Most PRACTICAL, yet good sounding REEL to REEL ???

I'd also consider a Revox A77 deck or possibly one of the better Akai decks with the extremely long life glass heads.

I'd second a Teac. I also own a 2300SD, and think it's a fine deck - and any decent local tech should be able to lube it up & adjust it for you. You can also do it yourself if you want to try - e-mail me for a great source for Teac belts, pinch rollers & lube kits. There is no doubt that a Revox A-77 will sound better, but they're a lot more expensive to buy and maintain. You first have to decide what you're going to play back. If you are buying 7 inch pre-recorded tapes at tag sales, a 7 inch deck like the Teac 2300 series - or even a clean A-1230 - will do fine. Most 7 inch tapes available are recorded at 3 3/4 or 7 1/2 inch per second, and a small Teac deck will do a fine job at playback. If you find some 10 inch reels, or want that capability, then you're in the Teac 3300 series or Revox A77/B77 territory. If you go looking for a Teac, be careful of the models that end in "40" 2340, 3340, etc. Those are 4 channel deck, and although they will do what you want, they're overly complex for simple playback. I've owned & used quite a few Reel-toReels in my time, and would be happy to answer specific questions if you want to e-mail me.

Good luck in your search, Ed

From my experienc most of the decks that utilized one motor and hence rubber belts to activate takeup reel and other functions do not have a good chance of working properly with the correct speeds. Almost all need complete lubrication of drive parts as well as belt replacement. This goes even for the early Tandbergs and the Ampex models designed and manufactured by their home products division.

You have a better chance of success purchasing recorders with three motors. The Teac recorders fall into this category as do the Revox and the later Tandberg recorders which could utilize the large 10-1/2 inch reels. If you find a 3-motor recorder which you can see by examination to have low mileage because of its clean overall condition, you stand a good chance that it will work properly. If you find one in a garage sale or Thrift Store and can try its operation, even if it cannot be hooked up to a system, if the tape movement appears normal and the vu metters read signal, there is a good possibility that you have a preperly working recorder.

You have ambarked on an interesting challenge which can provide great satisfaction but requires a lot of time as well as patience. Good equipment with a library of tapes makes an interesting collection of appreciating collectibles. The tapes recorded at 7-1/2 ips are also sonically superior because they produce a very wide dynamic range.

Have fun!

I've seen several Tascams at local junk shops and have always had the best luck with them. Badluck with Revox. I've never used a Tandberg or Akai, although I have heard good things about the latter. The TEAC's are ok as far as reliability, but they don't sound so great. Many of the Tascam's are quartz clocked. You should do a little research in the pro-audio world though - some of the reel to reels record stripes on the wrong side, and play back that way as well - carry over from the mono era. So basically you would only get half you music (as in: out of one speaker with some analogue bleed). It is also not possible to say that one company designed this way and another never did. If you were to pay top dollar, this would not be a problem, but if you are going for curiosity and cheap, you have to worry about it.

Teac A3340 is a mid-1970s' high end deck that they made 100,000's of. I found mine for $250. The 2006 Orion Blue book is $414 > $244 depending on condidtion (DoC). Also don't forget Teacs' professional division Tascam, I found a Tascam A22-4 (Early 80s') for $225 that blew the doors off the A3340S sound quality wise (2006 Orion Blue Book = $354 > $207 DoC). However; the A3340S is a far prettier machine and also handles the 10"reels which the 22-4 doesn't. I own one of each, even though my vynal may sound better, I seem to can't part with these machanical works of art.