Metaxas Tape Machines Secure U.S. + Canada Distribution

Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Reel Sound Distribution Now the Exclusive Distributor
of Renowned Metaxas & Sins Hi-Fi Audio Equipment
Metaxas & Sins’ award-winning audio equipment is now available in North America for the first time.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – April 14, 2023 – Florida-based Reel Sound Distribution Inc. is now the exclusive distributor of the world-renowned and award-winning hi-fi audio line from Metaxas & Sins, following a partnership agreement with designer Kostas Metaxas. The Metaxas & Sins equipment includes “product of the year” Tourbillion T-RX and Papillion reel to reel players available exclusively through Reel Sound Distribution Inc. in the U.S. and Canada through select retail gallery partners.
Veteran Journalist Jonathan Valin of The Absolute Sound Magazine said of the Tourbillion reel to reel player - “This is the absolute sound in the definition of those words that makes the best sense to me: the sound that was recorded in the studio or the concert venue.”

This is the first time the new line of Metaxas & Sins reel to reel players has been available in North America.

Reel Sound Distribution will also be making available the equipment!s supporting family of amplification, speakers and accessories utilized in their design and performance.

Renowned designer Kostas Metaxas has spent more than 40 years of work in the field of high- end audio, from the design and manufacturing of entire playback systems to the recording of more than 300 acoustic concerts on analog tape using Swiss Stellavox decks, before designing his new line of reel to reel players/recorders and new audio equipment collection. His dream was to bring the most spectacular architecture, design and sculpture he had experienced and their emotional intensity, daring and seductive beauty to a new series of audio components.

As a recording engineer, Metaxas also wanted to “voice them” for extremely realistic recording playback and to be able to easily reproduce all the nuance and emotion of a musical performance.
The new collection is the result. Machined from solid blocks of either aircraft aluminum, copper or titanium, the totally bespoke and modular electronics make them future proof. In true “Bugatti fashion,” each and every product is assembled by Metaxas or his sons.

Every Metaxas & Sins case is individually built from a solid block of solid metal. This presents a very solid, inert, non-resonant structure to shield and protect the delicate electronic signals. This low noise shielding assists in achieving breathtaking musical 3D depth, transparency and realism.

Each Metaxas & Sins audio collection piece is considered an object of art – beautiful to look at and breathtaking to hear. The limited-production heirloom components are handcrafted from the finest materials and electronics and engineered by a visionary artisan.
These audio sculptures of purist design offer uncompromising performance that brings people closer to the musical event than ever before. Listeners can be there with their favorite artists, lost in the emotion of their performance and can hear what they heard in the studio or on the stage.
Reel Sound Distribution!s Jeff Garshon is a musician, producer and lifelong music collector with more than 20 years in audio/video system design and sales. He is also an entrepreneur and pioneer in life sciences communications. Having spent hundreds of hours in the studio, touring and performing, Garshon understands what real music and musicians sound like.

Garshon's passion is curating audio systems that deliver musical content honestly and accurately but, above all, with emotion and beauty. Understanding that analog reel to reel tape is the purest music delivery format extant and the origin of all popular recordings prior to digital, Garshon began searching for the best reel to reel sources and audio components capable of delivering that content without corruption, which led to his partnership with Metaxas & Sins.

For more information, contact Garshon at jeff@reelsounddistribution.com or 954-648-3550.
 

gds7368

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I have known Jeff Garshon personally and professionally (I purchased 3 Berkeley DACs) for about 15 years. He is passionate and extremely ethical. Very excited to see him bring Metaxas to the US!

(ask Jeff about his charting on Canadian radio)
 
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astrotoy

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Zeotrope

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I spoke to Jeff at AXPONA. He seems top notch and would be a pleasure to deal with. You can feel the passion that he has for music and for great products.
(I got the complete opposite experience from two TP-1000 distributors/dealers. Left a very bad feeling. But will refrain from adding more in a public forum…)
 

dminches

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I spoke to the guy leading the TP-1000 effort. Great guy and very accommodating.

Tons of dealers are difficult to deal with. You seem intent on trashing AAD. They have made a great, affordable product.
 

Zeotrope

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I am not intent on trashing anyone - just sharing my experiences when considerIng which new tape machine to buy. I have zero affiliation to any company.
At $10k the TP-1000 was affordable. Around 2 years later, it’s now $27,000. That doesn’t make any sense, and neither does a 50% premium for gold anodized panels.

Yes, the Metaxas is more expensive (but no up charge for gold!); but it’s in a different league.
 

dminches

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I am not intent on trashing anyone - just sharing my experiences when considerIng which new tape machine to buy. I have zero affiliation to any company.
At $10k the TP-1000 was affordable. Around 2 years later, it’s now $27,000. That doesn’t make any sense, and neither does a 50% premium for gold anodized panels.

Yes, the Metaxas is more expensive (but no up charge for gold!); but it’s in a different league.

Can you share your listening experiences with hearing the Metaxas and TP-1000 and other decks in the same system at the same time? I want to understand the basis of "it's in a different league" comment.
 

