as a reel to reel tape enthusiast, i heartily applaud a new ’ground-up’ reel to reel deck, and the obvious investment and commitment it takes to actually deliver a product. gives this part of the hobby some real juice.
so Bravo Metaxas! and those who are involved in distributing it here in North America.
that said, i agree with @cleeds that this bling-bling approach to tape deck aesthetics is a matter of personal taste, and this effort does not do it for me. but it will attract attention and be a nice bauble in some beautiful rooms. hopefully those owners will also buy some tapes and not just have a couple for effect. more tape sales means more titles and tape activity for all tape deck owners. a very good thing.
my understanding is that the base version of this deck retails for $49k (plus $9k for the stand). can it perform like that?
the studio master level Metaxas product is the Papillon is $88k base price. can it perform like that?
can either compete performance wise, with fully reconditioned big Studer’s and big Ampex’s? if not, how close can they get? will they be sold based on 'art' or performance?
maybe the tape deck version of the OMA approach?
i wish Metaxas well and hope it gets some good momentum, which would be a big positive for all tape lovers.