Less than top line reel-to-reel worth it?

Standard consumer grade reel to reel decks popular in the 1970's and 80's at 7.5ips with a good tape stock will make superb copies of any vinyl LP's you feed them and will give a very warm analogue flavour to cd's. These decks at 7.5ips all have high extension of frequency response into the mid to hi 20Khz range. So capturing the details of any source you feed them will be easy.

Now one thing that these decks will add is a layer of remaining tape hiss and on reel to reels the tape hiss is at a different quality or spectrum to a cassette deck without Dolby. These consumer reel to reel decks smooth remaining tape hiss that can mask a lot of grunge and groove noise especially on older used LP's. The tape hiss can make recording and playing back cd's much more enjoyable.

The inconsistency may come down to quality of tape stock you buy and use. Good reels even if they were properly stored used ones can be superb. But a lot of the old stock may be sub par. Tape stock for reel to reel is pricy as compared to blank tape stock for cassettes.

The major concern of reel to reel decks is condition of them as being sold. These are all vintage nowadays and you may get a superb deck or a machine that may be a door stop or need lots of servicing. But given they can be had from oh bottom $300 and up, if you are a reel to reel fan you can get a good deck that will make great tapes and play great music.

Even 3.75 ips on them is very nice for recording FM radio. And not bad for long playing background tape recordings.

Most of the Made in Japan reel to reel machines of the 70's and 80's will give a reel to reel fans great service as long as they operate properly.

Phasecorrect,

I agree about HiFi vcr's. As long as they had user adjustable record levels they can make superlative recordings. They are not tape fussy either, all they care is that the tape is of sufficient quality to not have notable drop outs in oxide. Stick with name brand tapes and your laughing.

I bought a JVC HR-S5500U which is a late 80's S-VHS HiFi vcr and the recordings made are simply the finest tape copies of vinyl and cd's I have made. I have been able to amass dozens of NOS sealed VHS tapes at thrifts for mere few dollars. T-120 tapes give you 2 hours or 6 hours of superb recording. T-160 give you 2.5 or 8 hours.

Of course the vcr also has to be in proper condition and there is no guarantee that a vintage HiFi vcr will be but if it is they make outstanding record/playback tape machines.

Some people cry about the 60hz tape head switching noise. My JVC deck suffers no noticeable switching noise even at loud volumes. Any head switching noise that may be there is buried deep enough into the electronics noise floor let alone the groove noise of vinyl or even the typical dither of cd's.

No they may not look as sexy as a reel to reel but the HiFi vcrs that were the best were built impressively and with cool looks, cool displays and cool meters too for the most part.

If you are only going for playback you will likely find the rather limited catalogue of commercial tapes recorded at 7.5ips or 3.75ips. Yes, Tape Project tapes are at 15ips but they are expensive.

3.75ips as said for recording is pretty good for the most part. Vinyl recorded at 3.75ips makes for long playback times and still quite high fidelity. IMO 3.75ips is best for FM radio recording.

7.5ips is true high end fidelity on a good reel to reel and will make great playback and esp great recordings of vinyl or cd.

If you are only planning to play back though you will find as I said a very limited library of tapes and a lot of used ones are in mediocre condition due to age, use and possible previous abuse.