Scare me away from tape...
- Thread starter MadFloyd
- Start date
To use A80RC to play our tapes will have best result because record and play back in the same type of machine even more better in butterfly head (that head we are using). only one thing has to be done is to use our test tone to adjust the play back level to 0% in vu meter because our recording level is 396nwb/m and if your machine is set on 250nwb/m ( 4db over), it is very easy to set in A80RC
tony ma
tony ma
Ideally the bearings should be ABEC7 quality but they are not readily available in US. In addition, Studer has specific rub spec for the bearing. I use Japanese made ABEC5 bearings for non-critical applications and Athan's sourced bearing for the tape path rollers.
Ki
Hello all,
I tend to believe that purchasing from an audiophile is better and most of the time they can be trusted to give you the right stuff. I have purchased 90% of my audio to include my recent Tascam 42-2B from a gentleman on Audiogon. I have never gotten a bad deal. Maybe I am just blessed and won't argue with that
. Several years ago I purchased an Ampex tape deck off of Ebay. The guy sent the deck in a box with popcorn to protect it. This guy lived in CA and I was located in Baltimore at the time. It would have cost me $$$ to send it back and than may not have gotten my funds back. I chalked that up to a lost and never dealt with buying any big item audio off Ebay again. I hope this experience helps.
jazzbo
I tend to believe that purchasing from an audiophile is better and most of the time they can be trusted to give you the right stuff. I have purchased 90% of my audio to include my recent Tascam 42-2B from a gentleman on Audiogon. I have never gotten a bad deal. Maybe I am just blessed and won't argue with that
. Several years ago I purchased an Ampex tape deck off of Ebay. The guy sent the deck in a box with popcorn to protect it. This guy lived in CA and I was located in Baltimore at the time. It would have cost me $$$ to send it back and than may not have gotten my funds back. I chalked that up to a lost and never dealt with buying any big item audio off Ebay again. I hope this experience helps.jazzbo
"I have heard Nick's demo's at both RMAF and at Paragon on multiple occasions. Sure it sounds good. I stand by my statement that nothing could get me back into tape.
"Sounds lije you spend too much time listening to how a system sounds rather than to music you like,"
I never understood this... Why would one waste time on a forum dedicated to something they have no interest in?
Bizarre way to spend one's time IMO.
Anyways, to the OP... I should have introduced myself to this forum with a post similar to yours!
Bruce, it seems you really know these decks, from working with them professionally for a good while.
I came to tape from vinyl, and went about it in a rather obtuse way... Fartin' round with old battery powered full tracks, buyin up old dormant machines en masse, and applying my DIY ethos to them.
I've lucked into a Studer A807, and I can't for the life of me find a local tech who knows these machines... My thinking was: control unit, preamp, motors, head block, that's generally a tape deck! But as I discovered, they each must have unique quirks when it comes time to service, adjust, etc.
I see you find some Studers don't 'need' outboard electronics , I'm wondering what this machine would most benefit from: a recap/recondition,
Outboard electronics, both, and if there are any tweaks this deck would benefit from? I've gone ahead and installed RCA's , as I don't wish to use adapters, cleaned, demagged, and that's about it.
There are a few guys on here who really seem to know the Studer gear, I'd be willing to take a trip to Seattle to facilitate service on the machine, as I finally now have tapes coming in!
Help and advice with this stuff is always appreciated! A few experiences and stumbles aside, getting into 2 track 15ips had been a ton of fun, and I'm just now getting my toes in the water so to speak!
Cheers,
Harv
"Sounds lije you spend too much time listening to how a system sounds rather than to music you like,"
I never understood this... Why would one waste time on a forum dedicated to something they have no interest in?
Bizarre way to spend one's time IMO.
Anyways, to the OP... I should have introduced myself to this forum with a post similar to yours!
Bruce, it seems you really know these decks, from working with them professionally for a good while.
I came to tape from vinyl, and went about it in a rather obtuse way... Fartin' round with old battery powered full tracks, buyin up old dormant machines en masse, and applying my DIY ethos to them.
I've lucked into a Studer A807, and I can't for the life of me find a local tech who knows these machines... My thinking was: control unit, preamp, motors, head block, that's generally a tape deck! But as I discovered, they each must have unique quirks when it comes time to service, adjust, etc.
I see you find some Studers don't 'need' outboard electronics , I'm wondering what this machine would most benefit from: a recap/recondition,
Outboard electronics, both, and if there are any tweaks this deck would benefit from? I've gone ahead and installed RCA's , as I don't wish to use adapters, cleaned, demagged, and that's about it.
There are a few guys on here who really seem to know the Studer gear, I'd be willing to take a trip to Seattle to facilitate service on the machine, as I finally now have tapes coming in!
Help and advice with this stuff is always appreciated! A few experiences and stumbles aside, getting into 2 track 15ips had been a ton of fun, and I'm just now getting my toes in the water so to speak!