Zeotrope

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I have not listened to them in the same system at the same time.
Comments based on observation of the machines running:
* the TP-1000 had some wobble in the first roller coming off the left real.
* single vs dual capstan
* some plastic components in the tape path
* Metaxas power supply is external
* not a fan of wifi inside or anywhere close to the preamp
* general robustness and build quality

Metaxas machines are easy to service - every component is accessible and removable. Kostas will even give you the firmware code.

AAP is literally a one man show. What happens when he is no longer active? Who will service the electronics? Metaxas has been around 40+ years and his sons are working with him as well. This is important, at least to me.
Of course the Tourbillion is double the price, so it does make sense.
 

dcc

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Let's get some facts corrected.

There is no WiFi in the AAD. There is a RJ45 connector allowing remote diagnostics. There is no plastic component in the tape path. The only piece of plastic is the holder of the optical sensor which does not touch the tape.

There is no wobble at all. The issue might be that some reels are stamped instead of laser cut and unfortunately some do present wobble. You will understand once you start building your tape collection how frustrating it can be to get warped reels.

The tech who is taking care of my two vintage tape decks (Studer A80 RC and Nagra IVS) has inspected the AAD deck and actually was quite impressed by the build quality and the components being used. He has 40 years of experience in the field. He also builds professional components like bespoke mixing consoles, microphone preamps etc. When I pointed out some plastic knobs, he laughed at me pointing out that these are Swiss made and are among the best components available on the market with a tag price of 30 EUR per unit.

Hervé Delétraz, the CEO of darTZeel, has had the chance to compare both tape decks and is not sharing your views. He is a qualified engineer with a comprehensive knowledge of tape machines and I fully trust him.

Metaxas has been in the business for 40 years but not the same corporates. I have a few of his recordings on tape and these are some of the worst sounding tapes among the 350+ tapes I have.

The factory direct price of the AAD machine in Europe is 13.000 EUR without taxes which makes it a very compelling proposition.
 
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Zeotrope

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I agree with you that 13,000 EUR for the AAD is a great price, no question there. I don’t understand $27,000 in the US though.

Herve is a friend and I can assure you he has not heard the Metaxas Papillion, and only briefly saw a prototype Tourbillon at an audio show years ago. I am arranging a more in depth session with him, probably with my Papillon (I own and use the 18NS and 108). I would say neither the AAP, nor the Metaxas machine (other than perhaps the Papillon, TBD) is up to DarTZeel’s caliber of components.

Metaxas has owned or used all the usual vintage machines for over 40 years. He knows more than the AAP founder will ever know about the art and science of recording and playback. It’s definitely admirable that someone with no experience can make a new machine that works well; but there’s no comparison to Kostas’ experience.
 

dcc

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Hervé is a friend as well ;-) He had a Tourbillon in his room at the Munich show last year.

Wishing you all the best with your Papillon tape deck.
 

Zeotrope

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Hervé is a friend as well ;-) He had a Tourbillon in his room at the Munich show last year.

Wishing you all the best with your Papillon tape deck.
Yeah, the prototype that was not quite working well. This happens.
My brand new DartZeel 18NS was DOA. My new 108 amp had mismatched LEDs. Herve took care of it. I’m not judging DartZeel based on a couple of flaws. Service is exceptional and the components have been flawless since.
Just a few weeks ago Hervé said he is open to hearing the Papillon and taking another look at the Tourbillon.
Having played around with the Toubillon and TP-1000 at AXPONA, I saw nothing of what Herve mentioned. I found the mechanics and build quality of the Tourbillon to be superior. The TP-1000 is a nice ~10k machine and there’s nothing wrong with that. When you see it side by side with the Tourbillon the differences are obvious.
 

dminches

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Yeah, the prototype that was not quite working well. This happens.
My brand new DartZeel 18NS was DOA. My new 108 amp had mismatched LEDs. Herve took care of it. I’m not judging DartZeel based on a couple of flaws. Service is exceptional and the components have been flawless since.
Just a few weeks ago Hervé said he is open to hearing the Papillon and taking another look at the Tourbillon.
Having played around with the Toubillon and TP-1000 at AXPONA, I saw nothing of what Herve mentioned. I found the mechanics and build quality of the Tourbillon to be superior. The TP-1000 is a nice ~10k machine and there’s nothing wrong with that. When you see it side by side with the Tourbillon the differences are obvious.

The only thing that matters is what it sounds like. There is a lot of bling in the audio industry that does nothing positive for sound quality.

Maybe one of these days I will hear a reel to reel setup that sounds better than my Technics RS-1500 with a flux magnetic head + the Doshi Evo tape pre. I am sure it is out there but I have yet to hear it.
 

Zeotrope

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Totally agree.
As “blingy” as the Metaxas stuff appears to be, he’s only concerned about how it sounds // especially for a tape machine which has been his main passion.
He’s like Hervé in this regard - the DartZeel look is certainly very blingy!

I am not sure any tape playback system will equal or better my Nagra TT. We will see!
 

Zeotrope

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Amazing, congratulations! Jeff is a great guy and will be there when necessary, I’m sure. What colors did you select?

Also wanted to recall the TAS review of the Tourbillon, which was the best review I have ever read, of any audio component, in ~30 years of being in this hobby.
 

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