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.

emergingsoul

But what about all those older original Masters that exist? Isn't there a better way to transfer that good quality to newer age media to make things sound better.

But what about all those older original Masters that exist? Isn't there a better way to transfer that good quality to newer age media to make things sound better.

I have few 15IPS releases on 1/2" tape. Wider tracks, higher speed is where the best of analogue sound even better than with LPs, but how many of those I can potentially get? I have Otari MX5050 RTR machine + kit to convert it to 1/4" that I'm about to sell...

RTR isn't for me due to the lack of possible volume of music I'd like to listen to instead of sound testing.

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!

Isn't there a better way to transfer that good quality to newer age media to make things sound better.

@emergingsoul LPs have wider bandwidth both top and bottom, as well as lower noise and lower distortion. So that could be a media...

Usually the LP mastering, which is very expensive, is done to save as much time as possible so compression and other processing is used. That's the main reason tape can sound better if carefully dubbed from a master or 2nd generation.