Cheers,
Harv
Hello all,
I tend to believe that purchasing from an audiophile is better and most of the time they can be trusted to give you the right stuff. I have purchased 90% of my audio to include my recent Tascam 42-2B from a gentleman on Audiogon. I have never gotten a bad deal. Maybe I am just blessed and won't argue with that
jazzbo
Stick around on Audiogon long enough Jazzbo and someone will slip you the high hard one-trust me. I have bought numerous gear that was advertised as working perfectly only to find out it was perfectly broken. I had one shyster thrown off of Audiogon for ripping me off. Even though the evidence was quite clear, it took a lot of persistence on my part to get Audiogon to throw this guy out. And if you pay via Pay Pal, you have a good chance to get your money back. However, you still have to fight. It’s a jungle out there I tell ya.
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Cool Harv... I believe the 807/810/812 are in the same family. I had 2 A810's in here and they are workhorses. I never used outboard electronics on them and got several awards and accolades for sonics from these machines. Granted I was playing original or safety master tapes, though you can see the potential there. You can download the manuals that will walk you step by step on how to disassemble the unit. There's even a YouTube video of Ki doing calibration of an A810 that you can watch.
Studer Manuals
What I did to mine was replace all caps, take the motors out and send to Athan for refurb and then send the headbloc to JRF for new Flux Magnetics ER heads. After that, is minor maintenance/cleaning and you'll get years of service!
As for "Butterfly Heads", I still can't see how they can sound better than spaced heads. I have Butterfly heads for my machines and other than playing louder, they really don't sound that great on stereo projects. Butterfly heads were created for the BBC so they could also play mono tapes on their stereo machines without having to change out headblocs....that's it!
Studer Manuals
What I did to mine was replace all caps, take the motors out and send to Athan for refurb and then send the headbloc to JRF for new Flux Magnetics ER heads. After that, is minor maintenance/cleaning and you'll get years of service!
As for "Butterfly Heads", I still can't see how they can sound better than spaced heads. I have Butterfly heads for my machines and other than playing louder, they really don't sound that great on stereo projects. Butterfly heads were created for the BBC so they could also play mono tapes on their stereo machines without having to change out headblocs....that's it!
Shoot! Here I was figuring I had really 'scored' with the butterfly head! (Mine has only one head, playback)
So the flux are superior to the butterfly heads then?
Thank you for the info, I will use that as a guide to get me started.
Mostly listening to Safety dubs, and factory 7.5ips acetate backed tapes, good to know that the deck can sound even better!
Cheers,
Harv
Good morning MadFloyd,
Hope you and yours had a blessed Thanksgiving. While you have to be careful as you go about the business of purchasing and reel to reel tape deck, remember, Studer, Ampex studio machines and Technic are not the only acts in town. Plus, be aware that the prices for these decks are up substantially because of their popularity. Three years ago I purchased a Technic 1506 for $300. Try to get one for that price now. Don't neglect checking out the Otari studio decks and the Tascam 42, 52 and 60 series. These are excellent once they are put in original condition. I'ts possible you might find one already in top condition as did I when I purchased my deck. Plus, there are still parts aplenty available and outstanding techs that can do the repairs.
Be more than careful trying to purchase anything from Ebay. While there are some good people there, there are also many rip-off artist. If you must use Ebay, pay for the deck using "PayPal" and a credit card. I have used PayPal for most of my purchases. The one time I felt ripped off, PayPal got my funds back. I certainly wish you the best sir.
jazzbo
Hope you and yours had a blessed Thanksgiving. While you have to be careful as you go about the business of purchasing and reel to reel tape deck, remember, Studer, Ampex studio machines and Technic are not the only acts in town. Plus, be aware that the prices for these decks are up substantially because of their popularity. Three years ago I purchased a Technic 1506 for $300. Try to get one for that price now. Don't neglect checking out the Otari studio decks and the Tascam 42, 52 and 60 series. These are excellent once they are put in original condition. I'ts possible you might find one already in top condition as did I when I purchased my deck. Plus, there are still parts aplenty available and outstanding techs that can do the repairs.
Be more than careful trying to purchase anything from Ebay. While there are some good people there, there are also many rip-off artist. If you must use Ebay, pay for the deck using "PayPal" and a credit card. I have used PayPal for most of my purchases. The one time I felt ripped off, PayPal got my funds back. I certainly wish you the best sir.
jazzbo
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Good Wed Morning Mr. Amirm,
Whatever kind of tape deck you got from Mr. Choi I'm sure was in the best of condition. I've got to say that Mr. Choi is a true gentlemen and has been a big help to me as well. He refuses to demean the choice of audio or reel to reel equipment anyone has, but would rather support forum members choices whenever he does have a comment. What a great guy! He is indeed special!
jazzbo
Whatever kind of tape deck you got from Mr. Choi I'm sure was in the best of condition. I've got to say that Mr. Choi is a true gentlemen and has been a big help to me as well. He refuses to demean the choice of audio or reel to reel equipment anyone has, but would rather support forum members choices whenever he does have a comment. What a great guy! He is indeed special!
jazzbo
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