Rich Brown paid a visit to my music room yesterday. We tried Nagra T Audio direct head wired with three different tape head preamps: the Manley Tape Head Preamp (stock), Marantz 7 (stock), and the KingCello .75 (the usual magical touch applied by C. King himself). It was fun to have Rich back in the greater NW area where there’s “tape civilization” and the new music (tapes) he had brought with him was always a treat.
It was interesting for me to know that each preamps had strengths and weaknesses but in general all three sounded good to me with KC.75 coming out ahead of the rest. (I know you all want to know the sonic difference details but I have other motive…) One thing I know for certain is that when one uses an outboard tape head preamp, one must make adjustments if you plan to use different machine than it was originally configured since no two heads from different companies will behave the same way.
But then after Rich had left the house, I got to thinking about the possibility of Franken-Studer that I had been mentioning to few other tapeheads before. Using the ultimate tape transport, Studer A820 and its repro head, what if I drive an updated A80 repro preamps in its own outboard rack or even further - drive a pair of Ampex 351 tube preamps (this set up will need head input setup transformers)?
One of my concerns with modern tape head preamps that are available for purchase today had been their lack of bass adjustments to overcome the tape head bump in the low frequency. The other issue is if users make any HF adjustments made for one EQ would affect both IEC and NAB EQ whether intended or not. In general the head bump is a pleasant thing especially playing tapes with almost no bass information (CCR tapes from the 70’s for one), but it is not natural. (The Manley preamp has a switch for adding bass up to +4dB without changing the LF adjustment setting- nice touch.)
The A80 repro card has two independent output level, treble, and bass adjustments that can be configured for 15 ips NAB and 15 ips IEC- although the switch function was meant for Slow and Fast speed selection and for changing associated EQ settings.
I have too many unfinished projects but will keep you updated with the progress - if I can escape from the promises I had made to friends and the usual holiday honey-do’s...
It was interesting for me to know that each preamps had strengths and weaknesses but in general all three sounded good to me with KC.75 coming out ahead of the rest. (I know you all want to know the sonic difference details but I have other motive…) One thing I know for certain is that when one uses an outboard tape head preamp, one must make adjustments if you plan to use different machine than it was originally configured since no two heads from different companies will behave the same way.
But then after Rich had left the house, I got to thinking about the possibility of Franken-Studer that I had been mentioning to few other tapeheads before. Using the ultimate tape transport, Studer A820 and its repro head, what if I drive an updated A80 repro preamps in its own outboard rack or even further - drive a pair of Ampex 351 tube preamps (this set up will need head input setup transformers)?
One of my concerns with modern tape head preamps that are available for purchase today had been their lack of bass adjustments to overcome the tape head bump in the low frequency. The other issue is if users make any HF adjustments made for one EQ would affect both IEC and NAB EQ whether intended or not. In general the head bump is a pleasant thing especially playing tapes with almost no bass information (CCR tapes from the 70’s for one), but it is not natural. (The Manley preamp has a switch for adding bass up to +4dB without changing the LF adjustment setting- nice touch.)
The A80 repro card has two independent output level, treble, and bass adjustments that can be configured for 15 ips NAB and 15 ips IEC- although the switch function was meant for Slow and Fast speed selection and for changing associated EQ settings.
I have too many unfinished projects but will keep you updated with the progress - if I can escape from the promises I had made to friends and the usual holiday honey-do’s...
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