Open Reel Curious

My mother bought me a 99 dollar Radio Shack R to R...in the 60s...I loved recording and making tapes.I belonged to Columbua house R to R tape club...I still have them..Don't have the tape deck.I do have 2 teac decks 

I grew up listening to Capriccio Italien on a tubed Tandberg R2R through VOT’s and it would move you deeply. I own 2 Sony’s, a 756-2 (1/2 track) and a 765 1/4 track. Both record and play at 15 ips. even though I never use that speed.

I have old 2 track tapes from the 40’s that sound incredible that were found on ebay. You can still find an occasional sealed tape which can be expensive depending on the artist, usually the 1/4 tracks. There is a sealed Beatles 7.5 ips for a cool 1000 on that site now.

I use mine to create a "my tape" and record my favorite songs to listen to over and over if I choose to. It sounds as good as the vinyl and I don’t wear out my vinyl and needles (which can cost a fortune). The heads for the Sony’s last a looong time.

Cheers

Tape machines are obsolete technology.   Simple as that.  What did you think you were going to be using one for? Commercially pre-recorded tapes are hard to find, and are not as good as youʻd like.  They are dubbed at 2x speed.

I ran a Revox A77 for 30 years doing location recording.  My $150 Tascam portable digital recorder stomps all over it.  I ***GAVE*** the Revox away.

Spend your money elsewhere.  Buy concert tickets.

As above…people who do it are intrigued by the old tech, as with the users of old HMV Gramophones.

By the way, Ken Kessler (long time equipment reviewer at the UK magazine Hi-Fi News & Record Review) has been writing a column for the PS Audio online Copper Magazine, in which for quite a while now he has been focusing on reel-to-reel machines and tapes. The mag is free, and is well worth checking out.