wouldn't be without my two machines --Otari MX5050 BII2 and Teac A2300SD (for Dolbyized tapes). Some prerecorded tapes (not all, by a long shot) are sonically superior to what you can get from LPS and CDs. The decks are fun to use and watch, when they're working correctly.

Good luck with your decision. Dave

Like Dopogue says, most decks you find will need to be repaired, or at least some sort of maintanance done. I currently use three decks myself, a Technics RS1500, A Otari 5050IIB, and a Teac 3340S (for quad tapes.)

The Technics and Otari record in 2 track stereo, but can play 2 track and 4 track stereo. Otari decks also have IEC EQ circuits for the European standard recordings.

Another thing to look out for when buying used reel to reel tapes is "Sticky tape syndrome". Some older tape formulations turned to goo or would shed oxide when played if they were not baked in an oven at low heat first.