Your everlasting summer and you can see it fading fast
So you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last
Well, you wouldn’t even know a diamond if you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious I can’t understand
Are you reelin’ in the years?
Stowin’ away the time
– Steely Dan
I haven’t lost all my marbles just yet…
We all know how good vinyl records sound. You all did read my stuff on turntables, cartridges, tonearms, and phono stages right? Hold on, we are going to get even better. Roll tape…
Yep. If you haven’t guessed it by now, I am going to be talking about Reel to Reel Tape Decks. At one time you weren’t a serious audiophile if you didn’t have a dead sexy R2R sitting on your stereo bench. And of course as you might imagine these beauties are making a comeback. For good reason as well. Besides Analog Rules… For starters lets consider that magnetic tape has way more dynamic range than vinyl, which in turn greatly improves the sound, especially at both ends of the sonic spectrum; Bass and Treble. Next up is the matter of signal processing. A lot of this happens to get tape converted to vinyl. So stuff gets compressed. Details of the music get lost. Tape to tape, very little is lost. If you get your music tapes that are first generation from the masters then you are as close as it gets, outside of being at a live performance. And lastly tape machines don’t have as many sources of mechanical noise that can negatively impact the sound, compared to a turntable.
So if we agree that tape is the ’best’ solution, then just how do you make that happen? For starters one needs to get a reel to reel tape deck. Easier said than done. Two choices really. New or Used. The good news is that either in new or used you are not looking at anything like the price of a high end turntable. Your lucky day right?
Used machines vary widely in quality and price, and of course spare parts could be very problematic, as can finding people able to work on them. And even then there were only a handful of high end decks that were (are) worth considering.
These were vintage 1979, made in Japan. They had 2 track x 2 channel recording / playback and 4 track x 2 channel playback. SX Sendust heads. DC drive provided three tape speeds: 3.75ips, 7.5ips, 15ips. 30Hz to 35kHz at 76 cm/s. s/n ratio 62dB, wow & flutter 0.010% Weight about 52kg including amplifier section.
These Swiss machines were vintage 1977 -1997. They had Studer heads. AC motors provided two tape speeds: 3.75ips, 7.5ips or 7.5ips, 15ips. 30Hz to 22kHz at 15ips. s/n ratio 65dB, wow & flutter 0.06% Weight about 17kg including amplifier section.
Refurbished. There is another option that is in-between old and new. Some folks out there are refurbishing and rebuilding old Stellavox and Tascam machines. These don’t come cheap either. One company is also building ’new’ Stellavox recorders.
Surprisingly enough there are a few manufacturers that are making new tape machines. No doubt more are on the way…
This French made machine should be available in 2022. Two track, two channel 1/4” tape. DC belt drive motors provide two tape speeds: 7.5ips, 15ips. 30Hz to 22kHz at 15ips. s/n ratio 65dB, wow & flutter 0.045% Weight about 28kg
Made in Germany. It has a machined aluminum chassis and can come in 3 different colour choices. These are available in either 1/4” or 1/2” tape widths. Although the 1/4” is playback only. Brushless DC motors provide three tape speeds: 3.75ips, 7.5ips, 15ips. 40Hz to 22kHz at 15ips. s/n ratio 68dB, wow & flutter 0.03% Weight about 30kg
As much as I like the old school look of the other decks… these things look stunning. Another French machine. They come in a record / playback version, and a playback only version. They have Italian Photovox heads and are available in 1/4”, 1/2”, or 1” sizes. Brushless MAXON DC motors provide three tape speeds: 3.75ips, 7.5ips, 15ips. 30hz to 20kHz at 15ips. s/n ratio 67dB, wow & flutter 0.25% Weight about 80kg.
Made in the USA. Aluminum billet construction. Dual mono. 15ips. DC motors. Off-board power supplies. Hand built capacitors. Matched resistors. Tape transport mechanism supported in gel to isolate from any vibrations. VU meters can be switched out of the signal path. Copper and gold sandwiched audio boards. Lots of attention to detail here.
This is all well and good regarding a tape deck you might think. But just where do you think that you are going to find any music to listen to? Well… again you have the choice of new or used…
There are several outfits that are releasing music, both new and old on new reel to reel tape. Just don’t expect a huge selection. And if you wanna buy used tapes, the internet will hook you up.
