Revox brings a new B77 Mk III to market!

[Lee]

New heads and electronics! New tapes as well.

 

[Lee]

REVOX B77 MKIII Release — Horch House

REVOX presents the new REVOX B77 MKIII, which incorporates all the experience of 76 years of Revox.

www.horchhouse.com

 

[Mike Lavigne]

nice!

can't wait to get some feedback on how it sounds. likely pretty good. and a USA price.

 

[dminches]

I didn't see a price.

 

[Lee]

I didn't see a price.

15,950 euros on the German site.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

15,950 euros on the German site.

so with cowboy math, subtract VAT, add dollar conversion, around $15-16k USD.....retail. Maybe Elusive Disc might have it closer to $20k delivered here?

and it does 'record' at the price. some of the others do not include that in the base level.

pretty good value likely, and competitive with other current 'prosumer' level new RTR offerings.

 

[Lee]

Revox B77 MKIII — Horch House

www.horchhouse.com

 

[A-Line]

Nice!

I bought my MKII new in 1983. I've maintained it with regular maintenance and upgrades for the past 41 years and it still sounds great. My machine has a lot of sentimental value so I'll keep it.

 

[Foxbat]

Let's face it - B77 is really nothing but a mediocre machine. Its tape handling is far from spectacular, its transport functionality is rudimental at best. So it makes plenty of sense at $1,500, maybe $2K for a fully refurbished one.

There are many great machines at $10-15K price range, it is a totally different level of competition.

 

[Lee]

Let's face it - B77 is really nothing but a mediocre machine. Its tape handling is far from spectacular, its transport functionality is rudimental at best. So it makes plenty of sense at $1,500, maybe $2K for a fully refurbished one.

There are many great machines at $10-15K price range, it is a totally different level of competition.

It might be worth waiting to see what mods they make. They could improve the transport and onboard electronics.

 

[Lee]

More details on the build are available here:

B77 MK III Stereo Tape Recorder

The return of an icon - the new Revox B77 MK III tape recorder NEW! Revox B77 MK III - a new highlight in analog audio…

revox.com

 

[A-Line]

What about the tape biasing? Some people have pre-recorded analog tape from Ultra Analog & Tape Project. My MKII deck has always been biased to Ampex 456 by a service tech. All of my analog tape is Ampex 456 and a few Ampex(Quantegy) 456 blank tape for recording.

Can it record too?

 

[Foxbat]

Wow... 456... you are one of the very, very, very few who still uses it, most people put even unused tape into garbage... it is not worth the trouble.

But biasing, however, has nothing to do with the pre-recorded tapes, perhaps you are confusing biasing with EQ?

 

[dminches]

Tape bias does not come into play on playback, just record. Tapes were recorded by Ultra Analog or Tape Project only need the proper EQ in playback.

I haven’t seen the specs on the machine but I assume it can be fully calibrated for record and playback. If it can’t then it definitely is a big failure.

The picture of the deck shows a record button and the details discuss recording so I assume it can record.

 

[dminches]

Wow... 456... you are one of the very, very, very few who still uses it, most people put even unused tape into garbage... it is not worth the trouble.

But biasing, however, has nothing to do with the pre-recorded tapes, perhaps you are confusing biasing with EQ?

I really like the flanges they used with Ampex 456! It is good for something.

 

[A-Line]

Wow... 456... you are one of the very, very, very few who still uses it, most people put even unused tape into garbage... it is not worth the trouble.

But biasing, however, has nothing to do with the pre-recorded tapes, perhaps you are confusing biasing with EQ?

The last time I bought a batch of 456 was 2005. I used it for recording a few albums before selling my turntable. The other 576 tapes I used to record live radio broadcasts.

Yes, most people consider 456 to be junk but I have 456 tape dating back to 1983 and still sounds great. It would seem that few know how to store and care for analog tape properly...
There seems to be a history of 456 becoming too sticky or something like that. This was never a problem for me.

Anyway, the ReVox techs always told me that biasing (EQ biasing) was necessary based upon the particular tape type/brand that you are using for playback, and of course for recording.

 

[Foxbat]

No, there is no such thing as playback biasing, and there is no "EQ biasing", you are confused there.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Would somebody on WBF please buy this new Revox and the new Analog Audio Design machine, and report your direct, side-by-side, comparative impressions?

Come on, both machines together don't cost the MSRP of some power cables.

We all would be grateful!

 

[A-Line]

Tape bias does not come into play on playback, just record. Tapes were recorded by Ultra Analog or Tape Project only need the proper EQ in playback.

I haven’t seen the specs on the machine but I assume it can be fully calibrated for record and playback. If it can’t then it definitely is a big failure.

The picture of the deck shows a record button and the details discuss recording so I assume it can record.

Well some old machines from the 1970's( J-corder Technics by Tape Project & Mira from Acoustic Sounds) have been repurposed. Some have their recording features disabled with other models having recording features for a additional 2-3K USD. Pricing is similar to the ReVox MKIII.

I'm not sure why anyone would buy a tape machine without recording capabilities but apparently some of do.

If I were buying new these days I would probably get one of the current Nagra studio machines. Those run at around 40,000€. But I'm very content with the MKIl and ReVox still provides support so..

ReVox also sells refurbished older machines on their web site like the MKI & II, PR99, & A77 for those that may be interested.

As for recording tape I've no idea anymore.
Ampex was sold to Quantegy around the year 2000. I'm not sure if Quantegy is even still in business I've not checked. I'm out of storage space so I'm done with recording since 2006.

 

[A-Line]

No, there is no such thing as playback biasing, and there is no "EQ biasing", you are confused there.

I guess that I'm confused then...lol.
I take the advice from the ReVox service techs as to my MKII. I'm very happy with the results of their advice nonetheless.