Most PRACTICAL, yet good sounding REEL to REEL ???

I occasionally find pre-recorded reel to reel tapes in my local thrift stores and garage sales and am thinking it's crazy not to pass them up.

So what I'd like to know is - What deck would you experienced R to R'ers recommend as:
1. Reliable
2. Good to excellent sonically
3. Not too pricey, as this is only experimental for now
4. Still repairable locally when need be

(Pretty much in that order of importance.)

I assume that a Teac would likely top this list for combined score on all three, but know zilch about which models, etc. Any comments would be appreciated.