2. analog
  3. 1074197185

Do reel to reel tapes fade over time...

My grandfather recently passed away and as the next in line audiophile i inherited his audio equipment and software. He has a number of LPs that appear to be in great shape (mostly pop from the 50's and 60's, recommend a decent turntable setup?). He also a large number of reel to reel tapes and a Tandberg reel to reel deck (I forget the model number).

I have heard that reel to reel tapes fade over time and are useless after 10 years. Is this true? The Tandberg probably needs some work to get it working. I have not tried it yet since it's in another state.

Are the reel to reels worth the effort to get the Tandberg up and running or are they probably lost to history? Thanks.

FWIW, he also had a Mcintosh MR74 tuner that I definately plan to make like new. Cosmetically it's still great shape. I'll send it to Audio Classics for upgrading.
budrew

Showing 1 response by dopogue

dopogue
1,773 posts
 
I've been buying R-R tapes on Audiogon and Ebay, at least 30 of them over the last 6 months. They date from the mid l950s to the late l970s. Not one has exhibited the slightest "fading," and only one was defective (no left channel in one direction). I expected that playing these tapes with magnetized heads on cheap tape recorders might have taken its toll, soundwise, but it hasn't happened so far. They didn't all sound great, but they didn't when they were new either. The best of them coninue to set the gold standard for hi-rez audio, IMO.

BTW, the tapes already in my collection before the recent spree all sound exactly as good (or as bad) as they did when I first bought them.
More to discover