Valve Audio Revelation
- Thread starter jdza
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Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Pardon me Steve, I did not know that a question was asked of me. I'll try to answer the best I can with a comment also off the Ampex list
My understanding is that over and above the stock Studer and Ampex heads the "only" improvement is the flux heads made by Greg Orton. From what I have read is the Nortronics vs the OEM heads are a replacement option. As talked about here by Richard L. Hess from the Ampex List. The bottom line is replacing heads have trade offs as Richard points out.
"The native Studer heads are wonderful, and Studer is supporting them
through 2010. Greg Orton (ex Ampex) is manufacturing new, Studer-spec
heads. John French has some Studer cups that Greg could mount a head in, or
you could send him yours.
The Nortronics heads are the same form factor as the OEM Woelke heads on
the Sony APRs, so that's a plus for me. You'll need a quick kit (and I
don't know if Joe has any) to mount them in an Ampex. Some say that the
original Ampex heads are a tiny bit better than the replacement Nortronics
heads. I would think it's a tradeoff.
As I understand it, the Ampex heads had slightly wider gaps, but longer
pole pieces. That would give the Nortronics a HF advantage (be careful, you
might have to adjust the head resonance resistor to bring very high
frequency response into line as the HF EQ might do it, but cause a mid-high
dip). The Ampex's broader pole piece will offer smoother LF response than
the Nortronics--one of the reasons I'm using the Studer A810s where I
can--they do better than the Nortronics in LF smoothness. But, then again,
the Studer heads have smoother LF than the OEM Woelkes in the Sonys.
The Studer heads are gorgeous. The Sony uses Woelke heads (and Nortronics
fit nicely), but the Studer heads are wide-faced like Ampex and I've never
seen a flatter playback than from the DIN Sendust-like 318 series
last-forever play heads I recently acquired."
BTW, I never said the Nortronics was better than the Studer heads
I said they were better than my Technics heads and some feel better than any Japanese heads. I just suggested that Charlie or Rich could chime in since they've done extensive comparison. Charlie had built a headblock with three different heads as I was told and could switch between them to compare different makes. Not sure which heads were in the block but pretty sure they weren't Studer--though I doubt there's a tape deck Charlie hasn't played with and used.
The beauty of Charlie's tape preamp is that that upper octave response can be easily adjusted by turning a pot when aligning the heads. Conversely, it can be used to compensate for decreasing upper octave response as the tape heads wear.
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Sorry Roger
Great answer BTW but I was asking about Nortronics heads and wondering to myself how good they must be cuz I love my Studer heads.
Great answer BTW but I was asking about Nortronics heads and wondering to myself how good they must be cuz I love my Studer heads.
Steve no problem. After reading about the 15000.00 Telos tonearm, I think I better spring for the flux heads!
Not your Studer Steve but a Studer nonetheless courtesy of Rich:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3KDok3M6SQ
Course this information is old but also from Recordist:
Magnetic Head Company
701 Rhode Island Ave. N.
Minneapolis, MN 55427 USA
Voice: 763-545-7538
Fax: 763-545-9269
Email Magnetic Head Company
Magnetic Head Company's web site
This is operated by Joe Dundovic, one of the co-founders of the famous Nortronics Company. If you've been around tape recorders for a few years, you will remember Nortronics, which from 1956 to 1996 made both OEM and replacement heads for many types of magnetic recorders. With appropriate hardware, most Ampex tape recorders can be fitted with a Nortronics head. This is much less expensive than having a custom head made, which can cost upwards of $200 or more.
Nortronics heads are of very high quality and in my experience, perform as well--or better--than original Ampex heads (which are no longer available). As you might expect, Joe is extremely knowledgeable about magnetic heads and will work with you to find the best replacement head for your application.
Source: David Dintenfass
Steve no problem. After reading about the 15000.00 Telos tonearm, I think I better spring for the flux heads!
Or some more tapes
Or some more tapes
There's not much doubt in the recording industry that "flux" heads are the pinnacle as far as studio quality is concerned.
You can buy one hell of a lot of tapes and heads for 15-20K,and the playback side of tape has always been behind the record side.
650.00 each for flux heads, I can do,or justify in my mind,and you're right all those tapes!
BTW, I never said the Nortronics was better than the Studer heads
Myles,
Studer had several types of 2 track heads - unless we specify the code number we do not know which head is being referred.
+1
But impedance matching heads to wire + preamp is also important for FR too don't you think?
I think the wires have way less to do with the FR than matching the gain of the preamp to the heads of the deck. The output of my Otari MX-55 from the Otari electronics is low when fed straight into my stereo preamp. If I feed the output of the Otari straight into my Ampex 350s using balanced cables, the output is just right and the sound is just right.
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