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    The Cello Audio Suite Master Supply (and where to find qualified service for it today)

    A conversation directed me to an eBay listing for some old Cello gear this week. In it, the seller claimed to have an improved power supply for the Cello Audio Suite. I choked when seeing that. Any student of high-end audio understands that good power supply design is critical to audio quality...
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    Measuring the frequency response of tape playback electronics

    For an end user of a tape repro electronics to do this, we'll assume the use of a reproducer alignment tape, a so-called calibration tape. Yet a limitation with the popular cal tapes is the too sparse distribution of frequencies. So, if you were a qualified designer of tape electronics (or...
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    Head direct out on the Studer A80 RC?

    There might be a couple of people on this forum that I actually know. They will be astounded to see me now starting a thread here about head direct out. Especially on a Studer! But let's face it, this direct out trend just isn't going away! So, let's say that you happen to own an A80...
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    Studer A80 RC

    Some people enjoy owning and using fine vintage equipment. We get that. Available from ATAE, the real Studer tape machine experts. Respected world-wide.
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    Superlative Studer precision guidance tape transports? (A80 and A820 TBO)

    > understand the perspective (rightly or wrongly) of this person is that he sees that the transport is superlative Superlative? Maybe when it left the factory over 30 years ago, Mike. But TBO (time before overhaul) is eight years for the A80 and A820. When people doubt that the FM and...
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    Head direct-out and after-market playback electronics

    It would be really fun if more real audiophiles became interested in tape playback. In the meantime, independent thinkers who seek the truth might want to know what's behind the trend to after-market tape stages. Below are some of the better questions I've heard. Other questions for inclusion...
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    Why not use a tape recorder for playback?

    Using a three-head tape recorder (technically known as a recorder / reproducer) for playback remains a common practice. Yet tape playback through a recorder / reproducer can never provide optimum performance, in part due to the location of the playback head in the headblock. Consider that...
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    What is scrape flutter?

    Please let me begin by acknowledging that there are many tape hobbyists active today. There are also many audiophiles. But if we are defining an audiophile as someone who demands the best possible quality playback, then we might want to explore the state-of-the-art in analog tape. Scrape...
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    Calibration tones on pre-recorded tapes?

    I'm told that there are now about thirty different makers of pre-recorded tapes. Consider what could happen if any one of them were to start placing two minutes of calibration tones at the head of each reel. Their customers might object. Perhaps quite strongly! After all, they're paying...
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    Setting repro head azimuth on your playback transport

    For introduction of this topic, please consider three questions: What could support the view that setting repro head azimuth for optimal playback is not necessary? Which pre-recorded tape producers are putting azimuth alignment tones on their tapes? How should one set the playback head...
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    The importance of playback equalizations

    Probably any knowledgeable analog tape professional is aware that the long-outdated 15 in/s IEC2 recording and playback equalization standard (formerly known as NAB) has serious issues in the regions approaching both frequency extremes. This was established more than four decades ago and lab...
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    New product announcement from ATAE: the Classic RC reproducer.

    In my first post to this forum eleven months ago, I offered to share the reason ATAE doesn't market our professional tape playback systems to the audiophile community. That reason (of course) is because audiophiles do not own original master tapes. Except for when they do. (But honestly, this...
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    Changing between Studer A820 quarter and half-inch headblocks

    The Studer A820 has a built-in headblock identification circuit that immediately detects when you have installed a half-inch (or a quarter-inch) headblock. The tape tensions then automatically change over to the appropriate values. Those values can be the factory furnished defaults, or...
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    RCA inputs on ATAE LNP-3 tape preamp?

    Hi Mike, Please keep in mind that the professional tape world is quite different from the hobbyist tape world. I hope to shed light on some of those differences here. Yours is a FAQ and the answer is no, because we feel that fitting RCA connectors for tape play head inputs on our preamps...
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    Do different tape transports sound different?

    This is a question I've been hearing for over 45 years. It still makes me smile. Answering authoritatively necessitates a listening demonstration where all other variables have been removed. For the comparison of the two recorder-reproducers shown (Ampex ATR-102 and Studer A820), we put...
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    the Studer list

    Ron Resnick has encouraged me to chime in on the reel to reel forum here. I just registered on the WBF last week and from looking over a few of your many threads, I see that I already know many of you. I also read here that my company -- ATAE -- doesn't like audiophiles. Well, I suppose...

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