Outputs, Technics 1520 Reel to Reel.

I know that is true, however it is difficult to find a machine that will play 3.75, 7.5 And 15 IPS in quarter and half track with single ended and balanced in and out.

Other options were a highly modified Studer from Filmco in Canada for quadruple the price.

I need to play with this awhile before I decide if this will remain as a long term format for my system. The main reason I did this was to access a stack of master dupes of great artists on 10 inch reels, 15 IPS, half track that were given to me for free.

Given the cost per hour of super premium phono cartridges, tape may be less expensive, even if the machine "dies."

Too bad you don't "hate" all those half track tapes, what a nice library that would be.......400 tapes. It would take awhile to spin those.

I drilled, filed and installed an IEC male in place of the convenience outlet on the Technics 1520 power and ground panel and then auditioned three power cords.

The first was the original cord with a IEC female added, the second was a Belden that came with my strobe lighting power pack (photo gear) and the third was an Omega Mikro Red from Lloyd Walker.

The results, Belden better than the "lamp" cord originally supplied with my deck, and the Omega Mikro clearly better than the other two. The differences between these three cords was not as spectacular as experienced with my Aesthetix preamp or the VTL 750's and Air Tight ATM-3's, but certainly a nice improvement.

Initial tests with two pair of Purist Venustas interconnect (SE and BAL) produced slightly better dynamics with lower noise from the XLR than the RCA's, without any negatives, at least not that I have noticed during the short listening session.

Hope this helps someone else with their deck, the Technics 1520 is an extremely good source and I am enjoying it's strengths and personality along with my reference turntable.

I am primarily listening, buying tape at EBAY and where ever I can find it.

Calling around today to several suppliers I found out Quantegy will resume operations after they get their finances reorganized. Stock is supposed to resume by the end of this month, so if I decide to record, I can probably get what I need.

Even if Quantegy fails, I don’t' think much time will pass before someone sets up operation in China, Russia or Mexico and make money on whatever market is left. At one time it was predicted tube would cease to exist. I think more people are building them now than in the 1950's.

Never underestimate the power of Capitalism (free market).

Any chance of us trading copies of 15 IPS open reel tapes? I don't have as many as you but am about ready to install my restored Ampex 351 into my system.

I have one original safety (NOT a copy) and a few master dubs.