Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Grabbed a pair of M80V2s, Oh My Gosh!

Reel to reel...perfect for those who find linear bass, highs and extended dynamic range offensive and love to swoon to wow, flutter and hiss.

All the music I like was on tape long before it hit vinyl or became digital. I don't limit my enjoyment based on the medium it arrives on.

I wonder , is it really wow and flutter or is there just something analog can capture that digital just can not.

Mojo.. I gather you have never listened to a really good recording on a real-to-real at 15 or 30 ips. Funny how the master recordings were all done on tape like this before pressed out to vinyl or early CD.

Whats ips? Sounds like an std. Inches per second?

I have to say, having used a Nagra for a 2day student film project back in the day with 1/4" tape, they are finnicky little bastards. But sounded fine. And actual film too. Talk about finnicky.....

I was the sound guy! How appropriate.

I believe home gear in 1 7/8 inches per second which obviously is not going to have the same quality as studio gear but still decent in its own right. I have great memories of my dad copying his albums to reel to reel for playback when guests were over. That thing would play for hours on end . Kids aren't exposed to this anymore and they don't get an appreciation for music.

Of my 3 boys only one has a real appreciation for music and the equipment. He grew up watching me make mixed tapes and listening to music instead of watching tv or the internet. He often laments being born too late, since his music preference is the same as mine. The other 2 are millennials they are a lost cause, I failed. lOL

I always wanted a Teac 3340 - 4 track, 7.5 or 15 IPS. IIRC it was the gold standard for low-budget recording studios. Excellent sound... at the time I believe it was generally accepted that good tape could deliver *slightly* higher quality than the best vinyl/cartridge/turntable combinations (ie a different set of distortions and artifacts).

I remember road trips to NYC to buy what they called "first generation master tapes" but thinking about it they must have been second generation... I can't believe anyone would risk wearing out the source tapes repeating the final mix-down for each new copy.

Looking at ebay and kijiji just now they seem to have held their value really well.

I have listened to 15 ips and 30 ips courtesy of my great uncle. 15 ips sounded better than 30 ips on the low end for sure. They both exaggerated the high end and the tone control did a pretty good job of controlling that. But as I turned up the gain, upper midrange and the high end went to $h!t. Frankly I don't know why that was - it stumped me - maybe the old but wise one knows.

I too had a large Sony Reel to Reel in the 70s because I could not stomach the sound of 8-Tracks nor Cassettes (even with Dolby NR).

They were finicky with head alignment as they wore; however, it was sure cool to watch when it was operating with the softly lit VU Meters dancing to the music.

I even ordered by mail-order prerecorded Reel to Reel tapes of albums that I wanted but they were always in short supply as Cassettes had largely taken over the market.

Gave it away & put all that behind me when CD Players showed up...

TAM

Maybe there's a market for an audio player with switchable vinyl, 8-track, cassette, reel-to-reel and gramophone emulations.

I just received my new pinch roller by Flugpost, and cleaned the heads with 99.99% isopropyl alcohol, everything Hans, the cuckoo clock maker, should have done for the $300 he charged me to refurbish my TEAC reel to reel. (I don't think he did anything)

Sound quality of well recorded tapes at 7 1/2 ips is great!! I think it is better than vinyl which is saying something. I upgraded my MMF 7.1 table with the Hana low output Shibata moving coil cart and it sounds wonderful, but the tape is so pure sounding!

Returned the Moon 110LP phonostage as it was not a good match for the Hana, and just received a Musical Surroundings Phenomena 2+ a few minutes ago. I will hook it up, listen for a while and report back.

Sure am happy with the reel to reel. I am going to try the M80s with the Antique Sound Labs SET tube amp which is hooked up to the TEAC. That should be interesting.

And yup, the spinning reels and dancing illuminated VU meters are extremely cool to look at while listening to the music!!!