Reel to Reel Porn
- Thread starter Wardsweb
- Start date
I have truly fallen all in on this medium. It just is my preferred way to listen.
When I was growing up my dad had one of these.
He had a Heathkit ss receiver he built and used them with AR-3a speakers. Then with a late 70s HK integrated with Rogers LS-3/5a and an Audio Pro B2-50 sub. That was a fine sounding system.
He had a Heathkit ss receiver he built and used them with AR-3a speakers. Then with a late 70s HK integrated with Rogers LS-3/5a and an Audio Pro B2-50 sub. That was a fine sounding system.
Just bring your own mare, we can deliver the goods.
I have a lot of tapes if you're interested?
That's weird, I thought only Google had direct access to my mind. I'm on here this morning because I'm thinking about repairing my R2R. And have either no tapes or a bunch of stuff I'd never listen to. Nat King Cole, etc., So I was thinking, if I had some tapes I liked I'd be motivated--I'd have a reason to be motivated--to try repairing the drive bands (my "tech" words) in my 1961 era Sony Stereocorder TC-530 Solid State, untouched since about 1963.
I think the model I had for a while was a Sony TC-670. When the unit dumped an entire reel of tape on my head because the spring-loaded hub fell apart, that was the end of it. 🤣 (I had it on a higher shelf.) I sold it not too long after. It had numerous other issues due to age, including dirty contacts, brakes that failed, etc. (you had to stop the reels by hand). It was too mechanically complex to bother to fix myself--it's not that I can't do it, but didn't want to since I could more easily get another reel deck, which I did. It did work well when I first got it (used), but several years later it really showed its age. It did have a story, though. I bought it from the first owner, who used it in the Vietnam War. He and his parents would send taped messages back and forth to each other, and he also had a library of records he had recorded onto tape at a slower speed so he could have music.
If you can find a service manual for it and give all the rubber parts a refresh, lubricate what's needed, and clean up all the connectors and switch contacts, it would probably work fine. There are a lot of mechanical parts inside, so be prepared. 😁
If you can find a service manual for it and give all the rubber parts a refresh, lubricate what's needed, and clean up all the connectors and switch contacts, it would probably work fine. There are a lot of mechanical parts inside, so be prepared. 😁
I am definitely not prepared. But I'm feeling the urge. I hate when I get that urge on top of all the other stuff I have to do. I dislike leaving something non-working.
Oh, if no one got that, you have to open MHardy's attachment.
I know the feeling. I have a few projects I bought that I've never even touched.
- A dbx 1BX-DS with a missing knob and potentiometer--I had a schematic for it, but the schematic never specified if the pot was linear taper or logarithmic taper, so it sits untouched. I didn't buy it for the expansion, but the compression--these work great for late-night listening of background music.
- A RCA 45-EY-3 that needs mechanical and electrical restoration. (This was a changer for 45-RPM records, and this one is in an "art deco" style that is cool.)
- A Grundig 2420U AM/FM/SW raadio that my buddy gave to me. It was from his grandmother's house, and apparently was in constant use every time they went over there. The audio is really weak and hums, so it needs new caps at the very least (not touching the tuner section). I wouldn't have taken it, except that my uncle had the exact same radio and it lived on their kitchen counter--I was always fascinated by it. Neat party trick is that I can hook up a Chromecast Audio puck and stream music through it--the rear panel has a 5-pin DIN "PU" input ("pick-up," meaning a record player). The schematic also shows it has an electrostatic tweeter! But I have no clue if/how that works.
- A Fisher 8-track deck I had wanted to restore and use for the occasional tape I'd pick up. Only, the tapes themselves fall apart since the metal sensing splice dries up due to age, as do the foam pressure pads. I just want this, and the stupid tapes, out of my life.
- A pair of Martin-Logan electrostatic speakers. Got dirt cheap. But the panels need rebuilding. I sourced some of the materials but had no time to work on them and also lost interest, especially since I got a working pair of a much newer model a few years ago. Now I will probably dump them at the curb on trash night unless someone in my area wants everything for free.
My own personal Hall of Shame, if you will. We need to downsize and get rid of almost everything in our basement and garage (we/re relocating), and these are reminders of what lay ahead for us. My only keepers would be the RCA and Grundig, maybe the dbx.
A dear friend of ours gave me one of these before we moved to NH from MA. I've passed it along to another hifi fellow traveler, as it wasn't being used here and that was a shame.When I was growing up my dad had one of these.
He had a Heathkit ss receiver he built and used them with AR-3a speakers. Then with a late 70s HK integrated with Rogers LS-3/5a and an Audio Pro B2-50 sub. That was a fine sounding system.
That said, and come to think of it
I do still have an (I think ?!) even earlier solenoid-control TEAC downstairs. Given to me by yet another hifi fellow traveler. Untested. 
🤦♂️🤦♀️
EDIT: OK, actually, the one in the photo I bought (cheaply) at some yard sale. It didn't do much, and I passed it along to someone in VT who expressed interest in it. The one I (still) have downstairs is an A-1200, the non-auto-reverse morph.
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with certain genres of Music, reel tape is just hard to beat for that tangible connection to the music. It’s the imperfections that are just right to the ear and add that awesome combination of sonic ingredients to the music. Digital perfectionists will hate it. Measurement driven folks will balk at it. And most will run from it for its effort and cost. But I will say, when you hear your favorite Jazz album on properly recorded tape through a well maintained deck…… You arrive at a completely different level of sonic bliss.
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That looks like a difficult list. I try to make easier lists.
Yeah, especially the speakers. There is a ton of info online about restoring them, but I no longer have time to do it. The RCA and Grundig would be fun projects, though, and the dbx is only replacing one part and it's back on the road. There are rebuilt parts for the RCA's little changer, too, so it's not too difficult to work on.
I downloaded the manual a few minutes ago for my Sony R2R. I think I already did that 2 years ago, but can't recall for sure. Lots on detailed commentary about R2R resto of my model on the manual site. Hope you don't have to curb your speakers.
Oh, I totally screwed up the first half of my post above (too)!
The (slightly) more modern TEAC I mentioned (passed along to me by friends in MA) was an A-2300S.
The old TEACs were (I'd opine) the quintessence of no-nonsense reel to reel decks of their era.
The (slightly) more modern TEAC I mentioned (passed along to me by friends in MA) was an A-2300S.
The old TEACs were (I'd opine) the quintessence of no-nonsense reel to reel decks of their era.
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