Good entry into R2R
Good people!
I'm thinking of entering into reel-to-reel, mostly out of curiosity. My experience with the format is close to zero and last time I've heard a tape was long time ago...but a shadow of that sound did remain in me. There appear small studios offering tapes, although some of them at very high prices.
I've been thinking about a good machine to enter, something that could stay as a reference for many years.
The first and the foremost criterion is the Sound, second reliability and tape handling. Ease of use is not a real issue--it's not going to see any studio use, just a +/- occasional playback.
I think the subject has been discussed here, but IIRC it ended up in Studer A820...out of my reach now. Learning tape zoology, I'm looking for 1/4" half-track stereo. I'm in EU, so after some research I have figured out a few interesting EU machines:
*Studer A80 R or RC -- the famous studio legend, discrete electronics, have not seen any objections about the sound, but no real descriptions of it either :-)
*Telefunken M15 (not M15A) ---German broadcasting workhorse, discrete electronics (unlike M15A); the common opinion seems to be that it's built like a tank, superb engineering (some claim A80 is better in this respect, some to the opposite); as for the sound, I've found a mixed bag: from superb, way better than Studer (without mentioning in which way though) to fuzzy/grainy, digital like, overrated due to "Made in Germany", etc; the negative opinions seems to concern M15A, not really much info on M15's sound. The electronics seem to need a mod for the IEC eq. There is a company Hilpert-Audio who takes care of the decks.
*Telefunken M10A with V86/87 -- an old all-tube deck, surprisingly much more available than the legendary C37; I could not really find any info neither on the engineering nor on the sound quality; the old electronics would probably need refurb and mods to play moder EQ but all that does not seem impossible, the question is nostalgic vintage issues apart, how really good it is?
I'm sure there are people round here who have a good experience with those machines. I'd love to learn some impressions, esp. in the context of an advanced sound reproduction (my current analog system is based on EMT930, TSD15, DIY EAR834 with Tribute nano SUT's).
Many thanks!
--b
