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The "wide and fat" sound of reel 2 reel & FM radio

I had played a jazz cd earlier in the evening....later the same song came on my FM radio station...the FM broadcast sounded "wider and fatter"...I know that is not the proper term in audiophile vernacular, but it's my best description. When I owned a reel to reel 20 years ago, a recording made from vinyl to reel to reel sounded wider and fatter than the vinyl source. Mind you, I bought myself a serious tuner this year...Sansui TU-X1. What is it in reel to reel and an excellent tuner that makes this possible? I'm thinking of buying another reel to reel and make myself some recordings of some of my favorite vinyl.

Preamp..............Audio Research LS-10 solid state (no phono input)
Preamp..............Carver C-19 Tube (I have it connected to the AR LS-10 and use it for a phono preamp)
Speakers............Infinity Kappa 9 (bi-amped)
Amp.................Carver Silver 9-t monoblocks (low pass)
Amp.................Sunfire Signature (high pass)
Phonograph..........Oracle Delphi Mk-I
Cartridge...........Grado Reference Platinum
CD Player...........Carver SDA/360 5 disc changer
Tuner...............Sansui TU-X1
128x128mitch4t

Showing 1 response by phild

phild
603 posts
 
The effect you describe is called tape compression. Many people do tend to prefer that tape effect over digital...that's why many producers and engineers still prefer to work reel to reel recorders rather than digital, and many more use some combination of the two.

As far as the FM goes...the signal could be compressed, it could be the CD player or turntable they used, etc.
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