Why no interest in reel to reel if you're looking for the ultimate sound?

If I remember correctly, 4 track R-R gets noisy with time, especially when the tape has not been stored cold. This is because tracks are interspersed in the 4-track format, unlike cassettes.

cassette -->            VS                 R-R --->
cassette -->                                  R-R <---
                                                     R-R --->
cassette <--                                  R-R <---
cassette <--

Of course, the 2-track format like Tape Project does not have this problem:
2Track -->
2Track -->

@sdrsdrsdr 

Every vintage preamp I ever used had tape input RCA pairs. These RCA pairs were not connected to an internal a head amp, but were line level inputs. The purpose of labelling these line level RCA pairs seems to have been to correspond to the notations on the selector.

A head amp has a similar function to the phono section, (that is, it has to amplify and shape a tiny signal). As such, it is a highly specialized piece, but one which was never close to as common as phono.  That is why it was usually part of the tape deck.

I have three working Revoxes (A’s & B’s) and an A700 project, which looks like it’s going to remain a project. My pre does not have a remote.

The R’s maintain their settings pretty well, especially when you replace those dirt cheap pots. It’s not very hard to set if you have a spectrum analyzer with a white noise generator. But it's true that my listening room is pretty clean.