Battle Royal for a Studer A-820
- Thread starter Mike Lavigne
- Start date
I think 3 A-820's would work best for you Mike
there will be one in your room before there are 3 in mine.
How does a Nagra T sound stock compared to a Studer A810, ect ?
i have never directly compared them. in a general sense the A810 is a 'Prosumer' 'Broadcast' level deck but likely one of the finest of that catagory, and the Nagra T is a master recorder. the build quality of the Nagra is pretty amazing and there is nothing quite like it; but it's complexity is also daunting.
the Nagra T is the sexiest RTR deck there is, for whatever that is worth. watch a youtube of one being run through it's paces, it's amazing as a machine.
i'd say stock sonic performance, the Nagra T is ok like the Studer A820 is ok. they both need custom electronics to really sing.
obviously i have one for sale and am trying to be objective.
Wow! That rumble comes from several old age homes in the Zurich suburbs.There was once a fairly loud murmur when someone on the old Studer list called the A807 a semi pro machine.I can imagine the reaction re the A810! Studer was always very proud of the A810.Fact is that the 810 and T audio ended up competing for identical markets-high budget television and radio production where sound quality was as paramount as any album mastering work with the exception that in the case of a National/State Broadcasters budgets were almost unlimited.
In this country A 810s replaced A80s for critical work at our National Broadcaster while the custom built A80Rs soldiered on manfully in radio news production with tape tension set incredibly high to ensure superfast ff/rew.When I got my A810 (sonically not my favourite machine ) it had stickers stuck all over it saying "For Mastering use only" and "Only use on CCIR at 15ips "and "switch off after use" and my favourite "Mastering machine, do not adjust"
It's up to 21K....maybe tape has caught fire in Asia,as in my experience bidders with low transactions numbers(feedback)are usually from there. Anyway I'm glad to see it,as it gives me reason to restore my MR70's. I still think some of this has a "bubble" feel about it,but I think the whole world is in a ongoing money printing reflation. No matter if you have the funds spend it on something you love,life is short.
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
i see this completely differently.
i see RTR tape as gathering momentum. and the top level Tape Decks in really good condition will get more and more valuable. if you look at what it might cost to build the A-820 today at that level of fit and finish, or if you look at what the retail value in the 80's of the A-820 converted to todays dollars it would be over $100k.......it's not hard to understand why the best examples of the top RTR deck (in terms of quality of build) might not start to command premiums.
no different than turntables; particularly the Technics SP-10 Mk3.......or a few other vintage tt's. 10-15 years ago these tt's were almost considered doorstops. in the last 5 years or so they have become scarce and valuable.
it seems like every month or two i see another source for Master tapes pop up. and gear will always follow the software. as more nice titles come to market more and more enthusiasts of means will chase the choice tape decks and this event will be considered normal.
only time will tell. it could be a bubble......or a sign of the direction things are going.
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
It will only be a bubble if people stop making tapes available. If someone could figure out a way to bring down the cost of tapes to a sane level and bring a ton of new material to the marketplace, you just might see tape explode in a way that RCA and other record companies dreamed of happening as far back as 1957. And if the marketplace suddenly saw a huge increase in the amount of tapes available for sale, you would see R2R decks going back into production.
Hmmmmm...
Yep, Bruce has it correct...
Mike...well, there is the hype; in this case, the hype is simply a fantasy.
Cheers!
Yep, Bruce has it correct...
Mike...well, there is the hype; in this case, the hype is simply a fantasy.
Cheers!
if i had to choose between the stereo dart 108 with my two A820's and just the dart 458's, no doubt i would stand pat where i am. the 108 is fantastic. the 458's are 'more'.
I am feeling a top to this market. The players are few, the money is no object. Once the tape bug wears off and the hassle of threading tape sets in these things are going to be hard to hold value. Mike L, I would bail asap on yours and roll the funds into the Darts.
Yep, $6k is the intrinsic value of the A820; anything else stated is an artificial inflation that is perpetrated by the upcoming seller of the A820s.
The bidder clearly had the money and was going to buy the deck at any price.He even backed his bid to the end. Regardless I have seen items on Epay get in a bidding war because of the stupidity of the bidder allways following his higher bid with another.That forces the price higher because it becomes a game to some as they force his hand.You see this all the time and the item comes back on the market because the buyer gets "buyers remorse" from being gamed.
This sale won't stand and if it does it proves my first point.
Who would pay $26,000 for a A820 mk2 on this board ? Show that sale on the Ampex list and they'd howl even on Studer pages in Europe they'd howl .They are built like a watch but unfortunatly you have to be in business to recover any cost
outlay and I don't care what people think the electronics are less than stellar too surgical .
This sale won't stand and if it does it proves my first point.
Who would pay $26,000 for a A820 mk2 on this board ? Show that sale on the Ampex list and they'd howl even on Studer pages in Europe they'd howl .They are built like a watch but unfortunatly you have to be in business to recover any cost
outlay and I don't care what people think the electronics are less than stellar too surgical .
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