A Reel to Reel for £250: can it be done?

[Robert]

Just to illustrate the point about the ridiculous money asked by some sellers

USD 594 (£475) for a "sealed NOS" copy of Sgt Pepper's 7.5 Its 4tr tape (on Ampex tape stock - I would steer clear of this!!!)

OR

This - a 15 IPS 2 track copy of a production master for less money

Wow - I think i have this and a few other Beatles tapes.

 

[starbuck]

Thanks, all, loads of info to pass on there.

 

[pure sound]

As others have said, anyone considering getting into R2R needs to think carefully about what they intend to play on it. I've been buying a lot of classical music & 60's/70's soul on 4T pre recorded tapes, but the vast majority of these have to come from the US as the stereo tapes don't appear to have been sold in the UK. In the instances where I do also have the LP's they generally don't compare with the tape versions. I do wonder whether we'd have had the whole cult of turntables to anything like the same degree had these stereo tapes been readily available in the UK through the 60's 70's & up until CD came along in 1983.

 

[topoxforddoc]

As others have said, anyone considering getting into R2R needs to think carefully about what they intend to play on it. I've been buying a lot of classical music & 60's/70's soul on 4T pre recorded tapes, but the vast majority of these have to come from the US as the stereo tapes don't appear to have been sold in the UK. In the instances where I do also have the LP's they generally don't compare with the tape versions. I do wonder whether we'd have had the whole cult of turntables to anything like the same degree had these stereo tapes been readily available in the UK through the 60's 70's & up until CD came along in 1983.

Nice collection Guy

 

[mjw]

That’s a fine collection in any format/medium.

 

[MotelBlues]

As others have said, anyone considering getting into R2R needs to think carefully about what they intend to play on it. I've been buying a lot of classical music & 60's/70's soul on 4T pre recorded tapes, but the vast majority of these have to come from the US as the stereo tapes don't appear to have been sold in the UK. In the instances where I do also have the LP's they generally don't compare with the tape versions. I do wonder whether we'd have had the whole cult of turntables to anything like the same degree had these stereo tapes been readily available in the UK through the 60's 70's & up until CD came along in 1983.

In my dalliance with R2R, importing around 40 7.5ips four track tapes from the USA via eBay, that Al Green “Call Me” was the stunner that really showed the potential of the medium. Unfortunately the expense of chasing tapes that, as often as not, were ruined by improper storage, partly recorded over (a Moody Blues “A Question Of Balance” that was half a Vivaldi radio broadcast) or just not as described (a 7.5ips “Eric Clapton” that turned out to be a 3.75ips “Santana III” when played) snuffed out such moments of joy for me, and it all went up to the attic at least a decade ago.

I did pick up a fully-functional, late manufacture Teac X300 for around £175 in 2003, so to answer the OPs question, yes, it’s been done in recent-ish memory. But I would emphasise pure sound’s point: think carefully about what you want to do with R2R, and whether it can be accomplished more economically and/or practically via other means.

 

[crimsondonkey]

It’s the tapes where it starts to get expensive (unless you’re just wanting to record your own stuff).

 

[madmike]

Tricky to smuggle in ime.

Not so...there was a nototious bootlegger in the seventies who went to gigs in a wheelchair that had a reel to reel concealed underneath...I kid you not!

 

[topoxforddoc]

Not so...there was a nototious bootlegger in the seventies who went to gigs in a wheelchair that had a reel to reel concealed underneath...I kid you not!

You could easily fit a Nagra or an Uher Reporter under a wheelchair!

 

[337alant]

In all honesty, with the right source material, and properly set up, they are the best analogue source I've ever heard, and by a long, long way.

+1 for this

 

[337alant]

I have a bit of a fetish for R2R and some of my videos can be found here if interested
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMVAmf95x5xI0nyOEcIHRrw/videos?view_as=subscriber

Alan