Need input

WOW, he gave you a great deal on the deck. You will enjoy it. Reel to Reels are complex machines but easy to operate and record with. You asked above about how it might effect your vinyl record experience, it will only add to your enjoyment. Record a few of your favorite albums to tape and listen to how magnetic tape can make the music sound a little richer or warmer. Not saying it will make it better or worse but just sound different, it is something fun to experiment with. Your RT-707 will open up another door to listening to high quality recorded music. As always, Analog Rules !

OK guys. I went and picked up that RT-707 today. Wish I could post photos. Pristine, not a scratch. He had an old live master of Joni Mitchell on it. When we spoke awhile and he found out that we were both from Calif., he from LA me from SF and that my grandpa and his dad were in the Navy in WWII in the Philippines....he lowered the price from 300.00 to 200.00! I thanked him for sure. I'm definitely going to church this coming Sunday!
He even threw in a vintage BASF take-up reel.

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to start reading and watching how to take advantage of this unit.

That's a great vintage find! Looking forward to your impressions.

I'm afraid of what that experience might do to my record collection.

You are in for a real treat if he plays master tapes for you. You will hear open reel to reel music in all its glory. Get ready to be amazed !

Guys...thank you all so much. I'm meeting him soon and going to grab it if it presents well. He is going to play me some master tapes he has copies for from the originals they did of some live stuff of Joni Mitchell and Ritchie Havens. He was in the mastering and digitizing business for decades, had the really huge monster pro stuff they used in that application. I'm going to try and talk him out of some of his music....wish me luck. I'll report back. Really excited. Thanks for the help.
M

Yeah. Same here. Its the one additional piece of gear I would buy, and I am damn stingy with my purchases.

I had another Pioneer RT for years back in the day. Heads, caps and pinch rollers are exactly what you want to see maintained. If it weren't for the impending zombie apocalypse I would be trying to talk you out of it in order to steal it out from under you. Because that is the one and only piece of gear in all my life that I ever really wish I had kept. There's something about open reel, the sound quality, you put up with just the barest faintest whisper of tape hiss in return for this glorious quality that somehow makes everything you dub into it better. I don't know how it just does. 

Buy it ! It's a good deck. The most important parts have been replaced. That is a small investment for a big return in sound quality. If you don't buy it give me the guys number.