METAXAS Tourbillon T-RX

[Lagonda]

your Studer is a 10th (or more) generation of Studer evolution of transport design and build. by 6 or 7 they were pretty good. by 10 they were the best.

Metaxas only has 3 or 4 more generations to figure it out....then another 2 or 3 to perfect it.

And the Studers where built in high quantities with thousand of hours professional workload all over the world, Metaxas will never get that kind of usage to gain experience from.

 

[Tango]

your Studer is a 10th (or more) generation of Studer evolution of transport design and build. by 6 or 7 they were pretty good. by 10 they were the best. same for Ampex.

Metaxas only has 3 or 4 more generations to figure it out....then another 2 or 3 to perfect it. which does not mean it might not be a good quality playback deck. i have read positive things about it.

I had a chance to play a few tracks of Jonathan Horwich's ipi Dee Alexander ( Great sounding vocal jazz btw.) The sound was actually very promising but then the speed control couldn't fight the karma in my place. Let's just say some mechanical abnormalities. What you said above is wisdom.

I also forgot to say the machine could not do NAB.

 

[adrianywu]

The Papillon apparently cost 45K Euro for a basic playback only 1/4" machine, all the way to 75K for a 1" full function machine. It can accommodate up to 15" reels. With the most up to date microprocessor controlling all the mechanical functions, I wonder how much better it is as compared to the last generation of the Ampexes, Studers, Nagras etc. I am actually surprised by the price. The Nagra T-Audio cost 23K GBP in 1983. According to the Bank of England inflation calculator, this is equal to 82.5K GBP today. I think the other studio machines of that era would cost similar amounts of money. However, Metaxas will only be selling 10 of the Papillons, after spending all this time and energy developing it. I wonder if he will build more if there is demand for it.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

The Papillon apparently cost 45K Euro for a basic playback only 1/4" machine, all the way to 75K for a 1" full function machine. It can accommodate up to 15" reels. With the most up to date microprocessor controlling all the mechanical functions, I wonder how much better it is as compared to the last generation of the Ampexes, Studers, Nagras etc. I am actually surprised by the price. The Nagra T-Audio cost 23K GBP in 1983. According to the Bank of England inflation calculator, this is equal to 82.5K GBP today. I think the other studio machines of that era would cost similar amounts of money. However, Metaxas will only be selling 10 of the Papillons, after spending all this time and energy developing it. I wonder if he will build more if there is demand for it.

Yes I have to agree the the 15” transport only Papillon seems very good value for 45k euros. If I owned a Doshi, Merill Trident or King Cello and I was in this league, I would seriously consider one.

 

[CKKeung]

The biggest compliment of any reviewers is to buy the reviewed component himself.
But for JV, at what price?

 

[adrianywu]

The only concern I have is, how long will the company be around ? Will there be spare parts and expertise to maintain the machines ? There is plenty of support for studio machines such as Studer, but I am not so sure about these machines. While they look beautiful, how reliable are they ? We know machines such as Studer A80, Nagra TA, Telefunken M15 etc. are indestructible.

 

[andromedaaudio]

But for JV, at what price?

Who cares , its good for the tape industry
A rising tide lifts all boats , it keeps the Tape revival going .
M fremer should buy/ review a Ballfinger deck and review some new tape releases once in a while

 

[Foxbat]

The beauty of old school studio machines, such as the A80, ATR-100, M15A or JH-110 is in their large table top surfaces, which I always find very convenient and valuable.

"Hey, Joe, where did you put my splicing block???"

 

[CKKeung]

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/kostas-metaxas-t-rx-tape-deck

 

[Audiophile Bill]

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/kostas-metaxas-t-rx-tape-deck

Has anyone done a shootout of this vs a vintage Studer or Telefunken or Stella etc?

 

[Ron Resnick]

The biggest compliment of any reviewers is to buy the reviewed component himself.
But for JV, at what price?

View attachment 90307

Or was it a "long-term loan"?

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

The beauty of old school studio machines, such as the A80, ATR-100, M15A or JH-110 is in their large table top surfaces, which I always find very convenient and valuable.

"Hey, Joe, where did you put my splicing block???"

true worktools IMO

 

[Zeotrope]

The Papillon apparently cost 45K Euro for a basic playback only 1/4" machine, all the way to 75K for a 1" full function machine. It can accommodate up to 15" reels. With the most up to date microprocessor controlling all the mechanical functions, I wonder how much better it is as compared to the last generation of the Ampexes, Studers, Nagras etc. I am actually surprised by the price. The Nagra T-Audio cost 23K GBP in 1983. According to the Bank of England inflation calculator, this is equal to 82.5K GBP today. I think the other studio machines of that era would cost similar amounts of money. However, Metaxas will only be selling 10 of the Papillons, after spending all this time and energy developing it. I wonder if he will build more if there is demand for it.

Agreed. And pricing is now basically double, just 2 years later. Is this another case of the distributor/dealer adding their margin? If so, I would rather buy direct and not pay double!

 

[Zeotrope]

Wanted to see what’s new here… I read the very positive review in TAS. But I also read the not so positive feedback from [] here… any updates?

 

[dcc]

There was one in the darTZeel/Stenheim/CSPort room at the 2023 Munich show but there was some bad karma with the unit and it could not be used.

 

[Zeotrope]

There was one in the darTZeel/Stenheim/CSPort room at the 2023 Munich show but there was some bad karma with the unit and it could not be used.

“Bad karma” and this was the Tourbillon not the Papillon, correct?

 

[dcc]

Yes. And one of the guys who was taking care of the demo owns a Studer A80 VU. His feedback about the unit was everything but positive.

I myself own a fully overhauled and upgraded Studer A80 RC MK II and a Nagra IVS with a QGB module. The tech who is looking after my tape decks was unimpressed by the Metaxas.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

and the A80VU is not considered to have very good sounding audio cards as opposed to the A80R and RC
I have 2 x A80RC/Nextgen and they´re staying....

 

[Zeotrope]

Yes. And one of the guys who was taking care of the demo owns a Studer A80 VU. His feedback about the unit was everything but positive.

I myself own a fully overhauled and upgraded Studer A80 RC MK II and a Nagra IVS with a QGB module. The tech who is looking after my tape decks was unimpressed by the Metaxas.

Interesting; but I will take the TAS review as “gospel” for now.

I’m starting to feel like what’s happening here is the owners of the ‘vintage’ machines are defending what they own, and new machines are just being bashed and held to an unreasonably/unfair standard. Maybe I‘m wrong, but I am seeing a pattern emerging, as it’s similar comments about Ballfiger, and Analog Audio‘s TP-1000.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

naturally there are more experiences from owners of vintage machines
it´s plain statistics
BUT it´s not very surprising that a EUR 20K machine might be nuked by a machine from late 70s that would cost 80-100K to make today