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    AK (hot rodded) Ampex ATR-102's w/MR-70 Preamps replaces my Studers.

    Despite their overly-robust power supplies, stock MR70 channels typically draw just a bit under 60 watts in Record - a bit less in PB (since the record circuitry B+ is switched only when actively recording). Fused at .75A/channel. An entire 2-TK MR70 machine only draws about 3.5 amps from a...
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    AK (hot rodded) Ampex ATR-102's w/MR-70 Preamps replaces my Studers.

    Mike- The machine next to the ATR is a 1/4" MR-70 modified by International Recording Co - it has Flux heads and four-speed capstan servo. The two machines on the right wall are a 1/2" 3-TK MR-70, also modified by IRC with full Flux head assembly, and a 1/2" 2-TK MR-70 rebuilt by Precision...
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    AK (hot rodded) Ampex ATR-102's w/MR-70 Preamps replaces my Studers.

    Martin Logans - Atma Sphere...and...more MR-70s. So yes - very familiar with their sonic characteristics. Anxious to hear what Mike reports back about his A.K. built machines. Tom
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    AK (hot rodded) Ampex ATR-102's w/MR-70 Preamps replaces my Studers.

    As a fellow MR-70 owner, I'll be enthusiastically following this thread to read about your ultimate opinion on the Nuvistor-based electronics. Despite a fair number of excellent tape machines and PB electronics having passed through my shop/audio room - the MR-70s have pretty much set a high...
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    FS: Ampex MR70 1/4" 2-track (stereo) 7.5 / 15ips tape machine - completely refurbished / ready for operation

    The key word here is “modern”, so Larry’s statement is basically correct. The ATR-10X machines were designed during a time when tape formulations had evolved to fairly high fluxivity levels and the erasure current followed accordingly. In the 1960’s Ampex engineers designed the MR-70 erase...
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    [SOLD]: Studer A80 VU MKII

    A80 is Sold.
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    [SOLD]: Studer A80 VU MKII

    Studer A80 VU MKII 1/4” 2-Track, Overall good working and physical condition. Has both 1/4” 2-track and Flux Magnetics 1/4-TK head installed in place of the record head to play 7” consumer tapes. Switch on head block selects 1/4 or 1/2 track playback. Heads were relapped by JRF in 2011, have...
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    Analog tape media...where to go from here?

    Last year I had a new reel of 1/2" RTM SM911 leave some material on the guides of one of my machines, so I just use it as a shop tape. OTOH I'm also sitting on a dozen new reels of ATR stock..... Tom
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    Analog tape media...where to go from here?

    Sam, The tape in the top photo (the tape that's making a brown mess all over your nice machine)....what brand is that? Or, from the text it sounds as if you're having problems with both brands mentioned? Rgs, Tom
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    What is scrape flutter?

    Here's an Ampex 350 head assembly I had JRF Magnetics modify a few years back. It started as one of those play-only units where a dummy idler was factory-installed in position 1 and a PB head in position 3. John reversed the orientation, putting the PB head first, machined the center to accept a...
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    What is scrape flutter?

    I like the comment about 'adding absolutely no additional flutter' for several reasons, some of them speculative. First, there are plenty of good original recordings where the scrape flutter is present, and we've come to accept that sound as being characteristic of that particular era. If we...
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    What is scrape flutter?

    I can hear scrape flutter on some recordings, but someone had to teach me what to listen for. And, it took a few hours in front of several machines to do it (think Ampex 350 as starting point). What I haven't figured out is where in the chain the artifact is originally introduced or most...
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    Master Tapes from ABC Int'l Records

    I wanted to, but don't think it's possible, to remove the hyperlink from the original post. For now just be cautious.... Tom
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    Master Tapes from ABC Int'l Records

    Same here (I'm OP on this one). I had bookmarked a few pages on their site and all now generate warnings. Tom
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    New Revox Reel

