Open Reel Curious

20 years ago my brother in law mother passed.  She was a real hoarder and emptying her home was quite an ordeal.  They came upon an old R2R that apparently had belonged to her brother and was in the attic for at least 20 years and a few tapes.  I was prevailed upon to take it.  I tried cleaning and repairing it.  I put one of the tapes in and about one minute in, after sounding terribly distorted, the tape broke and little shredded bits were in various parts of the R2R. 
 

I guess I am just recounting this as a precautionary tale.

Have both analog+digital audio chains. Not yet done - endgame.  

R2R - slim chance in my lifetime - new r2r vs used, if used then deep research on getting a quality unit plus a maintenance plan, high initial cost, high media cost, maintenance learning curve.  Maybe someday when financial picture settles down with a decent budget and motivation 

I inherited a lot of vintage audio gear from my dad, including over a dozen RTR tape decks...and fortunately, some tape to go with them.  I've gone through most of the decks to some degree - a few pretty nice ones in the bunch, although no Revox or Otari.  Some even have tubes, including an Akai M8.

Most of the refurbishing I've done is cleaning the linkages, replacing belts, and even a couple of kits with new caps, etc.  My current project is an Akai X-1810D, which also has an 8-track player incorporated.  Apparently a mouse enjoyed this one, so there was a fair amount of cleaning needed inside, along with mending a few chewed wires.

Anyway, one aspect that bothers me, and I'm surprised no one has mentioned it here, is the motor/fan noise.  I think every single unit I've touched has some degree of noise from the capstan motor, most of which also have a small fan attached, that adds a whooshing sound.  It's a real deterrent for me, even though I enjoy the process of using the decks, including making recordings of records.  Some of the service manuals show lubrication points for the motors, but they are often not easy to get to, and even if I can access those points, it doesn't seem to help all that much.

I guess some of the nicer models mentioned in this thread must be very quiet, because I can't imagine any 'audiophile' tolerating such noise.

@devinplombier +1 "Using a reel to reel deck to preserve rare vinyl on tape is certainly a reasonable use of the technology” yeah, expensive and inconvenient way though! 

My Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck captures vinyl-record's sound for long time, using type IV (metal) cassettes.. cartridges as well as media aging too, it’s a double win! 

@terraplane8bob Your experience and if still having access to your R2R Decks and Tape, it seems to me you should be a person of interest to others interested in pure analogue audio.

I don't see why those with a healthy disposable income does not make an offer to Hire You for a night of your sharing in your Career and presenting Analogue Recordings.

I would take a wild punt in the right City with the a particular venue and right  organisation being involved, a few hundred attendees will be the minimum expressing an interest to be paying attendees.

Individuals with such an experience are in small commodity in the present time.