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Revox B215 Users

Conster

pfm Member
I'm considering purchasing one of these to give my BX300 a bit of a break.
Question how many of you owners have replaced the caps? I have read on tapehead forums how many have replaced them due to their failing nature.
Didn't know how necessary this is. I have also read how well built this deck is and reliable so I am a bit confused. Is that after the electroiytic caps have been replaced or not?
 
Frako caps used in Studer and Revox stuff are replace-on-sight items, IMO. However, the stuff is built to be serviced so no problem. Build is exceptional and ownership rewarding. Either buy serviced or use one of the very capable techs around to do the work if you are not DIY. Not sure about the heads situation with the cassette decks as I don't think they were Studer Revox items so worth a check. If you buy one expect the BX thingy will be on the Bay soon :)
 
The transport on the B215 is probably the best ever made for a cassette deck, however the electronics and the heads are not on the same level. Even after recapping (which is required) and a full service the B215 will not sound as good as the BX-300 (providing the Nak is in a good condition and the head is not worn), thought the BX-300 is only an average sounding deck, IMHO. I have the Revox B215, B215S and H1 in my collection but never use these for listening or recording, as I have many much better sounding cassette decks.

Cheers

Alex
 
I have the b215 - beats anything nak produced - even the zx9 and cr7.

I got my b215 serviced by Brian Reeves in Stockport.
Superb machine for listening to legacy recordings from years back.
 
I have the b215 - beats anything nak produced - even the zx9 and cr7.

I got my b215 serviced by Brian Reeves in Stockport.
Superb machine for listening to legacy recordings from years back.

The ZX-9 and CR-7 are not good for a comparison , neither is a good sounding deck IMHO, the CR-7 is one of the worst sounding Naks for me, and the ZX-9 is not far away from it. Possibly you've just never came across a cassette deck with a really good sound quality. The B215 is not a bad deck, it is just so average and somewhat unnatural in it's sound, and the playback is quite noisy - especially for what suppose to be a top quality deck.

Cheers,

Alex
 
The ZX-9 and CR-7 are not good for a comparison , neither is a good sounding deck IMHO, the CR-7 is one of the worst sounding Naks for me, and the ZX-9 is not far away from it. Possibly you've just never came across a cassette deck with a really good sound quality. The B215 is not a bad deck, it is just so average and somewhat unnatural in it's sound, and the playback is quite noisy - especially for what suppose to be a top quality deck.

Cheers,

Alex

Interesting. You must be a Tandberg fan. Most Nak guys love the Z9
 
Interesting. You must be a Tandberg fan. Most Nak guys love the Z9

Not really. I have several Tandbergs but the decks I use daily are Technics, Aurex, Aiwa (most of them modified) for the standard speed, the Sony TC-D5ProII and WM-D6C (modified) for portable use and the heavily modified Tascam 122mkIII-M9 at 3.75 ips for mastering and vinyl archiving purposes. I have many Naks but almost never use them for recording and only occasionally use the Dragon "FM" and the RX-202 "M" (both seriously modified) for playback duties when I need their auto-reverse feature. I use some Nakamichi decks for testing and measuring tapes though, including testing my newly recorded alignment tapes. From a purely technical point of view Naks are the best in some respects, however not from the sound quality side.

Cheers

Alex
 
The naks and the revox machines that referred to were standard spec, and not modified in anyway. I 'm sure running any cassette deck at double speed would improve things....
 
The naks and the revox machines that referred to were standard spec, and not modified in anyway. I 'm sure running any cassette deck at double speed would improve things....

I was writing above only about the sound quality of non-modified Revox B215, Nakamichi CR-7 and ZX-9.

Interesting concept of archiving vinyl onto what is now considered a legacy format?

It is a way of saving vinyl from wear as a tape copy can be played hundreds of times without problems and with 99% of the sound quality of the original vinyl (and can be re-recorded if something happens to the tape). A good cassette also has a very long life - I have cassettes that over 35 years old and still playing fine. It is for me a convenient and inexpensive way to keep the recording in a fully analogue domain and preserve precious LPs. Much easier to use (and much cheaper) than an R2R, with plenty of tape available and (IMHO) much better quality than the majority of digital options.

Cheers

Alex
 


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