VAC Tape Repro Amplifier?

[Ron Resnick]

In my interview yesterday of Kevin Hayes of Valve Amplification Company I came away with the feeling that it is more likely than not that we will see a tape preamp from VAC. I think it would be exciting to have a tube competitor to Nick Doshi's fantastic tape preamp!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

In my interview yesterday of Kevin Hayes of Valve Amplification Company I came away with the feeling that it is more likely than not that we will see a tape preamp from VAC. I think it would be exciting to have a tube competitor to Nick Doshi's fantastic tape preamp!

we have one already. AK modded Ampex MR 70's.

 

[Ron Resnick]

we have one already. AK modded Ampex MR 70's.

Okay; but I was referring to a new production item. Is he offering those on an ongoing basis as available for sale?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Okay; but I was referring to a new production item. Is he offering those on an ongoing basis as available for sale?

can't speak for him, but i know he has a few sets on hand. and he can integrate them into any deck. as he is now 'ATR Services, Inc.' obviously the ATR-102 is a winning combo as i own two of them, but he has mentioned combining them with a Studer A-820 too.

tape repro amplifiers really mate with specific heads much more than specific transports.

Andrey Kosobutsky will be at the SoCal show to answer these type of questions.

 

[Foxbat]

Progress marches on, and things are done differently today than they were 50 years ago.

So I wish Kevin all the luck!

 

[Lee]

I think Kevin would do a great job on a tape pre.

 

[PaulB]

I spoke with Kevin last week. He has no plans to release a Tape Pre. He is stacked up with other projects.

 

[Foxbat]

That is not surprising at all, considering the size of this market - where there are about as many producers as the potential customers.

We have done similar analysis and arrived at the same conclusion.

 

[adrianywu]

That is not surprising at all, considering the size of this market - where there are about as many producers as the potential customers.

We have done similar analysis and arrived at the same conclusion.

I talked to the guy at AM Belgium during Munich High End. They pretty much make all the heads for new tape machines nowadays. He told me to expect "6 or 7" completely new tape machines coming to market in the next couple of years. I guess some people are betting on the craze catching on.

 

[Ron Resnick]

He told me to expect "6 or 7" completely new tape machines coming to market in the next couple of years. I guess some people are betting on the craze catching on.

Very interesting.

From what I see on WBF, I am not sensing a craze. In fact two friends of mine on WBF sold their tape machines in the last couple of years, and one friend who was seriously considering purchasing a machine ultimately decided not to.

Separately, but relatedly, why does it seem that Ballfinger has disappeared?

 

[stellavox]

Have done a haphazard survey of outboard tape pre's over a few years - from those folks who would actually share numbers. Numbers TOTAL in the low, maybe mid-hundreds. And this is between maybe a dozen purveyors. So don't bother. If you have to, understand it's "a labor of love". And NEW RECORDERS????

 

[Foxbat]

I am doing my best at boosting those numbers with seven head preamps in my system.

But seriously - compare those figures to the numbers of phono stages sold in the world. The design effort is about the same, so go figure where you would want to invest your R&D money.