SOTA reel to reel players

SOTA RTR's are for those that are willing spend money. I think it is worth it. It is not unlike pouring thousands into a SOTA turntable. I have at the moment 4 Crown RTR's,they are rare,not the best transport out there but the electronics can sound top notch. I also have a Ampex 440 machine and a Ampex 350 & 354 in the works. I plan to add a Studer 800 series soon.

My fetish for RTR's is fine as they are enjoyable,the sound and the "look" are impressive.

If starting out today I would probably start with a Otari 5050 MkIII or a running Technics. The revox machines are a good choice also.

The Pro machines like a Ampex and Studer are the best but require a good tech and a budget.

I am hoping that the live broadcasts on sattelite provide me for a new reason to use these decks. So far I am happy with my RTR hobby.

I have two-a Pioneer RT-707, and a Technics 1500, both of which I find great, but for different reasons.

The Pioneer is limited to 7" reels, but that coupled with it's auto-reverse makes it perfect for 'background' listening with pre-recorded commercial tapes. Plus, they're built like a brick shithouse, sound pretty darn good, and they're still reasonably priced-in my view one of the great deals in RTR.

The Technics handles 10 1/2" reels and records and plays 2 track-I generally record at 7 1/2 ips half track for a good compromise between fidelity and cost/convenience (it also will play back 4 track tapes). As A. Porter says above, their tape handling mechanism is superb, plus there is lots of info at Bottlehead for using one of their inexpensive Seduction tube phono stages as a playback amp, bipassing the internal SS amp.

Look into the Otari's, best bag for the buck plus they are still making and selling them. I have a Sony, Revox, and Otari deck at the current time. The Otari plays my Tape Project tapes, and the other two play my commercial tapes.

Don't fool around. SOTA equals Ampex ATR with multi head blocks and equalization boards. Of course you need an on staff tech to keep it running. You will want to attend a few classes that provide hands on instruction. Your budget for all this should be about $100,000.

No, I don't have an ATR, but I've had and owned almost all the other machines mentioned. Currently have six r2r machines, over 1000 commercial tapes, 300 broadcast 10.5 two track tapes.

If you have not started into this area, don't, so you can have a comfortable retirement.

Yes, you want to do 1/4".

There is an enormous difference between the way the pro decks are set up (especially for recording) and the prosumer decks.

I owned many TEAC, TASCAM and Otari decks for years. They were all pretty much bullet proof requiring routine cleaning and not much else. Clearly Otari decks are a cut above the TEAC and Technics product, though to my taste nothing is prettier then that big Technics.

The pro decks are generally set up as a self contained cart or table with the transport down for ease of use, and with the electonics above for ease of maintenance and visibility. Generally there was also a very chunky remote that lived on the console.

There is nothing petite or dainty about these units. The Ampexes and Studers were the standard and are pretty much bullet proof.

The big wear item on tape decks - which has not been mentioned here are the heads. Especially if you are looking at a machine that has seen regular studio use, that is the piece that needs inspecting. Heads can be rebuilt to a point (by a highly skilled tech) after which they have to be replaced. Guess what, they are not inexpensive...

Oh yeah - and you will need a splicing block, splicing tape, a razor blade and a grease pencil plus some leader...