    I was thinking about the comment Mike made (and agree with) concerning the stability of the studio/master recorders, aka the big Studers, Ampex etc. It's been repeated often enough that you have to start by getting the tape to move straight across the heads first before trying to extract...
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    New Revox Reel

    +1 just for killer looks alone... Tom
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    Sources and Prices of 1/2" Prerecorded Tapes

    Larry- MTSL (Master Tape SoundLab) lists 'other formats' (1/2" 30 IPS...15 IPS?) availability here: http://mastertapesoundlab.com/MasterTapeSoundLab/Products_and_Services.html Yarlung Records also offers 1/2" versions of their titles: http://www.yarlungrecords.com/analog.html#a2...
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    Ampex electronics for the best possible sound

    Hi Ki- What I have lying around in 1/4" parts I have to hold onto to support my 1/4" machine, unfortunately. But I'll keep an eye out.... Anybody heard from Roger lately? Haven't seen him post here, or anywhere, in quite a while. Tom
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    Ampex electronics for the best possible sound

    For the 300 transports I used servo motors/controllers out of a 440B. IIRC it took around 40 hours to disassemble the transport and machine the deckplate/banjo casting, and perhaps another ten hours to figure out the electrical aspect, mostly centered on having the transport switch the speed...
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    Ampex electronics for the best possible sound

    Sounds like an ambitious project, more so as you're starting with one that's 'not very pretty'. The capstan drive system on the MR70 is only one of the challenges faced when working on these machines, but when it's in good order, it's fine. See my post #99 in this thread...
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    Reference tapemachine

    There is a general convention that if you take a machine, Ampex or whatever, and repair/restore it as a whole, you've furthered its original purpose and perhaps saved much of it from the inevitable junk heap. Quite a few studio guys pick up Ampex 350/351 electronics with the intention of making...
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    If you were going to buy 2-3 tapes, what would they be?

    +1 for UltraAnalogue Recordings, Edward Pong. Just received Bach Cello Suite #1 (Sietse-Jan Weijenberg), highly recommended! Probably one of the finest, most intimately recorded cello works I've listened to. Edward has managed to capture even the most subtle nuances of the performance. Tom B.
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    Studer A810 No Capstan Control

    Do you have the capability to take the 5.5 MHz measurement Ki referred to before trying to find replacements? Tom
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    Master Tapes from ABC Int'l Records

    I don't recall seeing this here before, apologies if a re-post: http://www.abcrecord.com/en/article.php?id=68
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    Need Help With These Tapes

    Ah, the thrill of the hunt. If you can get past the monotony of re-spooling and baking old tapes such as these, you occasionally come across something interesting and worth keeping. Occasionally being the key word, I'd guess I found perhaps a dozen keepers and one or two gems after going through...
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    Wall behind a Planar speaker

    Fred- Very nice...... You said: If the picture is current, your toe in appears more than slight. I would have suspected an imaging offset for either listener, or least by my own notes from the last time I experimented with toe in as such. Tom
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    Possible New Classical Tape

    That actually raises an interesting point; the engineer, transfer process and signal chain often are transparent to the end-user. I'd prefer if every new issue, whether it be tape or digital download, contained at least some technical discussion, and credits, where appropriate. Tom
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    Has anyone experienced a system blow up?

    Never had any problems up in the audio room, but I have had a few pieces of gear let loose in the workshop. The power supply for my PP 304TL project went up in a spectacular ball of flames, mushroom cloud and all. I do recall a friend's power conditioner not working, and when we opened the...
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    1/2 inch Studer bliss

    Mike, You did own an ATR-102 at one point, correct? Still have it or removed it from the roster? Tom B.
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    Five days in New Orleans, late October

    My wife offered to take me down to New Orleans late this October, it's a trip we had planned on a few occasions but for various reasons had to cancel. We'll have five days to fill and want to make the best of it, all of the daytime attractions and culture we can take in, saving the evenings for...

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