Why no interest in reel to reel if you're looking for the ultimate sound?
As daveyf points out, the OP answered his own inquiry in his first paragraph. Many astute responses by experienced listeners here. In theory R2R seems a good proposition. The reality is the tapes are too expensive and choice is limited considerably in comparison to buying records, CDs or streaming options that are available and very affordable. Many happy music lovers are doing just fine with these far more accessible alternatives. Mapman succinctly summed it up very well. Charles |
So that was Doug Sax. Figures. Epic talent. D2D is indeed awesome. I have a couple Sheffield, haven’t heard in a while, will be a treat to play tonight. Not a lot of selection. Only one I recall right now has the theme song for that TV show with the cop with the parrot. Yeah that’s how long its been since I played it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HNWhVXcjV8 |
That is a rich mans format, everything about it is expensive. I have come across some great deals on the upper end tape decks and have had to walk away. I know how good they sound and they really are sexy machines but I'd rather save the money for other stuff. That said, if a nice one landed in my lap and was in working condition, I might keep it for awhile just to admire it and play with it. I grew up with a nice Teac R2R a neighbor gave me and used to tape off the air programs. I loved it but eventually gave it to my brother the musician so he could lay guitar tracks down and combine them. Worked great for that. BillWojo |
A quick perusal on Discogs shows a number of RtR tapes from $40.00 up to $500. Ther are over 3000 tapes available for many genres/artists. Mostly 7" reel size. New RtR tape will run you $45.00 to $60, depending on vendor/formulation/reel size. I had an old Teac A100 (if memory serves) which was pretty nice unit, till the playback head decided to go south. By that time (mid-80's) RtR decks were more an oddity then a mainstay media playback/creation piece. Still, the sight of two metal reels turning and sound coming out of the speakers was rather cool. |
Doug Sax proved way back in the early-70’s that a direct-2-disk recording is superior to tape. Unfortunately, most music cannot and will not be recorded d-2-d. For a library of great sounding recordings, buy every d-2-d LP you can get your hands on. Whether or not the music they contain is to your liking is a separate issue. If you don’t hate Bluegrass (come on all ya’ll Yankies, fess up ;-), look for the Sheffield LP Confederation by The McNeely, Levin, Skinner Band. By the way, Levin is Geoff Levin, formerly of the mid-late 60’s San Jose group People. They had a hit single with a cover of The Zombies "I Love You", a song I as a teenager saw and heard People perform live many times. People also did "Jesus Is Just Alright", an old song later recorded by another San Jose group---The Doobie Brothers. The original version of People dissolved when four of the six members (the four included Geoff) demanded everyone in the group join Scientology. The two lead singers---Larry Norman and Gene Mason, declined, and left the group. Norman became a well-known figure in the Jesus Freak movement of the 1970’s (ironic that he had earlier sung "JIJA", ay?), and Mason started a band named Radio. I was subsequently in a band with the guitarist/pianist of Radio. There are a thousand stories to be told about the garage band scene of the 1960’s. This was one of them. As for reel-to-reel, I have a number of tapes containing live music I recorded on a Revox A77 and a pair of small-capsule condenser mics. They sound far more lifelike than do most of my LP’s and CD’s, but Buddy Miller, Iris Dement, Rodney Crowell, and Lucinda Williams aren’t on those tapes. |
I'd like to make a case for RTR. I assume everyone here already has a vinyl setup. Instead of spending 2K on another cartridge or a tweak for that matter, why not spend it on a tape deck? There are reliable highspeed models that can be had for under 2K, Otari MX5050-B2, Tascam BR-20, and a few more come to mind. These two models can be found usually in working condition and need little maintenance since they were made toward the end of the R2R era. Get yourself an MRL calibration tape for $120 and you're ready to roll. Yes, tapes are expensive, they start at $150 per reel for pre-recorded tape, but tape never was meant to replace any of your existing formats. Look at it as a treat when you get to pull out one of your master tape copy and spool it up! or think of it as eating at your favorite restaurant, you don't eat there every day, but it 's really nice when you do get to (I read that somewhere). |
I think the OP basically answered the question himself. I was seriously considering getting heavily into tape, as I think that it is the best sounding media. All of my a'phile friends told me not to. The reasoning was not only was it an expensive proposition, but it would ultimately take away from my continuing analog expansion. There just couldn't be enough budget to support both areas...and this reasoning is what ultimately swayed me away from getting into tape. LP collecting is expensive enough and there is always a way to expend more in this area. |
Hi, first you need the higher speed ones and that makes the most expensive media today. Needs, attention more than often, supporting material and few can adjust and maintain properly. Prerecorded tapes (HS) are at LP collector prices. Though it is nice to have and watch it spinning. I have no regrets keeping my B77. |
Why would anyone even consider a format with no manufacturing support and almost non-existent media content? And who in their right mind, would pay for this 😳 https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa12f7-technics-rs-10a02-reel-to-reel-r-b-series-recording-broad... I sincerely wished, reel to reel format survived through the test of times cause it’s a much superior format in terms of SQ. |
From what I have seen, the prices range from $300-$600 per tape. That alone will keep the number of audiophiles to a minimum. Additionally, tapes take up a lot of room, which is a huge consideration for some. At one of the shows, Peter Qvortrup from Audio Note told me that space is at a premium in many of the European and Asian countries and a large portion of of the company’s design efforts are focused on space-compromised users. |
