Reel to Reel for play back

I thought I would miss the bidirectional play of my Teac, but I really don't. It's more than offset by the superior sound quality of the Otari.

IME, your best bet is an Otari MX-5050 BII2. Plenty of them available for well under $1,000. This model will have 2-track record/play and SHOULD have 4-track playback. It plays small and large tapes at 3 3/4, 7 1/2 and 15 inches per second. It is a professional deck used by the thousands in radio stations and studios. It is rugged and sounds better than consumer decks. A brand new one (Model BIII) is available at something like $5,500 but will not play 4-track tapes unless specially equipped with a 4-track head. Otari makes an outstanding machine. I had a well-respected Teac X1000R and it couldn't hold a sonic candle to my Otari.

HOWEVER.

Many or most of these decks have been played to death, and look it. Replacement heads are not cheap. Repairs are not inexpensive. Finding a great one is not easy. But they're out there. Good luck, Dave

Note: Otari called many of their models the MX-5050. The nomenclature is confusing, but the one I cite is the most commonly available and your best bet. Again, though, you must be sure it has a 4-track playback head. Most of them do, but not all.

It's a total crapshoot, depending on the auction vibes at the moment. Then, when you get the tape you won, you learn whether it's in reasonable condition, totally trashed, has the beginning track lopped off, etc. Since many of the sellers find the tapes at estate sales and have no way to play them, they're sold "as is." It's all part of the game. Sure you want to play?

:-)