METAXAS Tourbillon T-RX

[Mike Lavigne]

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.

I'm sure the 1st generation of any tape deck was a bit crude and frustrating. it's nice that the A80 or other top level decks from the tape golden age were 5th or 6th generation machines.

the question is whether Metaxas stays around to get to the 3rd or 4th generation? those might be pretty good.

 

[dcc]

I was considering buying one but I did some due diligence and decided not to pursue that option. I will be meeting Christophe Martinez next month and I will have the chance to compare his TP-1000 against a Studer A80 VU.

Once you have played with a fully overhauled/upgraded master tape recorder (A80, A820, ATR 102, Nagra T), you will understand why we have high expectations.

 

[Zeotrope]

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

That’s very true, you’re right.

I am actually more interested in the Papillon. Have you heard from any experts who have seen and heard one?

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

no but you can ask Todor Dimitrov in Mastertapesoundslab in Greece
Kostas is a friend of his.....

 

[Foxbat]

That’s very true, you’re right.

I am actually more interested in the Papillon.

I thought you were space limited, looking for a compact machine... now you are having hots for a machine that uses 15" reels.

 

[dcc]

A Studer master tape recorder was developed by a whole team of highly skilled engineers with each one dedicated to a specific area (tape transport mechanics, tape transport electronics, record, repro etc.). I still wonder how a one guy project can achieve better results.

My tech always reminds that, at the time, the price tag of a Studer A80 was the same as a Mercedes Class S...

 

[andromedaaudio]

I love the effort he put in the design but my refurbished Telefunken M15 A / eternal arts tape stage is hard to beat for the money i reckon
I spoke briefly with " the man" at Munchen 22 and it runs beautifully smooth .
I m a mechanical engineer by trade and this really looks like a well thought out design .
I would go for the big machine though

This stuff you can really call art , and its hard to put a price tag on art as everybody knows

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

the M15 is colored more 300B ish in sound than A80RC and mechanically more noisy and on top of that a rather "crude" transport, even though I like the wind/rewind lever

 

[andromedaaudio]

the M15 is colored more 300B ish in sound than A80RC and mechanically more noisy and on top of that a rather "crude" transport, even though I like the wind/rewind lever

Probably not a correctly refurbished example, the telefunken doesnt have tubes , the eternal arts does have tubes

I have owned a A 80 RC mk2 and i also own 2 refurbished B 62 to compare

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

mine is in the basement and all bearings and psu caps are replaced....works flawlessly, but defo sounds more colored than A80 and probably the reason why some prefer it to A80

 

[andromedaaudio]

mine is in the basement and all bearings and psu caps are replaced....works flawlessly, but defo sounds more colored than A80 and probably the reason why some prefer it to A80

There are so many factors which can account for " colour " in a system .

Anybody starting in Tape .... the telefunken M 15 A is a no brainer afaik

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

it´s not an A
reg color in my system
why does Sequerra, A80, Melco, DDX1500 and all sources have same signature, except M15?

 

[Zeotrope]

I thought you were space limited, looking for a compact machine... now you are having hots for a machine that uses 15" reels.

Fits on a wall though! And it’s actually quite shallow.

Isn’t it “can accept“ 15” reels rather than “uses”?

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

Bloody inconvinient in use hanging on a wall
You’ll discover….

 

[adrianywu]

A Studer master tape recorder was developed by a whole team of highly skilled engineers with each one dedicated to a specific area (tape transport mechanics, tape transport electronics, record, repro etc.). I still wonder how a one guy project can achieve better results.

My tech always reminds that, at the time, the price tag of a Studer A80 was the same as a Mercedes Class S...

Yes, and apparently the list price for a Nagra T Audio in its last year of manufacture (1983) would have bought a nice flat in London !

 

[Zeotrope]

Yes, and apparently the list price for a Nagra T Audio in its last year of manufacture (1983) would have bought a nice flat in London !

This is interesting, actually. I read (perhaps somewhere here) that in 1983 the Nagra T cost 23,000 GBP. That’s only USD15,000 at the time. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $50,000 today.
So nowhere near the cost of a home anywhere, let alone in London.

 

[Zeotrope]

Bloody inconvinient in use hanging on a wall
You’ll discover….

You haven’t seen where my Nagra Reference Turntable is
My entire system (minus the DarTZeel 108 and some power supplies) are on a massive shelf attached to the wall and ceiling.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

to handle a vertical mounted tape machine is VERY CLUMSY compared to having a flat work space
both threading and access to heads, fixing the reels
playing from pancakes would be a ultra high risk adventure....

 

[Zeotrope]

to handle a vertical mounted tape machine is VERY CLUMSY compared to having a flat work space
both threading and access to heads, fixing the reels
playing from pancakes would be a ultra high risk adventure....

It will be mounted at the same angle as a console, 45 degrees. Can’t see how it would be any different than on a stand, as it will be at waist height.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

to me vertical implied 90degrees
45 degrees is sloped/tilted and fine