Hello all R2R aspirants! It is a long shot, but - try snooping in second hand stores, thrift shops and places selling used stuff associated with charities. I've found three
Sony machines and one TEAC A-1500 W in the last three years. One was the fanciest three speed machine Sony even made it has mechanical problems I can't solve. Two were 7 inch reel "consumer grade" units with the very clever and simple mechanical systems that made them famous. (So good, Panasonic bought them and sold them under their nameplate.) Often, the motor capacitor is bad and that's why the owners got rid of them. A $5 easy fix. Take the playback head and connect it to a fexible EQ phono preamp and bingo! you've got a small reel player. Happy snooping!
Why do people like reel to reel players?
do They sound all that much better than the other stuff?
they look very cool and remind me of language class when I was younger which was the only place I saw them used. It’s like a record player mounted on the wall where you can watch something spin.
It seems a bit impractical to get the tapes and then to mount them all the time. Cassette players seem a lot better. Cassettes used to be a bit easier to get. Not sure they’re even available anymore. I remember they were double sided just flip them over.