Seeking R2R Recommendations

You did not state your objective - what are you planning on doing with them? You also did not specify the Otari version, and that makes big difference.

But straight on I would definitely keep the Otari (provided it is not a very early version)... but then, again, your long term objective is important.

jadedavid said:

I've recently acquired 3 R2R decks.
They are:
1) OTARI MX5050

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like Foxbat mentioned, this one has the highest potential, but which model? what condition? this one is a pro studio machine.

jadedavid said:

2) TECHNICS 2track 1500

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better than the Pioneer, and lots of people know this one and this one has been improved by many people in many ways. so maybe easiest to make right and with still a high upside. i owned 2 of these back in the day. one pure stock and in perfect condition (meh sounding), the other one was highly modified by Tim Paravicini. that one sounded great. a prosumer (used by radio stations and serious amateurs) machine.

jadedavid said:

3) PIONEER 4track 2 channel RT 909

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this is a consumer machine with the least capability. 4 track heads have less potential performance and cannot play the best tapes. you would need to change the heads to play good tapes.

jadedavid said:

My goal is to keep the best one of the lot and have it gone thru and restored.
None of them have been tested. However the previous owner of the PIONEER deck indicated that it had a speed stabilization issue.

Thoughts on which one to keep?
Also
Looking for a repair/restoration facility to send it to.

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since it appears you live in Florida, find a tape tech near you and have a phone conversation. send him pics and answer his questions. go from there.

I would dump all 3 and get a new/used 5050 from Gene Walls
ProfAudio@comcast.net

Gene goes through the whole machine and makes it as good as can be. Mine has run close to flawless for 3 to 4 years now. The tape counter did stop. But I gave up the idea of trying to rewind to a song I like.

I do like Library rewind. The Otari goes so fast I fear a tape breaking some day.

You also have to be super careful about shipping. Home Depot has a plastic moving box that fits the 5050. Pack it well, then use Old Dominion and ship on a pallet. Create a pallet to fit. It will cost about $300 each direction when shipped.

jadedavid said:

Thanks for the reply.
My objective is to add the chosen one to my system. The others will be sold in order to fund the restoration.
The OTARI is a MX5050 BIII-2 (as stated on the rear) Is this an early or later model?

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That is good model, and if the condition is good I would keep it. Does it run the tape nicely?

To get the library wind one would have to go much higher in price, and there are techniques for reducing the wind speed stress.

You have the latest iteration of the 5050 there. Much improved machine over prior iterations in terms of how smoothly it handles tape. It’s gentler on tape due to logic-controlled transport. One minor drawbacks is that the transport buttons aren’t as robust as those used on the prior iterations of the deck.

The Technics, though not a pro deck, is just a cool looking machine even if it’s repro circuit isn’t the best. But a good deal of tape enthusiasts use an external tape preamp (several out there) with the 1500-series, so use it as a transport only which it excels at.

So maybe keep both and dump the 909?