J. Valin just reviewed the United Home Audio Tascam BR-20 phase-11 reel to reel, with lot's of mods and silver wire, etc. the machine costs $21K for record and playback mods (17K for playback only). he seems VERY enthusiastic about the sound, especially SGT.PEPPERS (a studio master!) that's a lot of money for
a compact recorder (not a big studer or ampex, 3M, etc.) but IF YOU CAN GET
SOME GREAT TAPES FOR IT he claims it sounds MUCH better than a Walker turntable.
of course vinyl records are far more available than 2nd generation master tapes (!) but the idea is pretty intriguing.
i have a bunch of "cheap" decks- teacs, a tascam br-20 (stock of course), etc. i like them a lot, but admittedly to get them up to the standards of a good SACD disc i have a ways to go yet. OTOH, i can still make live recordings with them which is still a lot of fun if you play an instrument. Years ago if someone had a record you wanted to copy, this was the way to do it. Now not so much (thanks to Jobs and gates).
a compact recorder (not a big studer or ampex, 3M, etc.) but IF YOU CAN GET
SOME GREAT TAPES FOR IT he claims it sounds MUCH better than a Walker turntable.
of course vinyl records are far more available than 2nd generation master tapes (!) but the idea is pretty intriguing.
i have a bunch of "cheap" decks- teacs, a tascam br-20 (stock of course), etc. i like them a lot, but admittedly to get them up to the standards of a good SACD disc i have a ways to go yet. OTOH, i can still make live recordings with them which is still a lot of fun if you play an instrument. Years ago if someone had a record you wanted to copy, this was the way to do it. Now not so much (thanks to Jobs and gates).